Sonnetarium Polish

I don't care that it's after Christmas. I finally got my hands on this polish, so I'm gonna put this polish on my hands!

Sonnetarium's Peppermint Kiss. You might remember it from this post about my favourite holiday polishes. Well after it being sold out for a while, me checking their website repeatedly paid off! It didn't take long to arrive despite it being the holidays, and it got here bubble wrapped, in packing peanuts, in a little box, with a hand signed business card.

It's everything I hoped it would be, looks like you could eat it, and I got a compliment at work today about my nails when I just painted them this morning ;) awe yeah!

(Please forgive my crappy pictures...)

Sonnetarium polishes are big 3 free (no formaldehyde or the other icky harmful things). You can check out their polishes on their website, and their facebook to see when things are getting restocked.

Secret Santa Part 2

So I've shown you what I received, now to share what I sent!

A holiday mug rug, about the size of a sheet of paper. I thought this was really cute and I want to make one for myself, although I have no use for it whatsoever.

Three little ornaments, pictured here before I put the loops on them. The tree is made from wool (and paint, buttons and glitter), and the other two are made from glittery resin (with swarovski crystal accents on the snowman!) He's so adorable. I need to make myself some of these. Haha!

Next is a pendant made of hammered metal, and colored resin. I tried to make it look like stained glass since my partner pinned a lot of stained glass things on pinterest.

And up against the light.

I also sent a package of tea and some little Christmas tree light ornaments.

Secret Santa

So I finally was able to open my secret santa presents, so I can now share everything with you!! I actually had this post all made up and ready to go before I went to Toronto but blogger was acting up so.. Here we go again.

First, what I received!

All wrapped up...

These 3 adorable felt ornaments! Now my Christmas tree has a whole 4 ornaments on it. I think the owl is my favourite one.

These delicious packets of hot chocolate that I can't wait to try. My sender was from England so I've never had these before :).

This amazing hat, and a picture of my foolish face wearing it :P.

This zombie mug, it has I <3 zombies on the other side. Zombie dishes should be a thing since I got a set of glasses last year that I'm still using.

A slytherin coloured knit pouch, fits my phone but I'll probably use it for my makeup in my purse.

And a zombie survival kit including magnets, keychains, and gift tags.

And a better shot of the hat.

I got so friggin spoiled, and I sent more than was necessary. I'll make a post and show you the stuff that I sent out within the next couple days.

Holiday Nail Polishes

Thanks to the wonderful creative minds of people, you can get 'big 3 free' nail polishes that suit any theme your heart desires through etsy, facebook and the like. Handmade with care! With the holidays coming up I wanted to share some of the best festive polishes that I've seen out there.

(To note, I've pulled the pictures off of etsy, but the majority of them come from Chalkboard Nails, a great nail art blog that does a lot of indie polish reviews. She's great, and you should check her out.)

Hurry Down the Chimney Tonight A cute white and red shard and bar glitter topcoat.

I'll Wait Up For You Dear A super fine red and green glitter. Cute!

Peppermint Kiss Ugh! How amazing is this?! I've never seen a nail polish that I've called 'delicious' before, but seriously, it looks good enough to eat. If this was available on their website right now I would already have bought it.

Candy Cane Crush I love hex glitters, this topcoat is definitely great!

Think of All the Fellas That I Haven't Kissed blues, purples, glitter.. A great combination.

Something About Merry I think my favourite part of this one is the light green semi transparent pieces.

Christmas In Bordeaux Square glitter and gold thrown in the mix to keep things interesting. I think it looks best on the right, over gold.

 Very Merry Holly Berry Just red! Looks similar to a polish I ordered in the mail (still waiting on.. It's a brand thats only avail online in the US so I had to go to ebay for it) but this one is a clear base. I really like it.

Up To Snow Good Beautiful! I'm such a fan of teal though, why are we even surprised this makes the list ;P.

I hope this gets you ready to festivfy.. Festivify.. Get those nails festive! I've been looking into making my own polishes (sadly I missed out on the last run of base that was available, and I'm kicking myself for not ordering it even though I was told not to because of the holidays) but I'm sure it'll be available again someday. Until then I'm mixing all my ideas up in topcoat bottles. Works okay, but I need to shake the bottle pretty hard after everything settles. Still! I've gotten quite a few compliments on my last few colors and a woman at work told me to sell her a bottle so eventually when I can make these the way I want to, who knows.. Maybe I'll see some fancy nail polish blogs doing reviews of my work ;P. I'll have to get some pictures to share with you. Sometime. Before the holidays are over...

