ktdragonfly

I'm up to my eyeballs in work, school and moving so I am doing very few swaps right now.

Do no harm.

I enjoy making my swaps just as much as I do receiving. I always rate on the swap itself, not on extras.

My little buddy, who thinks he still fits under the table....

I am a California girl currently transitioning to life back home after a few years in Spain.

I came to Spain to walk the Camino de Santiago, and ancient Catholic pilgrimage. I am not Catholic, but thought that this was a very special thing to do in life. I walked 460 miles in 42 days, from the France border to the West coast of Spain. I was right, it was special. I walked the Camino Frances, as shown here on the bold line, and then lived for a few years on the Camino Norte, on the coast near Torrelevega, as shown on the map in the smaller line. I got to see many pilgrims walk through my village on their way to the final destination, and that was outstanding.

~

This is me, at the finish, at the cathedral in Santiago de Compostela. I´m holding my certificate of completion from the church in my left hand. I'm pretty proud of that.

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I discovered this whole ATC thing somewhere on Flickr, and I am instantly hooked. It has been a challenge to get the bits and pieces I want, but my treasure chest is growing! I just found out that the nearest craft store is in Madrid, about 300 miles from here...ugh.

I am attracted to many types of images:

dragonflies, butterflies

carnivals, clowns, Mardi Gras, masquerade

vintage and retro anything

Geishas or really, any woman depicted in traditional clothing, but yeah, geishas are pretty!

seasonal and holidays

travel or geographical

astrological (I´m a cancer!)

playing cards and tarot cards

words and language

vintage birdcages, suitcases, steamer trunks and handbags. I recognize that these are all things that contain other things, and I am sure Freud would have something to say about that.

old photographs

mermaids, seahorses, octopi

The Eiffel Tower and anything else French, french clowns called "pierrot", mimes, Paris or any other French city (just get me back to France please! I am dying to go back!)

Johnny Depp, (address, telly or email is fine.)

dried and pressed flowers, leaves of all kinds

maps

postcards and stamps, new or vintage, especially vintage

all ephemera,

religious symbols (although I am not religious)

multi colored artwork

texture!!

nautical

Architecture

San Francisco, CA

Morocco

Spain

games

gnomes, fairies, princesses, anything and anybody having to do with fairy tales.

really, the list is endless.

Photography,

ATC's

Sewing..well, I have a sewing machine, and I would like to learn how to use it. I want to make contemporary cloth dolls and Dotees.

I've been collecting metal. Mesh, old tins, screws, etc. At some point I will make some assemblage style dolls with them.

I have noticed that a lot of swappers have a lot of likes and dislikes for what they want to receive.

I prefer you to show me who you are, what art you can make and what kind of imagination you have. I will not narrow your freedom to create and express yourself. Please don't feel like you need to create something from my list of likes. What I wish is to find something interesting, unique and creative in my mailbox that took a little effort to create.

Keep in mind, I intend to display your work in my house. I am in my 40's, and I am not into cartoons, Lady Gaga or video games. If you send me a hello kitty ATC, I might smile at it, but it will end up in a drawer somewhere. I dont want to do that!!!

Most of all, have fun!

If you have me in multiple swaps, PLEASE feel free to use one envelope. Save your postage for more swapping!

Feel free to reuse envelopes. Save the planet (and your pocketbook) a little.

I hope you can extend the same courtesies and common sense to me too!

It is way too easy for me to kill an evening on one ATC (searching for an inspiration image, painting, layering, cutting, adhering, embellishing, this, that and the other).

Sometimes it is only a short time.

Sometimes my ATC's are very detailed. Sometimes they are somewhat simple.

It just depends on the subject, and what I want it to convey. I'm worried that somebody will not approve of a simple ATC, when I believe that adding a bunch of stuff to it would just clutter it and ruin it.

Oh, and sometimes I color outside of the lines and break the rules a little bit. I can't help it.

Things I would like to receive:

I adore vintage postcards depicting a woman's portrait. stamped and written. the real deal. LOVE THEM.

Vintage or tourist location ladies handkerchiefs.

Vintage photographs (1960s and earlier) with people, cars, buildings, etc...anything that tells the time the photo was taken. ESPECIALLY when the photo is at a famous touristy area.

Old portraits of children. I just picked one up in Madrid, and I am pretty sure the kid is holding a cigar. Hilarious.

Peacock feathers or any feathers really

Dragonfly diecuts or mini charms or brads or anything

Die cuts or punched shapes like circles, squares, stars, hearts..on printed or textured papers

Little vintage or new metal boxes that once held candies or pills...think Altoids..again with the things that contain other things issue...

It turns out I love postage stamps! Who knew! I save them off of envelopes and think they are so interesting!

Bits of fabric with very very small print, to make for doll clothing.

Things I can send you:

postcards and souvenirs of California or Spain

My personal photos for you to display or hack up into pieces and do whatever you want with them (you can choose one on flickr and I can print it for you to use )

Vintage buttons and garter clasps

Leather and upholstery swatches.

ATCs!

international newspaper clippings..right now I have Spanish, English, German, Russian and Chinese and Arabic.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Just a reminder to myself: To insert a picture do this: ! [alternate text for your picture] (http link) (but remove the spaces between the 3 elements)

To make a clicky link do the same thing without the !

thanks to @PJ who found it somewhere else.

You make bullets with asterisks,

*[space]text1 *[space]text2 *[space]text3

gives you

text1 text2 text3 You also need to leave an empty row before and after your list.