Mar1l1ze

May 2013: Excitedness! I'm starting a new job on the 17th. For the first time in 3 years I'll be in a regular 9-5. Going from being at home full time to being in an office environment will be quite an adjustment, but I am looking forward to it :) That said, until I find my feet, I will be swapping pretty slowly. I'll still host my series, but putting on the breaks a bit. Not that my dashboard was ever full - hahaha ;)

Feb 2013: Getting on board with swapping and hosting again :) The 2012 festive ad market season was fun, but draining. Took Jan to recharge and explore. Now I'm ready for the funtimes again :)

This year I am looking into going a little beyond paper (GASP!) and exploring mixed media and altered art. I love the look and have finally decided to set the fears aside. No time like the present and all that jazz ;)

I am also exploring more traditional art disciplines. For someone who has never done an art class in my life before, this is a little daunting, but agai - no time like the present ;) I'm obsessed with watercolours at the moment - so dreamy and flowy and feathery. Swoon!

I also updated my profile - this sucker was left unattended for far too long and who knows what it got up to?! Heehee.

• Hello :) My name is Marilize. Quite a tongue twister to say and if I ever have enough courage / stupidity to down a bottle of hard liqour, I'll mess it up too - hahaha. So let's go with Liz. Or Mar. Got called Mar for the first time on SB and I kinda liked it.

• I am fluent in English and Afrikaans (close to Dutch) and can probably swear at you in German (isn't it the first thing one picks up in a foreign language if taught by friends?)

• Happily married, but no kids. Yet.

• We got new furbabies on 4 Jan 2012- 3 ratlets aka the bRatpack :) Here, meet them.

Miss Coco at 7 weeks. She is shy and submissive. Until she gets out of the cage - then it's go time and she becomes Miss Explorer Extraudinaire. Update: Our darling Coco passed away on 6 May '13. She was just over 1.5 years, so it was old age. RIP beautiful girl.

Miss Fae at 5 weeks (Princess is her sister). Pretty chilled out and relaxed most of the time. Protects her food from others by sleeping on it.

Miss Princess at 5 weeks (Fae is her sister). Tiniest one of all, but such an attention seeker. Never alone and makes sure the other two pay for it if she wakes up and finds them gone. Initiates most play sessions. Ruler of the coop until the cage door opens - then she is a little scardyrat that sends her minions out to see if the coast is clear.

• bRatlets update: Feb 2013 - these gals are still going strong. Coco had her first tumour removed late last year and they are all spunky, happy and healthy now. At over a year for all of them , they are about 1/2way through their life cycle. Jip - ratties do not live long :(

• We bought our first house in May 2012 and we are slowing hacking away at making it our own. It's slow going, but fun. I love watching the DIY guy in hubby come out. I myself grew up with a DIY mama, so this is not new to me :)

• Yes, I said dog ;) Meet Blue - Blueboy - Handsome furbaby #4. He is a rescue from the SPCA and we got him at 10 months (estimated age). They found him wandering around and we nabbed him immediately when he could go for adoption. We went in looking for a labrador, and came out with a Border Collie x Husky. He is addicted to the ball, has furballs the size of ewoks and talks to me all day long. I love this crazy kid. Here ya go, meet Blue:

Oh hi there

Boop!

• Jan 2013: We have done it again folks! We got ourselves another Collie Cross - whee! When that little face popped onto the SPCA adoptions page, my heart was won over. I present to you: Maya. She is SO tiny - she fits under Blue's belly - hahaha. She is smart, fun and cute to boot. They get along like long lost littermates.

Hi there!

Playing tug of war - there is equal winning and no nastiness.

• We are non-smokers and hubs is highly allergic to cat hair. If your swap has cat hair on it (and I mean swimming) please let me know via PM so that I don't open it around him. Or put a note on the parcel. I do like to brag with my loot, but sending the love of my life into a serious asthma attack is not really on my "To Do" list. Thank you for understanding.

• My curiousity introduced me to the world. I have a seen and heard a lot, so I am very open minded. Please do not err on the side of caution with your creativity. Knock my socks off with the artist in you. Well made, from the heart items will always get my vote

• I can appreciate both the lighter, cute side of life and the darker, more serious side. Moods are like the seasons after all. There's a time and place for every one.

• If my feet are cold, I'm cold. Same with my nose. I can basically be wearing shorts and a T-shirt in the snow. As long as I have thick socks and a nose-cosy (whatever that is :p ) I can take it. The extra padding on my butt takes care of that teehee.

