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spinjenny

spinjenny
Original Member
Last Online: May 22, 2013

Country: United Kingdom
My Website
My Blog - spoiler alert
My Flickr Photos
My Pinterest

Boring but Important Stuff

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I may put pictures of my handmade swap items on my blog as I work on them, so partners who like to receive surprises should not look there. I will usually keep swap pictures on Flickr private until they have been received.


I have some unsent swaps from a rough patch in 2007 when 3 family deaths in as many months took away my ability to do anything creative for quite a while, and another from 2009 when my mother was very ill and needed all my energy and attention. The swaps affected were all ''handmade' swaps - all my stash/shopping/postcard swaps were sent out. I caught up most of those swaps, but I have found it hard to work on some others from that period because they bring back difficult memories. I do still intend to fulfil them eventually. I apologise again to those partners, should they be reading this.

I've stopped doing swaps for handmade items until those overdue swaps have been resolved, though I continued my own quotecard series. I do still send RAKs and occasionally join lower-effort swaps .


Allergy-type stuff

I can't cope with most scented products, they make me breathless, make me sneeze and/or give me a sore throat. That includes items washed in many laundry products or with dryer sheets. I'm not likely to end up in hospital, but it is very unpleasant for me. If something in your package has a strong scent, I may not be able to use other items which pick up that scent either.

Our cat has access to all rooms in the house so, although I try to keep all swap items away from her, I cannot guarantee that there will be no cat hairs on or in my packages. In particular, cat hairs seem to be attracted to clear sticky tape! If you have a cat allergy, please let me know and I will be extra careful. If your allergy is really severe, I can arrange to get bought items sent direct to you or get someone else to make something for you while I make something for them.

No-one in this house smokes.


Customs forms

If you need to fill in a customs form, please make what you send sound less exciting than I am sure it really will be. If you are sending hand crafted items or craft supplies, the best thing to do is to mark the "gift" box and just write "hobby craft exchange" in the description section and "NCV" (for "no commercial value") in the value section. This increases the chance that the item will actually reach me.


Hearts and extras

I give lots of hearts but not just because of extras, as I believe the swap item is what is important. You do not need to send extras to get a heart from me, and although I will appreciate anything extra you choose to send because you really think I will like it, it will not automatically earn you a heart. Please do not just send a lot of random 'stuff', as I should be de-stashing, not accumulating more things.

When I send extras myself, I do it in the hope of making my partner smile, regardless of possible hearts.

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About Me

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I'm 63 (as of Feb 2013), and I live with my husband and our very spoilt 19-year-old cat Wysi (having lost our much loved Tigs). She is hyperthyroid and has kidney disease, but other than those conditions she is remarkably healthy for her age and still enjoying life

wysi

I am intensely curious about the world, I love to try something new, and I'm addicted to Killer Sudoku. I really don't know what else to write which isn't covered elsewhere in this profile.

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Favourite Crafts

Fibre crafts - I used to spend most of my free time knitting, weaving, spinning, dyeing,bobbin lace, braiding (kumihimo and other forms), felting and so on. I still do those, but I am now doing many other crafts too.

Fabric crafts - textile ATCs/postcards, quilting and other sewing. I have also been having fun making small sewn items like dotee dolls, Japanese owls, facric ATCs and postcards, pincushions and needlebooks. I also want to dye/print my own fabrics.

Papercrafts - when I joined swap-bot, I discovered ATCs, and through them I began to play with 'art' again. I rarely make paper/card ATCs and postcards now, unless a particular theme appeals to me, although I occasionally do private ATC or postcard swaps. I want to spend more time 'playing', experimenting with art journalling rather than producing 'art' for deadlines.

Bookbinding - I am interested in bookbinding - particularly in 'different' bindings, not just straightforward case-bound sewn signature books. I think making books will combine a lot of my interests. I'm always fascinated by how things are constructed, and by how those construction can be modified and stretched and tweaked. I can make polymer clay covers or embroidered fabric ones. They can be practical and useful, but they can also be whimsical, beautiful, funny. I can put anything I want inside my handmade book covers - blank paper, commercially printed books, my own journalling - anything!

Polymer clay - I've also experiment a little with this. So far I have made ATCs, charms and book covers, and I want to do more..

