67; Carnival Fortune Teller

Top: SheTigerVintage • Sports bra: five years old, can't remember • Leggings: Nasty Gal • Wedges: Maurices • Head scarf: Fanneuil Hall, Boston • Pearl necklace: botique in Lockhart Tx • Amythest: Waloosi's Emporium, Leominster Ma • Blue vile: Ebay • Bone bracelet: Antique • Crow ring: Moon Raven Designs on Etsy • Elephant ring: Urban Outfitters • Chainmail bracelet: King Richard's Faire

I felt so 1920s in this. I don't quite know if carnies were around in that decade, but surely we had some mystics and soothsayers back then. I want to wear this forever.

Funny thing about yesterday. I wore a completely different outfit that finally perfected a marriage between my wet look pants and my Tapestry Litas. I was out getting my hair coloured and the train getting Kathryn and I to the neighbouring town got us there an hour early. We met up with a friend and we walked over to her new apartment, and as we were about to meet the porch to the building, I stepped on a rock, a sizeable but small one. It knocked my balance off, and I had no ability to catch myself and correct it (because this sort of a thing happens from time to time, in the area I live in. Just look at the background of these photos; it's the end of the cul-de-sac!) and being that I was in platform heels, I fell forward! I was all right; scraped my knuckle on the pavement, but my left knee broke my initial landing. My Forever21 wet look pants did nothing to save me and they tore like wet paper (shock!). As did my knee. How embarrassing am I?

My pants are mostly all right, just with a tattered scrape through the knee, and I'm not sure if I want to just leave it, or try to fix it. (In the immediate future, I mean. Strangely, a sewing machine came in the mail for me as a Christmas present from Kathryn, so it seemed pretty serendipitous.) Unfortunately, my knee was in a terrible state, and my friend had no band-aids available, so I spent a half an hour applying pressure to it with tissue and had to leave it be when I left for my hair appointment. It was nearly two hours later when I was able to finally tend to it, and even right now as I type this, it's sore as hell. (And not lovely to look at.)

You'd think this all would have ruined my day -- and I was pretty pissed; it was a brilliant ensemble -- but between getting early Christmas presents from aforementioned friend, and getting my hair coloured up, I was pretty okay. When I got home, I had a package from Nasty Gal waiting for me, a package I had been happily anticipating. I scored a pair of these gorgeous velvet leggings from their website, and they're selling out quick. (They also come in black! It was hard not to buy both.) I found a few sellers online for leggings like these, but either the photos were cut off, making it hard to see how they fit, or they were on a hanger, making it even more difficult to see how they fit. Eventually I decided to spend the extra cash at a store that I've only heard good things about. These things are amazing. They're extremely comfortable, and they're high waisted. Genius. As soon as I opened the package, I threw them on. I nearly slept in them.


In other news, Kathryn's on a conquest to go from dark blonde to a firey copper auburn. She tried out what seemed to be a much more temporary-than-promised hair dye, that was also more of a red colour than really expected. She looks pretty awesome as a red head, though! (Considering she has strong Norwegian ties, and a lot of Scandinavians are red headed as well as blonde, so she has that on her side. It really works well with her pale eyes.)

Doesn't she look great? And dying her hair means I'll get to help, which is awesome, because I keep finding myself interested in the idea of going to beauty school and working in salon. She in turn will be practicing the same thing, as I hope to stop going to the salon so often and try to do my roots at home, and applying toner on my hair in-between touch-ups. In fact, I hope to do some toner tomorrow. I do hope Manic Panic's Virgin Snow toner holds up to the hype I hear about it.

Also, I may finally have another giveaway lined up! Stay tuned.



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Shop Spotlight: Moon Raven Designs

I decided I wanted to start a little editorial series about shops I've come in contact with that I love, both to gush and to give said shops a little more exposure, and my first installment will be featuring my current favourite Etsy shop: Moon Raven Designs.

 

(Note: the availability of items I mention will always change, which is more reason why you should check the shop out yourself once you've read this!)

I first discovered Moon Raven Designs while searching for a Dia de los Muertos ring on Etsy, and stumbled upon their Onyx Black Sugar Skull Cocktail Ring, gorgeously detailed with floral designs all throughout the skull's face. Despite the fact that I wanted such a ring for the classic variation of bright colours, I was so taken by the intricacy of the ring I'd discovered, that I had to add it to my Favourites.

Going through said Favourites later on, I stumbled upon the ring and wondered if the shop had anything else jewelry-related to offer. What I found was far better.

Skulls, talons, antlers, teeth, and beaks greeted me in a metallic colour spectrum of glowing bronze, shining silver, warm gold, and charcoal black, and hues in between. Bird skulls stared wide-eyed at me, wolves and wild cats grinned at me, and I found myself transfixed by what I was looking at. I never thought such a shop existed.

Moon Raven Designs is run by Michael Doyle and his wife Dianne, and is based in British Columbia, Canada. The 'full time wildlife artisan' has been designing these beautiful pieces since 1974, and in an interview with Freedom Spark talked about the origins of his craft, beginning with leather works. (You can read the interview here.) He is quoted as saying, "I have always been inspired by nature from a very young age, and with living in British Columbia, it is all around us."

3D African Fruit Bat Skull Pendant

Your first thought at skull rings and claw necklaces may be something resembling Hot Topic or Spencer's, but I insist that you'd be mistaken. Each piece is beautifully created, realistic and artful. They're less like jewelry you'd find at a mall and more like what you'd expect to find in a mysterious lodge out in the middle of the woods. Many pieces are cast from real skulls and bones of animals that have passed on (from natural causes) and sized down for a more acceptable size for jewelry, though some pieces are perfectly to scale. The same goes for his claw pendants and many other items.

If sporting an animal's skull isn't your thing, Moon Raven Designs offers many other pieces of jewelry (such as under the shop section 'Assorted Necklaces') with a vague steampunk feel, such as keys, wishbones, and gothic crosses (be aware, some may be housing a tiny knife within!) to name a few. Perhaps if you're into dinosaurs, you may have enough cash to pick up a Triceratops or T-Rex skull necklace -- the latter complete with articulated jaw.

Moon Raven Designs even offers anatomy pieces on the human side of the spectrum. Anatomically correct heart pendants dominate this section, but you might still find a humerus bone necklace, or a brain pendant. Really, if you can think of it, they probably have it; if they don't, they're open for custom orders.

If you're a cat lover, then your feline friend doesn't have to be left out either! Moon Raven Designs even provides small bird skull necklaces for your kitty that you can even share to wear as a bracelet or anklet.
 

Sterling Silver Elk Antler Ring

This shop is nothing short of amazing; catering to all of your wildlife needs, while simultaneously inspiring goth to be classy. Moon Raven Designs gives a whole new outlook on nature and the cycle of life, and brings a unique take of a world outside of our own, a world that we too easily forget in our technologically-driven society.

Get in touch with your nature-loving side and take a look at Moon Raven Design’s Etsy shop!

Life Size Crow Skull Ring (Weathered Finish)

Recommended items:Antique Gold or Polished Metal Crow Skull Ring
Bronze Bighorn Ram Skull Necklace
Oxidized Sterling Silver Hummingbird Skull Necklace
Bronze Sabertooth Tiger Skull Pendant with Articulated Lower Jaw

Basically, all of the skull stuff.

(Thanks to Dianne for allowing me to talk about them here on my blog! ♥)