wickedfaerie

Updated 11/22/08

Just heard from my son Liam (at 6 am!). Melissa's water broke this morning although she isn't having contractions yet. She's not due for a couple of weeks yet. Anyhow, we will be headed to southern California sometime today!! Prayers and healthy energy are very welcome!

I may not be online much for the next few days. The recent change in the weather here has wreaked havoc on me, triggering a particularly painful fibro flare-up.. Thanks for understanding!

Also, I have updated my name on the mailing info...my first name is Raven but I share it with another swapper whose screen name is also Raven. To help avoid confusion, I'll be going by my nickname here...soooooo...in the words from an old commercial...."You can call me Rae..."!

...i want you all to know that i make every effort to get my swaps out on time and even early. unfortunately, after reviewing my sent swaps, i've found a few that are yet to be rated. if it's past the deadline and you haven't received your swap from me, please let me know! and if you have received it, please take the time to rate it if you haven't already. thanks so much!

alright, now that business is taken care of, about me...

i've gone crazy over tank girl!!! graphic novels, comic books, memorabilia...you name it!!

i am a child of the 60's and 70's, i've found that the older i get, the more laid back and retro i become! my husband is a child of the 50's and 60's. he's retro and laid back too!

i'm happily married to the most wonderful man in the world!! between the 2 of us we have 4 adult children...his two sons and my son and daughter. we also have a 2 1/2-year-old grandson (my stepson and dil's baby) who i can never see enough! and we're looking forward to our second grandson in early D december!

my husband and i are pagans (so please don't send religious items. celtic/druid and goddess items are fine.) we honor the spirit in all things from people to animals, from plants to the very earth. we are eclectic pagans who lean towards druidry. my favorite holiday is samhain, the celtic new year and a time to honor our ancestors and those who have crossed the veil in the past year. (it's on october 31.) my patron goddess is isis. i am also greatly influenced by morgana, gaia, and brede.

we love to go camping, especially along the northern california coast...and hope to do much more now that my dh has retired! i'm loving taking pictures of the beautiful places we go. one day we want to travel the length of route 66.

we've lived in our current home for 7 years and i love our little house! especially since it has room for all my critters! we have 3 dogs, 5 cats, 1 bird, and 3 freshwater fish. my daughter also has 2 turtles and an adorable little brown mouse named jasper (and 2 of our kitties are hers)! so, yeah, we have a full house, but i wouldn't trade my beloved critters for anything!

our most recent addition to the family is something that i've wanted almost all my life! i got a baby ball python! i am fascinated by watching her eat (frozen mice that have been thawed in hot water, not the microwave! LOL! I also love having her out and just hangin...although she's still quite small, i think she sees our little white terrier as a huge rat! her name? monti. i couldn't resist! :)

almost all of our critters are "rescues"...from the local shelter, spca, abandoned, etc. it's something i feel very strongly about. i have always had a strong opinion about this, but it was made even stronger from when i volunteered in the medical trailer at the local shelter. please help eliminate the pet overpopulation by spaying/neutering your pets! also be sure to microchip your pets and have tags with your contact info for them to wear...even if they're indoor pets as you never know when they might get outside. i know from experience that they really do work!

if you want to help feed the poor souls in animal shelters, check out theanimalrescuesite.com. by "clicking" daily you can help feed them!

our kitchen is done in a hen and rooster theme with mustard yellow, dark red, and dark greens. it's in a perpetual state of progress...

our bathroom is done in rubber ducks...with bright yellow, medium blue, and white.

oh, our livingroom is mostly beige and burgundy with dark green and mustard yellow accents...if i had to pick a theme to describe it, i would have to say it's an eclectic style with lots of my craft stuff spread all over! teehee!

i like to collect (not necessarily in order of favorites): handmade notecards, ravens (hard to find around here), cats, rubber duck variations, druid/celtic items, smashed/pressed pennies, souvenir spoons, coins from other countries, cows (especially mini cow parade figurines), mcdonald's happy meal toys, pretty papers and decoupage tissue, interesting beads, bookmarks, penguins, odd/unusual/unique items, small sterling silver or pewter charms, winnie the pooh, eeyore, and piglet, dia de los muertos themed items, PEZ dispensers/anything pez (i have around 300 now, but don't worry that i might already have one you might want to send...i don't mind duplicates at all!)

i love ladybugs and dragonflies; FAERIES and unicorns, too. and dragons.

i always have to stop at those little toy and sticker vending machines and buy myself a little treat...although my hubby thinks i'm crazy!! i like most everything that you can get from the machines, especially little figures and the smart alek stickers! that said, i do not care for those sticky/rubbery things that do little more than stain the walls and collect dirt.

and i always, always have to get smashed pennies when i see a machine...even if it's one i've already been to several times so i have one for me and then some to swap!

i'm addicted to tattoos and body piercing.

my fave colors are bright yellow and deep, dark reds...at least today they are...lol! i also like deep green, rich purples, burgundy, blues, and pinks. i love pink and black; black and ivory together as well as hot pink and lime green. i'm not very big on orange although i do like it with black for halloween/samhain and with reds, yellows, and browns during fall.

i do have allergies so i would prefer not to receive anything with a strong scent. although most mild scents are fine.