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Colours

Favourites - teal, blue, purple, burgundy, silver; also light grey and other natural fibre colours, but almost any other colour can look good in the right place. I mainly wear blues, blue-toned greens and light grey, and when I wear jewellery, it is silver, chrome, white gold and so on rather than yellow gold.

Least favourites - sludgy colours like mustard, ochre, olive - also neons. I don't wear pink or citrus colours (orange, lemon, lime), and I don't really like any of them as dominant colours, except for pink flowers, but they are fine in smaller amounts.

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Things I like a lot

These are just a few things which have come to mind at this moment. There are lots of other things I like:

  • handmade textiles - handwoven fabric, handknit items, handspun yarn, hand-dyed anything, stuffies, quilts and more ...

  • other handmade craft items

  • photographs - black & white 'arty' photos, flowers and close-ups are my favourites

  • Japanese/Chinese calligraphy and brush painting - I love looking at them, and I try to produce them

  • 'Western' calligraphy and typography - I like looking at good examples and every now and then I try my hand at calligraphy myself - perhaps one day I'll practice enough to like what I produce

  • pen and ink drawings, pencil sketches - that's how my DH wooed me, he's good at them. :-) My father was also very good and I want to get better myself

  • the work of MC Escher - also optical illusions in general.

  • cats, flowers, trees, birds, butterflies, dragonflies, bumblebees, monkeys/apes, frogs, sheep, llamas, alpacas, bunnies and other fibre-producing critters.

  • chocolate, lemon and ginger

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Things I like to receive

Just a few examples, not a shopping list. I love surprises, and I particularly like to discover new things.

  • something you enjoyed making

  • something which tells me about you and your interests

  • postcards - any unused ones which I can send myself, but also written/postmarked ones featuring sheep or other fibre-producing creatures, textiles, fibre crafts or quilting, or ones with quotations printed on the front or handwritten on the back

  • notecards, particularly if featuring cats or sheep or flowers

  • craft papers - mulberry papers and similar, or if patterned, then subtle colours rather than gaudy

  • rubber or clear stamps, mounted or unmounted, bought or hand-made, kindly used or new (particularly small ones for ATCs, background/texture stamps, border stamps, alphabet stamps, flowers, birds, cats) - also temporary mounting sheets (EZ mount, Tack N Peel, or similar)

  • a small stamp of a wren, stylised or realistic - I have a lovely wren stamp now, but I would still welcome others

  • fabrics for quilting/patchwork - cottons preferred - smallish scraps are fine, as I would mostly be using them for ATCs, postcards or small wallhangings, but of course FQs would be welcome too - small patterns and tone-on-tone are particularly useful for me, and I love batiks

  • DMC stranded cotton

  • knitting ribbons - the kind which are really a tube - plain or space-dyed

  • I adore most chocolate (but not liqueur, marzipan, peanuts or cherry - see below), and I like to try sweets (translation, candy) which we cannot get in the UK - if I don't like it, I can almost guarantee my DH will eat it - particular favourites which I cannot get locally are Almond M&Ms and Moose Munch bars (milk or dark). I haven't tried Violet Crumbles yet, but I would like to do so.

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Please do not send me

I can't cope with most scented products, they make me breathless, make me sneeze and/or give me a sore throat. That includes items washed in many laundry products or with dryer sheets. I'm not likely to end up in hospital, but it is very unpleasant for me. If something in your package has a strong scent, I may not be able to use other items which pick up that scent either.

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These would be wasted on me

I will not be annoyed if you send me any of these things, but I will not use them. I can pass them on to friends or to other swap partners, but really it would be better if you save them to send to someone else:

  • anything flavoured with any form of alcohol - not on principle, but even a tiny amount makes me very sick, and always has done. The only exception is rum truffles or other rum chocolate, as DH would love them!

  • anything containing ground almonds, including marzipan. This is not an allergy but it's a strong aversion, as they always taste rancid to me. Whole/flaked/coarsely chopped almonds are fine, as are most other ground nuts including ground hazelnuts.

  • anything containing peanuts, including peanut butter - again I'm not allergic, but I have an aversion to them too.

  • strawberry or cherry flavoured things

  • coffee, or anything coffee flavoured or scented.

  • chewing/bubble gum, as neither of us like it.

  • I prefer to avoid artificial sweeteners as much as possible, so on the whole, I'd rather have the 'normal' version of foods and drinks than the 'diet' version.

