august-7-2013: i am on vacation from swap-bot T^T it's august already and i haven't swapped since april? how did that happen... and i feel like i can't come back this fall either. i got a new job, and a part time job... and i signed up for some shows to sell my jewelry in november. literally all i have time for after work is sleeping and eating.

my name is nina. i love cute, sweet and pretty things as well as loud, dark and grungy things. i love packing gifts for people, not only for special occasions but just because too. i have too many shoes but i'm not one of those girls who has too many shoes... right. i enjoy silence and wondering through museums.

i love tiny things, bunnies, live rock concerts, k-drama, sunshine, driving, pretty boys, taking naps, working(sometimes), little details, when people smile like no one is watching, naturally long eyelashes on boys, magazines, iced tea, valentine's day, eating sweets, traveling, ect.

i am a cake decorator~! i love everything about sweets, not only making and eating them but collecting sweet related items too. i also have an etsy shop where i make and sell sweets related items as well as japanese inspired accessories.

this is a favorite cake i've made recently. unfortunately i didn't design it as the customer requested it from a picture but i did color all of the flowers. it took a lot of work but i'm really happy with the outcome and so were they.

this section is long because it details what i expect from kawaii swaps. if we've swapped kawaii successfully in the past then you already know this information.

all of my swaps follow this outline KAWAII 101 from the group I LOVE Kawaii!. if you're swapping kawaii with me i expect you to follow this outline as well.

kawaii is the japanese slang for something cute. and not just "cute" but "omg, it's so cute i could just die!". there are a lot of japanese products that can be described as kawaii like clothing or furniture, even amazing adorable people can be called kawaii.

on swap-bot, the kawaii swapping community focuses on stationery products that are defined by the term. 98% of the time you will see swaps out there that say "brand only" and this means the stationery items must be a japanese name brand item. it's not so hard to find such items so if the requirements state "brand only" or just simply "kawaii", you know what to expect.

the other 2% of the time, kawaii swaps are not so confined to stationery brands. you may see swaps that are "anything kawaii" and these include even korean brand or off brand items. swaps such as handmade postcards or ATCs often have a looser requirement.

BEWARE OF KNOCK-OFFS AND LICENSED ITEMS

i want to say the majority of the kawaii swapping community here knows what real brand is and that is what they trade. if you jump into a kawaii swap with veteran swappers and send them all hello kitty you got at the target dollar spot, be sure to expect a very sour reaction.

licensed items are just like the dollar spot hello kitty. sanrio, the brand which created hello kitty, will often sell items in stores other than the sanrio store. stores like target or walmart have the permission from sanrio to sell those items. often they are lower quality and generic designs.

a kawaii swapper on swap-bot is a collector, they what the special sanrio characters from japan and not the same plain hello kitty from down the street.

FOR MY SWAPS

now that you know more about kawaii on swap-bot, if we're in a swap where the item requirements are kawaii then send kawaii brand items only. this means no disney, no diddl, only kawaii brands such as q-lia, kamio, crux, san-x, sanrio, ect.

if we're in a swap where the requirements are "kawaii/cute/anything" then you can send non brand cuteness but it has to have that same japanese aesthetic. for example: a teddy bear is "cute" but rilakkuma is "kawaii"

THESE ARE NOT KAWAII please stop sending

• morning glory(blue bear, ect.)
• orange story(lovely white, ect.)
• pucca
• diddl
• suzy's zoo
• any disney
• thomas the train
• sponge bob
• my little pony
• littlest pet shop

DO NOT SEND: the "duh" list

• dollar store items - i throw them out
• broken, bent or damaged items - so rude, wow
• expired candy - i've been sent too many times
• used items - it's just rude
• obviously used and dirty items - again, have received more times than should
• anything that smells like cigarettes - it literally makes me sick

opening swap mail is supposed to be fun not gross.

