Dragonpetal

Update: February 2012 I'm having a break from swap bot (mainly for financial reasons as posting out overseas has gotten so expensive). I'll check in about once a month and sign up to a few swaps as and when I can afford to. Thanks.

About me: eccentric english lady in thirties, happily married, with one child. work in data management.

I love knitting, sewing -embroidery and fabric craft like dressmaking, and Lego! I still have sets in my house of houses from when I was a kid - and love the new buildings and lego people that they've brought out.

I am not religious, so I dont want anything 'god' related, nor anything 'occult' such as tarot. I really dont like anything like that.

I dont have any pets, so am not a great animal lover, but appreciate that they are cute (sometimes!) I would love to have a big garden so that I could keep chickens and goats, and maybe a tortoise!

My tastes are quite conservative and classical, if you think it wont offend anyone, then it will probably be ok for me.

I like postcards, craft things, tea (everything is better with a cup of tea) in all sorts of varieties - green tea, herbal, oolong, earl grey.The only one I've found I don't like is rooibos (red bush tea). I like pencils, and usually write with one rather than a pen!

I dont watch much TV, but I like films, and foreign language films,I watch a bit of sport stuff- I follow the Tour de France as my other half loves cycling.

I am interested in travel, and love VW campervans, I go camping quite a bit when its warmer, but its more like 'glamping' with all the stuff I take.

I have eczema and asthma, and am allergic to a lot of 'scented products' -please be aware of this!

Favourite music: anything really. I like coldplay, queen, aerosmith, bon jovi, meatloaf, t.rex, classical-rachmaninov, beethoven, sibelius, elgar. I do NOT like hip-hop, trance and garage!

Favourite books: crime fiction like Inspector Montelbano series, and easy reads like Stephanie Plum series. I used to work in a bookshop though, where I had to read so much that I'm kind of tired of books at the moment, and preferring craft books and patterns.

I love notebooks and pencils (I always prefer writing with a pencil or an Italic pen) as I am always writing stuff down as I am really good at forgetting! I create a lot of lists to help keep me organised.

Now this is what I do most of the time!

knitting: I love knitting -socks, jumpers, hats and scarves, I knit for my family a lot. I use cable needles, and love wooden needles, and natural fibres.

crochet: (beginner level!) I'm not very good at this but am trying to master the basics.

dressmaking: i like amy butler patterns and have just discovered the delights of japanese sewing pattern books and magazines like pochee. I love Japanese style (so varied!) and things kawaii.

I would love to get any craft supplies for sewing or knitting: ribbons, embroidery threads, stitch markers, colourful fabrics (I adore liberty prints).

I also like pretty little tins (like old sweetie tins) which I use for pins, stitch markers and all sorts of clutter!

I have just started doing some paper based crafts- Zentangles, and art journalling. I love the work done by Danny Gregory.

I always appreciate anything handmade.

I will be sending my swaps via UK Royal mail. This is not known for being the fastest in the world, and if I am sending overseas then sometimes big delays can happen so please bear this in mind before assuming that I havent bothered.

My local Post Office is not very good but I have to use it for weighing and sending parcels.

Please alert me if something expected is not received and I shall sort something out.

My greatest fear with this site is that people will make a judgement that is not true about me.

Please do not betray my trust, or let me down. Believe me - I have had enough in my life of that.

I like lots of flavours: vanilla, spice, chocolate, strawberry, lemon & more...

I like all colours as each have their place. My favourite colour is turquoise, and secondly purple.

I like nature, I love being outdoors especially in Autumn.

I like foraging (collecting berries like sloes and blackberries) and make jams, chutney and flavoured gin & vodka which I mostly give away as presents through the year. I like giving and receiving home-made traditional stuff- which is why I love swap bot!