aonbelay

Hello! After a few years away, I wanted to come back on to Swap-bot to start swapping again! A lot has happened since I last swapped!

About me, I'm in my late 30's, married to the love of my life and have 2 children: a boy who's 7 and my daughter who is 5. I live in a small town in Southern California in Orange County and love it here. I'm a stay at home mom, but stay super busy. I am super sarcastic and love anyone (or anything) with a good sense of humor. My life could be described as eclectic, I love a little bit about everything. Things that might be off putting to some people don't really bother me. Jocks, history buffs, travelers, nerds, geeks, drag queens, punks, artists, actors, you name it I'm friends of them all!

I am NOT a girly-girl even though my profile might hint toward me being one. I love witty and clever items and themes, but I also adore romanitc, sweet fairytales and icons. Does this make sense?

I love venturing to day festivals. I love the renaissance faire and feel compelled to get a new costume piece every year. I love snail mail! I send some of my friends snail mail often and the results are always fantastic.

When I had my first kid I quit my job and am a full time stay at home mom. I don't have a lot of time to craft these days, but I love getting mail and I love making things for other people.

I love private swaps. Please contact me. If any of my crafting or hobbies interests you, maybe we can work something fun out!

I used to do a lot of paper crafting, but now I'm mostly digital.

I LOVE digital scrapbooking and my favorite website for kits is: sweetshoppedesigns.com

I use a daily planner (happy planner original vertical) and fill it up with stickers! I love any stickers, especially Happy Planner stickers and mom life stickers.

Color: blues, greens, peaches (all shades), ivory, teal, rust, lavender and natural colors. Think pretty spring time colors.

Embroidery, but not cross stitch. I do a lot of free style embroidery using silk ribbon to create flowers. Lately I've been making a lot of sock dolls for my favorite charity: Operation Christmas Child. We stuff shoeboxes FULL of toys/school supplies and they're sent to third world nations to child in need. Any embroidery floss or buttons are welcome!

I love photography and just about all art mediums except rubber stamping. I just never really got into dealing with ink and the mess. I do like clearly stamped images, or art made from stamped images however.

I love to watercolor, but only when my muse decides to visit (it isn't very often).

I love miniature things. I have a miniature conservatory with little potted plants and tiny tools. Anything for a fairy garden or conservatory is totally welcome!

Altered journals. I make pretty awesome journals for other people (and of course for myself), I love to load the page with fun prompts and art styling to be completed. I would love to create one for you! Contact me about a swap!

Random bits that I love: astrology (I'm a cancer), stickers just about anything, octopus, crab, elephants and owls (cute ones versus realistic ones), Paper dolls especially pin-up, historical or fairy tale (I don't like fashion paper dolls), fairy tales especially sleeping beauty, little mermaid and Cinderella Disney and vintage, Children's fairy tale books (pages from them for crafting), buttons, Alice in wonderland, playing cards, envelope art, stained glass, silly things for my kids, blank greeting cards with envelopes, postcards naked or unused, bookmarks- the flat kind, charms in any theme/size, something local that I can't get anywhere near me, Long letters, anything from the 40's and 50's, ephemera especially written postcards and letters, dark chocolate, kit-kat bars, life savors wint-o-green, tree of life, green man, mason jars, roses, gerbera daisies, snap dragons, candy land, mysterious things, dark fairy tales, old wooden doors, key holes, fairies/gnomes, wild gardens, secret things, local legends and ghost stories, gingerbread houses, Wilton Baking products, Scottish/Irish items, Celtic knots, Renaissance themes, mushrooms, Tetris, peacocks and their color pallet, watercolor paints and brushes, coloring books (especially Disney princesses), lockets, miniature items, abstract art, zentangle, comics, hand drawn/original cartoons, new crayons, Prisma colored pencils, embroidery floss, Journal for me to alter, journal filled with prompts for me to complete, skeleton keys, antique keys, silver, anything from my etsy wishlist, birds, mermaids, Disney, quizzes, I'm totally into elemental stuff like suns/moons, crystals, and natural woods and stones.

