paflip25

I want to tell all the military families out there: GOD BLESS (from the bottom of my heart), especially those with loved ones currently deployed. I know all about the heartache and sacrifices you ALL make for our wonderful country!

Update 9/3: I just got hired back at my old job working as a medical transcriptionist for a psychiatrist in Maine. While it's not my dream job, I desperately need the money to support my pressed coin & postcard/postcrossing addiction. :P

I attended medical school in Cleveland, Ohio until I got pregnant with my first son in February 2004 (which was planned). I was only going to take a 1 year leave of absence but then couldn't bring myself to leave my son and go back. I do plan to finish my medical degree when both my boys (Ethan & Evan) are in school. I have lived in Maine nearly my whole life (except for a year in Vermont and a year in Texas) but I am currently living in beautiful Southwestern Florida. I love the warm weather, palm trees and gorgeous beaches! My favorite temperature is a dry 90 degree evening. I love flip flops and would wear them all year round if it stayed warm enough.

My favorite color is pink. I also love Teal green and blue (although I don't usually use blue fabrics.) My least favorite colors are yellow, orange, and red.

My hobbies are reading, playing video games, watching movies, shopping, doing crafts, swimming, and collecting. I collect pressed pennies, stamps, new postcards, stickers, stationary, trading cards, used phone cards, and gift cards.

I love to travel. I have been to 29/50 US states, Canada, Germany and Russia. I have always dreamed of living abroad for a year. I LOVE cherry blossoms, anything Asian, USA/patriotic, French, hearts, cherries, ladybugs, dolphins, ballet, butterflies, flowers and other girly things. :) I HATE polka dots, stripes, retro, Alice in Wonderland, Winnie the Pooh, owls, skulls, snakes, clowns, goth, and anything morbid or grotesque.

I love Sanrio/San-X/Kamio Japan. My favorites are Chococat, Hello Kitty, My Melody, Cinnamoroll, Little Twin Stars, Mamegoma, Monokuro Boo, any of the sweets/food with faces, and Princess White from Orange Story. I do NOT like Jewel Cat, Spottie Dottie, any of the skulls, monkeys, or Affect brand. My favorite kawaii items are letter sets, envelopes, deco tape, sticker sheets, spiral notebooks, memos, Iwako erasers, pencils, scented glue sticks, stackable drawers and pencil cases. I also love anything Disney, especially Mickey, but don't want to receive it in a kawaii swap, nor any bootleg items (from Target/dollar store/Taiwan, etc)!

I prefer stamps that were issued within the last 10 years and are not common. I collect stamps from all Countries but prefer USA and Japan. I also like ones from Canada, Europe, and Australia/New Zealand. My favorite stamps are ones that look like a photo of a place. I do not like canceled to order (CTO) stamps. I collect used stamps, first day covers, new singles, plate blocks and souvenir sheets. Please no torn, folded or thin stamps. I have been getting a lot of these recently and they just go into the garbage. I only collect ones in mint condition.

POSTCARDS: My favorite types of postcards are city views, multiviews, maps, Hello Kitty/food with faces, Disney, USPS, recipes, license plates, military, or postcards with temples, castles, capitol buildings, football stadiums, waterfalls, or famous landmarks on them - 4x6" or bigger. In fact, the bigger the better! :) I love 5x7's and panoramic. I'd especially love to have any postcards from my postcard wishlist. I do NOT like postcards of art (other than Disney, Kawaii & USPS), people, free/ad, old or handmade cards. I also dislike most animal and nature postcards. ~Pretty please~ send the postcards in an envelope. I only collect postcards that are new and NOT written on. (You are guaranteed a heart if you send it in an envelope and it is not a requirement of the swap to do so.) PLEASE NO DIRTY, SCRATCHED, BENT OR VINTAGE POSTCARDS. (This includes new cards with vintage photos on them.) I collect only new (2000 or newer) store-bought cards in MINT condition. I keep getting vintage cards and I absolutely HATE them! Please send them to someone who would appreciate them. I'm just going to throw them away.

