ccmmsu

*** 3-31-18 -- The family stuff is finally settling down. My mom has been moved to senior living and my son's health crisis is now under control and being successfully managed. Feeling happy to have made it through to the other side of it all and blessed that the outcomes are good. Thank you to everyone for your patience. I am caught up on ratings, so if you're missing one from me, let me know. We are off to visit my wonderful mother-in-law for Spring Break (no sarcasm there -- she really is awesome :) ) and then I hope to return home to life as usual so I can start swapping more time intensive things like decos again.

*** 1-22-18 -- I have some family stuff going on that I need to focus on for awhile, so I won't be doing many swaps until things settle down. I also won't be checking my messages very often and may take a few extra days to rate. I appreciate your patience and understanding. I promise I'm not ignoring you. :) I'm just putting out fires elsewhere for awhile. I will try to log in at least once a week to take care of business here. Thanks, everyone! ***

Hi! My name is Christine, and I am a freelance writer living in Michigan with my husband, our 3 kiddos, and a rescued mutt named Lulu. I love crafting, making art, reading, travel, animals, and kayaking. My favorite colors are cobalt blue and apple green. My biggest goal in life (next to being a good mom, of course) is to visit every continent. I've made it to Europe, Africa, and Asia so far.

I joined Swap-bot in May 2014 when someone recommended it to me. After checking it out I didn't quite feel ready to swap on this scale, so I stuck to swapping on smaller sites (Scrappin' Peeps for the last 4 years and Pocket Letter Pals for 1 year). After I became more comfortable I came back to Swap-bot and started swapping here in August 2016. I'm enjoying getting to know people here and learning about how this fun community works.

I have Essential Tremors, which means my hands shake a lot. This makes writing by hand difficult, so please excuse my less than stellar penmanship. I DO make sure that anything handwritten is legible, but it isn't always pretty. If a swap includes a letter, I will usually type it (unless the swap specifies handwritten, but I usually avoid those). I always sign my name by hand, though, because I feel like that at least gives it a little more personal feel. *** Exciting news on this front -- I finally broke down and saw a neurologist a few months ago. She put me on a medication that has made a HUGE difference in dampening the tremors! I can sign my full name again -- and it's legible!! lol I'm able to write full letters again after giving it up years ago. I am so excited!! I still shake, but it's back to being manageable most days. I don't think I even realized how many things I had stopped doing until I could suddenly do them again. I am beyond grateful!!!***

My Profile is getting kinda long, so here's a Table of Contents of sorts in case you want to skip down to a certain section:

• About Swaps
• Favorite Books
• Favorite Movies
• Favorite Television
• Favorite Crafts
• Likes
• Dislikes
• Wish List
• Tea and Candy

I consider signing up for a swap a contract. I never ever flake, so if you have not received from me, please let me know so I can resend. I don't want any of my partners to miss out on the fun of a swap! I do not mark items sent until the mailman has picked it up from my mailbox or I've dropped it off at the post office. If for some reason I will be late, I promise to message my partner(s) to let them know. (It hasn't happened yet, but you never know when life will throw you a curveball.) If a partner is going to be late, I understand and just ask that they communicate with me. I do my best to make sure I have correct postage on the things I send, but I have had different clerks at my local post office charge different rates for similar things, so if for some reason there has been a mistake and you receive something postage due, please let me know. Finally, I promise to rate and do so soon after receiving. If you have not received a rating from me, I either haven't received your swap or it was an accidental oversight. Please message me. I also very much appreciate the ratings I receive. I may not be able to respond to them all, but please know I do read and appreciate them! :)

I write book reviews, so most of what I read is assigned to me by editors, but when I get to choose I've been gravitating to YA Science Fiction and Fantasy lately. Since I started volunteering in the elementary school library this past year, I've also been reading (or listening to audiobooks of) a lot of middle reader books so I know what to recommend to the kids. If anyone has any recommendations in that genre, please let me know!

• To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee
• Kindred by Octavia Butler
• Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling
• The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams
• Wonderstruck by Brian Selznick
• Weird Girl and What's His Name by Meagan Brothers
• Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston
• I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou
• Maus by Art Spiegelman

other favorite authors:

• Bill Bryson
• Cassandra Claire
• Alice Walker
• Christopher Paul Curtis
• Dr. Seuss

I love old black and white movies. Philadelphia Story and It Happened One Night are probably my all time favorite movies. I'm also a sucker for Brat Pack-type teen movies like Breakfast Club, Say Anything, and Some Kind of Wonderful. My favorite Disney movies are Jungle Book, Beauty and the Beast, and Brave. I like all kinds of movies, though.

