October 2011: Well ... the best laid plans of mice & men. Hectic school days last spring turned into a super busy kid-ful summer, and now into school again. This year's school is even more time-intensive, keeping me up virtually every weeknight until midnight working on school stuff. sigh Needless to say, crafts in general, and definitely swaps, are out of the picture for now. Some day I'll rejoin!

February 23, 2011: Right decision to lay low & not take on any commitments outside of school & family ... it's been very hectic. Miss you guys - one of these days I'll pop back in to do a swap or two - though at this rate, I won't be surprised if it's not until school's done for the year.

January 5, 2011: After all, I've decided to completely drop out of my swaps at present. Life's too hectic, and while I do love crafting, I am cutting out all unnecessary commitments, to keep things as simple as possible.

December 14: Ahhh. Caught up, again! I'm not swapping for the time being. In the new year, I have a full course load (yep, going back to school!) and of course, the family responsibilities ... I'll join back in the swapping fun once I know how much time I have to commit. Happy holidays, everyone!

Also ... I'm severely editing my group membership. Once back in the swing of things, I will be knocking on virtual doors again to get back in, but meanwhile, it doesn't make sense for me to keep receiving group messages, etc.

I'm a SAHM, and sometimes WAHM, in the Canadian prairies. My family is the #1 joy in my life, followed closely with friends & crafting, lol, and crafting with friends!

A Note About Send Dates:

When I complete a swap, put it in an envelope, seal it, address it, and put postage on it, I mark it sent. This might be early in the same morning it hits the mailbox, or it might be (more likely) late in the day, when the package won't see a mailbox 'til the following day. It might be on a Friday evening, in which case the next mail service leaving my town is Monday at 5pm. However - it is when I mark it "sent" because otherwise I'd never remember to come back & follow up with the paperwork end of things. So if you are a postmark-checker, please note that it would be quite normal for mine to be marked the following business day from whenever I marked it sent on swap-bot; and further, that if that swap-bot date is a Friday, the postmark won't be 'til the Monday. Not trying to make my send date look better than it really is - this is just the only way I can keep up on the swapbot red tape. (o:

I enjoy many different crafts ...

• knitting
• crochet
• sewing
• quilting
• felting/fulling/needlefelting
• beading/jewelery making
• scrapbooking & other papercraft (cardmaking, journalmaking)
• dyeing (wool & fabric)

On the back burner are a few "must learn" crafts

• spinning (have both drop spindle and wheel)
• batik
• soapmaking (not melt & pour)
• body products such as lotion, lip balm, cream (have already done many of the bath products)
• polymer clay work (have lots of fimo, just haven't sat down to figure it out yet)
• tatting

These are a few of my favorite things...

• vintage & antique things in general
• love vintage Japan, Occupied Japan, and Nippon
• especially from the 20s, 30s, 40s
• especially kitchen-y things
• fabric - love wovens - have a new love for those little Japanese miniature prints - woodlands, gnome, fairy tale themes, as well as trees etc - and always natural fabrics
• wool in all of its manifestations
• in general, I love original artwork of all sorts, my fave being pottery, stained glass, batik
• I have a newfound love of vintage buttons and czech glass buttons
• would love to cover some buttons/magnets, and would love supplies for that

Fave colors:

Well, that depends what for. To wear - deep reds & earthtones in winter, aqua/plum in warmer weather. Decor colors - warm - mostly deep red, taupe, dark brown, tan - but any earthy, and autumnal colours are lovely to me

Yummy things

• love coffee (regular roast, though, not dark)
• milk chocolate - BUT we have just moved to only having fair trade chocolate and coffee (If you wonder why - google it, and you'll be appalled by what you find!)

Music

• I cannot acquire a taste for jazz
• country music is so hit & miss for me, I prefer to give it a miss or choose it myself
• not big on techno, electronic, or metal, etc
• everything else is great
• swearing does not offend me
• probably mostly folksy - bluesy - alternative(y? - ha) - rock - new wave. Oh - and some Reggae, mon.

Things I'd love to receive

• full strip of fabric (any size, 2" or bigger) in a rock'n'roll/ punk rock/ rock chick type of theme
• embroidery floss, any colors - I was reducing my craft stash & gave away a ton of it, thinking I had another little stash, then realized that I'd given it all away. ha ha. Silly me.
• interesting brads
• vintage ad about Hoosier cabinets - I ordered one several months ago, and it never arrived )o: (nor did my refund!)
• stuff for making magnets - especially earth magnets or some sort of magnets that are not too thick but do stick well
• hand-quilters' leather thimble
• an etsy surprise is always a welcome treat!
• TEA - if you're sending me tea, I'll love it if it's a fruity herbal tea ... I'm not a fan of chai, most spices (except cinnamon), ginger, mint, licorice/anise, chamomile - how pathetic is that?!? - BUT - I do love almost all fruity teas

Themes

For swaps that require a theme (e.g., fatbooks) - there are a few genres I'd be interested in:
- steampunk
- Victorian
- Art Deco
- Art Nouveau
- Eames Era/ Atomic Age/ mid-century Modern
- 1964
- motherhood
- vintage (50s-ish) ads - amusing, offensive, etc
- Day of the Dead - this is also my birthday, and I'm finding the celebration fascinating - would love anything DOD!

A few dislikes...

