Cristin91

Update: March 7, 2015 - The last year has been a rollercoaster with my employment/stress/medical situation. I'm hoping to be able to return to some limited swapping soon.

March 3, 2014 - I have a new job that has me working harder than I have in years. (I like it, though.) On top of that, lack of energy is a side-effect of the medication I'm on. I'm so drained in the evenings, I'm finding it very hard to be crafty.

I'll be taking a swap break and dropping from a lot of great groups. It's not that I don't want to be in the groups, I just can't keep up with the ones with participation requirements right now.

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I'm an artist. My favorite mediums are colored pencils, fabric, and collage with postage stamps. I also oil paint, but that's too time-consuming to swap. (My user pic is from my painting of one of my cats, now departed.) I also Zentangle and quilt.

I have a great fondness for black cats, all other cats, llamas, veggies, tulips, salamanders and newts, octopuses, ninjas and geeks.

I also particularly love things with birds, trees or vines as design elements.

This is my crafty assistant, Anusha (a.k.a., Nooshie):

She likes paper and fabric crafts, and insists on very closely supervising any activity involving sharp blades or hot irons.

(I also live with two labs, one chocolate and one black. But rest assured, the fur that seems to always get stuck in packing tape will be the kitty's.)

Please Do Not Send:

• Clowns
• Day of the Dead-type skulls (because they're kind of like clown skulls)
• Images of full-face masks (yes, that's also related to the clown thing)
• Feathers, images of meat, animal bits (such as artwork containing real bones or skins)
• Sponge Bob

If made to choose, I'd rather receive a thoughtful note/letter from you--with my name spelled correctly--or a small piece of your art than any other extras. There are extras that I appreciate very much, but I have limited space.

• My "Like List" is at the bottom of my profile.

• I live with a retired minister (a.k.a. my mother). Please keep envelope decorations "safe for work."

• I'm allergic to most perfumes and avoid anything heavily scented. (Allergies also mean that I won't swap food, cosmetics or jewelry.)

• I prefer non-religious items, with the exception of Nativity scenes. (If it's a religious-themed swap or we've spoken of religious matters in private, that's a different matter.)

• Things I don't care for: foam stickers, teacher stickers, nail art stickers, plastic beads, too many animated gifs. Please save them for someone else.

As of December 18, 2013

• Have sent to 150 partners (149 snail mail, 1 electronic)
• Have been rated by 145 partners (Expect to never be rated by 3 partners; one was a major flaker, one passed away, and one seems to be a non-rater.)
• Have sent 25 angels (not including angels sent as part of swaps I've hosted)
• Currently hosting 4 swaps, hosted 26 past swaps

Some links I recommend:

• USPS Zipcode lookup (Using standard address formatting and the Zip+4 really does help!)
• USPS Postage calculator
• Pack & Post (an Etsy shop for vintage stamps)
• Verde Studio (an Etsy shop for vintage stamps)
• PrettyTape (an Etsy shop for washi tape)
• Handmade Envelope tutorial from Scor-Pal

• Quilting. I like to make very scrappy quilting projects.

• Tangling. I'm new to Zentangle, but I like it a lot.

• Inchies ♥ (I put the ones I receive on rolos.)

• Altered Rolodex Cards
  I prefer rolos with the holes on the bottom on both sides, though I will never mark you down for where you put the holes on the back. (I now have a rotary holder, too, for my smaller cards, so I have a place for every card.)

• My Rolodex holders:
  2.25-3"x4" and 3"x5" - vintage tray style - lots of room to go beyond the edges of the card.

I love reading, though lately I love having my Kindle read to me even more. It reads to me while I drive, while I sew, while I play with my cat, etc. It's great.

• From childhood: The Alanna series by Tamora Pierce (Like Alanna, I have a twin brother. Unlike her, I haven't been able to disguise myself as my twin and go off on adventures.) Also, "The Secret Garden" by Frances Hodgson Burnett, "Eight Cousins" by Louisa May Alcott, and all of the Little House on the Prairie books.

• The Chronicles of Prydain series by Lloyd Alexander was one of my first loves. The Riddle-Master of Hed books by Patricia A. McKillip were my favorites in high school.

• Manga: I loved "Hikaru no Go." I'm following "Naruto" but am not so up-to-date anymore. Also enjoying "Fairy Tail."

• Comics: I like the new Hawkeye comics written by Matt Fraction, though if I had my way ALL of them would be illustrated by David Aja. I love Aja's style.

• More recently: "The Thief" and the rest of the Attolia series by Megan Whalen Turner. I particularly enjoy fantasy novels that have a thief as a main character. I like seeing the planning of a great caper.

I went out to see a movie in 2003... and didn't go again until 2013... I haven't watched TV in my own home since graduating from college (in 1997).

I may, quite possibly, be living in a little bubble where it's still the 1990s... If it's something that's been hugely popular within the last ten years--like Harry Potter or Twilight--I have no interest in it.)

Movies: The Princess Bride, The Cutting Edge, Labyrinth, Star Trek movies, and the original Star Wars trilogy, Strictly Ballroom, Iron Man/Avengers

Television: I buy the Project Runway DVDs every year. And I will happily watch "Say Yes to the Dress," "Law & Order," and "NCIS" marathons while visiting my family.

Star Trek (Original Series and Voyager were my favs) and Torchwood. I loved the early seasons of "Supernatural."

Music: 80s pop, boy bands, Eurodance, Adam Lambert, Cobra Starship

Video Games: I used to play a lot of JRPGs. Still have some very favorite characters I'd love to see if you swing that way. :)

Anything from the Arc the Lad, Star Ocean, or Lunar series. Final Fantasy IV (especially Kain, Rydia or Edge). Final Fantasy VI (especially Locke, Edgar, or Shadow). Final Fantasy VII (Cid or Vincent). Anything Final Fantasy XII.

Swap wish list:

• Anything with Chococat or one of Shinzi Katoh's little black cats

• Vintage ephemera, cancelled postage stamps

• I enjoy many art styles, and my own style varies greatly. But if you're at a complete loss and wondering what I might like, something done in the colors or general style of California Farmhouse pottery will certainly make me smile. It's a pretty simple style, too.
  

Other things that I think are fun/fabulous:

• bright saturated colors
• orange, yellow, lime green, bright pink, aqua
• polka dots, hounds-tooth patterns
• black cats (especially if they're not Halloween cats)
• cats on chairs (I have a small collection of fabric featuring cats on chairs, and I think it would be fun to see your art on the theme, too)
• all other cats
• llamas and alpacas, hedgehogs, sea otters
• Labrador & Golden Retrievers
• cardinals, chickadees, finches, and other birds
• salamanders, newts, octopuses, koi and betta fish
• veggies
• cupcakes--the fun "zero calorie" kind
• kawaii food with faces (especially kawaii veggies & sushi)
• trees, vines, holly and pine cones
• tulips, daffodils, cherry blossoms
• pussy-willows, autumn leaves, flowering cacti
• puns, old vocabulary flash cards, tongue-twisters, whimsy
• ninjas and geeks
• vintage pin-up girls
• Oolong teas, camomile and mint teas (I like trying other kinds, but these are my favs) (I don't care for teas that brew up red, or teas with vanilla or jasmine in them.)