I'm a 44 year old mother of 4 children, wife of 1.

I love to read and write and enjoy anything "paper"! Postage stamps, postcards, bookmarks, stickers, scrapbooking papers and cardstock, stationery, handmade envelopes, etc. I really like the letter swaps, as I feel that in today's society the penned letter is becoming an antiquity. I love fun pens to write my letters and postcards with, too. Some of my favorite pens to use are Pilot Precise V5, Sharpie, and Uniball. But any pen with an extra fine point is wonderful, and colored inks are an added joy!

Besides paper, I also love all things relating to YARN or THREADS, specifically knitting and crocheting, though I also enjoy cross-stitching and would like to learn to tat. I know BASIC sewing, but would enjoy learning more and actually doing it. I'd like to make a quilt. But to find the time to learn a new hobby...

I love objects that I can use for creative storage. Baskets, decorative boxes, and tins, to name some examples. I love tins! I don't know why. But no matter their size, I can find a use for them, big or small.

FAVORITE COLORS:

• Fuschia (or hot pink)
• Blue, as in royal or cobalt blue
• Teal blue
• Emerald green
• Ivory
• "Fall" colors of burgandy, hunter green, gold, and browns
• Lime green is a favorite color, too. It looks really good paired with Fuschia!

FAVORITE CRAFTS:

• Crocheting
• Knitting
• Cross-stitching
• Beading
• Scrapbooking
• Card-making

LOVE:

• Swap-bot's Ernie anything!
• cupcakes
• cute amigurumi creatures
• butterflies
• ladybugs
• dragonflies
• flowers
• green frogs
• sheep
• waterfalls
• rainbows
• hearts
• teacups/teapots
• postage stamps from anywhere in the world, especially "Love" stamps or stamps with hearts.

POSTCARDS:

I like a variety of postcards, but I'm not into "dark" or goth themes nor vampires or werewolves (not a Twilight fan or Harry Potter). I must admit, however, that I did receive a postcard from Hell (Nevada) once, and I found it really interesting, and I still talk about it with a smile. Who knew I'd ever get a postcard from Hell? So if you live in Hell or some other darkly named town, I'm ok with those sorts of "dark" postcards. But in general, the darker subjects are not something I collect.

While I will probably like whatever you'd like to send in the way of postcards, my favorite themes are anything from my "LOVE" list above, postcards with illustrations of postage stamps (any country), sunsets, moons, night-time city views, daytime city skylines, vintage, and anything girly (cutesie, as for a little girl).

Animals I like on postcards are: kittens, puppies, giraffes, wild cats, fox, sheep, colorful frogs, butterflies, dragonflies, deer/fawns, colorful birds, bumblebees, ...

I actually have two outright WANTS that I want to share here.

• Postcard(s) of William and Kate.
• "Postcrossing" stamp from the Netherlands.

That's all! I just wanted to say it in case you can send either of those things my way. I'd be so excited!!!

A SPECIAL COMMENT REGARDING HANDMADE POSTCARDS: I love papercrafts, and therefore I can appreciate a handmade postcard. However, it is so sad to receive a handcrafted postcard that I know someone has spent some time creating, but it has been mutilated by our automated postal machines. If you want to send a handmade postcard, I will love that you took the time to make me something. But if you're not able to use adhesives that will keep your paper layers secure, with no edges or corners lifted up, then please feel free to send it in an envelope. I have received some very lovely handmade postcards where the different layers of paper were so secure, it looked like one card. And others were not so well glued, and they arrived ripped and damaged by the postal machines, the crafter's handiwork ruined. Please take care if you choose to send a handmade postcard in those swaps where handmade postcards are allowed. I'd like to see your handiwork as you intended it. :)

FAVORITE MUSIC:

Contemporary Christian music is my favorite. I also enjoy a little classical and jazz, 80's music, and strangely I also love music from the 50's and 60's.

FAVORITE BOOKS:

Contemporary Christian Fiction (not romance), biographies and autobiographies, some mysteries....just not horror or gore. I also like craft books of my hobbies. Fave authors: Any published by Multanomah, Tyndale, Harvest, Bethany House, Pacific Press. Other authors: Nicholas Sparks, Debbie Macomber, Richard Paul Evans.

FAVORITE CANDIES:

Tootsie Rolls, caramels, peppermint, peanut or pecan brittle, and ANYTHING milk chocolate (kisses, M&Ms, Hershey's chocolate bars...). :-) My all-time favorite cookies are Oreos! I also like homemade chocolate chip cookies. My favorite nuts are almonds, pecans, and walnuts, and any candy or cookie that includes those nuts is just "icing on the cake" to me!

TIPS:

If you want to trick out your profile, with links, pictures, etc., here is a helpful post from Swap-bot's blog. Click here.

