secretterrabite

I live in the middle of England and am obsessed with art journals, list journals, junk journals, Moleskine. Journals, Wreck this Journal...

I'm on a mission to make the most of life, and do something every day that makes me happy. Making swaps that make someone else smile gives a good feeling :-)

My love of art comes from 10 years living in London with it's amazing galleries and museums. I worked there as a magazine journalist before switching careers to graphic design, specialising in printmaking and handmade book-making.

I am a big Harry Potter fan and also Fantastic Beasts. I am always looking for rubber stamps, stickers or washi of them as they are not sold in England, despite this being the place where Harry Potter was created! I am Hufflepuff and my daughter is Ravenclaw.

I love stickers as they look great on a journal cover but don't want any cute/teddy bear stickers or kids/reward stickers or anything vintage/flowery. I also don't like things with animals on, just not my thing - probably from growing up allergic to every animal I go near.

My favourite colour changes all the time. I like yellow, cobalt teal, turquoise, violet and rainbow.

For tape swaps, I love geometric, triangles, chevrons, grids, arrows, maps, houses, I have little purple washi so would love that, also love yellow, turquoise/teal, Harry Potter/magic and any with writing/alphabet tape.

I like typography, quotes, triangles. I don't go for anything vintage, flowery or cutesy.

I love magazine articles about relaxation (not yoga or mindfulness) happiness, curing depression and anxiety without pills.

I like hand made prints, cool envelopes with doodles or patterns that you have drawn and love stamps on my mail.

I've been making zines since the 1980s so personal zines are appreciated and well loved. I love to find out about people and the secrets that get revealed in a zine.

My crafting hate is glitter. It taunts my OCD by getting where it shouldn't.

I don't do any sewing/knitting/quilting crafts so don't waste your money & postage sending me wool, ribbon, buttons or fabric. Not a clue!

I also don't use die-cut, Project Life cards or random pieces of paper, my house is full of it already!

Please don't send me any tea/coffee/choc drinks, food, sweets or toiletries as I have a ridiculous amount of allergies - chemical, smell and food allergies. I'm also allergic to animal/pet hair and fur. These can bring on rashes, sinusitis, migraines and my nut allergy can make me really ill. And please no glitter! Thanks for understanding :-)

If I've spent an entire month making you a journal, and filling it with my heart and soul, please have the decency to rate and comment. It's so rude!

If I don't get a heart after so much effort, I wonder why...? Maybe you are one of those people who only give hearts when I spend a fortune buying you extra's. Did you know that the American washi tape you buy for $1 probably costs £5 here, about $7? I'm unable to work due to sickness right now, so do not have money spare to buy items that the swap doesn't ask for. I am spending my time, effort, art materials and artistic ability on your swap and if you can't appreciate that, it's pretty sad.

Did you know UK postage is 3 times more expensive than US? So please don't send me messages asking me why I am not doing a US version of one of my swaps because you are on a budget. It's actually impossible because I don't live there, but I am hosting international swaps which are therefore open to everyone. I could make them all Europe only to save myself a lot on postage, but I am kind and welcoming, so I make them international.

And finally language. I live in England, I speak and write in English. Guess what? That's where the English language comes from, therefore my spelling is correct. I have proof-reading qualifications, trust me. If you are in another country, you have no doubt taken my beautiful English language and destroyed it, pronouncing it differently and spelling it differently. If your country choose to rip my language apart, dropping the "U" from colour and favourite, then that is unfortunate for you. Do not waste your time messaging me to tell me I have made spelling mistakes in my swap as everytime you do I can hear Shakespeare turning in his grave.