UPDATE 05/27/09 Thanks to all my partners for being so patient with me. I am still very sick & get very dizzy when sitting or standing so creating my swaps has been VERY difficult. Please don't give up on me I am working through them as fast as I can go right now. Half my Butterfly pages for the Butterflies (a chunky book) swap have been mailed out but I don't want to mark them sent until I send them all. I am working down the list in order on my dashboard so please understand if you are further down it will take a little longer. ALSO I WILL RATE - I ALWAYS RATE. I am just going slow at this right now, half my swap mail isn't even opened right now & if it was an email swap I will get to it I promise. I have had somebody hounding me for a rating and it is VERY off putting - I can understand sending one message but several in the span of a few days is a bit much and is not going to make me move any faster. Anyway thank you to the rest of you all for your messages. I am reading them all I just don't have time to answer everybody right now, which is why I wanted to update this again. :) ~Melissa

PLEASE NOTE 05/18/09 I am running a little bit late on swaps right now. I have been horribly sick & exhausted lately, come to find out I am pregnant!!! We have been trying for over a year to have another baby so we are very excited! However it is slowing me down quite a bit so please be patient with me. I have dropped out of all swaps that partners haven't been assigned to yet but I still have several pending. I promise I am working on them, it's just slow going right now. I believe I have contacted all my partners on the swaps that I am late on, if I didn't contact you my apologies! I am also getting behind on ratings, I have been keeping up pretty good with rating the snail mail ones. I am really far behind on email ratings though, I promise as I am reading them I am rating, it is just slow going on that as well. Thank you for understanding! ~Melissa

what I pledged

I am a stay at home mom to a very hyper active 2 yr old little boy. I love all kinds of crafts, chunky books, ATC's, scrapbooking, embroidery, altered books, photography, etc. I am still fairly new to all this and I am still learning more & more everyday.04

I love anything Disney related, esp. the villains and Mickey Mouse.

I love photography, altered arts, art journaling, mixed media, collage, and basically anything handmade. I love quilts and things that are knitted or crocheted but I can't do any of those things myself. I do hope to learn one day though!

I also like hockey.

I also love dance, all kinds of dance although I took tap, jazz and ballet all growing up.

** So You Think You Can Dance * Step It Up and Dance * America's Best Dance Crew * Survivor * Amazing Race * Jon & Kate Plus 8 * One Tree Hill * Oprah * The View * Psych * The Office * My Name is Earl * Burn Notice * I love Tivo! I could never watch so many shows without fast forwarding through commercials!

Some ideas of things I like & some things I would like to receive:

• Anything handmade by you, ATC's, cards, chunky pages, inchies, drawings, zentangles, etc. - Anything! I love hanging other's work all around my desk, it gives me inspiration and motivates me! Receiving handmade things makes me happier than anything else! :)
• I LOVE fibers and ribbons & have been addicted to them lately, I have more ribbon that I have fibers & I use fibers more so if you include some for me I will love you forever!
• Rubber stamps new or used - I have just got addicted to stamping & embossing so I don't have very many stamps yet.
• Embossing powders, even if just a sampling in a small baggie!
• Ink pads in any color
• Recipes, esp. for main dishes or crockpot meals, I am also always looking for recipes for pot lucks (desserts work well for this) since I have a very large family & we are always having get togethers.
• Blank recipe cards, I am always swapping recipes with family & friends and of course on Swap-bot!
• Brads, eyelets, charms, and other embellishments always welcome!
• I love color, any color, there is not a color I dislike my very favorite colors are:
• purple
• green (esp. sage green & dark forest green)
• pink
• silver
• gray
• I also love & work with a lot of neutral colors - browns, creams, beige, sage greens, etc.
• Sharpie Markers (I esp. like the fine point ones)
• Cheap paint brushes (the cheapest, I am hard on them & then I throw them out)
• Maps, atlases, old dictionaries & encyclopedias pages
• Any interesting paper with designs
• Anything hockey
• Anything Disney (although not a huge fan on Pooh and Friends)
• Postcards
• Hand written letters - I love peoples handwriting
• Buttons, any type. I esp. like old ones or interesting ones
• Gluesticks (clear) could always use these
• Tea
• Vintage Ephemera
• Incense

I am pretty easy to please and would be happy with anything you send me but here are some things I do not like or would not like to receive because I have too much of:

• I like candy but I prefer it not to be sent to me. I am diabetic and trying to control with my diet now instead of having to go back on insulin or taking any pills.
• knickknacks
• candles
• magnets - unless they are handmade, no store bought ones please.
• picture frames
• anything religious or political

I have not been a member of Swap-Bot very long and unfortunately I am already being flaked on by people. It makes me sad that people do this, please only sign up for a swap if you are actually going to send something! I am not listing these people to be mean, this is simply a way for me to keep track.

• I am also disappointed when people do not rate me. I like to be sure my items made it to you in one piece and if they didn't I can correct the problem.
  Plus a lot of work, time & money go into swapping and everybody deserves recognition for that. Please rate! :)

• Earthnaut - Baby names list
• inthekeyofe - Baby names list
• danceswiththesun - Composition Book Journal
• reachmichellee - Summer Flowers Chunky Book Pages
• cupoftea - Handmade Charms - USA only
• yvonne1968 - MICKEY MOUSE ATC
• RowanWillow - Christmas Chunky Pages

• missjez - Handmade receipe book
• KatieBelle - Composition Book Journal
• AuntieM - replaced photo hunt
• elsie - aRt cHarMs-Handmade~U.S. ONLY
• barmeychick - handmade swap
• vale1987new - handmade swap
• Hag53 - Falling Leaves Chunky Page
• tntallgal - Falling Leaves Chunky Page
• Ajijic - Vintage Chunky Book
• tamari - Disney Chunky Book Page Swap (3 of 6) - Pixar
• dukiegal - Your Fav Disney Character ATC
• Niklovas - Getting to Know You Email Swap - 25 Q
• echospringscabin - Getting to Know You Email Swap - 25 Q

Thank you to everybody who angels their swaps!

*People who have angeled for me:

• Robin - Summer Flowers Chunky Book Pages

I sent swaps to these people, waiting for them to receive them and to rate me. :)