• cram cream
• crux
• fortissimo
• kamio
• mind wave
• pool cool
• sanrio
• san-x
• swimmer
• q-lia
• re-ment too ♥

characters i like

i LOVE rilakkuma and haven't tired of him at all

anything and everything jewel cat

BEARS

GIRLS

bunnies

cram cream

hearts

donuts

gachapin

from san-x: chocopa panda, chou-fleur, jewel cat, piggy girl, monokuro boo and baby boos, sentimental circus, ruu and suu, sabo kappa cactus, boots kutusita nyanko, suki to issyo, neko no panya, banana boss, ect.

from sanrio: i really like sugarbunnies, kuromi, tenorikuma, shinkansen, pankunchi, masyumaro, cherinacherine, cuter my melody with pink ears, cuter hello kitty(like pink or pastel colors), chi chai monchan, chibimaru, pandapple, ect.

general themes i like

fizzygirl(cute girls and animals eating pancakes and other sweet things), any girl designs like fashion, princess or high school friends. fairy tale - story of children, mermaids. dinosaurs, llamas, gachapin, tamagotochi and strange looking characters. i like cherry blossoms, sweets, candies, cake, donuts, macaroons, glitter, pink and super glittery princess stuff.

please DO send ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

i would L♥O♥V♥E to get:

• lettersets
• decotape(no samplers please)
• sticker sacks
• sticker flakes
• giant sticker flakes♥
• plexiglass stickers
• sticker sheets
• pens with charms
• mechanical pencils with charms
• gel pens
• memo pads
• mini memo pads
• loose memo sheets(no die-cut please)
• 4x6 memos that can be cut into envelopes
• envelopes of all sizes
• pouches
• pencil cases
• bags
• home goods like mugs/cups.

i love scented stickers and rubber stamps. A-grade cabochons with a sweets or girly nature.

i'd really like to get more decotapes and stickers

DISLIKES - characters and items

please do not send x x x x x

i don't like mamegoma, chococat, badtz-maru, deery-lou, old my melody(red ears), cinnamoroll, keroppi, kuririn, pekkle, pochacco, spottie dottie, tuxedo sam. no real(photos) animals or people, no skulls and no poo.

i don't consider these characters kawaii and i don't like them. please don't send: morning glory(blue bear, ect.), orange story(lovely white, ect.), pucca, diddl, suzy's zoo, any disney, thomas the train, sponge bob, my little pony, littlest pet shop, ect.

i don't want to receive die-cut memos, decotape samplers, wooden pencils, pencil sharpers, erasers, post-it notes, other post-it type sticky notes, lip balms, key chains or plushies (plushies on a chain or cellphone strap are ok though ♥).

i do not want any korean, european or american characters. japanese only. kawaii only.

i do not want and generic stationery designs, characters or items, kawaii japanese only.

please do not send food of any kind(candy, tea, ect.)

please do not send handmade items of any kind. handmade envelopes are ok if the swap requires it or you're mailing it. flat items like postcards or ATCs are fine too if they are made with care and the swap requires it. don't send handmade as an extra.

do not send nick-nacks or do-dads. B-grade cabochons, buttons, ribbons, ribbon remnants, wooden things, pieces of things, paper clips, push pins, bandaids, ect.

mostly rock/alternative rock and i like visual kei, the GazettE is my favorite band♥

k♥pop ~ rain, DBSK, big bang, g-dragon, taeyang, 2pm, 2am, SS501, taegoon

i love japanese magazines. shoxx is my favorite, i like fool's mate, cure and arena too. sometimes i buy fruits magazine, lolita bible, kera, and even cute character magazines.

i like art and photo books too. anything related to collage and abstract. postcard books or craft books by aranzi aronzo. zakka craft books too.

i also read a lot of manga. too much~ haha

i follow downton abbey ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ but now season 3 is over T^T

this year i started watching supernatural again and now i watch beauty and the beast. it's hard for me to sit down and watch something every week since i'm always busy with something else but i'm making it a point to watch now.

series i'm currently watching:
bachelor's vegetable store

finished~!
city hunter
flower boy next door

• making postcards
• black and white images
• screen printing
• stickers
• making cakes
• cupcakes
• bright colors
• pastels pastels pastels pastels pastels
• glitter
• patterns
• stamps
• zakka
• collage
• decoden
• posters
• autographs
• foreign music
• world cultures
• online shopping
• traveling
• font
• cosplay
• fairy kei
• cult party
• lolita fashion
• BTSSB
• angelic pretty
• vivienne westwood

i will be so very happy if you sent me anything on this list

• anything from my etsy favorites ♥
• anything from my wish♥pot
• rubber stamps
• glitter
• gel pens - glitter or pastel colors
• sakura gelly roll stardust
• postcards
• ATCs - creative - made with effort
• deco tape, deco tape and deco tape ♥
• sticker flakes
• giant sticker flakes
• girly/pink decoden supplies
• random kawaii goodies
• paper lace doilies
• any kind of label sticker/ index sticker
• cute swap cards and address labels