• I'm allergic to cats. Doesn't mean I can't accept a swap from a cat-owner, but if the kitty has been rolling around in it or anything ... well... you know.
• perfume - we use mostly unscented products, and while I don't mind very lightly-scented bath & body products, I don't like perfume in general. Don't use air fresheners, candles, tarts, etc. And Please please please don't send something that you've "freshened" up by squirting with perfume. It will hit the trash - we have too many allergies & asthmatics here.
• smoking - if you/yours smoke, don't send a scented dryer sheet or squirt with perfume - smoke is easier to air out than those!
• I don't like seafood. So please don't send me a clam. lol.
• given the choice I will always take handmade over store-bought (or, the compromise - buying from a handmade-goods artisan on etsy, HyenaCart, ShopHandmade, etc)
• well, now I've tried FBs & LBs, and they are not my cup of tea. Please don't send them to me.
• matchboxes - they're so darn cute, but I have no idea what to do with them - the only exception, really, is a cute (to a six-year-old) matchbox shrine that my girl would like.
• Dotees - not that I don't like them - I think they're mighty cute - I just don't have the knack for making nice ones myself, so I've dropped myself out of the Dotee-swapping world )o:
• journals that are already journalled - I don't get it
• markdown language - apparently I thought I'd make things prettier by adding titles & lists & stuff, and now look. What a mess.

Rating

• well - I will always rate - if you have not gotten a rating from me & think it's time, please send me a gentle reminder - I could easily overlook a swap or swapper
• I always send my swaps. I have been burned a few times (outside of Swapbot) and it really bothers me - it's just not in the spirit of swapping to not send your goodies. So please. Send yours, too. If mine seems uber-late arriving, please be sure to message me rather than leaving a 1 rating - I don't fail to send, and would prefer a chance to re-send over an unwarranted 1.
• at the risk of jinxing myself, I have something else to say about rating. So far, with 170+ swaps under my belt, I have an overall 5.0 rating. I like it that way, of course - lol. But I concede that some day maybe I won't. I've heard tales of swappers getting unwarranted 3s & 1s ... and think it's sad that there is no appeal mechanism for those cases. If I'm running a swap, I do my best to keep flakers out - but if people have what they believe to be unwarranted poor ratings, I am willing to listen to the story & decide from there whether or not to permit the swapper in the swap. As a rater - there is a place for 1s & 3s, and I will never mistake that for where a 5 belongs. When in doubt, I first re-read the swap details to see if the item did meet the bare minimum requirements, and second, I contact the person if not. I urge all swappers to be fair & seriously consider before leaving a low rating.

Canada Post

I always send my swaps. If I have to be late for any reason, I will contact both the receiver and the swap coordinator, but that would only be in the case of dire emergency, which of course, I'm hoping never happens. So if you think it should be in your hands & isn't, please contact me. Canada Post can be s-l-o-w sometimes (to be fair, I suspect it's really the border service that's the hold-up, not the postal service so much).

Often, I will fill my envies up to a postage-increase threshhold, which for the USA happen at 1 oz, 1.8 oz, 3.5 oz; there is also 7 oz but the rates are pretty darn costly for a tag or low-postage swap ... just trying to remain able to participate.

Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, Repurpose, Regift

Please dont' be offended by my recycling and regifting! I use previously-used packing when possible, and if I haven't a use for what I'm sent, I will offer it to someone else. Please don't take offense at this - I would much rather see it loved than sitting around, collecting dust. It might be an amazing work of art, but if it's not my taste, or in whatever way it doesn't fit in, or I simply have too many & need to part with some, I want to find it a new home. Speaking of recycling, if your envelope has actual postage stamps on it (not stamped at the post office or printed out at home), it'll be saved & used for other art ... so if possible, I'd love to see real postage stamps!

Tags, etc

When I am tagged, I add the tag to my crafting "to do" list, and get to it as soon as it's convenient. I have a loose rule of thumb that I want to be sending it out within 2 weeks or so. If you tag me & want speedy shipment, please message me to let me know about the urgency.

Just a handy spot to keep tabs on my private swaps! I get carried away in such a flurry of tagging that if I didn't keep track somewhere, I would not know who to thank half the time!

Current tags - eagerly stalking the letter carrier!

• savvygal - Deco Books, deco tag - profile inspired deco (May 30)
• ladyhope - Cdn Swappers with Hearts tag - penguin fabric ribbon (Aug 26)
• roseanna - deco group - vintage lingerie deco (Aug 27)
• mariaisabel - The Swapping Artist group tag game - small artwork by me (Aug 29)
• WyndTalker - Pagan/Wiccan PIB - a set of runes (!) that she is making - fabulous!! (Sept 6)
• BarkleysMommy - R&R Handmade only tag - 2 paper cranes! (Sep 8)
• ArdeaSwap - NFS - I wish for sewing tag - surprise! (Sep 21)

It's Not Looking Good...

A note about flakers: I have a few myself (see below), and that is disappointing. However - I have hosted swaps for my children to join, and in both of my recent kids' swaps, there has been a flaker. How repulsive. Do people have no conscience? Flaking is abhorrent on its own. But when you know that the recipient is a child - how could that not make you do the right thing? Argh. I'm very frustrated and disappointed by this.

I used to have a list of flakers here. However, that only seemed to encourage good swappers to angel for them. I appreciate it truly - but don't want to leave a list here that might keep having that effect. So I've taken it off. I had five people with nine tags/swaps for flakes. But life goes on. New flakes will still be listed, because odds are, the person is still active on swap-bot and I don't want to contribute to another person being disappointed. But meanwhile, I'm going to enjoy losing that darn list.