ginny

Hi! I'm Ginny, a 20-year-old graphic design student. I live in Mexico in a city right next to the beach (warm, humid weather all year round). I was an exchange student in Oregon from 2005-2006, and it was thanks to my host mum Callie that I started getting into crafting and baking. It was great, because I already knew English (I've been in a bilingual school since I was 2 years old), and my classes taught me nothing new. And yeah...

How I rate

♥ - Extras, anything that shows you spent time doing. I usually use hearts for everyone :)

5 - Got everything fine, but didn't really make my day

3 - I don't mark 3s for lateness. Only if what I get is definitely not what I wanted.

1 - I will never use ones unless I try to contact you and you never answer. If something comes up, I will understand, I'd rather have something really late than nothing at all.

My favourite artists/groups are Josh Groban, The Pipettes, Sweetbox, The Bird and the Bee, Shiina Ringo, Natalia Lafourcade, Belle & Sebastian, She and Him, ELLEGARDEN, The Aquabats...

The songs I like are usually very happy sounding and danceable, although my tastes are very varied. I like everything except metal ( some songs are alright, but...). I also enjoy international music, even if I can't understand what they're talking about. I have many hindi, japanese, korean, french, and german music, but I am always looking to expand my horizons.

Many Mexicans dislike "popular" (referring to low-class people) music such as rancheras, pasito duranguense, and cumbias, but I am a big fan! The more nacas, the better :p. Anything played in wedding and quinceañeras is sure to be in my playlist.

Also, I am a sucker for Tchaikovsky. I LOVE LOVE LOVE his music to bits.

Howl's Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones ( I had the biggest crush on Howl for years). The Chronicles of Chrestomanci Series ♥. Anything written by her is LOVE, altough I still can't finish Fire and Hemlock, and Hexwood...

Other favourite authors are Cornelia Funke (Inkheart, Dragon Rider, The Thief Lord) and Lemony Snicket/Daniel Handler (A Series of Unfortunate Events), Libba Bray (The Gemma Doyle Trilogy). I mostly enjoy fiction and fantasy, but I will read about anything I can put my hands on. Yes, I have even read the dictionary countless of times just for the sake of it (and enjoyed it).

Oh, and illustrated children's books are my weakness. Being a wannabe cartoonist/illustrator, I buy as many as I can, especially if the artist is foreign.

I am addicted to cartoons ever since I was a child because they are made of pure magic. I remember watchign Disney movies and not paying attention to their plot until I was about 9 years old (yes, I never realized why the bad guys were bad). I was too busy looking at the drawing and the colours. So, of course, I barely switch the channel from Nickelodeon, Cartoon Network or Disney Channel.

The TV shows I currently watch are Pushing Daisies and The Big Bang Theory. My all-time favorites are That 70s Show and Moonlighting (it was from the 80s, but my dad recently bought the DVDs). I also watch on the net many many asian doramas :). I am a big fan of Monty Python's Flying Circus and Fawlty Towers.

In order from most liked to least liked:

1) Orange: Any shade is okay, but not so fond of neon (especially on cardboard). 2) Yellow: Yes please :) 3) Cyan is my favourite shade of blue. The brighter, the better, but I tend to favour it with when it's closer to aqua/turquoise than to baby blue. 4) Bright Green (not neon), as in grassy things. Military green is okay once in a while. 6) Pink, but it's better if it's more magenta-ish. 7) White 8) Red (as in crimson and Red-Ranger, not brick red). 9) Grey with a bluish hue. 10) Purple I don't like it too much, but if it's not too red, and not too indigo, it's fine. 11) Black. Only if you have to, or to emphasize other colours.

EYE CANDY Polka dots, stripped, bold colours, vintage, retro, ethnic, rounded squares, kawaii, DIY-looking, plaid, foreign-looking (e.g. "wow, that looks very Japanese"), plaids, shamrocks, stars, clouds, umbrellas, rain, flowery patterns (or rather, patterns in general).

TASTY TREAT My favourite flavours are tamarind, mango, pineapple, chamoy and green apple. Anything fruity is fine: anything berries, banana, tangerine, guava, leechee, peaches, and any exotic/non common fruit.

TOUCHY-FEELY Velvet/velveteen gives me the creeps. Wool felt is much appreciated.

FANGIRL Lionel Messi, Josh Groban, Joaquin Phoenix, Michael Palin, Elijah Woods, Sosuke Takaoka, Harrison Ford, Paul Bettany, Steve Irwin, Jyoji Shibue, Mark Hamil, Jun Matsumoto, Inder Mohan, Gael García Bernal, Diego Luna, Joe Cheng, Jiro Wang, James Marsden, Ben Feldman, Charlie Cox.

Donald Duck is my favourite cartoon character since I was quite small. Other favourites are Kuzco, Tinkerbell, Oscar The Grouch, The Cookie Monster, Totoro, Kaonashi (No-Face from Spirited Away), Kabu (from Howl's Moving Castle movie), Calcifer, Pussyfoot, Hazel Witch, Huey Dewey and Louie, Bad Pete, Ichabod Crane.

duckies, reptiles, frogs, llamas, kittens, parrots, penguins.

Flavours - Coffee, lemon-lime, orange, papaya, watermelon, black licorice, spicy cinnamon (gum)

Items - Chocolate bars, because they melt in the merciless weather of my country :(. However, if you can send me the box/wrapping I will be just as happy.

Heavy packages, unless I am in the US for a while (I will contact you if that's the case). Otherwise, please make it well under 2kg.

Brands - I avoid big name brands, as I much prefer home-made things (I guess most people on swap-bot do). If you are willing to spend money on a very cute item, go ahead, but don't empty your pockets.

Packaging - Boxes. Flat boxes are okay, but please try to send everything in envelopes, and make sure to make it as less suspicious as possible (don't label SWAP-BOT or put your username on the envelope)

• deco tape
• a Shinzi Katoh journal
• kawaii items (can't find them here)
• red heart-shaped sunglasses
• international music mixed CDs
• candy from other parts of the world
• zines
• any japanese fashion magazine