• I've finally made peace with the fact that I am a nerd. No wait, N.E.R.D Yes, if not for my childhood in Nothingsville I would've been worse. I love laughing at my nerdy ways - please feel free to join in.

Favourite Books

Oh dear,as an avid book-eater, I am reluctant to highlight only one favourite. I will have to say it's seasonal. As long as the story is good, I'm going to try it.

Epic stories (Stephen King's Gunslinger), some crazy fantasy (Gaiman and Mieville) and airplane fodder (Jodi Picoult) always get my attention. My favourite book of all time has been read at least 5 times so far. It's a heavy sizable read and every time I read it I find something new to apprecaite. It's 'Fall on your knees' by Ann Marie MacDonald. Not for the faint hearted. I got it from someone's bookshelf they were throwing out - books and all. I swapped it and 4 other books for a bottle of Coke. The rest of the books has flown into the world to become someone else's favs. 'Fall' found a place in my heart and home - we'll grow up and old together :)

Fairytales are just fantastic. This is one of the main things I look forward to sharing with my kiddos one day. What better way to send them off into dreamland than a good old fairytale? I prefer feroscious and naughty Fae over Tinkerbell any day. The Grimm Bros knew how to tell a story and I am hoping to expand my reading into other dark fairytale writers. Please suggest some for me to sink my teeth into.

BTW - we have 6 fully stuffed bookshelves in our house and making space for more. All read by either one or the other. With all this treasure, we feel like pirates hoarding the loot... And highly flamable - hahaha.

The book always surpasses the movie for me. Except for Carrie. The movie was better.

Favourite movies

Okay, I'm a total addict for movies and TV. So here I can spend talking for DAYS. There's always something playing in the background. I work from home and it's my babysitter.

It all boils down to stories I guess. Tell a good story and I'm in there. Or something with an awesome twisty twist. A good ol' popcorn flick is best watched at the cinema and a tearjerker at home. Under the blankies and with a giggling hubby in the background.

Oh, and scary flicks. LOVE them. Not the slasher porn stuff (I mean c'mon, how many Saw movies can they still make?), but the stuff that makes your skin crawl, because what if it's true... dumdumdum. Like Paranormal Activity, Blare Witch Project or 1408. Ooh - American Horror's got me all kinds of skirrid.

Some good 90's stuff like Idle Hands, Empire Records, Mall Rats etc. It cements my youth.

Romances that will stand the test of time like Time Traveller's Wife, Love Actually, The Notebook etc.

MUSICALS! Oh yes. I'm a fan. Sorry for screaming in your ear, I'll reign it in a tad. Chicago above all, and yet to see Wicked, but know it'll be a favourite. Read the book. I'm an absolute GleeK and proud of it.

Very much into Indie, Asian Cinema, B-grade stuff. C'mon, test me to see if I've seen it :)

Favourite Television

I'll give everything a shot and have probably been exposed to most of 'em. Even the most obscure things.

Intelligent shows are always good, but as long as it fills a certain need, I'll watch it. Series are probably best, and I can easily do a marathon session in one or two days. It plays in the background while I zip around the house.

I'll always love Boston Legal and True Blood. Leaders in their fields in my opinion. Nothing quite like shifting the goalpost.

SB makes me thump for joy

A list of all the things I discovered while playing around here:

• I like to collague different textures together. A mixed media person is emerging one swap at a time. I have a couple of swappers I've encountered that I Flickr stalk to inspire me. One day I'll catch up with your awesome :)

• Glue is not always my friend (gets in everywhere doesn't it?!). My cutting mat and ruler with inches and cm on them are. That does not mean my swaps fall apart or have gum issues - just that it's my nemisis in the craftroom 'cause as I said - it gets everywhere ;)

• The people here are really awesome. For various reasons this place has become my home page.

• I do not do drama and gossip. I would rather go make something with my craft toys.

• I like vintage. Really like it. Who would've guessed? Even the 're-created vintage' look does it for me.

• I really love crafting :)

• I love doing private swaps. I prefer 'make me' over 'buy me' swaps any day. I also do destash swaps (I volunteer in a charity bookshop and have access to loads of old books for pages/images - I grab 'em before they get sent for recycling).

