freespirit66

After many years in the non-profit sector (with the last 8 of that founding/operating/directing a children's art and farm camp), I'm now a stay-at-home mom who homeschools my two daughters.

This is perhaps the most challenging - and rewarding - position I've held. I feel so fortunate each day that I get to spend teaching and learning with the girls.

I enjoy photography...and documenting everyday life around the home...including homeschooling, crafts the girls and I do, cooking, the pets (2 dogs and 5 cats), nature, and wildlife.

When I have breaks from homeschooling, I make natural toys by hand for my daughters and others that are made from wool felt and sheep wool. They are made by sewing/embroidery or needlefelting...both crafts that I truly enjoy.

I also make translucent window stars (like these window stars I made) after admiring the ones at the local Waldorf school. The stars have been such a fun and creative way to add some beauty to the home, and to daily life.

I enjoy participating in swaps and meeting new people throughout the world. Receiving mail filled with creative work by others is so inspiring!

For a look at my work, please visit either my Flickr site and look under "Things I've Made" or to my Etsy shop to see handmade things I sell.

About my Daughters

Sophia and Olivia are 7 1/2 and 5 1/2 respectively. Both were born in China and adopted at 11 and 10 months respectively. Both are loving, generous girls who care deeply about others – people and animals.

Both girls have special needs which were unknown/undisclosed at the time of adoption. Olivia is legally blind in both eyes. She wears glasses so she can see, but definitely responds better to tactile/sensory items that she can touch. She also had a wide range of developmental and speech delays (many of which have been addressed); and is currently working with an endocrinologist who is conducting multiple tests to determine a cause for her short stature/low weight. Sophia has multiple allergies (dairy, cats, dogs, dust, dust mites, cockroaches). Both girls have Sensory Integration Dysfunction.

Both sing in choir and perform about once a month. They take classes through two homeschool co-ops to connect with other children and learn new subjects (dance, ceramics/pottery, Chinese, home economics, American Girl – a history and craft class, science, theater, and phy ed).

Both Sophia and Olivia love to raise monarchs, and look in the backyard for caterpillars to raise indoors. They release them when the turn into butterflies.

The girls also do a lot of birdwatching since there are many types of birds here (we live on almost 10 acres of which we’ve kept the majority in its natural state). They enjoy going on nature walks and discovering animals that live or pass through here (deer, pheasants, fox, coyotes, snakes, owls, eagles, and turkeys).

ATCs, photography, embroidery, needlefelting, cross-stitching, bookmaking, needlepoint, collage, colored pencil, sewing, and quilting.

I enjoy trying new things. I have tons of ideas that I’ve clipped from magazines for scrapbooking, but haven’t sat down to do that yet.

Since being a part of Swap-Bot, I've tried new projects which have been fun and challenged me creatively: dotee dolls, altered matchboxes, inchies, and button fairies.

Crafting has been a great activity to do with my daughters; and we’ve had a lot of fun making things together and exploring our creativity.

My favorite colors are purple and green. I find that many of the things I’ve been recently creating show the rainbow – all those vivid, bright colors.

Lilac, lavender, rose, ylang ylang, sandalwood, patchouly, and lemon.

Peter Gabriel, Talking Heads, U2, Barbra Streisand, Enya…any artists along that line. I also like new age and classical music. Will listen to jazz. Enjoy listening to music from the eighties. I do not like rap or other offensive music.

I read MANY books to my daughters and enjoy books that are well-illustrated and have a good story line, especially those that are classical or “old-fashioned" (ones written in the 1930s-1950s).

The books I enjoy tend to be from several sections in the library: arts/crafts, inspirational, and non-fiction about something I’m learning about or teaching my daughters (I homeschool them).

These movies are ones I could watch many times and they wouldn't get old for me: Defending Your Life; The Birdcage; Dead Poets Society; Wizard of Oz; Willie Wonka and the Chocolate Factory; Sound of Music; Arsenic and Old Lace; Mrs. Doubtfire; Best in Show, and Waiting for Guffman. Don’t have large blocks of time to watch movies, unfortunately.

I like Mounds, Almond Joy, Salted Nut Roll, Reese cups(regular), Twix, Snickers, and flavored fruit slices. I also like honey roasted peanuts, cashews, and pistachios.

I don't like licorice, anise, sour candies/gum, circus peanuts, and hot tamales. Although I like the smell of coffee and tea, I don’t drink either.

I tend to stay away from art that features dragons, medieval knights, gothic, spiders, and satanic stuff…things along that line.

• ATC supplies – vintage images (general and holiday), brads (variety of colors and designs), sleeves, scrapbooking stickers (not teacher stickers), antique buttons, ephemera from the 19th to mid 20th centuries, textured paper, etc.

• Animal related items: hedgehogs, penguins, or sheep. Fabric with small prints of these animals, rubber stamps, sewing tape, or needlefelted or sewn stuffies of these animals would be great!

• Anything from my favorite items on Etsy or Amazon - Etsy Favorites or Amazon.com Wishlist.

