GinaP

I'm 52. I moved to Annapolis, MD from Newport, RI in 2011 and I work at the U.S. Naval Academy. I have worked for the government for 36 years. I was a graphic artist for about 20 years and because of government realignments and command closings, I have found myself back in the Human Resources field. I was married on 1/15/11 but met my husband in 2003. He is retired military and also works for the government. We have 1 cat and her name is Peanut. I love making ATC's. I just started dabbling with art journaling and want to get more into that. If you want to see some of my work, please check out my Flickr photos (link above). I love going to flea markets to find all kinds of vintage goodies, like old books, maps, sheet music, knick-knacks, tchotchkes, and just things from the past. Flea markets have the best scraps and ephemera that can be used for ATCs or journals. I can never have enough! But don't ask the hubs if I have enough ;)

I mostly listen to my Pandora, which is loaded up with songs from the 70's and 80's. I'm really out of the loop when it comes to alot of the new music that comes out. I guess you could say I have crossed the line into "easy-listening". I'm getting old :( Oh except for Bruno Mars! Love me some Bruno Mars!

I love family saga's/rags to riches stories that span many, many years. Lately all I want to read are historical romance books.

I'm all over the place on my favorite movies. Some are: Brooklyn, Far From The Maddening Crowd, Lonesome Dove, Shawshank Redemption, The Horse Whisperer, Pride & Prejudice (Keira Knightly version), Sense & Sensibility, Chocolat, Little Women, Saturday Night Fever, Dances With Wolves, The Other Boleyn Girl, Rob Roy, An Education, Last King of Scotland, Notes on a Scandal, Les Miserable (only the Liam Neeson version...hated the new one) and others that I can't think of right now. See what I mean about being all over the place?!

Some of my favorite shows: Big Brother, Survivor, Amazing Race, Game of Thrones, Parenthood (I miss it), Deadliest Catch, Versailles Little People, and of course, Outlander!

And yes, I will admit it....I love Judy Judge!

Other than ATC's I LOVE counted cross stitch and I only do very large projects. My last one took me 2 years. I also makes rolos, inchies, and ICADs. Recently I started messing around with art journaling and I love it. Also started getting into adult coloring books and also Diamond Painting. I also love collecting and going through old magazines from the 50's and 60's. The retro graphics/images are fabulous! I feel the same about vintage greeting cards. They don't make card like that anymore.

I have been making ATC's and trading for 12+ years. I consider myself a reliable person and already know I will never flake and never not send out a card. I will always leave a comment/rate my partners and my cards will never go out late. If, for some reason it can't be helped that a card will go out late, I WILL notify you and not leave you hanging. I will communicate with you. I am honest to a fault and disrespect is just not in my blood. If you don't receive my package in a timely manner, PLEASE email me first and I will gladly send out another. Sometimes things get lost in the mail and I would hate to be given a bad rating for something that was beyond my control. I will always make a comment to any rating I receive. I just think it's the polite thing to do.

I don't usually send extras but if I do and I accidentally send you extras that you sent me....well, I apologize in advance. Let's be honest....it's rare but we aren't always crazy about the extras that are sent to us. It happens. So rather than throw them out, I pass them on. And if they come back to you it's only because I get a lot and I can't keep track of everything!!! Hopefully no offense will be taken. If I don't get any extras from my partner, I will not be offended and it will have nothing to do with the rating I give.

• I LOVE vintage womens magazine from the 50's and 60's! Such as Good Housekeeping, Journal, etc. I love the graphics in the ads and I love the images of the women. Magazines today are nothing compared to back then.

• I also like vintage sewing patterns from the 50's and 60's. Not just the patterns themselves but the packaging. The graphics and the images on the packages are awesome! The colors, the drawings of the people.....they just make me happy and I can't even sew!

• I love vintage cookbooks from the 50's and 60's. Again....the images are to die for. These also make me happy even though I HATE to cook.

• Old maps. Especially maps from Paris.

• Vintage ledger paper. Especially if it has writing on it. I have some and use it very sparingly. I can never have enough.

• My newest addiction is Washi tape. Love!

• Paper! I have paper coming out of my ears but can not and will not stop buying it. It just makes me happy :)

• Some themes I especially like are: Alice in Wonderland, Wizard of Oz, any Jane Austin...especially Pride & Prejudice, EA Poe, vintage/kitschey/Anne Tainor-ish things, pin-ups, Paris.

• Cats...but not cutsey cats.

• Stickers. Well...actually I do like some but I am very fussy about which ones I will use.

• Disney, cartoony things.

• Anything too cutsey.

• Computer generated ATCs. I like to feel and see the layers.

• Science fiction, Twilight, Harry Potter, Star Wars/Trek,...you get the picture.