HAPPY HOLIDAYS from Rachel, Travis, & Kenneth!

NOTICE: I am more than happy to answer administrative and site questions via the messaging system, but it can take up to two weeks (or more!) for me to respond. I am also not able to accept group invites at this time.

A few photos of my little family, Travis, Kenneth, Crusher, and me:

I am one of the creators and administrators of Swap-bot. I came up with the idea of Swap-bot after participating in some really cool blog-hosted swaps. I think swaps are a great way to meet fun, creative, new people. I have been swapping for a long time and I am still having lots of fun with it.

I live in Brooklyn, New York, with my husband, Travis, son, Kenneth, and little dog, Crusher. I grew up in Missouri and Kansas, went to college in Iowa, and lived in Oregon for four years.

Travis and I started Swap-bot in 2005 and we have been staying busy keeping it running ever since! I graduated from the University of Oregon in June 2007 with a masters degree in Arts Management. My thesis covered the topic of internet marketing for indie crafters, and I used Swap-bot in some of my research projects. I was most recently working as a graphic designer at a national greeting card company, but now I am working on Swap-bot and other independent projects (i.e. being a mom!) full-time.

My favorite color is light blue or green - like turquoise or teal. I also like pink and yellow and grey, lately. Really, I love any colors!

For crafting: I love any type of scrapbooking embellishments - I use them for all sorts of altered art projects, not just scrapbooks. As of just recently, I also really love felt. I also really, really love glitter! Oh, and kawaii! Anything kawaii!

Favorite foods: Coffee, coffee, coffee! Chocolate. Any candy. But I also try to be healthy. Lately, I'm loving grapefruit and pistachios.

My favorite holiday would probably have to be Valentine's Day (I was born in February). My favorite Harry Potter character is Neville. My favorite cold weather sport is ice skating. My favorite genre is scifi.

I love wacky and cute things, courage, gel pens, glitter, rubber stamps, stationery, Star Trek, scrapbooking embellishments, sharpie markers, the space-time continuum, ribbon, gum and candy, kindness, stickers, patterned paper, the internet, handmade plushies, handmade anything, Martha Stewart, puppies, short pants, 1" buttons, optimism, flowers, fashion magazines, anything miniature, kleenex, friendly people, and honest politicians.

I do mostly paper crafts, but I love making anything! I also paint and do some crochet. I design stuff on the computer, too. Matchboxes are my signature craft. (You can download my free matchbox template here and create matchboxes from scratch out of card stock!)

I want to sew more... my mom gave me her old Kenmore sewing machine, which I love. I have made lots of curtains and mended pants... and now I am embarking on my first quilt!

Silicon Valley, Antiques Roadshow, X-Files, Deadwood... ST:TNG is my all-time favorite. (I have a huge crush on Captain Jean Luc Picard.)

I like futuristic movies and also anything fun...

Children of Men was superb. I love the new Star Trek movies.

The Terminator is my all-time favorite movie. I wouldn't mind being Linda Hamilton/Sarah Connor when I grow up. Alien is my next favorite. Anything futuristic or post-apocalyptic with a strong female hero is fascinating to me.

Love Actually, Zoolander, and Lilo & Stitch are also faves.

Han Solo and Indiana Jones are my ideal leading men.

Two of my favorite books:

Mr. Wilson's Cabinet of Wonder - for museum buffs like me this is a real kick in the pants. It helps you to think about all sorts of things like the nature of reality and authority and truth.

Middlesex - Everyone is different and gender is not black and white. I am glad this book is now one of Oprah's book club choices because I think it will help broaden many people's definition of gender and sexuality.

I also must admit that I read the Twilight Saga - I love Jacob!! - and The Hunger Games trilogy.

Tom Petty is my all-time favorite, but I listen to anything that is good! Recently, I am really digging Florence and The Machine, Beyonce, Nikki Minaj, Vampire Weekend, Weezer, Angels & Airwaves, Arcade Fire, Prince, Paul Simon, Wyclef Jean, and JayZ.

One of my very favorite songs is the Ignition Remix by R.Kelly. My guilty pleasure is Bruce Hornsby.

I am hesitant to list my dislikes because I love to get random things from people all over the world. I do not want to limit anyone's creativity by giving them limits on what they can or can't send me. If you like it, I will probably like it, too. That being said, I don't really like ranch dressing or closed-minded people.

@travisj