synchrodoll

UPDATE!!! May 24, 2013:

I have received a number of my postage stamp bags back in April and May, thank you very much to those who returned them! I will be sending out rewards soon, hopefully in the next two weeks. Sorry about the delay in acknowledging them, these past two months have been a little rough, I was in my first trimester of pregnancy and experienced a lot of nausea and exhaustion, plus taking care of my 2 year old didn't give me much time to breathe. We were in the hospital for some days because she had rotavirus in mid-April and then I became ill afterwards. I finally have some energy back and will be going through my mail, sending out rewards, leaving comments on profiles to those who returned the bags. Thank you for your patience! :o)

Hi! I'm an American living in Berlin, Germany...I'm a formerly avid synchronized swimmer (can't find the time now!) and love things such as learning new languages, traveling, writing, collecting stickers, reading, etc. etc.

I'm a mom to a healthy and beautiful little girl that was born on July 22, 2010. :o) Since becoming a mom, I've learned how much effort it takes to be one! I guess you don't understand how much your mom did for you until you become a mother yourself :o)

UPDATE (Revised): October 2012

Since returning to Swap-Bot, I've unfortunately been flaked on & have received some crap swaps in the short-time frame since my return. So, just to be clear.....regarding disappointing swaps, do not send me any of the following or you will receive a 3 rating:

• junk
• your leftovers / destash that are not on my Likes section
• crap
• things that look completely used / dirty
• items that I specifically state that I DISLIKE
• anything that you would be disappointed if you received
• expired food items

I try to be a thankful person and grateful for what I receive, but I don't like being taken advantage of in this case. I'm not stupid, so don't try to pass off crap as somethng worthy of swapping. It should be the norm, not the exception, to receive a quality swap!

In closing, the name of this website is SWAP-BOT, not CRAP-BOT! The name of this website is also not GAMBLE-BOT, where you may or may not receive your swapI

I hope this is understandable.. otherwise I might need to start a Swap-Bot Hall of Shame on Flickr so that people start to get it, what is NOT acceptable to send.

I reuse packaging and envelopes when I mail items out.

I also pledge to rate the day I receive a swap!

I also pledge to not send you any CRAP! I always really carefully read my partners' profiles and try to only send items I think they would like and use. If I'm having trouble getting a swap together, I ASK my partner what they might also like. I would really appreciate it if my swap partners would do the same, thanks!

If you have any questions or problems, please just send me a message and will get back to you as soon as I can. I'm a very honest person and do make sure that I send out each swap on time. In the case where I am late, I also inform my swap partner beforehand. I send all of my swaps and would never cheat someone out of their share. Please take into consideration that I am 6 - 9 hours ahead of people in the US and 7 - 10 hours behind people who are in Australia / New Zealand, but I will respond to you within a couple of days.....it's just been hard lately getting online because my little one gets very impatient after a couple of minutes! I'm usually only logging on when I wake up in the middle of the night, and that's after doing whatever chores I have left over...life as a mom...geez.

Most everything! I love being exposed to new music, I'm a very open person!

I enjoy reading all sorts of books. Book recommendations are always appreciated.

I appreciate independent sorts of films but also enjoy blockbusters. I have a tendency to really like films that put other people (and past boyfriends) to sleep...for example: 1. Harold and Maude....2. Watership Down...3. Somewhere in Time....4. Birth...etc. etc. etc...

My recent favorite movie genres:

Generation X Dystopian Steampunk

I enjoy and miss American television! Reality t.v. (Survivor, The Amazing Race), documentaries, comedies, anything. I also like British t.v. as well. With German television, I usually like to watch their comedy skit shows and their documentaries are pretty good. Other than that though, I really don't enjoy German television. :o(

At the moment, I'm not doing any crafts...hardly any time for it with my little one! However, I first started creating crafty sorts of things when I was 7 (sewed my first felt Christmas ornament), my grandma taught me to use the sewing machine when I was 11. Since that time though, I really didn't do much with sewing, besides the occasional clothing tear repair, sewing a button that fell off or creating a synchro headpiece for my competitions. With Swap-Bot, I've been able to get back into creating for fun and have sewed stuffies, my first Dotee and made Whimsey Jars.

