smokeandmirrors

My name is Laura, i'm 20 years of age and am from Australia. I live with my partner of 4+ years William and my two gorgeous little kittens Noodles & Kink. I study Games & Interactivity at The Swinburne University of Technology and i work part time for a department store (Big W).

I am turning 21 in March of 2009 and am throwing a huge party to celebrate th event. I would be very happy to receive items to do with 21st's. The Colour theme is dark purple and canary yellow.

I have a flickr page which i do upload all sent and received photos too. If the gift is meant to be a surprise (such as a christmas present) i won't post photos until after the person has received the swap so don't worry about a surprise being spoiled! :)

I have to admit here that i do regift/resend some things that others send me. I appreciated the time and effort that has gone into sending me things but sometimes there are things that perhaps aren't quite me and rather than sitting them in my cupboard and leaving them i think it is better to pass them along to others that maybe will enjoy them more than i. On this same note i do not mind if you regift/resend something that you receive from me. Better that you make someone else happy with it. :-) Hope no-one is offended by this!

For my Partner William
I am happy to receve items for William in any swaps. He has a great sense of humour and he enjoys many different things such as BBQing, making cocktails, barware, beer, anime, manga, lego, dungeons & dragons, world of warcraft, building things/fiddling in the garage, dark chocolate(The darker the better), Dr. Who, Top Gear, Battlestar Galactica, Sci-Fi, reading fantasy novels, Jeremey Clarkson, Stargate SG1/Atlantis, Farscape, Heavy Metal and Rock Music, Coffee, Choc-Coated Coffee Beans and more. He is getting a Coopers Home Brew Kit for Christmas so any of their products woud be appreciated! His Birthday is March 19th and he will be 22 in 2009.

For Noodles & Kink
I am happy to receive items for them in any swaps. These are my 8 month old kittens. They love any sort of cat treats (Whiskas cravers, chicken jerky, liver treats etc. Any of those great packets of treats that can be found in pet stores or vet clinics), balls, stuffed toys, anything with bells on or in, fish flavoured food or any of those little Fancy Feast tins (They do not eat any food titled 'chunky' though), catnip, toys with feathers or fluffy bits, chewing cardboard boxes and more. Please don't send them anything with pieces of long string or thread attached as this is a health risk for cats.

If you are sending something for William or the kittens please clearly label it or include a note explaining what is for who. Thanks for that :-)

There are a several things that i enjoy collecting/swapping which are listed below.

Favourite Colours
I love the colours purple, black, blue and yellow. And i like the colour combinations of purple/yellow and purple/silver.

Keyrings See Keyring Collection below.

Used postage stamps: I collect stamps from any country so please always put stamps on parcels and letters you send me where possible! Please don't bother to send me stamps if they are ripped, drawn on or have sticky tape over them; they are no good for a collection like that. If you would like to do a private stamp swap please PM me.

Dr. Seuss Books: I have recently started to collect Dr. Seuss books. I collect them in soft cover only. At the moment i am looking for the following titles:
- Dr. Seuss' Sleep Book
- Yurtle the Turtle and Other Stories
- Did I Ever Tell You How Lucky You Are?
- Horton Hears A Who!
- Daisy-head Mayzie
- If I Ran The Zoo
- Thidwick the Big-Hearted Moose

Children's Christsmas Books: Any Children's Christmas books, yes absolutely any! I especially love Aussie adaptations of classic christmas stories but i really do just love all of them.

Postcards See postcard collection below.

Button badges I love any sort of Button Badges especially ones based on my profile.

Gothic items Anything to do with Dragons and Wizards and other dark/gothic themes i adore. Please not magazine or newspaper clippings. I like both Asian Dragons and others.

Christmas Christmas is my favourite time of year and i would be delighted to receive anything related to Christmas. I mean it! Absolutly anything! I love planning Christmas meals, gifts and decorations.

Gothic Socks I am always looking for new socks with skulls/dragons/other gothic themes to wear! (Australian size 2-8)

Egyptian Items I have a bit of an obsession too with Egyptian style and related items. They are just so beautiful to have around your home.

Cooking/Food I like to cook and do so as often as i am able to. I enjoy cooking muffins, cookies, jams, preserves, pasta, potato dishes, chicken dishes and fruit recipes. My favourite foods are strawberries, pineapple, potato, chicken parmigiana, fudge, cheese(All except Blue Vein), Pasta(Most Kinds). I have a subscription to the magazine Super Food Ideas so please don't send me any copies of this as i will already have them.

Cocktails I enjoy a good cocktail (usually made by my dear partner William). My favourite cocktais are fruity ones. My favourite spirits are Rum, Bourbon, White Rum, Vodka and Tequila.

Novelties I love random novelties that you can find in stores such as Laugh @ Life, Whatever! and Whats New?.

Romance/Valentines Day I am a hopeless romantic at heart so anything to do with Valentines Day or love/romance would be greatly appreciated.

Scrapbooking I have started up scrapbooking again BUT i am a casual scrapper. I still wouldn't mind receiving scrapbooking supplies but i would prefer certain sorts of scrapbooking items such as:
- Christmas related
- Birthday related
- Love, romance and Valentines related
- Cat, kitten related
- Food, cooking related

Scrapbooking items that i CAN'T use: Sports, Children, Babies, Dogs, Work, School, Wedding/Engagement.

