9 Songs Currently on my Playlist (and One downloadable freebie)

You know what's almost as much fun as peeking into someone's closet and scoping their wardrobe?

 Scrolling through their iPod and finding some juicy new tunes :)
 So here are a few songs that I have had on repeat lately. 


1.  "San Francisco" - The Mowgli's

2.  "Home Is Not Places"- The Apache Relay

3.  "Champion"- The Chevin

4. "Welcome Home" - Radical Face

5.  "Safe and Sound"- Capital Cities

6.  "Night Call"- Kavinsky

7.  "Radioactive"- Imagine Dragons

8.  "Sail"- Awolnation

9.  "Comes and Goes"- Greg Laswell




Fair is fair; I shared mine, now you share yours!  Tell me in the comments what you have been listening to lately!  


And just because, I have a free download for you!  It's my favorite quote about music :)
I'm not a pro at converting files and hosting and all that computery stuff, so I hope it is a good enough resolution and easy to grab.








Just right click and Save the image below to your computer! Print it out, use it as a card, in your projects, whatever! All I ask is that you do not sell it or use for profit. Enjoy! 

Or click here to download from my Google docs

What's on my Playlist

"Listening" by prettylittlethieves on Etsy

I get unnerved when things are too quiet. It just freaks me out, and I can't get anything done without SOME sort of noise in the background. Listening to music pumps me up; unlike TV I don't get distracted by the movement (yes, I'm that simple), and I can concentrate better on what I'm working on. So I thought it might be fun to share what's been on my playlist this week while I work, and hopefully you can share some of your favorites!

1. Foggy Dew- The Chieftains
2. What You Know- Two Door Cinema Club
3. Young Blood- The Naked and Famous
4. Electrify- Mute Math
5. Slow Poison- The Bravery
6. Girls Not Grey- AFI
7. Phantom Limb- The Shins
8. Help, I'm Alive- Metric
9. Dog Days- Florence and the Machine
10. The Killing Moon- Echo & the Bunnymen
11. Percussion Gun- White Rabbits
12. A Girl Like You- Edwyn Collins
13. Heads Will Roll- Yeah Yeah Yeahs
14. Midnight Sun- The Sounds
15. I Started Something- The Smiths
16. Ho Hey- The Lumineers
17. The Big Fellah- Black47
18. King and Lionheart- Of Monsters and Men
19. Everyday is Like Sunday- Morrissey
20. Kingdom of Rust- Doves
21. My Racing Thoughts- Jack's Mannequin
22. Never Let Me Down Again- Depeche Mode
23. Slow- Grouplove
24. Intervention- Arcade Fire
25. Still In Love Song- The Stills
26. Gimme Shelter- The Rolling Stones
27. Opportunities- Pet Shop Boys
28. Whirring- The Joy Formidable
29. This Head I Hold- Electric Guest
30. Soul Meets Body- Death Cab for Cutie

So that's what I've been listening to!

And I need it, because I'm going to be introducing something new in my shop next week! Can't say quite what it is yet, but I'll give you two hints- it's unisex, and lots of people have been asking for them for some time!

So what's on your playlist? Tell me in the comments, I'm always looking for new music!

What my work sounds like

One of the awesome things about using the materials that I use, is that there is such a story each piece tells just beyond what it looks and feels like. If you read sheet music you can probably find snippets of music here and there that you can hum aloud and get a feel for what it sounded like.

While it is so fun to be able to look up a song on YouTube and hear what it used to sound like, sometimes I am hesitant to do so. A lot of times I make a piece listening to my iPod and have a certain “sound” or feeling in mind, and I want to take the artwork in another direction than the emotions it was originally meant to convey. Does that make sense?

But sometimes curiosity also gets the best of me. So today I want to share with you how a few of my pieces “sound”.

In my Etsy shop

This box I made using all material from the sheet music for a song called “On the ‘Gin ‘Gin ‘Ginny Shore” from 1922. I had to be pretty careful about what lyrics I showed on this piece as some of them were pretty racist (as was some of the cover art I omitted). Even though it is labeled as a foxtrot I thought it would be a bit melancholy and nostalgic. Take a listen to this old recording of it on YouTube and see what you think! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u71ITMsIE5I

In my Etsy shop

Remember this box? I did the little tutorial on how to decoupage with it? Well, I always thought this would be a fairly upbeat, fast song. I was pretty surprised when I heard this recording of it. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wEqu1NUUFRg

In my Etsy shop

Ok, I never really knew what to make of this one. “The Old Oaken Bucket” cover illustration is bizarre to say the least. It depicts a family bundled up and staring down the deep, dark, well. Apparently mom and dad felt it was worth educating little Tommy there about the nature of wells and buckets. I really had no idea what this song would have sounded like. Luckily someone posted a very old recording of it on YouTube and I satisfied my curiosity! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wI4ej8b1VeE

In my Etsy shop

I made this plaque from an advertisement for a song called “Ragging the Scale”. It pretty much looks like a devilishly fast, crazy song. I didn’t expect many surprises here, but it was really fun to hear how it used to sound! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TF_EKCXVsV0

So I'm curious to hear what you think, were you surprised by any of these songs? And in your own work, do you design/create with certain music in mind? What would you describe the "sound" of your art as?

