Lenna

26/05/2011. Feeling much better, hope this was all for now! Back to swapping as usual, to those who waited, thank you so much for your understanding!

27/04/2011. My CFS has reared its ugly head and I'm practically homebound, I just manage to go to work everyday and that's it. I find it difficult to walk even small distances due to fatigue and therefore I might be slightly late in sending two swaps that I'm in. I will also notify my partners. Thank you for your understanding of this.

13/10/2010 Regarding the one in my profile
This is a second time that the journal I worked on got lost in the mail. I am already working on the third replacement, but it will take me a while as there are 30 props I need to finish!

SPOILERS IN MY FLICKR ACCOUNT...YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!!! :-)

Hi-my name is Lenna and I’m a 35 year old woman from Greece. I have studied English and European Literature and I also have an MA in Literary translation. Currently I work for a Non Profit development organization that implements projects in developing countries. I have been working in the field for the last 10 years and had the opportunity to experience things I wouldn’t have otherwise. I also do the occasional translation in my spare time (what is that…???)
I think that I am quite open - minded about things, I respect other people's beliefs, and I anticipate that in return, they will respect mine. I am not religious but I am fascinated by female goddesses and the wisdom they carry.
Last but not least, I love dogs and especially wiener dogs. I can't stand racism, cruelty, fanaticism, ignorance, stupidity and cruelty against animals.

Quality over quantity!

Practical over dust collecting!

Colors: The warm colors of autumn and nature. Terracotta. Sea blue and green. Yellow and orange, purple. The colors of oriental spices. Gold (as a colour!). I don’t like red and black. Pink is ok, but I would rather receive something in the darker tones of pink, not baby pink. I am also not very crazy about pastels.

Styles: Asian Indian, Moroccan, medieval, ikea inspired when it comes to home decorating.

Art: Anything with the designs of Gustav Klimt, Alfonse Mucha, J.W. Waterhouse. Black/white or sepia vintage artistic nudes of women (postcards or print outs).

Scents: Warm autumn and winter scents when it comes to what I like smelling in my house. Nothing too flowery/heavy or edible smelling when it comes to cosmetics or bath products. My favorite perfume is Hypnose by Lancome.

Anything Goddess: wisdom, charms, music, figurines, books, pendants, incense, candles etc. Do you have a local Goddess that you would like to introduce me to?

Goddess Mythology: Greek, Egyptian, Mesopotamian, Asian Indian, Celtic, Scandinavian, Slavic (hmm…almost everything!), anthropology, sociology, fairytales.

Places: Prague, Haiti, Mexico, Egypt, India, New Orleans, London

Fairies & witches

Christmas-y scented tealights and oils for my burner: spiced apple, winter mix, vanilla etc.

Post its - but not the “plain” office variety. I love colorful and unusual post-its! I work with a lot of paperwork and post-its help me stay organized-any color, shape, size, use-I love it!

Clinique and Lancome make up and cosmetic freebies that you don't have use for!

Horror literature and movies, not the splattery type though, I like psychological thrillers more! And I absolutely detest Twilight or anything similar!

Writers: Graham Masterton, Clive Barker, Poppy Z. Brite, Graham Joyce, Ramsey Cambell, Milan Kundera, Jeffrey Eugenides, Andrew Davidson and many more

Music: I firmly believe that David Bowie is the most amazing singer and performer ever. I can't describe how much I love & admire his voice. Other than that: Queen, U2, The Sisters of Mercy, Massive Attack, Portishead, trip hop, celtic, ethnic, classical.

TV: Battlestar Galactica (amazing series, watch it if you haven't), X-files, Fringe, Dr House, the Killing. I absolutely detest reality shows, but could spend the entire day watching cooking shows!

Baking and pastry making

Small perfume samples in bottles

Wiener dogs

Moleskine notebooks

Lucky parcels

Fair trade products

Colored ink pads for stamping (red & pink)

Cards related to weddings, christenings, the birth of a baby boy or girl

Notebooks with designs on the cover, lined

Vintage looking black/white or sepia postcards or photographs of women (mainly nudes)

Any loose re-ment pieces that you might have and don’t mind parting with them (fat chance lol).