I am in the process of trying to collect a postcard from every country in the world (I also collect postcards from anywhere else too). If you can help with any of my missing countries please feel free to contact me! You can find the complete list on my website which is listed above. The ones listed below are just a few of the Countries i would like postcards from.

Antigua And Barbuda
Aruba & Netherlands Antilles
Azerbaijan
Bangladesh
Belarus
Central African Republic
Costa Rica
Fiji
Greenland
Guadeloupe
Iraq
Kiribati
Malawi
Palau
Pitcairn Islands
Romania
Rwanda
Tahiti & French Polynesia
Tuvalu
Vanuatu
Venezuela

I have a large collection of keyrings (over 350) and am always looking for more. My favourite keyrings are tourist type keyrings with countries/cities/tourist destinations/towns/landmarks etc. on them but i also like others too!. I am trying to collect 1 keyring/keychain from every country in the world. On my website (which is listed at the top of my profile) i have a list of which Countries i do/don't have a keyring from. From anywhere is wonderful though even if i already have a keyring from there! For those who would rather not go to my website i have listed just a couple of the Countries i would LIKE a keyring from (This is not the full list; If you want the full list you will need to look at my website.) You can also see images of some of my keyrings (not all of them are there yet at my flickr page).

Antartica
Austria
Azerbaijan
Bahamas
Barbados
Cambodia
Cayman Islands
Central African Republic
Chile & Easter Island
China
Cook Islands
Costa Rica
Denmark
Djibouti
Greece
Iceland
Ireland
Jamaica
Japan
Liechestein
Lithuania
Nepal
Netherlands
Norway
Poland
Romania
Scotland
Tibet
Vatican City

Pirates of the Caribbean(All of them), Robin Hood: Men In Tights, The Chronicles of Riddick, XXX, Lord of The Rings(All of them), Harry Potter(All of them), V For Vendetta, Saw (All of them), Sin City, Moulin Rouge, Love Actually.

I love horror movies most of all, i also love action, thrillers and romanctic comedies.

Rock, pop, 50's, 60's, punk and i LOVE power ballads!

Favourite artists include Meat Loaf, H.I.M., Alter Bridge, Breaking Benjamin, Frankie Valley and the Four Seasons, Good Charlotte, Evanescence, Marilyn Manson, The Platters and a lot more. I'd be here forever if i listed them all!

Buffy, Angel, The 4400, Whose Line Is It Anyway?, Primeval, Gilmore Girls, Stargate Atlantis, Stargate SG-1, Joan Of Arcadia, Hex, Supernatural, Desperate Housewives, Lost, Point Pleasant, Scrubs.

Here is a summary list of the things i would like to receive in swaps. I thought this might make it easier on some people so that you don't have to read the epic that is my profile. :
- 21st Birthday items
- Stickers (Any)
- Raspberry M&M's (I would really like to try these)
- Keyrings (Tourist or other)
- Postcards (From Anywhere)
- Used Postage Stamps (From Anywhre)
- Dr Seuss Books
- Children's Christmas Books
- Button Badges
- Gothic/Skull/Dragon socks (Australian Size 2-8)
- Anything from my Etsy Favourites
- Items for my partner William
- Toys or treats for my Kittens Noodles and Kink
- Fudge
- Love/Romance/Valentines related items
- Mini or other size whimsy jar
- Pocky (Not Dark Chocolate/Mens though. I would really like to try the Blueberry Pocky)
- Mini Kitchen items
- Scrapbooking supplies
- Egyptian items
- Christmas items
- Matchbox based on my profile
- Any World of Warcraft memorabilia/merchandise
- Any H.I.M. or Meat Loaf merchandise (No Newspaper or Magazine clippings please)
- Whose Line Is It Anyway? Related items. (You would make me the happiest person in the world if you were able to find something to do with this show for me. I don't know if there is merchandise or not but if there is i would love it. Please no newspaper or magazine clippings though.)

Just a list of things that i either don't want or can't/won't use. Please be aware that if you send me something off this list it is guaranteed to be re-gifted or passed on. Here is the list of no no's. Thanks for respecting this :-):

• Mint flavoured items.
• Scented items as i have a very annoying sinus condition. This means no candles, soap, incense, make up, body products etc.
• Anything pink, fluro green or brown. Or any combo of these.
• Tea or coffee (I don't drink it)
• Religious items of any sort
• Anything with humour about race, religion or body image/weight (I don't find this sort of thing funny at all and will probably be offended if you send me something of that sort)
• Chocolate: (Unless it is for my partner William) I don't enjoy it that much and it would probably melt on its way to me anyway.
• Anything with Dogs on
• Any products made with animal fur
• Used, dirty, ripped, torn, broken items.
• Anything that smells like smoke or to do with smoking.

Thanks again for respecting all of this. :D

I have been very lucky to have only been flaked on the one swap so far...hopefully that number doesn't go up in the future. I was flaked on:
For My Other Half ~ Intl
And then i tried to get it angeled in Angel Swap....For Those Who Have Been Scammed and was flaked on in that too! The wonderful giraffeandrabbti is angeling this for me! Thank you!