Garrent

Hello! I'm an utterly addicted crafter and swapper from Los Angeles. I am single with no kids, just a Chihuahua-mix named Miss Ivy (who is my avatar).

I've recently gone back to school and earned my BA in English Literature and am returning in the fall to get my MA in order to teach college English at the community level. School keeps me pretty busy, but I still carve out time for my crafting.

My faves include old movies, antique cars, Italian and Mexican food and working puzzles both online and on paper. I love going to concerts and seeing plays and musicals, especially something completely crazy and out of the ordinary.

My favorite color is bright blue, my fave actors are Gene Kelly, John Cusack and Alan Rickman. I read voraciously and my ultimate fave toy is my iPad (with a Kindle reader).

By the way, I sometimes will put my Swap-bot items on my Flickr page, so don't look if you want to be surprised.

PLEASE NOTE I am not a flaker! PLEASE let me know if you don't receive an expected swap from me. Please communicate, I value my high ratings and will do anything I can to make my partners happy.

BNL, Bette Midler, Mark Lowry, Squirrel Nut Zippers, Big Bad Voodoo Daddy, Queen Latifa, Bruce Springsteen, B-52s, Young Dubliners

The Stand, A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, the Odd Thomas series by Dean Koontz, the Sookie Stackhouse series by Charlene Harris

84 Charing Cross Road, 1408, Truly, Madly Deeply, the Harry Potter series, For Me and My Gal, Singing in the Rain, Sunset Blvd, M, Bringing Up Baby, Laura, 12 Angry Men

West Wing, True Blood, Boston Legal, Miracles, Jericho, Dead Like Me, A Bit of Fry and Laurie, Black Adder, Ghost Whisperer

I confess I'm a hopeless CRADD - Craft Related ADD...

I enjoy beading, polymer clay sculpture, art dolls, sewing, costuming, paper crafts.

...and anything I haven't tried yet...

Other than dust bunnies under the bed (and everywhere else), I collect angels, penguins, beagles, Webkinz, magnets, ghost stories and recipes. I'm also on the hunt for anything celtic or Irish related, music, jewelry, books...

ATCs - Never made them before and I'm having way too much fun with them.

Skinnies (3x5 ATCs) - Let the creativity flow!

Victoriana - Particularly advertisements, but anything 18th or 19th century looking

Inchies - Can't have enough!

Magnets - I've always liked making them, but this is way over the line...

Bookmarks - Loving making and getting them

Dotee Dolls - I'm not very good at them yet, but I'm having lots of fun practicing

Anything to create SteamPunk: old watch parts, gears, old keys, old or interesting-looking small hardware parts, that kind of thing.

Interesting, cute, fun cardstock for ATCs

Cool fabric for Dotees and other dolls

Felt in any color

Embroidery floss in any color

Alphabet Ideas:

Since there seems to be a lot of Alphabet swaps going on, I thought I'd list a few ideas, but I guess they would work for any swap...

A-Art dolls, Angels, Aztec

B-Beagles, Banshees, Beethoven

C-Carrots, Carnival, John Cusack, Chaucer, Celtic designs

D-Dogs, Dragons, Disneyland

E-Elephants, England, English Literature (my major), Ellen Degeneres

F-France, Festivus, Jimmy Fallon, Fairies

G-Ghosts, Ghost Whisperer, Germany, Geeks

H-Harry Potter, Hobby addict, The Hobbit

I-Irish folklore, Ireland, Italy, Isaac Newton, Icarus

J-J.D. Salinger, Julia Child, Jazz

K-Gene Kelly, kd lang, kittens

L-London, Lafayette (Fave True Blood Character), Jay Leno

M-Mille Bornes, Marionettes, Movies, Model A cars

N-Nascar, NASA, New York, Northern lights

O-Olympics, Oprah, Othello

P-Paris, Picasso, Polymer clay

Q-Queens in a card deck, Quotes, Quidditch

R-Alan Rickman, Rio de Janero, Renaissance

S-Shakespeare, Severus Snape, Switzerland

T-True Blood, Teachers, Texas

U-USA, Ukraine, Uganda

V-Vintage, Vancouver, Vampire

W-West Wing (TV show), Washington DC, Wuthering Heights

X-Xylophone (I used to play one in school), Xavier Cugat, Xena

Y-YouTube, Year of the Tiger, Yacht

Z-Zeus, Zombies

Papercraft doo-dads: brads, diecuts, sparklies...

Vintage clipart (I especially like old ads)

Unique buttons and ribbon

If you are on Facebook and play some of the games, please let me know. I'd love to cross-pollinate two of my fun zones! You can either message me here or find me there. Look for Karen Preston in Los Angeles.