STATE MAPS THAT I AM MISSING: Delaware & North Dakota

Here are the ones I already have: My USA map card collection AND My INTERNATIONAL map card collection

STATES THAT I HAVE 0 POSTCARDS FROM: North Dakota

I recently learned to knit and LOVE it! So far I have knit a scarf, doll's blanket, felted purse, a dozen dishcloths and an afghan. I love knitting on circular needles, and felting/working with 100% wool yarn the best.

I also love making felt food, yo-yo's, hair accessories, pin cushions, body spray, counted cross stitch, painting (on slate, ceramic, etc.), scrapbooking, envelope making and other paper crafts. I love paper crafts in general and could never have enough paper! I love matchboxes, ATCs and inchies. I started making all 3 shortly after I found this website and I'm really pleased with the results. :) Lately making glass magnets and fabric covered buttons are my biggest obsessions. I have a weakness for handmade note cards. I've never made any of my own but love buying them. I hope to try making my own soon. I also love handmade tags and bookmarks. I got a sewing machine for my 30th birthday. (Yeah! I'm so excited.) So I'm learning how to machine sew. Any easy sewing patterns or knitting patterns would be very much appreciated.

I have been crafting since I was a little girl and have tried just about every craft at least once at some point in my life. Everyone in my family is very crafty. I have taken several Art classes in high school and in college. Two of my 11 x 14 pencil drawings were chosen to be displayed in art shows 2 years in a row. But it has been 9 years since I last drew anything. I also won the contest at my high school and got to paint my mural on the wall (which was about 6' x 8'). Although, I don't consider myself to be "artsy", as it doesn't come easy to me. It takes me many, many hours to complete one drawing. I admit that I am very much a perfectionist.

Danielle Steel, Luanne Rice, Pat Conroy, Beverly Lewis, Max Lucado, autobiographies, romance novels, and anything on Asian culture and paper crafts.

I do not like anything involving murder, mystery or horror. I'm also not a big fan of science fiction or fantasy, although I did enjoy the Mists of Avalon by Marion Zimmer Bradley. (I didn't care for her other books, though.)

I LOVE magazines! The only ones I subscribe to are Parents, Cosmopolitan, Glamour, Conde Nast Traveler and Martha Stewart Living. My favorites are ANY travel, crafts, cooking, and womens. I would be happy to receive any of these types of magazines. They do not need to be new or recent issues.

Pirates of the Caribbean, Pearl Harbor, Memoirs of a Geisha, Armageddon, Cars, Toy Story, Kung Fu Panda, 10 Things I Hate About You, Titanic, Cutting Edge, Dirty Dancing, and Jeff Foxworthy: Totally Committed. (Of course, I already own all these DVDs.)

The Eagles is by far my favorite band. I also like Van Halen (with Sammy Hagar), Blessid Union of Souls, the Goo-Goo Dolls, Rascal Flatts, Lonestar, Tim McGraw, Faith Hill, 80s rock, and country music.

My 5 year old (Ethan) is crazy about anything Disney Cars. He is trying to collect every one of the diecast cars. (He also likes Hot Wheels and Matchbox cars.) He would love to receive anything "Cars" and used is fine with him. He also loves Monsters Vs. Aliens, books and his V-Smile. His favorite color is yellow. He is wearing a size 5 in clothing. He started pre-K last year and loved it! He has a deep love of learning, like me. :) (So would love anything educational.) He is very fascinated by science (especially the human body) and is great at Math. I'm ashamed to say he can play the Wii and DS better than I can and is totally addicted to video games.

My 3 year old (Evan) LOVES Toy Story, Spiderman (and other superheros), and Spongebob. He also likes tractor trailer trucks, pirates, cowboys, Little People, zoo animals, tools, and play food. He is so easy to please and treasures everything given to him.

• I'd love to have a few new penpals from Japan or South Korea!

• Anything from my Etsy favorites

• Kinder Surprise toy capsules. (It's too hot here even in the winter for the chocolate to survive but I'm addicted to the cute toys.)

• Kawaii anything!

• Pennies minted before 1982 - This is my #1 wish right now, as I never have enough.

• Pressed coins (Pennies/Quarters/Nickels/etc.) *For pennies - pre-82 only, please!

