Love for your eardrums

This post is a little different. Instead of talking about crafts, I'm going to talk about something I find very inspiring, and something that helps me work for the hours on end from the creating of a thought to the details of a finished product. Music.

I just discovered this morning that one of my favourite bands, Florence and the Machine have a new album. I'm giving it its first listen right now and it is so overly amazing. Her voice is enchanting and gets stuck in my head in the most wonderful ways and I am so happy to have new music to listen to. If you haven't heard their music before, or only heard a single or to, take the time to sit down to listen to her album (either of them) as a whole. I am a strong believer of listening to music as an album as opposed to songs. Yes, I make and listen to playlists, and shuffle songs, but if you want a truly great experience, find a great album and listen to it the whole way through. All earlier this week it was Muse flowing through my speakers, with breaks of Coeur de Pirate's 'Blonde' album and Feist's new 'Metals' album.

I used to rarely listen to female vocalists (with the exception of Sheryl Crow and No Doubt when I was young, and The Spice Girls of course.. haha) but recently I'm finding many more that I like.

If you want some new music to listen to, here are 10 artist suggestions in no particular order, with over half being female vocalists. I must force myself to stop at 10 or I will have a list so long it won't help anyone.. This music is VERY varied so I hope that you give it all a chance to see if you like it. Album names (that I am suggesting, not necessarily all) are in brackets and I've included a video so you can sample each artist without going anywhere. You're welcome ;).

1: Florence and the Machine (Lungs, Ceremonials)

2: Coeur de Pirate (Blonde, Coeur de Pirate)

3: Feist (Metals)

4: Grand Theft Bus (Birth of Confusion)

5: fun. (Aim and Ignite)

6: Slowcoaster (The Darkest of Discos, Leaves, Where are they going, Future Radio..)

7: Spinnerette (Spinnerette)

8: The Creepshow (Run For Your Life)

9: The Legion of Doom (Incorporated)

10: The Like (Release Me, Are you thinking what I'm thinking)

So tell me, what are you listening to?

Vintage Button Hair Pins

These are the pins I mentioned in a previous post that I made for the craft show coming up; I really love how they came out. They're all different, made with assorted buttons from the collection I took from home when I moved out.

They'll be $1.50 each, or 4 for $5, so if you're interested come out to the craft show on the 26th and pick a couple up!

NewNails post

I'm sitting at the table with lots of wire, vintage buttons and bobby pins making stuff for the craft show. Until I get all these finished and photographed for you, here's some nails I painted a white back that I just got around to photographing. The first set is up for sale here and the others should be up soon enough :) 

Frankenpolish

I wish there was an easier way to paint fake nails (AKA if they were on a nail wheel) because I'm sure I would be doing more of them since I can't paint my own nails now..

Hintonburg Artisan Craft Fair

For sale here.

Exciting news! I will be at the Hintonburg Artisan Craft Fair November 26th, 10am-5pm with a whole bunch of Tamed Raven goodness! Some old items, some new items, and some free items (while quantities last, of course.. which means I should start making them!)

The address is 1064 Wellington St. W, Ottawa. Take a trip down, partake in the festivites and get some one of a kind presents for everyone on your list (including yourself! ;) There are super deals, regular priced things and big ticket items. Something for everyone.

Now to take the list of things I need to make, do and get, and make myself a schedule. It's going to be a busy few weeks!

Come say hi!

New business cards with a home made stamp

The first time I made business cards I ordered them from Staples when they were 50% off, but when I ran out I really didn't want to pay so much for them again. I thought about ordering from some people from etsy so I could have them double sided with pictures of products and such, which I still may do someday, but in the end I decided to buy some scrapbooking paper and make my own as I needed them.

I was originally just writing the information on them in pen next to a wing stamp from my old logo but I have since changed all my layouts and wanted something new.

I ended up making the stamp from a white eraser. There's lots of tutorials for it online, but what I did was write the logo how I wanted it in pencil on a piece of paper, then going over it in sharpie. Then lay the paper down on the eraser and rub/scratch the paper so a slight ink transfer happened, then went over that in sharpie. After cutting out all the unwanted bits with my utility knife, I ended up with this. I think it looks great, and the best part is that the eraser picks up the texture of the ink pad fabric, which is a nice unintended surprise.

I am so pleased with these! The best part is I can use it on any paper so I can have various patterns depending on what scrapbooking stuff I find.

I think at some point I may mount the eraser onto something sturdy so it doesn't warp or split, but for the time being this is more than sufficient for me.

Mens Shirt Recons

I discovered a giant tear in one of my boyfriends button ups that just couldn't be fixed (major fraying) but I like the fabric, and the shirt brings nice memories so I saved it hoping to think of something to do with it.

Here's some clothing recons from mens shirts I found while looking for inspiration!

Tutorial

Buy online

Tutorial

Tutorial

(Video) tutorial, no sewing required! Many ideas

Tutorial

10 Facts

So for those of you who have been following or stumbling across my blog, I figured I would post some facts about myself, so you know a bit more about who's life you keep reading about between the craftsy posts :).

1: I love to read. I'm currently reading Day By Day Armageddon by J.L. Bourne, I love The Hunger Games but my favourite is Harry Potter. <3

2: I went to university for a year for french immersion, and while I was there I had to sign a waver saying I wouldn't speak english. If they catch you 3 times they'd kick you out.

3: I named the black squirrel outside our apartment Jeremiah. He's cool.

4: I spent 9 months of my life travelling across Canada with a program called Katimavik, where you volunteer for non profit organizations. If you are a Canadian between 17-21, you should look into it. I met many wonderful people, learned a lot about the world and myself, and had a blast.

5: I'm lucky enough to be head over heels with a wonderful man, and I've never been happier.

6: Some major music loves are The Used, Mother Mother, Grand Theft Bus, Slowcoaster, fun., Florence and the Machine, Tool, and Kings of Leon.

7: I learned to sew on a Singer treadle machine. My mother taught me to machine sew by helping me embroider little messages onto facecloths for dad for Christmas.

8: I am so overly obsessed and in love with weenie dogs. Its to the point where my boyfriend can tell when I see a picture of one online by how I start giggling wildly.

9: I have 2 favourite videos on youtube. 'All About Halifax' by picnicface, and the cat that says 'whyyyyy I eyes ya'. I will laugh indefinitely at both.

10: I wish I had known my full (or what I see as full) potential at sewing/crafting when I was in school, and started my store earlier. I think I would be in a much different place than where I am now running my own business, but that being said, who knows what would have changed! I don't regret a thing.

~

So there you are, some fun facts about me. Care to share some fun facts about you?