Other things I enjoy sewing / creating are things such as handmade bracelets, bookstrings and hair accessories. Hope to finish a t-shirt quilt which I have put off for years!

Since sending larger packages from Germany takes too long (a birthday present to a friend in the US once took 3 months to arrive!!! :o( ). I'm only interested in trading items overseas that can be sent at the "Letter Rate", which means any size letter or padded envelope (up to 500g, which is about 1 lb.). Within Europe, sending packages is fine with me. The German Post is surprising, some items sent internationally can arrive in 5 working days, some items take a few weeks, please be patient because I send all my swaps. In the case where an item has not been received, please contact me before rating so we can work something out, thanks! :o)

NOTE TO MY AMERICAN SWAP PARTNERS:

Shipping from the US to Germany can be very expensive! Please ship "International First Class" and NOT Priority...you can save about 1/3 of the price. Also, it seems that every pound costs around 10 dollars, so please keep that in mind in terms of what sort of items you send. Also, to reduce the weight, you can do things like....remove packaging & use lighter envelopes. If you send me a DVD or CD for example, you can just send the DVD and paper without the plastic container...just make sure the DVD / CD is protected with harder paper.

• KAWAII paper products

  • memo sheets (loose, any size, shape, character or brand - I don't use them, just like collecting them!)
  • letter sets (1 envie + 2 sheets..or even 1 sheet is o.k.)
  • sticker flakes

• Deco tape

• Glass beads (medium sized, about 1 cm or larger, that could be used to make bracelets with) & spacers or other supplies that I could use to make bracelets.

• Postage stamps from your country on the envelope you send me, or extra used stamps you don't want!

• Cute stickers (modules - from those sticker strips like Sandylion or Mrs.Grossman) or sticker sheets (non-teacher / reward ones though)

• Vintage 80's stickers

• Packages created and sent with TLC :o)

• Decorated envelopes / packages - I love seeing your creativity! It's all going in my Swap-Bot smashbook :o)

THEMES

• Snoopy

• Pegasus / Unicorns

• Matryoshkas

• Kokeshi dolls

• Synchronized swimming, for example, vintage books, or magazine clippings, or postcards, sometimes you even see synchro stamps from different countries. I also collect synchronized swimming pins.

FOODS

• I love MILO! (it's from Nestle and you can get it from Singapore & Malaysia & Phillipines.....

• OMGs from Canada - I love them! If I lived in Canada, they would be a regular part of my daily diet!

• American items I miss are....Cheez-its, the artificial goodness of Hostess products (Twinkies, Cupcakes, etc.), Butterfinger, Whatchamacallit, etc., Reeses Peanut Butter Cups, Swiss Miss / Starbucks / Land O' Lakes hot chocolate packages, Nut Goodie, Tootsie Roll lollypops, etc., etc.

FAVORITE COLORS

blues, greens, magenta, burgandy, royal purple

MISC. ITEMS

Things I don't mind receiving if you are having trouble figuring out what in the world to send me:

• Charms
• Organza bags
• Notecards w/envies
• Letter sets
• Drink mixes (non-caffeine), for example, decaffeinated sweetened coffee, hot cocoa, Kool-Aid, Tang, Crystal Light, etc...
• Flavored lip gloss / balm
• Hand lotion
• Embroidery floss
• Small journals
• Chocolate or candies from your country
• Handmade envies
• Pocket wet wipes & pocket baby wipes
• Fiction books (please let me know what you have available), these can of course be used.
• Target dollar section stuff!

STUFF FOR MY LITTLE ONE(she's 2):

• DVDs - they don't have to be new, just as long as they still work. For example, anything Sesame Street, Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, Timmy Time, Handy Manny, etc. (please ask me before to make sure I don't have it).

• Board books, for example, from Target - they sell these for $1 each :o) - used & in good condition is o.k.!

