orneryswife

I'm a 50- something full time homemaker, married to the love of my life for 39 years. We raised and homeschooled two children, both grown and on their own. We have two grandchildren and two grand-cats.

I'm homebound and rely on others for a great deal of my daily needs, but I am blessed to have art and pen pals to fill my days.

I mostly join regional swaps as opposed to international because I hate to wait and prefer lower postage. I often join swaps then pull out before partners are assigned because I want to do my very best and if I am not inspired, I don't think I will send that. However, once I commit to a swap, I'm a very reliable swapper. I always send on time (usually as soon as partners are assigned) and rate promptly upon receipt of the swap. I enjoy hosting group swaps, and will angel if necessary.

For examples of my style, click on the link above for my Instagram. More specifically I like...

• little houses - especially whimsical style (I have a whole wall in my dining room dedicated to these)
• Garden themes - flowers, trees, bees, gnomes...
• Butterflies and birds
• Coffee (but NO tea!)
• Dishes, pottery, art glass
• Sewing by hand or machine
• Book making
• Beading
• Wire art/sculpture
• Jigsaw puzzles
• Inspiration and Scripture references
• Natural remedies, essential oils
• Gratitude
• Color, color, COLOR - bright, bold, cheery
• Painting
• Gelli-printing
• Mail Art
• Washi tape
• Shimmery and shiny, (but not bulky bling)
• Cribbage
• Word games such as Scrabble and boggle (I am orneryswife on words with Friends if you want to play with me!)
• Reading light-hearted and romance (eBooks only)
• Writing and receiving letters
• Irish wolfhounds (I don't have one, just think they are cool!)
• Upbeat music
• Hallmark movies (no TV but I watch online)
• Art journaling

I really like the art style of Roben-Marie Smith and Rae Missigman. My preference is usually abstract and more modern, mostly because I can't draw anything very well except stick figures. :)

For whatever reason, I have developed a strong aversion to images or photographs of faces, especially vintage photos. Please, please, please don't send me a swap with people faces on it. This includes anime.

I don't really"do" Halloween. I like fall stuff, just not all the ghouls, ghosts, etc.

I'm not a big fan of Zetti style art, using an assortment of body parts to create a different creature. Kawaii isn't really my thing either, but if it is sent, I pass it on to a pen pal who likes it.

I am extremely sensitive to fragrance and smoke.

I joined swapbot for the challenges and interaction with other artists. Sometimes I send extras with the swaps, but I usually put a lot into the swap requirements, and prefer to be rated based on that, not extras. Likewise, I rate on quality, not extras.

If you really want to send extras, here are a few ideas of things I can use.

• Gelli-prints
• Flat stickers for mail art
• Unusual ephemera like foreign book pages, menus, funny papers
• Coffee stained paper
• Stencils of any size--even homemade on file folders
• Altered tags for my collection
• Decorated labels to use on painted envelopes to put the "send to" address on.
• Painted or inked Deli paper
• Letter from YOU!
• scraps of yarn or other fibers for my weaving or art
• Personalized return address labels (colorful!)
• Crochet flowers I can add to sewn items

Thanks for reading my profile and for swapping with me!