"Stationary" or "Stationery"? Here's how I finally figured which one to use when referring to letter-writing papers. Just remember that just like writing letters, we also "write" e-mails. "E-mail" begins with the letter "e". So since we write letters, and we write email, remember the "e" in "e-mail" and use the word "stationery" that has an "e" in it. Easy, huh? I need all the little tips and tricks I can get, and I hope this trick works for you, too! :-)

Thank you to @thegypsie whose Google search gave another tip...let the "e" in "stationery" make you think of an "envelope"!

And @Itti recently learned "about stationEry because it means pEns and pEncils."

So there's a few more tips to help you decide when to use the word "stationary" (At a standstill) and "stationery" (Envelope, pEns, pEncils...)

Tags!

• 3 P's Postcard Tag

  Tagged @choke on 1/13/12; Sent 1/25/12

  Tagged by @aussielisa on 1/16/12

• Public Forum: One-on-One Trades>Tags>TAG! Random Flat Envie

  Tagged @xxkarenlxx 10/6/11; she Sent 12/09/11; I Rcvd 12/12/11

  Tagged by @OrigamiGrace on 10/14/11; I Sent 11/17/11; as of 12/11/11, have not received any acknowledgement that it was received or not received; received acknowledgement of receipt 12/12/11 via PF

ANGELS!

Special to Swap-bot Angels!

@CraftyRiki for Round 3 Surprise Your Partner W/1 of Your Crafts

@ladyaries7 for Swap a teddy! she hosted. Voluntarily offered & angeled pkg. to my 9 y.o. daughter who received a torn bear in the swap.

@PATHACKER for Round 5 Surprise Your Partner With 1 of Your Craft

@Merimax for "Simply Love" PC Swap

@Saucyknits for Quotecard Postcard #46 - What a nice surprise! Thank you!

@rachelcdoyle for "Note card Swap - International #4"

@Megbomb for "Postcard of Lists #7 Top 5 Favorite Christmas Song"

@MeliaMellon for Message in a Bottle (Inter'l!) - Holiday Themed

@FibreJunky for Quotecard Postcard #53

Swaps Not Received :(

@Treksek aka Daire Luus for Postcard of Lists #7 Top 5 Favorite Christmas Song Angeled!

@Treksek aka Daire Luus for Message in a Bottle (Inter'l!) - Holiday Themed Angeled!

@Treksek aka Daire Luus for Note card Swap - International #4 Angeled!

@LaineFace aka Theresa McDouglad for Quotecard Postcard #53 Angeled!

@jequirity aka Jocelyn Ford for No Introduction Needed

@awesomesauce aka Kristin Nohe for Simple Postcard #1

@browniemommie2005 aka Tabitha for ~Unique PenPal journal Swap~ newbies welcome! - never returned my journal to me. She has 17 "1"s currently - 10/26/11

@cherrygirl aka Irena Furlanic for Basic Postcard Swap # 2

@thefourthstar aka Heather Hladish for Round 3 Surprise Your Partner W/1 of Your Crafts Angeled!

@helmetwearer aka Elizabeth Barnett for Origami

@Whiskey aka Kay Anders for 48 hours to sign up and send a naked postcard in a

@Dready aka Lena Matveeva for "Simply Love" PC Swap Angeled!

@krissywhite1 aka Kristen White for Round 5 Surprise Your Partner With 1 of Your Craft Angeled!

@anneress aka Serena Pyle for PRIVATE: Message In a Bottle - Round 2 - Holiday Themed - Neither sent to me nor rated me.

@Miss007 aka Cecilia Nordqvist for 30 Day Journal Project Angeled

@Sumersrose aka Hilary Summerfield for FaveCrafts Valentine's Card Swap

@FiskyGirl85 aka Caitlin Gongas for Quotecard Postcard #46 Angeled

Waiting for Ratings

@elleboheme aka Elle Taan for 100,000

@purplcircles aka Stephanie Thompson for Notecard #24 - Ended 10/8/11. PMd her on 10/31 asking if she'd recv'd; She replied 11/1 saying she recv'd but was behind on ratings & should have it that night; Left a Comment and another PM on 12/15 reminding her again.

@amylou2 aka Amy Johnson for October Birthdays! - KIDS Delivery Confirmation indicates it was delivered 10/05/11.

Shockingly RUDE Swappers

@jexxican aka Jessica Hansen for 5 things that make me happy #11 - ended Oct. 13, 2011. Extremely foul mouthed and hostile in response to my leaving her a 3, with explanation, for a swap that did not meet swap guidelines. Ironically, she appears to be very talented according to her other ratings.

@krista311 aka Krista Fox for Swap a teddy! - ended Oct. 14, 2010. I received a torn bear and drama in the PF. I eventually left a 3 rating, which she was able to remove after 2 or 3 months with Rachel's "donation drive/remove a rating"..

You know, I just realized both of these swaps ended in October of consecutive years. I think I might take a planned vacation during October 2012...