failjolesfail

No really! I work in failures!

When I'm not breaking (and fixing) things, I love to putter in my garden, spoil my Rottie, and dream big about my tiny fixer-upper.

I love love love to cook and bake. Keep a kosher (dairy only) kitchen...google pescatarian, minus the shellfish, and that's us. Or, you can just assume I'm a vegetarian and be surprised when we eat fish. It's not that I don't eat meat, I just don't prepare it in my home.

Struggling with some health issues that have made large projects impossible, hoping SB can be a "fix" until I'm better!

Fiber arts, paper crafts, needlework...and everything else!

I used to work at Paper Source, and have a pretty decent stash from the days of my employee discount...chances are, any swap I join will have a shadow of the PS look to it...be it stamps, paper, or the basic aesthetic. Old Paper Source, from it's hardcore crafty days.

I am a sucker for washi paper. Or any other handmade, finely detailed paper like that.

My mom made me a shareholder at Juniper Moon Farm (fiberfarm.com) as a gift this past year...she lives rather close to them, and we've been to shearing day and just adore the blog. When we've both had a crummy day at work, we ask the other if it's time to buy some sheep and run away from it all...apparently not yet! I have a decent stash from there...can't resist, they have fantastic secret sales. And, you know, you feel like you know the sheep.

I love old spoons. One of these days I'll find (and link to) a picture of the garden markers I make out of them...much more permanent than those silly plastic ones.

I'm also always interested in classic cookbooks, they're the only books you can't borrow (or shouldn't) from the library. A few I'm looking for right now... ...The Cake Bible (Rose Levy Beranbaum) ...Maida Heatter's *** (I have a few, but they make great gifts, the woman is a genius) ...The Moosewood Cookbook (or any of its sequels) ...anything by Alton Brown But anything that caters to kosher, vegetarians, or lovers of carbs should be fun!

I have the last 6-8 months of Cottage Living (so sad...I only found it at the very end), and would love to get my hands on some more.

Weird and vintage home items are always welcome...they fit in with my weird 1930s home! I know that home items are usually pretty heavy to ship, but hooks, coasters, switchplates, planters, knobs...I've always got my eyes peeled for them, so they are welcome!

I don't know what I'm doing with all my funny little buttons, but it's not like they take up much room...I pull them off shirts when they turn into rags, pick through the bins at yard sales, etc etc etc. I particularly love old metal buttons, but colored pearly ones are fun and I even have a few that might be 70's era bakelite.

I'm going through my local library, one non-fiction topic at a time. Right now I have all the herbalist-type books out...spring is here, I'm trying to get the garden started, and am thinking that lemon balm, rosemary and st john's wort should not be that hard to grow.

I also love fluff. Completely basic, WYSWYG fiction. No subtext, deeper symbolism...I can get that from the stack I bought for class and didn't bother to read in college, thank you very much. I'll admit to owning at least one Harlequin fantasy "novel"...even if it was a gag gift...I read it and still own it. I'm a sucker for historical, slightly romantic, fiction. I read my fair share of children's novels...easy, no subtext, no deeper lesson...isn't reading supposed to be fun?

Ok, trying to make it easy to make me squee:

1. Paper/stationary: Make it, don't buy it! I'd rather have your old Nat Geo maps than Disney deco tape on the edge of a card or as a material. The quirkier the better...though, if you're not somewhere where English is the first language, the newspaper is probably something I'll find fascinating! Maps, newspapers, sewing patterns, posters, almost anything in the Appendix of a textbook, sheet music...as long as I won't feel guilty cutting it up.

2. Recipes: Assume I'm a garden variety vegetarian. I also eat fish, but not shellfish. I'm allergic to peppers, and am not impressed by okra. Since someone asked, I do eat: white flour, nuts, eggs, cheese, milk. I love to bake, but am struggling with my arms and can't hold my mixer... :( But, if it's worth it, I'll make it with my little 12yo helper!

3. Fabric: Think modern. Or very simple vintage. I'd rather have a plain solid or a tiny print than a modern montage of chickens (a gift from my BFs mom).

4. Favorite colors: Grey (with an "e" :P) Tiffany Blue (aka Pool) Pale pink Chartreuse (but not neon) More grey Mossy green Black and white is always classic Hot red (not maroon, not fuschia, red so red it's...red) Creamy white

5. Fibers: Natural. Any, as long as it came off an animal or grew on a plant.

My local (home improvement) thrift store has a ginormous box of name patches, like you'd see on your auto-mechanic's or plumber's uniform. They don't have a huge variety of names, but if that's something you would like (and you have a common name, or don't care about the name), I'm there pretty regularly. I think they're awesome, but unfortunately...very uncommon name here.