My Music, My Muse

This post is a part of the Etsy Bloggers Street Team Blog Carnival. This week's topic is "Your crafting “helpers” — pets, kids, muses, etc." and is being hosted by Nora Bella over at her blog.

Since my crafting room has been designated a kitty-free zone (can you believe that they eat paper?), these two cutie pies are shut out in the cold, cruel world (napping in dad's chair) while I craft.

And so, I end up in my own little world of paper, glue, floss, and prismacolors while I create. All alone--just me, the sunshine, and my trusty stereo. My stereo (that's it, up on that shelf there) was a gift from my parents when I moved into my first apartment. It can hold up to 5 cds, play tapes, and pick up most radio broadcasts with a little finagling of it's wire antenna.

I like to listen to soothing music while I work--things that melt and flow into the background so I can use the melody to move me along, but not feel rushed. The soothing effect of the music also puts me into a sort of meditative state, where I can work steadily instead of being distractable and impatient. If I am not feeling particularly crafty, often just turning on my music puts me in the mood.

So what exactly do I listen to? Rarely the radio, as the commercials and the chatter break my flow. Instead I have my CD changer queued up with:

Depeche Mode Violator
Lightly dark but utterly hypnotic, the deep voice of the lead singer and the thrumming beats keep me happily working. I was introduced to Depeche Mode in high school by the friend I would later room with in college. Love this album.

Savage Garden's Self Titled Album
I fell in love with Savage Garden about the same time everyone else did--somewhere between "I Want You" and "Truly, Madly, Deeply"--only my love never left. Their smooth melodies, subtle harmonies, and bittersweet lyrics resonated with me then and now. I listened to this CD on loop for months when I first got it. I listened to it endlessly on loop while working on paintings for my Art Studio classes. And I still listen to it almost anytime I sit down to work.

Dido No Angel
My husband bought me this album for Christmas one year and I was initially unsure whether I should just return it or not. "Thank You" had been beaten to death by radio stations unable to venture out of their 40-60 "top" songs. Although I had originally liked the song, I had given up on it as whiny and overplayed. But we had a 6 hour drive back home, so we popped it in the player anyway, and I fell in love. This is one of the rare CDs that I listen to on loop where I know very few of the lyrics, but I LOVE the melodies. This is one of those mellow, soul connecting CDs and it soon became a quick favorite to create to.

Cindy Thompson My World
I bought this CD on a whim (looking for new music to put in my CD player on those long car rides home) on the basis of a single song, "Always Liked That Best". The album did not disappoint--sweetly lyric with tales of everyday love cherished and lost, it captured my heart easily. This is an album I love to sing along to (although I rarely do while creating because my attention is elsewhere) because of it's "everywoman" nature and unpretentious style.