sassafrass

A note on sending ... Canada and small Int'l swaps get mailed from Canada. There is no mail pick up on weekends/holidays, and also there is no local mail sorting, so it travels extra days to another city to be sorted. Please understand that this can cause the postmark to be very off from the date I click sent (the day I put it in the mailbox).

A note on rating ... All of my mail goes to a mailbox that I can't access after hours. I try to get there at least twice a week and rate as soon as I go through my mail. Thank you for your patience!

Hard to believe I've been here over 10 years! Time flies :) I love swapping here, and most of my experience here has been amazing and wonderful. I've had the pleasure and joy of meeting a lot of great people from around the world, that I would have otherwise never known.

I design and create metalwork jewelry, and it's my passion and full time job. I am lucky enough to spend my days in my studio, creating pretty things to send to lovely people around the world.

In my spare time, I love to do crafts of all kinds (see below), spend time with my hubby and cats (we have 4 hoodlums!) and frequent thrift shops and vintage and antiques markets.

I love creating so many different things, and can't think of much I have not tried yet.

My current passions are jewelry making, paper crafts, scrapbooking, stamping, painting, mixed media art and collage, art journals, junk journals, ATC's, smash books, altered art, and digital art.

I have started to get back to some old crafts I haven't done in years ... crochet, sewing, cross stitch, embroidery and macrame (it's actually cool again lol).

Vintagy Things

• old photos, especially Victorian photos like tintypes and cabinet cards. I also love black and whites from the 1920's and 1930's
• vintage ephemera, old maps, travel stubs, old documents, victorian postcards, vintage postcards
• tiny vintage bisque dolls and figurines (frozen charlotte/penny dolls, little dogs, cats)
• vintage and old scraps of lace and ribbons, vintage rhinestone bits, vintage glass and/or rhinestone buttons .. love Victorian era buttons
• vintage hat pins
• old skeleton keys
• old used postage stamps from around the world
• foreign language book/dictionary pages
• vintage maps
• interesting images from magazines (whole pages and cut out)
• vintage wooden spools (with or without thread)

Food & Drink

I am a coffee fanatic and especially love pumpkin spiced or any spiced coffees, mocha, etc. Also a huge fan of iced coffees. I also drink a lot of tea and especially enjoy spiced teas, and fruity teas. Some of my faves are from Zhena's. I also love things with a tea motif/theme. Not a huge fan of chamomile or licorice or mint. Hot chocolate (any flavor) as well as cold drink sachets are always welcome too :)

Crafty Things

• Love anything from Tim Holtz, Amy Tangerine, 7 Gypsies, Maggie Holmes, Dear Lizzy, My Minds Eye, October Afternoon, Basic Grey, etc.
• handmade junk journals
• handmade envelopes
• Flow/Frankie magazines
• Things for junk journals/smash books - used bus or metro tickets, interesting candy/sweets wrappers (esp with foreign writing), other little ticket stubs/papers/receipts, little envelopes, takeout menus, etc. I especially like anything that is unique or from a different country, or has foreign writing on it :) I would love air mail labels/stickers from your country
• chipboard and embellishments of all kinds
• stickers (words, quotes, vintage style)
• sari silk ribbons (any colours!)
• beads - glass beads or natural beads
• other ribbons (not primary colours)
• beautiful scrapbook papers
• love washi tapes
• rubber stamps (love artsy ones, butterflies, dragonflies, birds, old writing, ornamental, etc.)

Miscellaneous Random Things :)

• small shells and beach/sea glass
• I love postcards of any kind, but do prefer store bought PCs unless the swap is for handmade
• love anything matryoshkas (they always look so happy!)
• cute owl things (note papers, cards, stickers, etc)
• absolutely LOVE anything from Papaya Art
• love anything with a morroccan style/design
• bird motifs (natural and/or vintage looking and whimsically drawn)
• small pretty things
• aged and worn looking things
• pretty florals
• Anything Edward Gorey
• owls and woodland things
• Chococat and Deery Lou, although not a fan of Kawaii, otherwise :)
• I LOVE Halloween
• Felix the Cat
• Dr. Seuss the Cat in the Hat)
• Charley Harper anything :)
• Beatrix Potter
• Classic fairytales
• cats on postcards, notes, etc
• Anything Moomins :)
• things with a tea motif/theme
• Mary Engelbreit
• Somerset style
• nature inspired things
• strange things like old pictures/postcards of urban decay, ornamental and unique headstones/cemeteries
• I love and appreciate anything handmade :)

Fave Colors

• My favourite colours are black, pinks (not bubble gum) kiwi/avocado/moss/celery greens, turquoise, aqua, teal, and choc or moss brown, jewel tones, fall colors, rustic colors. Not really into primary colors or fluorescents/neons

Themes I Enjoy

• whimsical drawings/art
• Charley Harper
• Beatrix Potter
• Felix the Cat
• Birds in a whimsical or vintage illustrated style (not cartoons)
• Flowers
• Woodland
• Studio Ghibli My NeighborTotoro
• Architecture
• Paris, french, and eiffel tower
• Vintage/Victorian Halloween
• Alice in Wonderland (classic illustrations, not cartoonish)

I appreciate and welcome everything I receive. The following are just not really my personal taste:

• sweet sugary smelling things, and vanilla scented
• primary and bright colours
• cartoonish/child-like items (except those mentioned above)
• anime, kawaii, etc. (unless noted)
• religious items
• dragons, vampires, etc

Stumptown, Bluff City Law, Chicago PD, Criminal Minds, FBI, Cold Case, Friends, The Mentalist, Law & Order, Castle, Bones, Elementary, Sherlock, House (MD), The Blacklist, The Closer, Major Crimes, True Detective, Dexter, Modern Family, CSI (all of them), Cardinal, The Good Place, crafting shows, cooking shows, serial watcher of Investigation Discovery channel.

I love music and can't get through a day without it! Mostly an alternative/grunge gal, but I'm all over the map really! Some faves:

Red Hot Chili Peppers, Type O Negative, The White Stripes, Brad Sucks, Depeche Mode, The Cure, Radiohead, Thirteen Senses, Muse, The Verve, The Cult, Linkin Park, The Black Keys, Pearl Jam, Sisters of Mercy, Oasis, The Offspring, Stone Temple Pilots, Incubus, Third Eye Blind, Broken Bells, Foo Fighters, AC/DC, HIM, The 69 Eyes, AFI, Neverending White Lights, etc

Books I most enjoy are mysteries and crime dramas. Some of my favourites being from James Patterson (love the Alex Cross ones!). I also love Stephen King, Stieg Larsson, Kathy Reichs (Bones), Tess Gerritsen (Rizzoli and Isles)

I also LOVE craft books and art magazines. Would cherish anything from Stampington/Somerset (even previously loved)

My fave movies are rom coms, comedy, some action movies, and thrillers. Love any and all James Bond movies!

I must admit I am in love with Robert Downey Jr. I know we are meant to be together, and as soon as he realizes this, it will all be good! ;o

I mark all swaps as sent the day it goes in the mailbox. If you have not received from me, chances are it's gone missing in the mail. I take swapping very seriously, and always send my swaps. If it hasn't arrived, please let me know before rating so that I can make it right. Sadly, it is the mail, and things can go missing. If something in life happens to cause me to be late with a swap, I will communicate with you before the swap deadline (barring extenuating circumstances), and I appreciate the same.

I do not expect or rate based on "extras", but rather on the actual swap. Most times I do include a few extras in my outgoing swaps if I have looked at my partner's profile and have something on hand that I feel they would enjoy.