ferretlady

10-24 note - thanks to everyone for the kind thoughts & well-wishes after my car accident (not my fault!!! Durn careless driver ran a stop sign & slammed me, totally my vehicle I'd just bought 8 weeks ago!) Finally got things settled w/ the insurance co. & got a rental car so I could get to the doctor. Turns out my back & neck are injured worse than I thought - doc has me in a neck brace & back brace & I'm going for therapy 3 times a week for at least the next few months... whew!

This last week has been crazy, between doctor appts, running around madly, trying to find another vehicle before my rental car expires, paperwork, etc etc. So please forgive me if I haven't replied to notes or ratings or etc - I think things are going to calm down within the next day or two, so I'll try to catch up with everything as fast as I can! Please just bear with me a little longer. Thank you again to everyone who's shown me such concern & caring through this rough time!! HUGS

I love to crochet, paper-craft, stamping, sew, quilt, artwork, etc -- I dabble around in just about everything, but I cannot knit! Otherwise, I've tried just about everything at one point or another! But my primary loves are crocheting (especially amigurumi & other little critters) and sewing/quilting. I just 'discovered' inchies & am having a blast making some!

OK - a bit more about me:

I lost my precious husband in June 2010 - he was only 52 when he died. I am still trying to 'get back on my feet' emotionally & throughout these past 2 years, I've found that staying involved with creative pursuits is one of the best 'therapies' to stave off the depression & lonliness.

My sweetie & I were true soulmates, we were more in love with every passing day - people used to ask us if we had just recently gotten married, they said that we acted like a pair of love-struck newlyweds all the time! He was my life, my best friend, my one true love, my everything & my heart still breaks each & every day missing him so badly.

But he had such a wonderful positive outlook on life & I know he would want me to be happy & to live my life to the fullest, so that's what I try to do, hard as it may be.

OK - on to interests & such:

I love the ocean & anything associated with it - seashells, beach glass, pelicans, driftwood, tropical-themed items, etc... I grew up here in Florida - Orlando to be exact. It was a much different place in the 60's, 70's than it is now! I did live out of the state for a brief time, but Florida is my home & I love it here. I currently live in a tiny town about an hour south of Orlando, where there is still open space, orange groves, and some remnants of the natural beauty of the 'old Florida' that has been destroyed so much in recent years.

Favorite colors are lavender & blue. Also like greens. I prefer 'cool' colors over 'warm' colors for the most part. But I'm happy with most any colors - except brown, I really do not like brown!

Kitchen colors - mint green, other pastels work in there too

LOVE coffee of all sorts, esp. deep rich coffees and flavored coffees. I do like tea, but for some reason, I don't seem to be drinking it very much anymore. I especially like mint teas and Earl Grey - don't care quite as much for fruity teas.

I enjoy gardening, though I have a half-brown/half-green thumb! I enjoy trying though! Some of my favorite small garden plants are coleus & any type of mint, followed by most any herb plant.
Larger favorites include palms & other cycads, banana trees, hybiscus, and other tropical plants.

I love animals of all types - my husband & I had ferrets for many years, mostly rescues - hence my nickname 'ferretlady'. At one time, we had ten ferrets at once, all free-roaming through the house - that was quite an adventure! I currently only have two kids - a spoiled little quaker parrot named Connor, and a lovable little black & white rat named Riley. My husband & I had lost our last ferret to insulinoma a while back - we had debated whether we wanted to take in any more or not - our financial situation had changed somewhat & ferrets (esp. elderly ones) can end up needing a LOT of expensive veterinary care. We had adopted Connor during this time Then my dear wonderful husband got sick suddenly & died. I thought about adopting another ferret or two, but decided I wanted to leave that as a precious memory of what my beloved & I had done together, rather than something I did by myself. So I ended up getting Riley & he's a little sweetheart - it surprised even me to see how immensely affectionate & cuddly a little pet rat could be!

I collect:

Pigs - anything 'pig-ish' at all Tropical birds Anything w/ ferrets Anything w/ mice/rats

Things I would love to get in swaps/trades:

My biggest wants right now --

Tiny embellishments suitable for inchies

Fat quarters

Charm squares

Misc. fabric bits

Christmas fabrics

rick-rack

Glitter (esp. ultra-fine)

Stickles

Embossing powders

Any type of Christmas-y embellishments

Brads

Sequins

Other stuff I'd like:

-household items -

*Crochet/knit dishclothes

*Potholders

*Dishtowels

*Anything 'ocean-y' -- my lanai has a very tropical theme to it with a tiki bar that my husband built, so bright colorful quirky stuff for out there is always fun!

-Art supplies-

*Soft pastels- brand doesn't matter

*Prismacolor markers or Faber-Castell Pitt markers

*Watercolor paper - either cold-press or hot-press

*Any size matt boards

Circle Template (small sizes - like a drafting template, not big scrapbook template)

-craft supplies-

*Cotton or cotton-blend fabric for quilting

*"Curve Decor" stamps (I have a good handful already though - so check w/ me about the specific design if you are wanting to trade one you have)

*Novelty buttons

Things I DO NOT need or wouldn't use at all:

Religious items - PLEASE NO religious items!

Stickers - there are some specific types of stickers that I use sometimes - like the 'Class A-Peel' metallic ones - but I don't usually use the ordinary everyday type stickers that you commonly run into. Since my choices are rather specific, it would probably be best if you didn't send stickers unless you're sure they are something I would like.

Whew... that's about all I can think of right now - sorry this is such a rambling mess - maybe in the near future, I can re-write this & make it be a little more sensible, but I did want to get some info out here.

Thanks for reading!!

For my own reference -- tags & forum games I'm in: