smadronia

Updated June 2013: Summer Freight is here, long hours, or weird hours. Sometimes I have an hour, sometimes I have 10 minutes. My phone is not kind to Swap Bot, so what I can do while I'm at work is limited. If you want to know why you haven't been rated ,or if a swap has been received, please message me. I can reply to messages with my phone while at work.

I'm also trying to get the hang of using rubber cement, for ATCs and for postcard with a printed message. I apologize if my stuff comes rto you with weird sticky trails.

I'm Stephanie and I live with my partner and my grandmother. I was a long haul truck driver for many years, and during that time I had to put everything on hold. You can't have hobbies when you live in a space smaller than a walk in closet with someone else.

Before I drove, I dabbled in a number of crafts: candle making, polymer clay, beadwork, you name it.

I have a quirky sense of humor, and I like funny things.

I'm a non smoker, so anything you receive from me is smoke free. I have a cat, and while I keep my craft stuff away from him, I can't promise that your item won't come in contact with his hair. I can try though.

Now that I'm off the road, my options have expanded for crafts, and I'm into kilnformed glass right now. I have a kiln at home, and I've been busy making coasters, plates, necklaces, and other things.

I love glass, and kilnformed glass is a great way to make one of a kind things for people.

I really love beadwork and polymer clay. While I don't do much of either anymore, I love seeing other people's work.

I'm learning to do ATCs, although I'm not very good at them. I love to see other people's ATCs, there are so many ways to make them, it's incredible.

My favorite colour is purple, although I do like most colours, black, red, and blues especially. The older I get, the more I like orange and dark greens. I'm not as fond of yellows and bright greens, but I can't say I hate them.

I have discovered washi tape! This stuff is AWESOME! I have many rolls of it in purple, so if you are sending me a roll, I'd really, really love any other colour. I'd love a purple roll as well, but I currently have 5 or 6.

I love things that sparkle or glow in the dark.

Quirky things are great, I have 2 cube animals made of felt on my desk. They're odd, and I love them.

Cow spotted things, or spotted cows in general: I collected cow spotted things as a teen. My first computer was a Gateway 2000, and back then, they came in cow spotted boxes. It's one of those things that I eventually quit actively collecting, but spotted things still find me.

Keychains! I somehow started collecting keychains when I was a kid, and ended up with hundreds of them. Like cow spotted stuff, I quit actively collecting them years ago, but people still make sure I get them. I especially love those that are touristy. coming with a city or a state, or country name on them.

I like animals, always have. I'm mom to a big fluffy white cat, and sister to a pair of German Shepherd dogs, so I'm an animal person. My favorite animals are the ones in the cat family, buffalo, and elk. Yeah, the last two are random, but they come from spending time on the road. All kinds, including plush. I have a big plush animal collection.

I love tea. All kinds. I'm willing to try all kinds of teas, loose, bagged, you name it. I joke I'm in a bit of tea snob now, and I am, but that doesn't mean I won't brew up a cup of Lipton if that's what I'm sent. If you're in a teabag swap with me, be prepared to get a baggie of Market Spice. You'll know it when you smell it, it'll make your entire envelope smell of cloves, oranges, and cinnamon.

I don't drink a lot of coffee, but I'm always willing to try some. I'm not as fond of bold, strong coffees, but I will try them. I have a Keurig, and that's where most of my coffee drinking comes from. It might not be gourmet, but it does create a consistant cup of coffee.

Nail polish! I'm a big fan, and anything I don't use goes to my partner. We have bottles and bottles of it.

Bandaids are actually on my list. Working with glass, I spend a lot of time with cuts, and so I go through a lot of bandages. I love coloured or character bandages, like Hello Kitty, rainbows, etc.

I have a sense of humor, so funny things are always welcome.

I love the old fashioned pinups girls. And, I don't mind nudes. Hustler nudes are a different story than Betty Page, but I'm not in a household where nudes would cause problems, so if that's what you want to send me, that's cool :)

I play a LOT of World of Warcraft, and I have for years. Horde and Alliance, and just about every class, although priest and warlock are my favorites. I've been to Blizzcon in 2008, 2009, 2010, and 2011, and if they'd had it this year, I'd have gone in 2012. There's always next year. I'm a big Blizzard fangirl, and play Starcraft & diablo as well.

I'm also fond of address labels. I really like those that are fairly small, since I've found all the ones I purchase to print on are way bigger than a return address label needs to be. Someone sent me a sheet of really cute ones, with an orange cat, and they're smaller than the stamps I use to send mail out of the country. I love them.

For some reason, I hate Sponge Bob with a vengeance. No idea why either.

I'm allergic to scented things, so please don't send me stuff that smells. I love it, but when my eyes water and itch, and my nose stuffs up and I sneeze, I can't enjoy them.

Artificial Sweeteners and I don't get along, so anything sugar free will get routed to another family member or friend.

I'm an eclectic pagan, so I'd appreciate it if you didn't send me religious items, unless the swap calls for it. If I'm in a Christmas swap, I expect that some things will be religious in nature.

For these things, if you miss this section and send me something that I'm not able to use, I'm not going to rate you down for it. I do have limits though, if it's a goodies from your profile swap, and someone sends a Jesus head air freshener, sugar free candies, and and note telling me I'm going to hell, then I'll take offense.

I amassed quite a collection of postcards while I was driving long haul, mostly of the tourist variety. Since joining Swap Bot and Post Crossing, I've managed to swap almost all of them. I've been sending out a number of Oregon and Washington tourist postcards because they're easy for me to get my paws on. However, my postcard collection now spans a wide variety of topics.

I like postcards. All kinds. All atyles. In English, and in other languages. Funny, or serious, cartoons, or photographs. Ad cards, tourist, art cards, I like them all. If you have a postcard you don't really like, send it my way.

I drop my mail in 1 of 3 places: the local blue mailbox nearest my house, the blue mailbox nearest my work, and at a post office that has a 24 hour automated postage machine.

Neither mailbox picks up on Saturdays, so if I drop it off Friday night, it won't be picked up until sometime Monday. Mail to the Post Office usually picks up on Saturday, and I have received mail back as early as Monday, so they may have someone sorting over the weekend. If I'm dropping off near the end of a swap's send time, I make every effort to drop it at the post office and not the mailbox, so it will go out faster.

Sometimes I screw up, and things come back postage due. It's quite random, I was told to mail a flat envelope as a parcel once for no good reason. If I screw up and get the mail back, I will let you know.

I try to rate within a reasonable amount of time. Sometimes I get behind. I work as a local truck driver, which means I work when there's loads to be delivered, so I often work all night, come home, sleep, get up, and go right back to work. I try and catch up on the weekends when I can. Mails sits on a pile at my desk, so I go through it and rate at the same time.

If you're going through your swaps and you don't see a rating from me, feel free to drop me a line and see if I got your swap item. Often, it's sitting in the pile on my desk, or someone else in the household has "helpfully" dropped it on the sofa and I just need to go hunting. I'd appreciate it if you didn't nag though. I'm not trying to ignore anyone purposely, but sometimes I just get buried.

I've sent out every swap I've participated in, but the mail system isn't perfect, and some things have gotten lost. If I'm supposed to send you something, and enough time has passed, and you're not seeing it, let me know.

If you end up not being able to meet a swap deadline and need some extra time, let me know. Things happen. I understand that sometimes things get in the way, you misread the date on a swap, or you simply forgot. Send me a message and let me know, and it'll be cool, within reason. I reserve the right to rate according to Swap Bot rules if your swap is sent out really really late.