Pucker Up and Whistle

"Pucker Up and Whistle (Til the Clouds Roll By)" is another great piece of music I found on my last trip. It's in better condition than most of the pieces I buy for cutting, but everything was so cheap (the lady just gives me a bunch of this stuff sometimes) that I couldn't pass it up. I mean, look at that art on the front! So romantic!

There are a lot of names on this piece, and I really wanted to know some of the story behind them.

Let's start with Blanche Franklyn. One of the things I love about sheet music from this era, is that women were a huge part of the industry. In this case, Blanche was the lyrics. She was a vaudeville actress collaborated with Nat Vincent on other songs of the day. Here is a photo of her from the University of Washington library.

Blanche Franklyn

Besides that, I couldn't find a whole lot out there on Blanche. Mr. Vincent, on the other hand...
Nat Vincent was born Nathaniel Hawthorne Vincent (love it) on November 6, 1889. Nat was also in vaudeville, and you actually probably know one of his songs. Ever heard "I'm Forever Blowing Bubbles"? I bet you have! He also worked as a sheet music demonstrator in department stores, and was part of the radio recording group "The Happy Chappies". More info on Nat and his career can be found here.

Ok, so who is this winsome lady on the cover? It says "Introduced by Yvette Rugel". Well, yep, that is none other than Ms. Rugel. I really could not find a whole lot on Yvette either, which is a shame, because I would love to know more about some of these women. Apparently she was a vaudeville actress (no surprise there) during the last wave of vaudeville and also preformed on Broadway. She must have been a pretty big deal because her face appears on at least a few different pieces of music (which I am assuming she preformed as well). Here is a photo from her a little later in life it looks like.

So here is something kind of awesome...someone recorded "Pucker Up and Whistle" on piano with all the lyrics...enjoy!
Click here!

One of a kind music pendant Giveaway!

It looks like we have a giveaway prize!! It was close between the amber glass earrings and the Chorus pendant, but the pendant edged out for the win!

The giveaway will run for two weeks, ending on Wednesday March 16th. I'll pull a random number from random.org and the corresponding comment number will be the winner! I'll contact the winner to let them know (so please make sure you have a way to reach you either in your comment or profile).

This absolutely one-of-a-kind necklace features a wooden pendant decoupaged with antique sheet music. There are musical notes, tabs, and the word "Chorus" on the front, and a beautiful green bird motif on the reverse (both elements from antique sheet music). The front and back are varnished for smoothness and protection. It is hung on a silver plated bail from a 16 inch (40.64 cm) silver chain; it is a little longer than choker length. A really sweet, special piece!

If you can't wait to win this one, you can visit my shop and purchase a similar necklace! I have three different ones, each unique and beautiful!
http://www.etsy.com/listing/67849607/roses-wedding-wearable-art-one-of-a-kind
http://www.etsy.com/listing/67847090/honey-wearable-art-one-of-a-kind
http://www.etsy.com/listing/68166841/dream-girl-wearable-art-one-of-a-kind


So, if you would like a chance to win this one-of-a-kind necklace, here's all you have to do!

Each number is a different way to enter. Enter as many times and different ways as you want, leaving a seperate comment for each entry.

1. Favorite my shop on Etsy http://www.etsy.com/shop/ScrapHappyLyrebird and leave a comment here with your Etsy username

2. Favorite something from my shop http://www.etsy.com/shop/ScrapHappyLyrebird and leave a comment here letting me know what it is!

3. Follow my blog and leave a comment here!

4. Blog about this giveaway and you guessed it, leave a comment here with the link

5. Become a fan on facebook http://www.facebook.com/gildeddays and leave a comment here

6. Tweet about this giveaway. You can tweet once a day and leave a comment for each tweet. You can use this tweet if you're stuck for something to say:

Enter to win this one of a kind music pendant by Gilded Days at http://gildeddays.blogspot.com/ Ends 3/16 #giveaway #handmade

Good luck, and have fun!