My heart goes badumpadum for pretty paper things. I started off with making cards, then got into Swap-bot and essentially my world exploded - ATC's, inchies, twinchies, skinnies etc. As my hobby grows, so does my stash. My hubby is drowing - a sure way to get a dedicated craft room ASAP. It's not pshycological warfare at all. Nope, not at all ;) Update: I has me a craftroom!!! Woohoo! It's so pretty and stuff. All is well in the land of creativity :) Hubs also has a mancave now. Good compromise me thinks :)

Okay, so I found the above beaut at a charity store for a steal (less than $20) and we have become inseperable. I love tinkering on my "Sunshine" and my home is filling up slowly but surely with pretty cool things. I've only just begun and know there are great things lying ahead in this adventure. Man, why'd no one tell me sewing is such great therapy?

I'm still trying to figure out my 'art personality'. I love trying different themes and ideas. I'll let you know what I appreciate as I encounter them. I do like things to be interactive - or that is what I have discovered thus far... So watch this space :) Update - I'm much more into "old" than sparkly and new.

I'm not naturally gifted with creating from scratch (like say someone that can draw / paint) but I'm having a lot of fun with putting different elements and techniques together. I totally envy natural artists that can create something with a couple of tools and a blank canvas. So tutorials for me all the way baby.

I will tip my toes into everything eventually – Gifts should be handmade after all :)

](http://www.swap-bot.com/forums/topic/7681)

I heart for good swaps, not extras. Extras are always appreciated, but I love the effort that goes into a good swap much more :)

Respect the send-by date. I am getting rather irritated with the dismissal of them dates by good swappers. I am handing out 3's in 2013 guilt-free. If you are more than 3 days late on your swap, let me know beforehand with a really good reason please. Pressing 'sent' before you have done so is a big no-no. Respect me as your partner in this regard and I shall do the same. As a permanent international I wait a long time for my swaps and I postbox hover in anticipation - please do not spoil it for me.

My profile is a work in progress and I fiddle with it often. If we are partnered for profile specific swaps, don't let this freak you out. If you saw something here and you added that and now it's gone, it will not make a difference in the rating. We both know what was on here and I will not go all crazy lady on you :)

I am not a flaker - if the item I owe you has gone AWOL, please contact me first. If my world is ending and I owe stuff, my swoppers will be the second to know. First is hubby ^.^

I allow a minimum of 4 weeks for things to reach me or my swaps to reach you. Then we start stalking our mailpersons. If nothing rocks up at the '6 weeks' mark, we resend. Simple :)

I'm an officer in others to host swaps. I mainly stick to group swaps, so I help where I can with swapping :) If you have a idea and the idea of hosting makes you hyperventilate, lemme know. I'll pay homage and host on your behalf if the idea tickles my fancy.

Likey:

Things that make my heart happy:

Colours:

• Blue - any shade, any form, any way. I'll take it.
• Any cool colours (tone of colour - not rating their ability to fit into the 'right' crowd). So blue, green, silver, white.
• Any dirty pastels. Think dusty brownish rose more than baby pink. Like someone took the pastel and got it all mucky. Jip, some call it vintage. I call it dirty ;p
• Pastels over brights any day. Neon makes my head hurt...

"Look / feel":

• Whimsical
• Dark
• Vintage
• Humorous / Sarcastic
• Nerdy
• Unique / different
• Warped
• Mail art
• Look at my etsy favs to inspire the artist in you :)

Make me LOL - I have quite a loud and infectious laugh. Feel free to set it free. My DH will appreciate it. Show me to that place online that has you in stiches. Tell me a joke. All of this is cheaper than therapy :)

Insightful stuff - make my brain earn it's keep. Teach me something. Anything :)

(she zones out to her LaLa land where everything is dipped in it. Hmmm). Someone was so kind as to introduce me to the combination of peanut butter and chocolate in one convenient bar. Holy smokes. It was a tentative first bite followed by a snarf fest. Nomnomnom. Jip - this is the true love story of Mar and Peanutbutter Cups ;) Update: My Dad visited once and I had the pleasure to find some in a local store. He is the biggest choccie addict I know. Needless to say he stockpiled them tresures - hahaha. It's a staple "Dad gift addition" now :)

Rats! I love 'em. Creepy or cute. If it has a rat on it, it'll go to my ever expanding rat shrine corner in my craft room ;)

Border Collies. Never thought I would be a Collie kinda gal, but whadya know - I love my two furbabes and can always do with more Collie stuff :) You know, I'm a dog person. So really, any doggie thing is welcome. Cate are probably cool, with an allergic Dad and hubby, they just never really featured in my life. Except for Simon's Cat. That one is cool :)

Owls and other woodland creatures like squirrels, hedgehogs, foxes. If I could live in a cottage in a forest I would be in heaven.

