lilychouchou

October 12 ~ My husband left me a couple of days ago. I will be ok, but there are a lot of things I need to do, so I may not be around on Swap-bot very much for a while. I will still get all of my swaps out, but I won't be signing up for anymore for a while.

I have loads of postcards to trade on my flickr if anyone is interested. I no longer collect them, so would swap for craft supplies, profile surprises or something from my etsy wishlist.

May 9 ~ Please note I have just been put on a starch free diet, and I am also not allowed caffiene, so do not send me anything edible, with the exception of tea (though preferably not black tea). I am trying to get into more types of tea to fill the hole that all the things I can't have have left, so any tea (especially loose) would be very welcome.

My husband has just joined Swap-bot. His username is @DrSteveStrange

My mailbox has been a bit quiet of late, so if anyone wants a private trade just PM me and we can see what we can sort out. I also have lots of things on flickr for trade. Just follow the link above and let me know if you see anything you would like.

I'm 45 and I live with my husband, Alan, and our 3 children in Bedford, UK. I took my children out of school a few months ago, and so now spend a lot of my time home educating them, which I really enjoy. I love getting things through the post. I am very interested in all things Asian, especially anything to do with Japan, China, Korea and Thailand. I collect anything at all from these countries. I love learning about other cultures, reading fiction, watching East Asian films, cooking, making things when I have time and spending time with my children.

My favourite colours are red, orange, turquoise, electric blue and purple.

I don't have a lot of time to listen to music these days, though I was in a couple of bands (not very good ones!), when I was younger. At the moment I love Muse, White Stripes and The Strokes. I would always be happy to receive compilation cds, as I am always happy to discover new music. I especially like indie. I am also intererested in hearing more Japanese music. I really love Bump of Chicken and would love to hear more.

My favourite writers are Haruki Murakami, Banana Yoshimoto, Philip K Dick, Steve Erickson, Liz Jensen, Chuck Palahnuik, Douglas Coupland, William Faulkner, Truman Capote, David Mitchel, Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Jorge Luis Borges, Jonathan Carroll, Kate Atkinson, Zadie Smith, Annie Proulx, Joseph O'Connor and I'm sure there are more I can't think of at the moment, but I'm sure you get the idea!

I mostly watch East Asian films these days. Some of my favourites are Survive Style Five, A Bittersweet Life, Oldboy, Kikujiro, Eureka, Shinobi, Harmonium in my Memory, Welcome to Dongmakgol, Tell Me Something, Public Enemy and lots of others! My favourite non Asian films are Deadman, Donnie Darko, Sweeney Todd, Nightmare Before Christmas, Fight Club, Desperado, Once Upon a Time in Mexico, Frida, Amelie, Italian for Beginners, Abre Los Ojos (open your eyes), The Day the Earth Stood Still, War of the Worlds (both versions!) and I'm sure there are more, but I can't think of any at the moment! If anyone has any East Asian films they can copy for me, that would make me very happy. Check first to see what I have already though.:)

I don't watch much television, as I'm just really into films. I still love and watch Buffy the Vampire Slayer, as we have all the boxsets, and I also love Dr Who and Torchwood. I have also recently discovered Heroes, which I love. I have been watching some Japanese game show clips on Youtube with my kids and we have really got into them. If anyone has any whole shows or just clips from any Japanese gameshows I would love a copy!
True Blood just started showing in the UK and I'm loving it. Finding it really hard to wait until the next episode and it'll probably be ages before we get the second series, so if anyone has a copy they could send me I would be over the moon. Just let me know what you want for it. (I have a multi region tv, so I can play any region specific dvds.)

I love making things and love to receive handmade things too. I can make felt stuffies, goddess dolls, matchboxes, shrines, altered tins and boxes, simple polymer clay things (though hopefully I'll get better at this), ATCs, collage, whimsey jars, charms, magnets, bookmarks, altered cds. Things I would like to try are chunky pages, more complicated polymer clay things, paper art dolls and Japanese crafts.

I like trying all sorts of different flavour teas (especially fruit,herbal or anything unusual). My favourite tea is Chai, and I would like to try as many different kinds as I can. I just bought myself a little one person teapot and would really love to get some different kinds of loose tea to try in it.

My favourite way to de-stress is in the bath. I love scented bath things, though only the natural ones, without all the nasty chemicals. My favourite scents are lavender, rose, vanilla, chocolate, coconut, cherry, almond and orange.

I collect buddhas and anything related to buddhism. I am very interested in it and will probably take my interest further some day. I hate any kind of intolerance, be it religious, racial or any other kind.

I am an Aquarian and tend to be a little eccentric at times! I love anything that is different or interesting.

I have just figured out what morsbags are and I would really love to receive one of those.

My 11 year old son has been getting very into Manga lately. I borrowed Death Note from him and am now really into it. We have also seen the first film and really want to see the other two. I would love anything connected to Death Note.

I am now learning all about Wicca/witchcraft, so anything connected with that would be appreciated. I would also love anything goddess and am especially after anything (images, statuettes, jewellery) to do with Kwan Yin.

Likes: Anything with beads on, anything Japanese, ephemera, any craft supplies, shiny and glittery things, dark gothic things, skeletons, vintage things/ephemera, pens, crows and ravens, morsbags, old broken jewellery and watches, keys, interesting bits and pieces for matchboxes etc, altered tins, anything interesting for collage, amigurumi, stuffies, food with faces, chococat, Afro-ken, Onigiri, whimsey jars/mini whimsy jars, Mexican Day of the Dead, sugar skulls, cemeteries, anything bento (just started collecting!), altered bottlecaps, shrines, Halloween, FQs, stationary, Frida Kahlo, Wicca, goddess, Death Note, pagan, getting letters, info on other countries, anything Asian, buddhas, stationary, fabric, Johnny Depp, stickers, stash tea, anything Mexican, vintage Japanese postcards, Tim Burton, robots, mountains, David Lynch, Halloween, volcanoes, moon, snow, unusual jewellery, beads, art deco, art nouveau, non fiction books, unusual fiction, bath stuff, witchcraft, witches, candles, old black and white photos (1950s or older), altered notebook, altered anything, handmade paper, keyrings, unusual magnets, tea (fruit, herbal or chai, loose or in bags), souvenirs from Asian countries, starch and sugar free recipes, matchboxes, ATCs, anything handmade, dragonflies, beetles, daisies, sunflowers, jade, amber, crystals.

Here are some pictures of our new puppy, Pumpkin.

If I haven't rated you, then for some reason I have forgotten (probably because my husband has been messing about with my "rating pile". I never mind if anyone PMs me to check, I can be disorganized (with the help of my husband), so I will always rate if you remind me. I am trying to rate straight away now, or at least keeping things out of my husbands way, but I think I might have missed things in the past. I hate not getting rated, it just seems so ungrateful, so I really don't want to do the same to anyone else. If I haven't rated you then please remind me! :D

How I rate : I always give hearts if it is obvious that love has gone into the thing you have made or the thing you have chosen for me. There do not have to be extras for me to give a heart. :)

Swaps I Have Been Flaked On ~

Private Chocolate Swap with Katiebelle - this was for a large package of chocolate. This is now being angeled by Pahasiga. :) Huge thanks to Pahasiga, who sent me a huge package of Latvian and Estonian chocolate for this!

UK only Profile Surprise - Crystalcat

Happydollmaker - Alien Dotee Doll

KittyKat - Mini Whimsey Jar - UK only, angeled by host - debbiesw

Rhayne7 - Medusa Dotee Doll