AnnaM

I thought it was about time I freshened up my profile as I’ve been a member since 2011 and it's now 2024. My name is Anna, and I’m originally from the United States but moved to England when I married. I love paper crafts of all kinds and lately I’ve gotten into making junk journals and all the pretty embellishments that go along with them. I’m beginning to work with beads again and am enjoying creating charms and some simple jewellery. Vintage themes and Shabby Chic styles are among my favourites.

I love listening to the radio whether it is music of all genres, dramas, documentaries or books being read. I listen while I work or craft. I’m not much of a television fan, but do enjoy costume dramas, documentaries and a good movie.

I love my garden and am very interested in herbs and their healing properties as well as using them in my cooking. I hope to plant a physic garden one day when I retire but for now I have some potted herbs. I love nature and enjoy walking, especially in the forest. I like watching the birds in my garden and since we are blessed with a large garden there are many birds around us.

Books are a passion for me and I probably have too many but I love the idea of a study filled with books where I can do my research. Older books are especially interesting as they tend to have little notes and dedications that give them a character all their own. I have an interest in the Georgian, Regency and Victorian Eras in England and find the Colonial United States fascinating. I read mostly non-fiction, biographies and history but I do enjoy a well written novel. At the moment I am reading mostly classics although Salley Vickers and Wilton Barnhardt are favourites too.

I'm a Janeite (Big fan of Jane Austen) and especially love the Pride and Prejudice with Jennifer Ehle and Colin Firth.

Other things I like are:

Dip pens, wax seals

Vintage linens, I collect ladies hankies

Space: Moon, Stars, Planets

Dragonflies

Cats

Real bandanas (not the craft store kind) especially in dark blue

Tea, tea parties and all the pretty things that go along with them. Mint and Chai tea are my favourite teas, but I like trying new flavours.

Butterflies

Shabby Chic anything

Blue and white patterns

Charms and trinkets

Postage stamps, new or used

Crafty bits, washi tape, pretty papers.

Beads and jewellery fixings

Your art

Hearts!

Stars!

Soft,(but not pastel) blues, greens and purples are my favourite colours but I like a little orange too.

I like miniatures and have a small collection of doll house things and other bits and bobs I've come across. I especially like tiny things that have fine detail the more authentic looking the better.

I have an affinity for trees and love nature

Usually I'm fairly easy to please but there are a few things I'm not all that fond of.

key chains

I'm not a big fan of Hello Kitty and that type of thing, and I'm not into current Disney, I prefer the older movies and love Tinkerbell.

I would prefer not to get any more notebooks or journals as I have recently gotten so many of them.

I don't collect postcards and prefer non-touristy ones if they are part of a swap.

I like most tea but I don't like Oolong and I'm allergic to ginseng so no teas with ginseng please.

Chocolate as I'm allergic and don't care for white chocolate

Glitter because it gets everywhere and is hard to clean up.

Heavily scented items as they give me migraines.

I've been collecting stamps since I was a child. I collect just about any stamps from anywhere in the world but do concentrate on several countries. If you are sending stamps, here is a quick guide to what I collect:

• USA especially from 2015 onwards
• United Kingdom stamps
• Australian stamps
• New Zealand Stamps
• Canadian Stamps
• Netherland stamps

Specific stamps:

• The Belgian Chocolate stamps
• Stamps in fun shapes
• Millennium stamps from England
• Space, planet stars stamps
• Thai stamps with records on them

I don't collect CTOs (Cancel to Order stamps that you can buy in book shops and hobby shops.) These are mint stamps that are just canceled and have not gone through the postal system so they are basically just damaged.

Private stamp swaps are welcome!

I don't sign up for a swap unless I know I can follow through so I will never flake. If you don't get my swap, please contact me before you rate me.

Also, if I haven't rated you, that means I haven't received your swap. I always rate as soon as I receive a swap.

I am a green girl; I choose to reuse. A lot of the packages I send out are in recycled envies as I just hate wasting anything. I try to make everything I send out look attractive.