also, i do not care for cherries (artificial cherry flavor is alright), black licorice, extremely sweet or extremely sour candies, cashews, or pistachos. i do love all kinds of chocolate and kinder eggs which we can't get here anymore. :( i love sweettarts! (but not the chewy kind.) i also like plain (milk chocolate) and peanut m&ms, chocolate covered peanuts, heath bars (especially the little ones), chocolate chip cookies, peanut brittle and planter's and munch peanut bars, bit o' honey, trail mix, original flavor starburst (except for lemon), orbit gum, saltwater taffy (strawberry, cherry, banana are my faves. i do not like cinnamon or licorice taffy), see's candies have the best chocolates! my faves are their california brittle (either light or dark chocolate) and the chocolate buttercreams (the ones with milk chocolate on the outside and milk chocolate cream on the inside). stale tootsie rolls (especially the long, thin type) make me drool...in a good way ~ lol! as much as i love chocolate, pls do not send it to me during the summer...i don't like pools of melted chocolate stuck on the wrapper! yeah, i've got a sweet tooth! lol! i am trying to cut back, but sweets are always great!

i love most flowers in any color, especially orchids, birds of paradise, irises, pansies, roses, petunias, sunflowers, tulips, and rumuculus.

i prefer fall and spring over summer. i hate the heat and spring allergies make me miserable! winter is my favorite season.

even though i'm a jean and t-shirt kind of gal, i'm a shoe and purse whore and love high fashion.

any questions? feel free to ask! that doesn't mean i'll answer...but i'll try!!

classic rock, blues, celtic rock...i.e. stones, styxx, tom petty, queen, the eagles, mick martin, danny castro, blues collections, amy winehouse, tempest...

i also love reggae, alternative, and the like including maxi priest, ub40, aswad, marley (both) of course! etc...

i like most genres except heavy metal, most classical (although i do like tchaikovsky -- sp?), opera, religious music.

my latest favorite movie is "tank girl"! i love it! anything related to "tank girl" would be a great surprise as it's been hard to find! "it's been swell....! "

like british humor? check out "death at a funeral"! it is a riot!

i love love love comedies! i also enjoy dramadies, foreign films, indies, action/adventure, suspense (but not gory), and fantasy films.

i love rowan atkinson and his mr bean character. he's so goofy, i can't help but laugh! they're a great pick-me-up and my down days.

i enjoy reading when i can concentrate on it. i love fantasy fiction (mercedes lackey, david eddings, terry brooks, lloyd alexander, j.r. ward, jacqueline carey...)

also suspense/thriller and detective type books. (grisham, both kellermans, deaver, johanson, patterson, saul, etc.) I just read my first karen rose mystery (die for me) and loved it, so i'm looking for more of her books. i don't mind the violence so much in books as then i don't have to "see" the gore. but i don't care for gratuitous violence/gore...it needs to be a real part of the story for me.

i love quote compilations! especially the unusual/goofy ones. :) if you have a great quote, send it to me!

desperate housewives, bill mahr, ncis, true blood, csi miami, cold case, without a trace, antm, project runway, dancing with the stars, history channel, pro golf, pro and collegiate basketball, pro football, track and field events. good stand-up comedy...

i enjoy oil painting, painting small resin or plaster figurines (especially faeries!) and winter holiday ornaments, card making, quilling, match boxes, painting and decoupage-ing boxes and paper mache' items, 32- and 250 count sized matchbox shrines, altered journals, atcs, and the like.

i'd love old photos/magazine images from the 1970's or earlier. Preferably no bigger than 5x7"...best would be small enough to use on atcs.

Used is always great!

nice pens in a variety of colors for journaling, lists of random questions for daily journaling, template(s) for making my own envelopes, plastic pad to use when placing eyelets (used would be great!), oil paints, paint brushes of all sizes and types, faerie stuff, raven items, goddess-themed items and goddess dolls, dia de los muertos themed items, atc blanks and supplies, rubber duckie variations, fine art magazines, art history books w/lots of pix ...any era but especially the renaissance, small bottles of ritual oils, anything witchy (even the old ugly green type!), vintage papers/pictures, rubber stamps and stamp pads (any color), supplies for making cards, decorated bottle caps, a chunky book (any theme, i haven't seen one yet), hippos, penguins, high fashion magazines (even though i'm a jeans and tees type of gal, i love haute coutre!)...

anything on my amazon wishlist, used would be great! (doesn't have to come from amazon!)

i love to laugh so anything humorous is great! (i have a weird sense of humor so don't worry about offending me!)

and did i mention, i've gone crazy over tank girl? :)

reduce ~ reuse ~ recycle!

I love, love, love shopping at thrift stores (there's a great one just around the corner that has 50% off sales every week as well as an antique/collectible shop my neighbor owns!).

to paraphrase an old qoute, "one woman's trash is another woman's treasure"!

a few of my favorite things to find: buttons esp old or bright, or unusual buttons, postcards, books for my 2 1/2 year old grandson, vintage movie/stage goodies for my son who is a stage manager, rubber ducks, cow themed goodies, mystery/suspense books, old comic books, unusual salt and pepper shakers (figurine style), vintage magazines and paper, shot glasess for my stepson's collection, fabric, cute little purses, old t-shirts or tank tops (misses lg or xl), golf stuff for my dh, little boxes, tiny plastic or ceramic animals, little boxes to alter, music boxes, craft goodies, and most of all....the weird, unusual, quirky stuff!

while i try not to let it get me down, i do have some chronic health problems that sometimes leave me laid up for days or even weeks at a time. if it means i'll be late with a swap, i'll try to let you know asap! thanks for understanding!