sassafrass

For the last year, I had to watch my sweet Step-Dad fight a losing battle with cancer. He passed away with us at his side. I have now lost a dear Uncle. I am learning not to ask "what next".

It's been one heck of a year. I am trying to settle into some kind of normalcy. Life can be unpredictable and change suddenly. Hold your loved ones close and cherish each day you have.

Some of you have reached out to me and offered kind messages and support. I couldn't possibly ever thank you enough for that.

A note on rating ... I will always rate. I do my best to rate promptly, but sometimes this doesn't happen immediately. I get a huge volume of mail from here and other sites, and can't always get to my post boxes during their normal hours. Thank you for your patience!

U.S. Address

I do have a U.S. mailing address. For any US swaps, I do try to message my sending partner right away, but if I miss doing that, please contact me for the addy. If you are sending to me for an international swap and wish to send to my US address instead of Canada, please message me :)

A Note about Mail from Canada

It's slow and very inefficient at times! Mail pick up and delivery is Monday through Friday, excluding holidays. I mark my swaps sent the day I put them in the mailbox. If it happens to be later in the day, I may have missed the pickup time for that mailbox (times vary). Also, please note that letter mail is no longer handled and sorted locally in my city. Any letter mail picked up from my city is sent to a sorting facility in another city. This is where it will be postmarked, so please keep in mind that it can be days off from the day I put it in the mailbox because of the extra travel time.

♥♥ Hard to believe I've been here almost 8 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. 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 jewellery 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 am totally loving flip books and pocket letters!

I envy those that can sew well, and knit and crochet. It just wasn't my thing, and I have far too many wonky shaped scarves!

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

Love chocolate, except dark/bitter (on it's own). I don't mind dark if it has nuts or fruit. Fave is milk chocolate or white chocolate, and anything with fruit/nuts or peanut butter. I would enjoy trying anything :) I really love anything Fazer from Finland! I love lots of different candies, including gummies and sour candies.

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, My Minds Eye, October Afternoon, Basic Grey, etc.
• handmade junk journals
• handmade envelopes
• 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)
• decorative and fancy papers, beautiful scrapbook papers
• love washi tapes
• rubber stamps (love artsy ones, butterflies, dragonflies, birds, old writing, ornamental, etc.)

Home & Bath

• candles .. spiced or floral or fresh scents
• yummy smelling shower things. I prefer floral or light and fresh (rosemary, green tea, cucumber, citrus)

I'm not fussy about smells like vanilla and coconut.

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)
• Mickey Mouse (especially classic Mickey)
• journal books, notebook, note cards, sticky notes 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 (esp. Cat in the Hat)
• Charley Harper anything :)
• Beatrix Potter
• Classic fairytales
• Art by Waterhouse, Klimt, etc
• cats on postcards, notes, etc
• Anything Moomins :)
• things with a tea motif/theme
• Mary Engelbreit
• anything from Somerset
• 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

Wearables

• cozy socks (none with toes!) U.S./Canada size 9
• As far as jewelry, I like things in an organic or rustic style, and chunky :) I love aged looking pieces. I am especially fond of jewelry with natural elements and earthy colours. I have pierced ears and like anything from small studs to big chunky hoops. I also love pieces done in an assemblage style, or vintage style.

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

.Cold Case, Friends, The Mentalist, Law & Order, Monk, Castle, Bones, Elementary, Sherlock, House MD, The Blacklist, The Closer, Major Crimes, True Detective, Criminal Minds, Dexter, Modern Family, CSI (all of them) Backstrom, Rizzoli & Isles, Stalker, crafting shows, cooking shows

I enjoy a huge variety of music. Mostly an alternative/grunge gal, but I'm all over the map really! Some faves:

The Fray, Lifehouse, Maroon 5, Thirteen Senses, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Type O Negative, The White Stripes, Depeche Mode, The Cure, Radiohead, Muse, The Verve, The Cult, Linkin Park, The Black Keys, Pearl Jam, One Republic, Avicii, Oasis, The Offspring, Stone Temple Pilots, Incubus, Third Eye Blind, Broken Bells, Foo Fighters, Jack Johnson, Killers, Neverending White Lights, Bjork, 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

Missing swap? 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 do get lost occasionally. 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.