Themed lucky parcels that you think I would like. I would love a cupcake themed LP or cute woodland creatures LP!

A quality black or navy blue kohl eyeliner

Fiction that you have written, published or not (I love reading stuff written by other people).

Lightly scented body lotion

Christmas themed deco tape and ribbons

Deco tape

Coffee themed items-love, love, love!

Cookie cutters

Cupcake themed items

Apple or strawberry shaped plastic container for the kitchen!

Elegant ruled correspondence paper with matching envelopes.

Unusual kitchen gadgets

Lush soap or massage bars

Felt wiener dog ornament

I would love you forever if you sent me a wiener dog amigurumi!

Please, before sending me anything edible, check its label and if it has aspartame or any other artificial sweetener (sucralose or saccharin), don't send it-I will throw it away. It's not only that I'm allergic to it, I also consider it a carcinogenic poison and don't want to pass it on to somenone I care for. There has been some research linking their extensive use to Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, and as I have it-in a quite mild form-I don't want it in my food. Natural sugar substitutes (such as sorbitol, xylitol etc) are perfectly ok. Thank you for your understanding on this!

So, I will never say no to the following:

British short bread & flapjacks, custard cream in sachets

McCormick's Chilli con carne seasoning- I love it and cannot get it here!

Any McCormick’s spices, spice mixes, seasoning (or similar)

Deli items typical of where you live.

Small store bought jars with unusual mustards, jams, relish, local stuff.

Cadbury or Galaxy chocolate bars. No dark chocolate please. Milk/white/filled are all particularly welcome! Please do not send any chocolate between the months of May and September, as it gets extremely hot where I live!

Anything from the Jamie Oliver range

Ingredients for Mexican, Indian, Chinese and Italian cooking

Flavored hot chocolate sachets (WITHOUT artificial sweeteners like aspartame)

Not so crazy about tea, but I will try greens, plain or flavored-especially with fresh citrusy flavors!

People, please check expiration dates on the edible stuff that you send! Sending something that cannot be used because it has expired months ago it's like not sending it at all!

Cats (and assorted cat hair lol)

Anything with western religious connotations

Guns and anything related to them

Skulls

Anything with political connotations

Second hand, used stuff

Anything smelling too fruity, the scent of peppermint

Fabric scraps, yarn,beads, threads

Fluorescent colors

Loose teas

Handmade dolls-for some strange reason they freak me out

ATCs

Dollar store stuff

Earrings

Herbal teas

Faux fashion accessories

Pens and pencils (I have thousands of them)

Liquorice

The taste of mushrooms

Clowns

Postcards

Hand made clothing items

Chewing gum

Cat fur (please please please keep them away from the things you send me-thank you!)

Aspartame and similar artificial sweeteners

Faux fashion accessories

I am not so good in crafting, so most of the items you will receive from me will be purchased. My favorite types of swaps are Lucky Parcels, monochromatic swaps, scavenger hunts, food and profile surprises. I am open to private swaps if anyone is interested, but only with well established swappers.

I am not at all offended by nudity or adult content swaps. Vulgarity, however, is another issue.

I rate the moment I receive something. If I haven’t rated you, it means that I haven’t received yet!

I try to send my swaps on time, however sometimes the nature of my job (frequent & unexpected traveling) gets in the way. I will beg for your understanding when something like that happens!

I am quite cool about swapping, I am not here for the drama, I am here to unwind, have fun and get to know people and their talents. However, I will appreciate good communication. Let me know if you're going to be late or have any other problems. But please do that. I had so many of my partners flaking that I'm seriously running out of patience.

I would never think of flaking. If you don’t get my package on time, please get in touch and we will work something out!

I re-swap items I don't like or have no use for (or can't use because of my allergies). Please don't be offended, but I don't see why they should sit in my drawer, when someone can enjoy them!

I put time and effort to my swaps and go through my partner's profile, to make sure that she will like what I send. I expect the same in return. I have no use for crappy items just thrown together in order to barely meet the swap requirements. My motto is treat others the way you would like to be treated-in swapping, but also life in general.