• My First Little Golden Books, Pixi books (from UK or Australia) - used & in good condition is o.k.!

• Children's books suitable for toddlers - used & in good condition is o.k.!

• Clothing (anything 3T and up, but if it's looking really used or has stains / holes, then better to not waste your money on sending it). Not interested in 100% Polyester for her.

• Coloring books - please check to make sure there aren't any weird images on the pages...I once bought her a coloring book that had a picture of a cute clown on the front and then later looked inside and there were weird cartoon pictures of animals working as butchers with knives! There was even a picture of a pigs head on a plate!

• Crayons - new condition please, but it doesn't have to be a box of them, it could just be a a handful of crayons that maybe you never used and don't need, my daughter loves to color! :o)

• Hello Kitty (I think I may have brainwashed her a bit on this)

• Sesame Street - favorite characters are Elmo, Cookie Monster, Ernie & Bert

• My Little Pony - new or old version, used (but clean and in good condition) is o.k.!

• Snoopy & the Peanuts (also my influence...)

• Disney Princess stuff....

• Mickey Mouse, Minnie Mouse, Daisy Duck

• Amigurumis

• Swim diapers, size 4 or larger, not expecting a full package at all! But if you happen to have some and enclose 1 or 2 in the swap, that would be awesome!

• CDs with children's music, can be burned, used, whatever, as long as it works :o)

• Handmade whatever (no hair accessories though, she's currently not letting me do her hair)

• Toddler "Busy Bags" or any creative ideas for activities for her

I'm not interested in receiving the following things...

• Scrapbooking items...I don't do scrapbooking so don't have much use for this.

• Embellishments - I don't need them, please don't send them to me!

• Sewing supplies (like fabric, thread, etc.) because I have no time for this.

• Stickers of this sort....cars or boyish themes, Panini, advertisements, handmade, stickers from trading card packages, teacher stickers or stickers just cut out of a larger module trying to pass off as a small module.

• Bad quality stickers (meaning...don't send me dirty, bent, previously used stickers or stickers from various sources that are just all stuck together on a sheet, please...).

• Please no Scrapbooking / 3D Stickers!!! (You know...Jolie's brand, or any sort of cardboard sticker with a little foam sticky circle on the back...) Stickos brand is perfectly fine, as long as the design doesn't look like scrapbooking stickers.

• Teas (I have plenty at home and find that the best teas I've had are from here) - Starbucks teas are o.k., just no black tea please.

• Rubber stamps - I don't use these, better to send stuff like this to someone else.

• Book pages...I have absolutely no use for these.

• Recipe cards

• Plastic beads

• Chocolates with chili flavor, raisins or marzipan, white chocolate

• Make-up

• Jewelry - it's not that I don't like it, but since my daughter was born, I don't wear it besides my wristwatch.

• Diddl stuff....I've been surrounded by it since I've been living in Germany all this time. It's o.k. but not my thing.

• ATCs - I'm not really interested in them unless you make pretty amazing ones :o)

• Anything broken, junky or in crappy condition

• Cat hairs! (I like cats, but don't appreciate their hair on my stuff)

• Things that smell musty or like they come from a smoker's home (one time, I bought some stickers from ebay that smelled like they'd been sitting in a damp basement for 20 years....gross).

TAGS!

So for my own personal reference, my tag lists:

• Tags where I've posted with no response yet:

Tags Addicted - Destash Tag

• Tags / RAKs / Angels / Wishlists to be sent

• Tags / RAKs / Wishlists I'm waiting for

• Tags sent and waiting for confirmation from receiver

Sent Monday, June 3rd 2013

Stickerswappers - Lucky Bag PIF to @boue

TAGS NEVER RECEIVED (possibly due to stupid postal system losing it or due to the person being a flaker):

This or that tag from @Ichigoshortcake

I've got what you want - tag from @Ichigoshortcake

Cheap postage tag you're it from @Tiffany17

5, 4, 3, 2, 1 Tag ~ International from @TeaCupHippie

NON-CONFIRMED TAGS:

• Destash Tag to @Ichigoshortcake - sent March 3rd, no response to PM, this is the 2nd tag she has not confirmed. First tag was included in our first private swap but not acknowledged.

