Chickaree

You can't turn a pickle back into a cucumber!

Hi! I'm Heather

I am a 52-year-old homemaker, married for 26 years to my dear, sweet, wonderful soulmate. We don't have kids. I have a barn full of animals... 2 cats, one is b/w and the other is black. 2 Maremma livestock guardian dogs. Angora and regular rabbits, chickens, guinea fowl, turkeys and ducks. I have an ever expanding garden! I enjoy listening to audio books. I am very much an introvert. I don't think I ever truly get bored because there's just always so much to be done.

I love all crafting and am always trying many different things. I do nails just so I can play with the products. I love scrapbooking, rubber stamps and card making. I love polymer clay, jewelry making, wire wrapping and paper bead making. I like playing with inks, pigments and embossing powders. I am also learning how to sew. The hot glue gun and tape runner are my very good friends and let's not forget the pickle! I love taking old or well used items and making them new again with a coat of paint or transforming them altogether into something new. I enjoy woodworking. I especially love fiber arts! Crocheting, knitting, weaving, spinning and just about anything else that can be done with fiber which now includes sewing fabrics :)

COLOR
I would love something made with colors that you love to work with! I love every shade, tone and hue of blues and greens, they are my favorite. I love all shades of creams and browns. Also, grays from soft to steel. Pastel to rich and bold, I love colors.

FIBER
I LOVE linen thread for crochet! I also love Wensleydale wool fiber and yarn. I love spinning. I enjoy most yarn but tend to gravitate towards the non-splitting or non-pilling superwash natural types. But really, any yarn is awesome! Animal, plant, acrylic... any weight.

FANDOMS. Harry Potter, I am a Hufflepuff.

A Song of Ice and Fire or sometimes better known as a Game of Thrones. I'm from the North. Maybe somewhere in-between a Stark and Wildling but all I know is that Winter is Coming and I'm not a huge fan of the Lannisters. Well except maybe for Tyrion. I think he's awesome. The Children of the Forest, direwolves, weirwood trees... all the magic stuff I absolutely love. I believe there is an ice dragon sleeping under Winterfell. Hopefully it'll wake up in the next book or two. Blood Raven and the Onion Knight are two of my favorite characters.

I really enjoy Jane Austen and stuff from that type of era. Her books and the Bridgerton series.

DIE CUT/embossed paper
I have some for scrapbooking but am not a true collector, yet. I don't have any sort of cutting machines. I think I would really like some die cuts. All different types. Especially of rabbits, snowflakes, cats, chickens, big dogs (I am always on the lookout for something that even closely resembles my maremas), stems leaves and flowers. Also, monthly type related die cuts like month names, monthly holiday sentiment, or things that would fit nicely into my monthly planner junk journal. A die cut that would make a nice stencil for inking or gelli plate. I don't have an embossing machine. Samples of dry embossed cardstock would be a very nice addition to my ever-growing paper stash. Any size, shape or color.

HOBBIES/INTEREST
Cooking I enjoy as well as gardening. I consider crafting all the things a life goal and not really a hobby :-) It is part of my daily routine and brings me such calm and fulfillment especially when I am creating for others.

Games
Plants vs Zombies, Rollercoaster Tycoon, Toy Blast, puzzles, board/card/dice.

Favorite Books
The books are better!!! There are not too many books that I will not read at least once. If a show or movie is based on a book I always try to find that book. Dune, A Song of Ice and Fire, Outlander (Diana Gabaldon), all of Jane Austen’s books, Kingkiller Chronicles, Harry Potter (east coast Hufflepuff) , Hunger Games, Twilight...

Movies
Big Fish, Ready Player One, What Dreams may Come, Dune, Deadpool 1.2.3.4.5.6. (lol), Fifth Element, Hunger Games, The Twilight Saga, Forest Gump (Gump!)

TV Series
Youtube, Sense 8, Firefly, Dexter, The Witcher, Outlander, A Game of Thrones, Long Island Medium, Elementary, Law and Order, Masterpiece Mystery, P Allen Smith, Rick Steves, Sewing with Nancy, True Blood, Pride and Prejudice (1996), True Crime and so many more…

Music
Yes please! Linkin Park is my favorite. Breaking Benjamin, Stone Sour, Skillet, Seether, Shinedown...