Birds and bird related things like cages and feathers. The tattoo I will eventually get will have a bird in it somewhere.

Trees I love the concept of wisdom and in nature a big ol' tree represents that for me.

** Spring and Autumn** over Summer and Winter. I love the in-between colours and feel of the seasons.

Inspirational sayings / quotes I pop them all over the place to lift a heavy heart.

Yay! Handmade with love and care... Unique. One of a kind. Your time and effort. I like it a lot.

Just add water Tea or flavoured coffee. Hot choc. Did I mention choc? I'd love to see what is done in other parts of the world, so send me your fav. If it happens to be gummies, I'll give to my hubby to 'rate' - hahaha. (Please no almonds or almond flavours. I don't know why, but it's just not something I like.)

Blank gift tags - we don't have them here, so those boring white/cream gift tags with the hole punched in them will totally float my boat :) Actually, any colour will also get the boat a'floating. It's the "try this technique" or "slurp up the excess paint / ink" thingies :)

Acrylic / cling rubber stamps. Used and destash ones are absolutely fine. If you wanna set up a private swap to trade from our stashes, let me know. Country seems to be the recurring stamp 'theme' here, so I find that imported acrylic stamps are more likely to be up my alley. So if you got some and feel like giving them a new home, I will gladly take em off your hands :) Stamped images on white paper/card that I can use in my collague work will be much appreciated. Inkadinkado and Lawn Fawn = swoon! Update When I visit America (see how I slipped in the when and not a stupid if) I shall bring back a container of these. A container of acrylic stamps - that is my US souvenir stash ;) And peanut butter cups - hahaha.

My darling hubs is into Warhammer (fantasy). It's a very specialised and thus niche market here. So to all the nerds out there - if you know of a destash of any books / models / equipment, please hit me up for a private swap request.

Used postage stamps I love the stuff. I don't mind what the condition is - I am not a collector. I use 'em in my crafting, so will prob find something to do with them.

Butterflies Who knew? I like them pretty winged creatures. Took a whole Swap Bot to make me realise that - hahaha.

Ephemera Yeah - titbits of yesteryear. I use it in my art journals and other crafting things. I prefer vintage, but have used modern in weird places ;)

The etsy link are just there for me to play coach window-shopper. It's kind of my way to build my own Neverland... Go check it out for inspiration if you are still stuck. I love admiring other forms of crafting, so it change as often as I have time to gawk and squee.

I don't take offense easily so please set your creativity free :)

I will appreciate any mailbox flair, so view this as a guideline.

Not Likey:

Overly religious material of any kind unless I'm in a swap that calls for it. I respect everyone's religions, but there might be someone else who will appreciate it more than I will.

Not really into country - music or theme. There is someone else out there that'll just jig with pleasure, so send forth to them instead.

I love whimsical cute and am not really into Kawaii cute. A cute face every now and then is great, but if you have a choice, rather give them to someone who is Kawaii crazy :)

Just mentioning the cat hair thingie again. PM me if your swap is potentially swimming in cat hair so that I don't open it around hubs. He's got serious allergies. Thanks for understanding.

Things that were slapped together / dirty / broken / junk. I send what I am proud of and really do appreciate it in return. I am not judging creativity here - just hoping for common decency.

Please package your swap well. It travels all the way to Cape Town, South Africa. It will be going through a load of hands and machines - not all of them gentle and kind. Sad times ahead if your packaging comes loose and the swap goes AWOL. I don't mind cutting through a roll of tape to get to your piece of art. Oh - also please put on the swap "NO BENDING" - as much as I love our mailmen, they do tend to get creative.

Jip - there it is. The dreaded flaker list. I have this up to thank my angels publically for being awesome.

SWAPS:

• Flaker = @Laurenbujo - K...is for Kinky swap Angeled by @VivaLaDiane (who blew my socks off - teehee)

• Flaker = @scrapcowando - Trying ATC's series # 2 - ♥ Love ♥ Angeled by @Juju (who is a zentangle master!)

• Flaker = @Chicklit - QUICX-mas 50 stamps swap #64 Angeled @Rhynah sent me the most fantastic selection of stamps.

TAGS:

@MommytheMaid for the following tags in Creative Correspondence group:

• "1/5 ain't bad" game - Woodland creatures diecuts

• "Something to make you smile" game - cupcake anything Angeled by @nasreen Holy moly!

A little spot where I keep track of my non-rated obligations and stuff like that :)