• Wizard of Oz Happy Meal Toys - Am trying to make 2 sets of these little Madame Alexander dolls - one for each of my daughters. Am looking for Dorothy (1), Cowardly Lion (2), Scarecrow (1), Wizard (2), Lollipop Guild Munchkin (1), Lullaby Munchkin (1), Daisy Munchkin (1), Wicked Witch of the East (1), and Winged Monkey (1).

• Handmade Doll or Fairy Jar: matryoshka, mermaid, fairy, or other cute/pretty doll; or a fairy jar.

• Empty matchboxes (250 and 32 count, with the larger size preferred) and empty metal tins (rectangular altoids or round candy tins).

• Fabric with Small Prints/Design: In particular, am looking for (1) Japanese fabric and/or anything with fairies, gnomes, and bright, cheerful colors to make several projects for each of my daughters this Christmas; and (2) 6"x6" or larger pieces of cotton fabric (regular or flannel) that have small, cute images for I-spy quilts I’m making for my 5 ½ year old daughter this Christmas. Fabric from your stash or from those on my Etsy Favorites would be great. Please...no Disney, cartoon, and other commercial-type characters.

• Sashiko Fabric - Am looking for pre-printed fabric with different sashiko embroidery patterns on it. If you have some on hand that you no longer plan to use, that would be great. Otherwise, there's some sashiko kits and fabric on Etsy that I like. I've put them on my Etsy Favorites.

• Coins, used postage stamps, and trinkets from countries that we're studying about: I homeschool my two daughters and these would be a wonderful hands-on addition to their geography studies. We are studying the following countries during the 2008-09 school year and need items from: Hungary, Korea, Laos, Madagascar, Netherlands, Oman, Peru, Qatar, and Russia. We also will be doing a unit study which includes West Africa (e.g., Ghana, Togo, Benin) so anything from those countries would be wonderful as well.

• Jelly Roll Pan: Have several recipes that call for a jelly roll pan, but don't have one. Used (and in good condition) is fine. Want to make a special cake for my oldest daughter's birthday this year, and need this type of pan.

• Essential oils: I love lavender, lemon, patchouly, and sandalwood. The oils are available through Quintessence Aromatics at 1-800-JASMINS.

• Christmas Stocking Stuffers for my daughters: I put this item here (rather than below by their names) because any items you would like them to have from "Santa" would be set aside until Christmas. If you would like to do this, please address the package to me, rather than my daughters. Any small items would be greatly appreciated. It's been a hard year (our 12-year old dog died unexpectedly in February, my daughters' grandma died in May, two major hail/wind storms hit the house in late-May resulted in having to re-do the entire roof, siding, and insulation of the house. Also had a handle explode in a bathroom and it flooded 3 rooms in July. Plus I had surgery in early August after undergoing multiple medical tests and biopsies.). Having a stocking with gifts in it would be wonderful for the girls.

• Mary Engelbreit Items - Anything would be appreciated (e.g., items that can be used in crafts or ATCs I make; paper dolls she has in each issue of Home Companion; or issues of Home Companion that you are done with that you no longer want).

• Paper Punches - used is fine. 1" square, circular, or any shapes would be great. These help my younger daughter strengthen her hands...plus she can use the punches to create pictures (fun for her...while it helps her with fine-motor control).

• Magazines that You Are Done Looking At - Ones that I enjoy are Living Crafts, Home Companion, Somerset Studio, and any craft magazine (especially ones that focus on paper crafts and scrapbooking).

• Whimsy Jar.

• Eraser Carving Kit - Saw one on Etsy that I really like that included a Speedball Carving Handle, 3 different Speedball cutters (blades-#1 small V, #2 large V, #5 large U), and various rectangle and novelty erasers. If you have any of these items that you no longer need...I can put them to good use.

• Something for my Daughters - If anyone feels inclined to send something to the girls, I know they would LOVE it.

They ask each day when the mail comes if there’s anything for them. It would be nice to say, “YES! Here’s something for you!" It would make their day (probably their entire week!).

...For Sophia - anything that is pink or purple; unicorns, fairies, horses, and cats; gum (mint flavor), craft supplies (for collage, stickers, drawing, and coloring), ATCs (ones that have pink, purple, fairies, and/or sequins on them), fancy barrettes or pony tail holders, American Girl items (used is fine…anything your daughter no longer uses), anything related to Princess Diana, and anything about Harriet Tubman and the Underground Railroad. She also is thinking that she would like to become a veterinarian, so anything about veterinarians, becoming a veterinarian, working with animals, or items that she can use for pretend-play would be wonderful.

...For Olivia - anything that is red or blue, pandas, lions, horses, Skittles, painting kits (she LOVES to paint), things to color, and anything related to "The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe" and Aslan. She wants to grow up and "work with pandas" - so anything related to pandas, caring for pandas, studying pandas, or items she could use in her pretend-play would be wonderful.

I tend to keep both my daughters away from things that are more “grown up" (e.g., Bratz dolls), and tend to focus more on natural, sensory/tactile items.

~~~~~~~ Please Note: Please do not send items that smell of smoke. I have asthma and allergies (Sophia has allergies as well), and smoke is something neither of us can handle well. Even if your item is beautifully constructed, but it smells of smoke, I unfortunately cannot have it in the home. Thank you for understanding. ~~~~~~~