sunnysidey

Updated 20th November 08

I joined Swap-bot in March 2008 and it has become quite an obsession! I wait impatiently for the snail mail to deliver my items to their recipients - mostly my own handmade postcards with bright colours and silly names. I usually put pics of the stuff I send on my blog and/or flickr site.

I pin up most of the wonderful cards I receive from all you lovely swappers (it's like having an ever expanding quilt on the wall):

I live with my two fur-purr-boys Eddie ( black & white) and Rufus (tabby) in our little house in Perth, Australia. Here's a pic of them as babies when they used to hide behind the fridge, a pic of Eddie in the hammock he made under the chaise, and a pic of Rufus helping me make curtains....

I'm quite introverted and would rather spend the day inside playing with my boys and toys than go out. Being in the midst of more than a few people is overwhelming for me. By day I work as a quiet corporate IT slave, but after five I come alive in the glorious technicolour world inside my own head!

I'm a really bad housewife, but it doesn't matter, because I'm a happy bachelorette! I live in chaos and only tend to tidy up when it reaches critical mess.

I like surrealist, op, pop and naive art, psychedelia, unusual furniture, and my taste has been described as tacky, wacky and kitsch, but in a good way :). I like to call it whimsical and quirky.

I love adding to my collection of brightly coloured and patterned fabric. Please don't throw away the selvedges or tiny scraps of your brightly coloured fabrics or your hubby's old ties - send them to me!!!!

I'm conscientious about rating and I send out my swaps as early as I can -- if you haven't received a rating or a swap from me please let me know. I understand that not everyone will like my stuff so I don't mind at all if you re-gift it, although I do always read profiles and try my best to make something I think you will like.

Oh - I do recycle envelopes and make my own and I'm always experimenting with new ways of doing it, so please let me know if there has been a packaging malfunction :-)

Despite my bright-cartoony preferences in home decoration, I have a dark, bitter and sarcastic side, and I enjoy irony, satire, and rude/outrageous humour. Eddie Izzard is my favourite.

It's always great to receive handmade surprises!

I'm always happy when I receive:

• selvedges (a.k.a. selvages), especially bits with numbers or colour dots on them
• small scraps of fabric - prefer 100% cotton, but enjoy any type (even the much-hated polyester fabrics your mum used to make your nighties from! You know, the ones that burn when you sit next to the heater....)
• anything with stripes or polka dots
• felt - acrylic or wool - any colour
• brightly coloured or patterned ribbon, rick rack or trim
• unusual beads and buttons
• brightly coloured yarn, discarded knitting projects, or anything that can be needle felted
• brightly coloured embroidery floss
• Sharpies and gel pens - any colour
• stationery
• arty postcards
• any bright coloured fabrics by designers Jan Mullen, Kaffe Fassett, Heather Bailey, Alexander Henry and Amy Butler (not so keen on the pastels)

I love baroque music best - Bach, Scarlatti, Palestrina, Monteverdi, Purcell and Buxtehude. Also love Brahms, Bartok, Shostakovich, and many more.

I like sixties pop and rock, and a bit of techno.

Love musicals too - Rocky Horror, Cabaret, Chicago, Hair, etc.

I've been learning to play the piano since September 07 and love it very much. I played the oboe, saxophone, flute and recorder when I was younger but sold all except the sax when I went travelling. Music is really my first love.

I don't have a TV, but when I did, I used to like Twin Peaks, Seinfeld, Curb Your Enthusiasm, Father Ted, Black Books, Frasier and the Monkees (I still enjoy all these occasionally on DVD). I'm amazed that anyone can find the time (or inclination) to watch TV!

I haven't seen a movie in ages, due to my Swap-bot addiction. Some of my old faves are:

• Lost in Translation
• Donnie Darko
• Nosferatu The Vampyre
• Satyricon
• American Beauty
• Fight Club
• Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
• The Big Lebowski
• Fargo
• Being John Malkovich
• Ghost World
• The Royal Tenenbaums
• Harold & Maude
• Edward Scissorhands
• Eraserhead
• Rushmore
• Tarnation

Anything from Monty Python, Woody Allen, John Waters, Wes Anderson, Coen Brothers.

Actors I love include Peter Sellers, John Malkovich, Johnny Depp, Edward Norton, John C. Reilly, Frances McDormand and Steve Buscemi.

I've always loved reading and usually have one or two books on the go. Some favourites are:

• The Lovely Bones - Alice Sebold
• The Poisonwood Bible - Barbara Kingsolver
• Cat's Eye - Margaret Atwood
• Cat's Cradle - Kurt Vonnegut
• Speaking of cats, I also like T.S. Eliot
• Mrs Dalloway - Virginia Woolf
• The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time - Mark Haddon
• Sophie's World - Jostein Gaarder
• Dorian - Will Self
• The Picture of Dorian Gray - Oscar Wilde
• Middlesex - Jeffrey Eugenides
• The Shipping News - E Annie Proulx

I read quite a bit of non-fiction too, mostly geeky musical stuff (e.g. baroque performance practice on the harpsichord); Stephen Hawking; Richard Dawkins; anything that gives me a sense of existential angst. I'm fascinated by ancient cultures, art history and philosophy, and love to soak up any non fiction in those areas.

And I love the magazines Quilting Arts and Cloth Paper Scissors. But I don't like magazines that tell me what to wear, what not to wear, how to think, or how to please a man.

My motto is "make something every day" and I like to dabble in lots of things.

• patchwork design and piecing (I'd like to quilt my patchwork, but by that stage I have usually lost interest)
• fabric and felt creations
• Dottee dolls
• making postcards out of fabric or paper scraps
• making mosaics
• collage
• zentangles and doodles

I've tried my hand at ATCs and never really felt at home with them, although I did make some nice Zentangle ones. Same with inchies.

I'm just starting out in hand embroidery and needle felting - they are so much fun!!!

Anything quick to make is a bonus due to my short attention span! I consider myself more noodler/doodler than artist :-)

Most of the cushion covers, lampshades and curtains in my house have been handmade by me, and I usually have a few different projects on the go (some of them eventually get finished)!

I like decorating my house in MY colours, and I have a hot pink (not stolen, just bright!) toilet with fabric flowers on the walls, a sky-blue bedroom, and burnt-orange and pinkipurple spare rooms. I'm planning a kitchen renovation soon and scouting around for bright ideas.

I'm not keen on stock-standard ATCs and scrapbooking-by-numbers. I find some of the winged pin-up girls a bit twee. Here are a few other things I'm not really into:

• pastel, neutral or drab colours, especially brown and beige
• fairies, dragons, unicorns, etc.
• elephants (I find them scarey and evil)
• Kawaii
• Disney or similar cartoons
• astrology, religious or patriotic stuff
• cutesy, frilly, lacey, chintz, floral, country style things, shabby chic, Mary Engelbreit, Thimbleberries
• stickers of any kind
• makeup, nail polish (except when used to decorate furniture) or perfume

(I'm not a girly-girl).

I'm not picky. Really.

@Krazyquilts is a legend. She sent me a sachet of this yummy drink (among other gorgeous and delicious things) in a private swap. This is a very subtle hint for those who like to include extras in their swaps! The caramel flavour is the one I tried and it was awesome. Thanks Krazy!