Sports
NO! Sports are evil!

Pea-shooting
ok well maybe :)

OTHER
I collect old and new spinning/crochet/knitting tools and books. I love baskets :) I am really into medicinal plants and essential oils for health, making soaps, lotions and other things.

HOLIDAY.

I love all the Holidays! Christmas, more winter themed than santa. I love gingerbread ppl, reindeer, cookies, trees and trimmings. Thanksgiving, Easter, the 4th of July and most of the little ones in between. I prefer “fall themed” instead of Halloween. I love the colors associated with Halloween but not so much ghost or zombies. I prefer scarecrows, hay bales, black bats on the moon, sunflowers, harvest themes, candy corns and hayrides through the woods with their changing leaves. I love black cats, pumpkins and jack-o'-lanterns. I don't mind creepy spider decorations but I'm not so fond of the real thing. I love the late fall and winter months the most. I adore snowpeople and snowflakes.

JOURNALS

I make and heavily use yearly planner junk/art/diary type journals to record my life. I alter large three-ring binders. I find it the easiest way to use sheet protectors where I can include daily activities, my art, samples of things that I make, correspondence and art that I receive.
I like making single signatures with magazine pages, calendar pages, pretty cardstock and junk envelopes. I also dedicate one or two pages to every swap I'm in. The wonderful things I receive and also what I send.
I find that I'm using quite a few charms and some beading because shiny dangle-ly things make me smile. I am very much a mixed media sort of person. Layers upon layers are interesting and fun.

Eatables
Snacks
Aero candy bars, Swedish fish and caramel candy with the cream center. Tea biscuits and cookies. I like sweet or salty or both together. I would like to try your favorite or something typical of your region!

Beverages
I drink mostly strong black coffee (huge Tim Hortons fan) and water but I also enjoy cocoa with marshmallows, cider, and some flavored teas (iced).

I do not have any food allergies.

MEASUREMENTS
Head circumference 23 inches. Wrist 7 inches. Neck 17 and a half inches. Ankle 10 inches. Sock/Shoe size 9 1/2 shoe, sock (I wear inserts due to extreme flat footedness, even wear them with slippers so any foot item that are not socks, needs to be wider and taller for accommodation of heretofore mentioned inserts.) Hand 7 inches. Palm 4 inches wide. Wrist, over the shoulders, to wrist about 65 inches.

JEWELRY. I adore wire wrapped pieces of artwork. I like both whimsical and traditional.

Silver colored, my favorite, is what I wear most often. Well... I have to say that copper is also a favorite. What the heck, I'll throw brass color in the top favs cuz well, I like that, too. I haven't tried macrame in jewelry making yet, but it's on my list. I love findings of all sorts and Beads! I love beads, gemstones, pretty stones that can be turned into beads, paper beads, crystal beads, glass beads, polymer clay beads!

Ears... pierced, lever-back, short/mid dangles. I can not wear earrings for very long unless the posts are nickel-free or resin coated. I have two piercings in each ear. When I wear earrings I have a stud in one piercing and a dangle in the other. I usually don't wear earrings that fall below my chin (anything over a 1 inch dangle). I also like smaller hoop earrings. I prefer lever back closures.

Neck choker 15 .5 inches, normal 21 to 24 inches.necklaces I like a pretty chain. Somewhat delicate not too chunky, beaded or not, with or without a small/medium size pendant or charm.

Ring finger is 2.5 inches in circumference, if that helps :) I like rings that are on the thinner side. Anything too wide will sometimes make my fingers ache. I really like adjustable stacker rings because I can take one or two off if needed. Also, I can open them up a bit when my fingers are swollen. For a while now I've wanted to experience a spinner ring. Let me know if you need my ring sizes other than my ring finger. I generally won't wear a ring on my thumb.

Wrist 8 inches for clip on, 8.5 inches if it needs to go over my hand. I enjoy statement bracelets. I usually don't wear more than one bracelet at a time because the clinking can drive me a bit nuts. Lol.