• Foreign coins/banknotes

• Postcards - unused (see interests above)

• Stickers (no reward ones, please) - I especially like Jolee's dimensional stickers, Sticko, and Shady Lion.

• Unused wooden pencils

• Low odor Dry erase markers - any color (my kids use these up like crazy).

• Level 1 or 2 readers (books) for my son who is starting to read.

• Puzzles with approximately 63 or 100 pieces for my 5yo. Used is fine as long as it has all the pieces. There are never any at my local Goodwill, so we only have 1 and he LOVES puzzles. :(

• Playing cards - even just one from a deck would be great, as I collect individual cards.

• Handmade note cards

• Envelopes ranging from approximately 4x6" - 5x7" - handmade or storebought.

• ATCs/Inchies

• Handmade stuffies or felt food

• Bottlecaps - new or already altered

• Chiyogami/Origami paper

• Paper scraps

• Rub-ons

• Fabric with tiny prints - 1" (3cm) or smaller. I especially love Japanese import, children's, marbled, batik, and glitter fabrics. (I can use pieces as small as 2").

• Ribbon - I can use pieces as small as 7". I especially love 5/8" grosgrain.

• Wool Felt or felt that has a printed design/pattern on it - even any scraps are great.

• Wool felt roving

• Wool felt balls

• Felt patterns

• Fabric yo-yos

• Appliques

• Sculpey/Fimo embellishments

• Buttons - tiny 5 mm ones with holes, shaped ones, and any with a shank.

• Brads

• Chunky Wool yarn (like Lion Brand Wool-Ease Chunky) - any color - 6 yard minimum, please

• Ball/skein of yarn - ANY type/color

• Ephemera – especially dictionary pages, and anything in a language other than English.

• Small collage images (around 1/2 inch)

• Scrabble/Domino/Mahjong game pieces

• Trading cards - any

• Used gift cards (although, I wouldn't be opposed to one with a balance on it. XD Especially to Walmart, Target, Michaels, Joann's, or any fast food chain.)

• Used phone cards

• Stamps - new/used/FDC (see interests above)

• Box Tops/Campbell’s Labels For Education

• Pampers points

• Baby coupons (Pampers/Huggies/Luvs)

• Make-up - I never wear any.

• Jewlery - I'm allergic to most metals/gold/etc.

• Tea

• Profanity (even when abbreviated)

• I'm a strong democrat, so please no rebuplican stuff (Bush, etc.)

• Anything promoting/referencing alcohol or drinking. I was married to an alcoholic for several years and this brings back bad memories of what it did to the kids and I.

• Poorly done handmade items! (If the swap is for 1 item) I would much rather receive one well done item than 4 that are sloppy looking and were thrown together really fast. These usually end up in the garbage. I spend a lot of time and take pride in what I send, and it is such a disappointment to receive something crappy in return.

• Strong floral scents, such as lilacs, AND cigarette smoke. (I have asthma and migraines and these things trigger an attack.)

• I can't say this enough becaue I keep getting them - NO VINTAGE POSTCARDS, please!

Private Swap for $25 of NEW stuff by Midnight

Quick --Unused-- Postcard Swap by Aerochik Angelled by vyl87

Newbie Homemade Envelope International swap by Zelphia - Angelled by MissU

50pc EMBELLISHMENTS 5 by Echo7071

Forum tag for a paper crimper on 5/15/08 by Junkdrawercreations

"I Collect..." Forum tag on 5/18/08 by Bontkwagga - Angelled by Coolbaker5

20 Used Stamps IV by Bontkwagga - Angelled by ArtsyJana

Photographic Postcards ~ Open Theme by Kristininflorida

Just Craft Stuff - US/Canada Only by Garagebandfan Angelled by vyl87

Newspaper ATC swap by Bonafyde

Matchbox (32 ct) STICKER CRAM! by Sagobrandt - Angelled by Rainbowdaze!

Take-Out Menu Swap International by Spundekas

Ty Beanie Baby Swap :) by MichellyBelle

Postcard WTA #3 - Souvenir Lovers Group by Edesaforslin