  • I'm not into really 'girly' things. I don't wear make-up, nail polish, lip gloss or similar products, nor do I wear earrings.

  • I'm not into Hello Kitty or Kawaii type of cute things, though I would make an exception for small SheepO items.

  • socks - I rarely wear other than hand-knit socks.

  • knitting and spinning stuff - I still knit and spin, but I am not doing either much at the moment as I've been distracted by other crafts - I have a big enough stash of yarn and spinning fibre to last me several lifetimes.

  • although I make ATCs and do other papercrafts, I don't use ephemera or stickers much, or other people's stamped images.

  • I am interested in religion and spirituality in general, and particularly in learning more about non-Christian religions as I grew up in a Christian-dominated culture so I am familiar with the basics, whereas other religions are less familiar to me. However, I am an agnostic-tending-to-atheist, and I hope my partners will respect that and not send me anything which comes across as trying to convert me or put down my beliefs.

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Other stuff

I'm not sure how useful it is to list these as I don't usually join the kind of swaps to which they are relevant, but as it seems to be expected, here they are ...

Books

Fiction:

I read a lot of science fiction and fantasy. I love Terry Pratchett, LOTR and Harry Potter. I also like crime fiction, particularly if it has some humour. I love the Stephanie Plum books, but can't quite get into the No 1 Ladies' Detective Agency series. I am not fond of gory horror or romance novels, but there are exceptions.

Other than those genres, I have eclectic tastes. I discover other enjoyable books by browsing the library and book stores (local and online) and by reading reviews - personal recommendations from friends too.

Non-fiction:

  • Craft books, of course - history as well as How-To.
  • Books which celebrate words and word-play.
  • History and archaeology books about the lives of ordinary people rather than full of kings and generals and dates of battles.
  • Serendipitous library and bookstore finds.

Music

A wide range, including early classical, blues, folk, rock.

Movies

"Casablanca", "Some Like it Hot", "Harvey", "The Blues Brothers", "Life of Brian", "Chicken Run", Wallace & Gromit, Indiana Jones, "Spirited Away", "Kind Hearts and Coronets", the Marx Brothers, "The Ladykillers" (1955 original), "The Producers" (1968 original), "Truly Madly Deeply", "Sleepless in Seattle", "The Rocky Horror Picture Show"

TV

It's so difficult to pick a few titles, but MASH was probably my favourite ever comedy series, Hill Street Blues and the Law & Order variants are/were the best US cop shows, "ER" for US medical dramas.

I love SF, so of course I was a Trekkie, but I also loved Babylon 5 and Stargate. Nearer home, I am so pleased they revived Dr Who, and John Barrowman makes Torchwood irresistible.

I also love cookery shows, wildlife/nature documentaries, some quiz shows, and lots of UK drama series and classic serials.

Lately, I've been watching How I Met Your Mother, Being Human, Person of Interest, The Killing (and other Scandinavian crime series), Homeland, Strictly Come Dancing and Dancing on Ice.

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~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Cheryl's heart badge ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