Other types of jewelry that I use often are shawl pins, pretty barrettes, eyeglass chain and I love a pretty brooch on my coat.

DISLIKES

I wouldn't use Disney, teacher or classroom type stickers or related items. I am not a huge fan of tea. I do like some herbal or fruity teas. I think peppermint tea could be a favorite but I prefer to make that with peppermint essential oil, fresh leaves and good black tea like Dragon pearls from teavana.

The ABC's of things...

A. Audio books. I am a heavy listener and average quite a few books a month. It took me a long time to jump on the audiobook bandwagon.
B. Bonsai. I bonsai all of my fruit trees. Ease of care and harvest. I also give most of the trimmings to my rabbits.
C. Chicory. It is my favorite flower.
D. Dancing. I am not very good at it but I love to dance around the house as I do my chores :-)
E. Eyeglasses. Unfortunately I am of an age for bifocals, LOL. I lost my glasses all the time until I started using/making eyeglass bling chains. Funny side note, one day I was looking everywhere for my glasses. DH asked me if I had 'looked' in the mirror. Hahaha, they were on top of my head the whole time!
F. Fabric. My fabric addiction is starting to rival my paper addiction :-) quilting cotton and flannel seem to be the ones I'm using the most. Also, deconstructed men's dress shirts and ties. I guess also denim.
G. Grass. I absolutely love the smell of fresh mown grass. I think it is my favorite smell next to Sandalwood or lemon balm.
H. Happy Hippo. This is my number one favorite crochet pattern. When there is a call out for charity crafting for children or infants I always send happy happy hippos!
I. This is a hard one maybe igloo. I do not enjoy the Heat. I am very thankful for the person who invented air conditioning. I keep my house cold at around 65°. It is like being inside an igloo. Does that count?
J. Jerky. I enjoyed as a snack or even sometimes on a salad. I dehydrate a lot of things but I really enjoy experimenting with tasty jerky recipes.
K. Kisses. From my DH and chocolate!!
L. Lace. I love to crochet lace. I really enjoy crocheting the name doilies.
M. Marbles. I have loved marbles ever since I was very little. Now instead of playing with them I use them in projects.
N. New York State. I grew up in Western New York near the Canadian border. Now we are in the foothills of the Catskills. It is beautiful here but I do miss the snow.
O. Ombre. I really enjoy gradient colors. For yarn I love long gradients. I like using gradient ink pads and a brayer for special effects on cards.
P. Phat Quarter. I like them because you can get a bunch of different Fabrics to play with. I think I would love to be in a fat quarter swap. Or I wonder if the phat quarter would be considered a flat tuck in?
Q. Quilting. August 2022 I am working on my third quilt ever. I find that I am really enjoying quilting.
R. Raggedy Ann and Andy. When I was about 10 years old my mother made 3-ft Raggedy Ann and Andy dolls for myself and my siblings. I put lipstick and makeup on them. Cut their hair. Played with them until they fell apart. About 3 years ago, at a thrift store, I found what I believe to be the same pattern my mom must have used. One day I will make them. I love raggedy Ann and Andy.
S. Swapping. I haven't swapped in a little over 2 years. I missed it so much that I sought out this swapping group.
T. Thrift store. This is my second favorite store. My first being a craft store, of course. I could lose myself for hours in thrift stores. When we go on a trip the first destination I try to find are the thrift stores.
U. Unorganized. I try, I really do. I have put many systems in place in my craft room but at the end of the day it's sort of looks like a bomb went off.
V. Vice. One of the most important tools on my workbench. I use it for so many things. It literally is my third hand.
W. Weeds. Many weeds are not weeds at all. One example among hundreds is dandelion. It's a very potent herb with tons of health benefits. I'm very happy to say that I have more than 75 different 'weeds' being cultivated in my herb garden :-)
X. Xylitol. I like to replace sugar with Xylitol in as many recipes as I can. It doesn't have much of an aftertaste like Stevia does. It works wonderful in homemade jams.
Y. YouTube! It's almost like those old encyclopedia sets we had as kids. There's everything and anything on there.
Z. Zillion. I have a zillion things on my want to make list. I will never make them all in my lifetime but I'm sure going to try:-)