GemMedia

I just want to thank everyone again for all the nice things that I've received in swaps., really you guys rock!

NOTE: There is no mail pick up on weekends here in Canada so packages dropped off on a weekend will have the date they arrive at the sorting office.

I am a visual artist and have had shows in Galleries in Canada, Europe and the USA. I travelled to Europe and lived in London in my early 20's so I really took to British bands and comedy. I have found lots of inspiration on the internet with sites about altered art, flickr, etsy and other artists' work and crafts etc. I love having projects and stay inspired by taking courses when I can. I love anything vintage and going to second hand stores (weekly) and finding treasures. I have amassed quite a collection of papers, fabrics and the like to use soon! I love all animals but cats are the best!

Things I like:

Animals...especially cats and birds and pictures or postcards of either

Old Postcards and photos, 40's & 50's women's magazines

Documentary films and thrillers like Alfred Hitchcock

Craft books and magazines..(Cloth, paper, scissors)

Favorite Colors......green....chartreuse, red, purple, robin's egg blue, brown. (I'm not a big pink fan but I like the combination of pink/brown on paper products also I use a lot of bright colors in my collage/atc's)

Sewing materials, vintage rick rack, buttons, interesting fabric...natural materials are best.

Photo transfers on material, printed or rubberstamped images on paper

Anything handmade...felt stuffies (would love a goth stuffed kitty, cupcake pincushion, natural soaps in citrus scents. handmade felt brooches, pins anything with owls or birds.

I love reading people's zines...I like quirky ones about your experiences...I am a big fan of Found and I used to read one called Bunny Rabbit which I loved.

scrapbook quilts

Silver jewelry, handmade jewelry and earrings...turqpoise, red stones (even those two colors together.)

fridge magnets

Vintage stuff.... almost anything

mocha coffee, earl gray tea, chai tea....made from scratch...no teabag seems to be able to replicate this but maybe you can convince me otherwise!

Organic chocolate....green & black's dark orange and milk flavored.

Only use cane sugar cubes for tea....Taikoo

Love scrapbooking supplies....old typewriter letters (rub on and real) , text, cool papers. Always need more ATC supplies, brads, eyelets, embellishments. Used stamps from your country, interesting fabric pieces...can be scraps...prefer natural ones though. Vintage bottle caps or beer caps., jewelry bits, felted wool, natural yarn bits, scrabble pieces., white dominoes,

Rubber stamps...ones you've made, unmounted ones or mounted...**just starting out so trying to get a few different backgrounds or small containers of the matte chalk ink.

Interesting pincushions.

Mini ATC kits....background papers, decorative papers and some interesting ephemera

Day of the dead shrines, Frida Kahlo anything

• What I'm not into.....phew! I can't think right now...!

Oh, anything that smells smokey...I have allergies, religious stuff....unless it's kind of kitschy., anything too cutesy, or 'Hello Kitty' stuff, not into heavy metal music or anything dark or scary.

Although I love Day of the Dead and what it represents I like the sugar skulls in fabric, collages etc. but then there are skulls in other representations that I don't like....creepy gravestone or graveyard stuff....think creepy, spooky skeletons and skulls...if you're not sure just shoot me a pm and ask me.

No sugary things...I don't eat refined sugar and rarely eat chocolate anymore.

Cuff the Duke, Heartbreaks (I don't think they have an album yet but they're great) Neko Case, Feist, City & Color, 80's punk & new wave....Smith's, Clash, Lou Reed, Pixies, Cure etc., Chet Baker, Thelonius Monk, Johnny Cash, Lucinda Williams, Gillian Welch, Alejandro Escoveda, Martha & Rufus Wainwright, Leonard Cohen, Talking Heads, Sarah Harmer, UB40, Bedouin SoundClash, Neil Young, Sheila Chandra, Dead can Dance, and more! A nice person named Rachel on here sent me a mixed CD with Sigur Ros and I really liked them...so more would be good.

Frida, Pollack, Cinema Paradiso, Amelie, The English Patient, Godfather, Bogey movies, Alfred Hitchock movies, The Big Lebowski, Life of Brian, The Holy Grail, Walk the Line, Lost in Translation, High Fidelity, Grifters, any John Cusack movie, Casino Royale, Napolean Dynamite etc., Moonstruck, Indiana Jones, Star Wars, Lord of the Rings trilogy, Michael Moore's stuff and documentaries in general...about artists.

24, Amazing Race, Sopranos, Survivor, Prison Break., alot of HGTV shows but I don't have cable at the moment, Inspector Morse, Cracker, (British mysteries)

Collage & Mixed Media drawing & painting, re-finishing old furniture, sewing, jewelry making., assemblage & altered art using found and new items......

love vintage stuff!

I also love travelling, especially the desert (Las Vegas, Joshua Tree, Grand Canyon etc.). I've been to Europe three times, lived in Amsterdam, Italy, England, volunteered in Germany, lost my heart in Scotland (and Newcastle....different trip!). I also lived in California and spent two summers in Montreal and have traveled some of the U.S.......Seattle, Portland, San Francisco, L.A. San Diego, New York, Nevada, Arizona..... I've also been to the tip of N. Africa....Morocco., Mexico...including Mexico City, Oaxaca, Xipolite, San Cristobal de la Casas. I visited Frida Kahlo house & Trotsky's house (saw the bullet holes in the wall from the first attempt) in Coyocan.

Frida Kahlo...as if you hadn't already guessed that! Vincent van Gogh, Matisse, Christian Boltanski, Nick Bantock