Kathleen

I'm a Scorpio, and in true personal-ad-cliché form, I really do love long walks on the beach. I do a little bit of a lot of different creative things, and I like to think I'm getting better as I go along. Having ideas and making stuff are my favourite things in the world.

I love getting and sending mail---I always had pen pals as a kid, and I did some Land Mail Art Objects and swaps in high school, and I'm thrilled to be getting back into it. I love letters, and receiving artwork of any kind in my mailbox makes me a very happy puppy.

• handmade stuff. :D if you painted it or sewed it or knit it or melted-and-poured it, etc., I'll be thrilled to receive it.
• earrings! mostly of the dangly or hoop variety. my ears are pierced and I'm not allergic to any metals
• animals! realistic, cutesy, kawaii...I'm especially crazy about sloths, snails, cats, armadillos, walruses, anything with tentacles, dinosaurs, whales, and rabbits. (I'm not too crazy about monkeys.)
• colours! I'm partial to black and silver and teal, but the more art I make, the more I realize I just love colours, in general, and all the interesting things that can be done with them.
• music, and music-themed art, especially if your favourite lyrics are incorporated. (and headphones. I love headphones as a design element.)
• similarly, books, and book-themed art.
• blank notecards for sending out ATCs and stuff in.
• ...or other pretty stationary. it's so much more fun to send nice-looking mail.
• the ocean/beach/palm trees.
• Halloween. my favourite holiday, hands down. it's never the wrong season for Halloween, for me. cute-Halloween, scary-Halloween, just-plain-weird-Halloween, I love all of it.
• maps. as part of your art, or just sent to me whole or in pieces so I can collage with them.
• rubber stamps, especially if they're hand-carved.
• decaffeinated and/or herbal tea.
• kawaii. I'm not an obsessive collector, but I think it's adorable.

a little of everything, but some of my favourites are: The Mountain Goats, Elliott Smith, Liz Phair, Veruca Salt, the Dresden Dolls, Okkervil River, Cake, the Thermals, Metric...

I also have a lot of love for my local classic rock station.

I'm always looking for new music, so mix CDs of your favourites will always be accepted with love. ;)

I love childrens' and YA books (my favourite classes that I took in college were in children's lit/writing for children). I love the Harry Potter books to pieces, as well as Garth Nix's Sabriel books, the His Dark Materials trilogy, and the Series of Unfortunate Events books (which take up almost an entire shelf on my bookshelf, but they're so pretty!).

My mom instilled a lot of love for sci-fi and fantasy novels in me as a kid (especially The Hobbit, which we read out loud together when I was eight), so I have a special place in my heart for genre fiction, especially if it's sharp and humorous, like Terry Pratchett's Discword books, or Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. I love Kurt Vonnegut, too. I've read Patricia C. Wrede's Enchanted Forest Chronicles an embarrassing number of times, and I have a lot of love for Robin McKinley's books (The Hero and the Crown, The Blue Sword, Sunshine...).

Francesa Lia Block and William Gibson both have worldbuilding skills---in very different ways!---of which I am truly envious.

If I had to pick a "favourite author," I'd probably have to say Connie Willis.

I'm also a Stephen King fan---not because I'm hugely into horror, but just because I like his style, especially the way I can tell when I read some of his novels that music and TV and movies and books are really important to him. (And they are to me, too.)

One of my favourite things that I've ever read, ever, was Neil Gaiman's epic "Sandman" graphic novel collection. I read each volume perched on crappy folding chairs in a Barnes & Noble in Manhattan in 2003, and I'd never have gotten out of college without them, I think.

the Lord of the Rings trilogy. The Station Agent. the first Pirates of the Caribbean movie, which I saw way, way too many times.

I never thought I'd love a zombie movie until I saw Shaun of the Dead. (and 28 Days Later amazed me, too.)

I was in elementary school during a really good time for Big Disney Summer movies like The Little Mermaid, Aladdin, and The Lion King, so those are all embedded firmly in my mind, especially the song lyrics. "Part of Your World" sing-along, anyone?

Veronica Mars, Friday Night Lights, The Simpsons, Freaks and Geeks, Firefly, Buffy, Slings & Arrows, Carnivàle, Rome, Stargate: Atlantis, Psych, MASH, Supernatural (the first three seasons, anyway), Modern Family, Brooklyn 99, Hannibal, Elementary

I've been making ATCs for a while now, and papercrafting in general, so any pretty papers, images, text, or various other bits and bobs for collaging, etc. will be put to good use!

I also love to crochet (I mostly make amigurumis and other cute objects rather than wearable items), and I'm just getting into needle felting. I just learned how to knit a month or so ago, and I'm loving it so far.

Someday I hope to get better at sewing and jewelery making.