Weekstagram & The Hintonburg Craft Fair

I realized that I haven't done a weekstagram post in quite a while. Whoops! More like monthstagram, amirite?? I also forgot to mention I hit my 200th post last post, how intense is that? I'm having a blast with this blog and I hope those of you who follow enjoy it too! Now on with the photos!!!

 I love palette knife paintings, especially this one I keep walking by in the mall lately.

This beautifully gnarled tree growing around a dead one while on a mini hike with the Mr last weekend. 

This weeks mani and my birthday gift from mom. Such a gorgeous ring!

An upside down shot of my table today at the Hintonburg Craft Fair, it was a pretty good day!  

I decided to change out the buttons on my coat. Just goth enough while still looking semi professional. 

Hat I made out of some scrap wool I got from work based off the pattern of my favourite hat. I think it came out pretty spot on, if I do say so myself!

The Hintonburg Craft Fair was today, and despite the first real snow of the year, it being freezing, and there being several other craft shows happening at the same time, there was an astounding turnout! There was a steady crowd the whole day, and a wonderful assortment of artists. Two delicious discoveries were these chocolate candied almonds (which I sampled but forgot to run back and buy!) from www.nut-candy-chocolate.com, delicious and gluten free (if that tickles your fancy), as well as some amazing mini cupcakes from Petite Treats. I bought a candy cane mint chocolate, chocolate with an orangey icing (I can't remember what kind it was technically but it was tasty) and a tiramisu one that the Mr claimed was also delish. Baked goods are my one weakness at a craft fair. If I don't buy anything else, I will always but a snack. 

Another fun first for this craft show worth mentioning was my use of the Square card reader, a credit card reader that plugs into the jack of your phone/tablet which allows you to accept Visa and Mastercard. The reader and app are free, and they only take a small percentage of each transaction (less than etsy/paypal do). It was a breeze and I must say not only did it make things more convenient for myself and customers, it made me feel that extra bit more professional.

If you're a vendor interested in expanding your payment options, it's definitely something to look into. The only thing I will note from my research is that the most they deposit in a month is $2002, if you go over that then they hold it for a certain amount of time. If you would be making more than that at shows with the card reader it might be a good idea to look into it further so you don't get hung up waiting for transfers. 

Craft Shows and Craft Swaps

Well, ladies and gents, I luckily enough was able to squeeze into the Hintonburg Artisan Craft Show's lineup on November 24th (Saturday) at the Hintonburg Community Centre from 10-4. I've got piles of half sewn things that I can't wait to show you all and that I will have ready come showtime.

Oooooh, what could they be!

In other news, I signed up for this years secret santa swap on craftster. I've got one thing started (part of the small) then I just have one 'medium' sized thing to make, plus extras. Always extras! I understand that not everyone wants to or can make extras for swaps, and that I may very well not get any extras, but I myself can't help but always spoil whomever I have as a partner. I'll share with you what I make, but after everything has been sent to avoid spoilers :).

A Curious Collective

Great news! Tamed Raven is going to be at the Curious Craft Fair (and swap!) Oct 14th. If you're in the Ottawa area, come on down and see what's going on :).

I'm going to have all my new stuff, goodies for Halloween (and maybe Christmas..) as well as a section of discounted jewelry that I want to destash. There'll be some seriously good deals not to mention everyone else at the fair that will have some great stuff I'm sure!

Holiday Gift Ideas: Good Eats

I've always loved the idea of making foods for presents. I've made cookies and cakes for birthdays, but the holidays are something of their own. Here's a few recipes that you can package up or take with you to a family potluck that will for sure please a crowd. Enjoy!

Hot Chocolate on a stick! Recipe here.

Perfect for a potluck. Cinnamon chips with apple pie dip.

One of my favourite recipes. Spinach dip just like from the restaurant Kelseys. 

Cherry fudge. Mmm. 

Who would argue with getting one of these with a bow around it?

Or some of these in a stocking??

Holiday Nails

I've been keeping my eyes open for the holiday nails slowly popping up online, and I've found some where for you. Also, if you want holiday glitter but can't find it anywhere, make it! Mix red and green glitter (and maybe some gold) and you're all ready. I know that's what I'm going to do :).

I especially love the squiggly trees on the thumbs.

A regular french tip outlined in stick/glue on gems.

Snowflake nail art stamps

Put thin strips of painters tape over white base coat, then paint red over and peel off :).

Use tape to mark off half your nail.

Gorgeous french tips!

Tape off parts of your nail for each color, add top coat.

If you have lots of patience.. tacky winter sweater pattern!