Right now The Walking Dead and Game of Thrones are my favorites. I also love Gilmore Girls, Big Bang Theory, Dr. Who, and MST3K. I have an inconvenient addiction to Korean Dramas (inconvenient because I can't multitask while they're on because I have to read the subtitles). Those are saved as rewards for getting lots of work done. :)

I mostly do papercrafts and mixed media art now, though I have dabbled in many types of crafts over the years. I used to make and sell jewelry until my tremors got to the point that it took too long to do things. I still make custom pieces for people, which was my favorite thing to do anyway. I love creating something specifically for the recipient. :)

I am a true Gemini, so I like many different artistic styles depending on my mood: vintage, Steampunk, shabby chic, clean and simple. I adore Graphic 45. Tim Holtz, Dyan Reaveley, Finnabair, and Frank Garcia are fav designers. Prima flowers and colorful paints and ink make me happy.

I am pretty easy to please. I love seeing other people's own styles, so please don't feel like you need to try to make something that fits into my style. Here are a few things that make my heart flutter, though:

• vintage
• steampunk
• metal
• wood
• washi
• Alice in Wonderland, Wizard of Oz
• Old Hollywood
• old photographs
• rockabilly and snarky housewives
• dragons, gargoyles, mythical creatures
• Gorjuss Girls and Julie Nutting dolls
• bright, happy colors
• school/office supplies
• planner stickers
• stationery, especially Korean or Japanese, but any
• birds and animals (all, but especially red pandas, sheep, llamas & alpacas, owls, cats, and hedgehogs)
• dark and supernatural (think Edgar Allen Poe, dancing skeletons, ghosts -- especially if it has a hint of morbid humor to it)
• kawaii (I know this is kind of the opposite of dark and supernatural -- see, I told you I was a Gemini! lol) I especially love ghosts, pandas, red pandas, cats, manga girls and boys, and hedhehogs. My fav characters are Tarepanda, Kutusita Nyanko, Capuri Mono, and Sumikko Gurashi (especially Zassou/Weed). Current Kawaii Wish List: older Tarepanda, Jinbe San, Mind Wave Kiguru Me/"Quit" animals.

Postcards: I tend to like non-touristy more than touristy, but really I am happy to receive anything. Sometimes I get a touristy postcard I love. You never know. If a swap allows for handmade postcards, I like those, too, especially if they show the sender's art and style. I'm equally happy with naked PCs or ones in envelopes. Some themes I'm particularly interested in collecting are "Greetings From (State or City name)," black and white, old Hollywood, book and movie related, and art.

Please don't send me anything x-rated or full of profanity. I'm not a prude by any means, but my kids like to get the mail from the box and hang out while I open it.

Please no religious or political themed items.

And obviously, nothing racist, abusive, or hateful. (I feel funny even saying that, as I hope it would be common sense, but someone recommended I should, so there it is.)

If you are sending me something for me to use, then I prefer not to receive teacher/reward stickers, stickers with baby or little kids' themes or characters (like dinosaurs, dumptrucks, Dora or Barney), or cutesy-style items (like Magnolia Stamps type images), simply because they don't really fit my personal style and aren't likely to get used. If you are making me some art, like an ATC or Pocket Letter or Card, and cutesy is your style, then I would be more than happy to receive it. :)

I'll add and subtract from this over time. If you happen to have one of these items laying around and want to toss it into a swap, I promise it will be going to a home where it will be appreciated and loved. :)

• My daughter is adopted from Ethiopia, so I'm always looking for items that feature African American kids to use in her scrapbook and other crafts.
• used postage stamps with images of people or animals and used stamps from other countries
• anything from Cavallini
• Daintree Tea from Australia (received some in a swap once and LOVED it!)

For swaps involving Tea or Candy:

My favorite candy is anything chocolate, especially with caramel, nuts, and/or coconut. I like fruity things like Skittles and orange slices and sour candy like Sour Patch Kids or Shockers. I also love trying candies from other countries.

I'm not a big fan of chocolate with fruit flavored centers (like orange cream, etc.) or grape or watermelon flavored things.

For tea, I don't care for fruity flavors and I have an overabundance of Earl Grey, so would prefer not to receive those if possible. Other than that, I'm happy to try anything.