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For later use: ♥ ❤ ❥

Ratings

5
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Comment: Thanks!
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Comment: Thank you Jenny! Also for the great extra cards you sent with it!!
nativegan rated for Make a Zentangle Postcard on Apr 2, 2013
5
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Comment: Thanks!!
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Comment: Thanks a lot!!!! I loved the funky postcard that you sent for me and also the Jane Austen stamp...Thank you very much!
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5
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Comment: Thank yu for the postcard. Can you believe I eventually received it yesterday and I received another one yesterday, just in time to send out the next swap to you.
Response: I'm glad you are finally receiving mail again. Thanks for the heart!
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Comment: Thank you for the awesome mail! Love the stamps and the card!!!! (♡ω♡)
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Comment: Thanks!! I've already sent it on its way! Sorry I hadn't rated! Thought I had. :)
Response: No problem - thank you for rating now! :-)
sherheart rated for OFAP - Support an Artist: Notecard on Mar 17, 2013
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Comment: Thanks so much for the nice cards. I really like them.
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Comment: Jenny - thank you for the labels and the nice card you have sent me. I also appreciate that you support my project with Camryn. She is a little girl I care a lot about.
kathiec rated for Quotecard Postcard #65 on Feb 27, 2013
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Comment: I must have mis marked this on your name...IDid recieve your card and it was wonderful..I really thought I gave to a 5 and a ♥..I will do that now!!!!!! Sorry so late...THe hostess angeled me for the other one I didn't recieve.....so now I can archive this swap.....hugs 'n hearts
Response: I'm glad you did receive it and liked it. Thank you for the ♥! :-)
spiffytiffy rated for BUTTERFLIES and MORE BUTTERFLIES on Feb 21, 2013
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Comment: What a thoughtful package! Thank you so much for the fantastic butterfly stuff! I really love the needlebook! I'll cherish it forever! Seriously the best package! Thank you so much!
Response: I'm glad you like it! Thank you for the heart!
rhoswyn rated for Owls -- Hoot Hoot! on Feb 15, 2013
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Comment: Such a cool package of postcards and notecards. Too pretty to send to anyone so I am gonna have to frame them. Love Molly and McGee.
darzy30 rated for Quotecard Postcard #65 on Oct 29, 2012
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Comment: Thanks for the great quotes and the Reading postcard. One of my friends grew up in Reading (and her sister moved back there from the states) so I am very happy to have a postcard for my collection.
mpontalba rated for Quotecard Postcard #64 on Oct 14, 2012
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Comment: Thank you so much for the UK map. Love it, love the quotations!
Clstew rated for Quotecard Postcard #64 on Sep 26, 2012
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Comment: Jenny--magnificent owls! and the quotes are perfect, esp love building your wings on the way down! Thanks for hosting this swap, I so look forward to our exchanges each month!
Response: Thank you for the 5 and heart! I followed those two owls, Molly & McGee, through 3 clutches on their Ustream channel, so they are very dear to me.
KupcakeKate rated for Quotecard Postcard #64 on Sep 19, 2012
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Comment: Thanks for the cool quotes :)
Clstew rated for Quotecard Postcard #63 on Aug 24, 2012
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Comment: LOVED THIS QUOTE! And thanks so much for the Olympics pc---WOW!
IsadoraWing rated for Quotecard Postcard #63 on Aug 23, 2012
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Comment: Cool Olympics stamp! And I love Mitch Hedberg. :)
erinhayden rated for Quotecard Postcard #63 on Aug 22, 2012
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Comment: Thank you! Love the quote. And the card will look great on my wall!

Rating Overview

Overall Hearts Stars  
4.9837 332 66  
Completed Fives Threes Ones
242 488 0 2
Type 1 Type 2 Type 3 Uncategorized
1 89 47 105
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Currently Hosting

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Comments

MissPaula on Apr 6, 2013:

I love love love the Doctor Who PC! Thanks so much! I will rak something myself now! = ) ♡♥♡♥♡♥

wolfeagle on Feb 6, 2013:

hi

Glad to see you back around the Bot.

TerryF on Aug 28, 2012:

Caption Action Winner!

racheljohnson on Jun 27, 2012:

Thank you for the beautiful quilted postcard that you sent for the "Thank You Swap-bot" swap. The craftsmanship is incredible and I will cherish it. Members like you make Swap-bot great. xoxo

druideye on Jun 1, 2012:

Thank you, I got my prize of postcards from the drawing, they are amazing! -- Pamela

MichelleWillow on Jun 1, 2012:

for joining THANK YOU SWAP-BOT! swap! ♥

Teja on May 28, 2012:

Hi Jenny I am one of the winners of the prize draw for 5 postcards - I was verry surrprised. I didn't look on the disscusion section and I had no idea that I'm one of the choosen. Thank you for your generosity. I wish you a lot of succesfull qoutecard swaps.

TerryF on May 23, 2012:

Caption Action Winner!

Batmamma on May 22, 2012:

Big thank you from Charlie for the super cheeta pc! :) Cheetas are the cutest animals ever, he says and I was also to tell you that he was born in England which makes a pc from there extra special :)

Thanks again /Catarina

starrymirth on May 19, 2012:

Hi there Jenny. A while back you said you would be willing to do swaps with newbies to help them earn a reputation. Are you still willing to do that?

I would love to make small pieces of art (inchies or ATC's) for pretty much anything - I live in SA, so want to keep it within an envelope to keep postage costs down for now.

I couldn't figure out how to send a message to ask you, so hopefully this comment isn't inappropriate! Thanks, Laura

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