spinjenny

I apologise for being so terribly late with some of my 'handmade' swaps. I am working on them, and all my stash/shopping/postcard swaps have been sent out on time.

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. This increases the chance that the item will actually reach me.

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.

I'm 59, and I live with my husband and our very spoilt cat Wysi (having lost our much loved Tigs in April). I am intensely curious about the world, I love to try something new, and I'm addicted to Killer Sudoku. There isn't much more to say about me that isn't covered in other sections ...

I used to spend most of my free time involved in fibre crafts - knitting, weaving, spinning, bobbin lace, braiding (kumihimo and other forms), felting and so on.

I still do those, but I am now doing papercrafts too and having a lot of fun - ATCs. postcards, making my own background papers. I also want to make simple books and try chunky and altered books.

Through textile ATCs/postcards, I am trying quilting again.

I've also started to play with polymer clay.

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.

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.

These are only the things I can think of at this moment. There are lots of other things I like:

• handmade textiles - handwoven fabric, handknit items, handspun yarn, hand-dyed anything

• spinning fibre - mostly soft/fine wools and other animal fibres, as I am not fond of spinning plant fibres, although I like knitting and weaving with them

• handspindles - high whorl or supported, particularly lightweight ones for lace/cobweb yarns

• 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.

Please don't feel limited by this list. I'll try to remember to add to it as new ideas occur to me, but it will never be complete. I love surprises, and I like to discover new things.

• postcards - particularly ones featuring sheep or other fibre-producing creatures, textiles, fibre crafts, quilting - sent as cards (therefore postmarked) or unused

• small notebooks and sketchbooks

• 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 stamping supplies - stamps, mounted or unmounted, kindly used or new (small ones for ATCs, background stamps, alphabet stamps, flowers, birds, cats) - I would love a small stamp of a wren, stylised or realistic (I have a wren stamp now, but I would still welcome others) - also temporary mounting sheets (EZ mount, tack n peel, or similar), inkpads, embossing materials

• embellishments - brads, beads, ribbons, buttons (ordinary and novelty), sparkly or unusual threads

• interesting postage stamps (cancelled is fine, or even on your envelope)

• art supplies - particularly inks, coloured pencils, crayons, and also anything suitable for ATCs

• polymer clay supplies - I'm mostly using Fimo Soft and Effects as that is what is available locally, but I'd love to try other brands too - particularly translucent or special effect clays - anything else which could be used with polymer clay would be welcome too

• fabrics for quilting/patchwork - cottons, plain or subtle patterns preferred - smallish scraps are fine, as I would mostly be using them for ATCs, postcards or small wallhangings

• novelty yarns - small amounts for braiding and for ATC embellishment - including knitting ribbons (the kind which are really a tube - nice whether plain or space-dyed)

• knitting stuff - I love knitting socks and fine lace - I knit mostly for friends and family, so if I don't like the colour(s) to wear myself, I'll know someone for whom it will be perfect - I knit socks on short dpns (5-6"), lace on circulars - I don't use stitch markers a lot, but when I do, I like them to be special (not just the cheap plastic or rubber kinds) and I like the loop around the needle to be quite thin

• spinning and felting stuff - soft fibres (not mohair), handspindles (particularly lightweight high-whorl ones) and fine needlefelting needles.

• small or flat sheep related stuff - I do collect sheepy items, but I don't have a lot of space for them - postcards, greetings cards and small figurines are perfect

• 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

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.

I will not be annoyed if you send me any of these things, or rate you down for it, 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 tiny amounts make me very sick, and always have done. I can cook with wine, as that burns the alcohol off, but even that I only do occasionally to please DH. The only exception is rum truffles, as DH loves them!

• ground almonds in any form, including marzipan. This is not an allergy, but I have a strong aversion - it tastes rancid to me and I have to spit it out. Whole/flaked/coarsely chopped almonds are fine, as are most other ground nuts including ground hazelnuts.

• peanuts and peanut butter - again I'm not allergic, but I have an aversion to them too, though less strong than to the ground almonds.

• strawberry-flavoured things - I am allergic to real strawberries and don't like artificial strawberry flavours.

• cherry-flavoured things - they taste like cough medicine to me - ugh!!! I do like fresh cherries, though.

• coffee, or anything coffee-flavoured or -scented. If you do send me anything with coffee, my husband will make sure it isn't completely wasted, though. :-)

• 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, or Hello Kitty or Kawaii type of cute things, though I would make an exception for small SheepO items and I'm a sucker for real photos of baby animals.

• I don't wear make-up, nail polish, lip gloss or similar products, nor do I wear earrings.

• socks - I rarely wear other than hand-knit socks, and I have plenty of bought ones anyway.

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

• Although I am interested in religion and spirituality in general, I would prefer not to receive anything specific to any organised religion. The exception is anything educational (rather than proselytising) about religions other than Christianity. That is not due to any bias against Christianity but because I grew up in a Christian-dominated culture, so I am familiar with the basics, whereas other religions are less familiar to me and I would like to learn more about them.

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 a 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 in general, 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 - 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 still love both Stargates. Nearer home, I am so pleased they revived Dr Who, and John Barrowman makes Torchwood irresistible.

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