• Tag You're It! to @GreenDuck - Sent February 19th, 2013. States tag never arrived, did not want a resend, but I plan on resending once I get together some more foreign coins to send off since I sent her the last of my stash!

• Sticker Friends - Pick 2 tag to @mammarazzi84 - sent out August 1st, 2012, user has not been signed in since August 6th, did not respond to PM. Left a comment on her page on Sept. 12, 2012.

• cheap postage, pay it back to @Areona - sent August 10th. Answered PM I sent on August 30th to say that tag was not yet received. Sent another PM on Sept. 27th, 2012 to follow-up. User is partially suspended.

PEOPLE WHO NEVER RATED ME:

• Postage Stamp Bag Swap # 4 - @leeler

• No-Spending Swap #15 @KateandOli - sent a PM on August 28th which has not been read yet. User hasn't been logged on since August 21st. My other partner who I sent to for this swap received and rated. Left a comment on her page on Sept. 23, 2012.

• Quick Rating Swap International....With A List!!! @genre9 - sent out on August 6th, she mentions that her address changed on August 23rd (college address). Sent her a PM on August 28th & it was read but not responded to. Left a comment on her page on Sept. 12, 2012.

• Simple Stationery Swap #2 @KatZep64 - I sent this out twice because she claimed to have never received it...spent 6 EURO each time! Total waste of money. She was partially suspended, but since it was so long ago, the automatic suspension has been lifted.

• We Luv Surprises @iThaleia - This was also sent twice because the first time, the package was returned to me. Another big waste of time and money. She was partially suspended, but since it was so long ago, the automatic suspension has been lifted.

• ~P~ is for...Dotee @RedRobbin - I sent this on September 6th. She was partially suspended, but since it was so long ago, the automatic suspension has been lifted.

• i love sticker sheets...3 @stacirose - I sent this out on September 9th, never received a rating, contacted her twice but have not received either a rating or a response. I'm not sure what the deal here is, but I've given up on trying to get a rating for this.

PEOPLE WHO FLAKED ON ME:

• Private swap: Stamps & Memos - @Ichigoshortcake - I still have hope that this swap will be sent and I will change the rating if it does but it's now more than a month and a half past the deadline for sending.

• GROUP: QUICK Postage stamp bags swap #71, GROUP: QUICK Postage stamp bags swap #75 & Used Postage Stamps - Newbies welcome! - @Desiree1962 - all 3 ones were removed without her showing proof of postage from Rachel.

• Private swap - @KickassPeanut

• Newbie Friendly Swap - Send Me A Handmade Bracelet @autumnbreezzz

• Taste of your country 2! @kawaii1989 - She promised to send this, but then disappeared. She claims that I rated her "unfairly" on her profile, although I don't see how rating a person a "1" for receiving nothing is unfair? User is partially suspended. An angel would be great for this :o)

• Random Sticker Mix for Everyone! @planter - This person obviously shouldn't even be swapping if they can't handle the basic requirements of sending something! Check out her profile to see her nice collection of 1's! User is partially suspended. *Angeled by @MissU

• Belly Dancer Dotee Swap - International @Fanniky - She mentioned being in an accident, but have not heard back from her since. *Angeled by @madamegooseberry

PEOPLE WHO FLAKED ON SWAPS I HOSTED:

• Newbie Friendly Swap - Send Me A Handmade Bracelet @NancyJoMo and @autumnbreezzz

• Get To Know Me and My Town! Internatl. Penpal Swap @blackbirdsings

A VERY SPECIAL MESSAGE TO ALL YOU FLAKERS....

Calling someone a "flake" or a "flaker" is just a nice way of saying you are a thief and a liar. If you sign up for a swap, and do not follow through on your commitment, yet receive something out of it, that's just like stealing. We ALL have lives here on Swap-Bot and have to learn to balance all of our commitments in life. If you cannot handle being fair and playing your part, then don't sign up!!!!