spinjenny

UK postal strikes

Update, November 6 ~ the strikes have been called off, supposedly for at least the rest of the year, so once the backlog has been cleared there should not be any more major delays until the Christmas rush.

I am planning to start putting 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 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.

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.

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.

I give lots of hearts but not just because of extras, as I believe the swap item is what is important. I will appreciate anything extra you choose to send because you think I will like it, but it will not automatically earn you a heart. When I send extras myself, I do it in the hope of making my partner smile, regardless of possible hearts.

I'm 60, and I live with my husband and our very spoilt cat Wysi (having lost our much loved Tigs in April '08). 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, 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.

Papercrafts - ATCs. postcards, making my own background paper, and I want to try chunky and altered books eventually.

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

I've started to experiment with polymer clay. So far I have made ATCs, charms and book covers.

I have also started bookbinding, and I am particularly interested 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 contructed, 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!

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 Iwear jewllery, 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.

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, 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

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, small buttons (ordinary and novelty, but preferably ones without shanks), sparkly or unusual threads

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

• art supplies - particularly stuff like Twinkling H2Os, Perfect Pearls and other fancy inks/paints - even one colour or part-used would let me find out whether I like them before buying more [I have some Twinkling H2Os now, and lots of Perfect Pearls - also Pearl-Ex as stamp pads but not as powder]

• polymer clay supplies - I have been using Fimo Soft and Effects as that is what is available locally, but now I have Kato clay too - I'd particularly like translucent or special effect clays - anything else which could be used with polymer clay would be welcome too, but I do have plenty of cutters now

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

• DMC stranded cotton - I don't have many colours and they are horribly expensive over here compared with in the USA

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

• 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. Particular favourites which I cannot get locally are Almond M&Ms and Moose Munch bars (milk or dark).

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 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.

• 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, and I have plenty of bought ones anyway.

• 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.

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 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 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 and lots of UK drama series and classic serials.