****Total Disclaimer: I'm a little jaded from public swaps. I put a lot of love into my swaps so if this section seems harsh it's only because I've been put through the ringer on some pretty bad swaps****

HUGE pet peeve of mine is when I receive swaps with no note. Just the contents of the swap floating in an envelope with not so much as even a post-it note explaining what you sent or why or even to say hello. It's RUDE.

Lazy swappers who just do the bare minimum in order to get something awesome in return. What's worse, is that I've come to expect this from almost EVERY swap I receive because it's almost always the case. Now a days I find that I swap to entertain myself knowing that I'll get crap in return. Please prove me wrong...please, please do!

Stuff I don't like: bits of ribbon, Kawaii poop, torn/folded/oddly-sized paper bits, bold primary colors: red/yellow/blue, black, gold/brass (I prefer silver, bronze or nickle), religious themes/items (I'm more spiritual and natural than organized religion. I respect your views, please respect mine). Barn yard animals, reward stickers, tea bags (I love tea, but not sent via swap-bot), jewelry junk (except charms & lockets), feathers, heavy geometric patterns, recipes (I'm picky and the internet has everything I need), pasty pastels (think 80's) or plaid patterns, eyelets, crosses, white chocolate, anything demonic or hateful, spiders or other creepy-crawley stuff.

I hate random scraps of paper: I have a million at home and don't need any, so please spare me discarded bits of paper.

Scented: I have major allergies to just about everything scented including nasty cigarette smoke. Please be considerate when packing my swaps. Unless the swap specifically states a scented item, please don't send me anything (scratch & sniff stickers are the only exception)

Again, I'm sorry for the dislike section! I love swapping and love to craft and share, but I'm trying to protect myself from even more terrible public swaps! Please restore my faith in Swappers! Please send me an awesome swap!

How I rate: I used to give hearts out to everybody, but have since learned better after getting some horrible swaps. Due to Swap-bot's TOTALLY crappy rating system I'm forced to give crappy swaps a 5 if they meet requirements, but if you get just a 5 with no heart and no message, then you'll understand why....

HEARTS: If you actually read through my profile to find out what I like. If I can tell you put a lot of time/love/money/thought into my swap and maybe threw in a few extra things, you'll get a heart!

NO HEART: If you didn't put any thought or effort into my package. If you send only the bare minimum and didn't even work on the swap. If you send me something that barely met the requirements (example: for a package swap, you found the tinest box possible and only got me dollar store items, but didn't wrap it up, or decorate the envie etc), you won't be getting a heart. I know everyone is pinching pennies, but that doesn't mean you can't take the time and effort to make something nice. That's what this place is all about anyways.

SHIPPING: I always ship before the deadline! If it's been 2 weeks and you haven't gotten my swap, PM me!

*Also, I put a lot of love into my packages and usually stuff them with extras. I would hope you would put some time and effort into my swap instead of finding the cheapest dollar store item to fit the bare minimum requirements.

I read a lot! I usually read on my break from the kids. It's nice and quiet and I can get away from the stresses of mom life for a bit. I love historical fiction, fantasy, some of the lesser classics (like the blue lagoon, Dracula etc.) and mysteries having to do with antiquities, ancient societies and ancient conspiracies. I love series, but only if I start from the beginning. I read Song of ice and fire (Game of thrones) and the Plum novels by Evanovich. I do love time travel/reincarnation books like Green Darkness and the Time Traveler's wife. I've read the Twilight saga, but am not obsessed; I have not read Harry Potter and don't feel the need.

Love movies, Anything except horror! I would list them out, but nobody every sends DVD stuff, so what's the point? I will mention that I do love The Princess Bride, Star Wars, Ever After, The usual Suspects, and Shawshank Redemption just in case there are any themed items out there to make/buy for a swap.

I love to cook with my husband and we create a lot of meals together from scratch! I love to bake and decorate cakes as well!

Gardening is a lot of fun for me, and I've gotten into mini terrariums with succulents where I create mini landscapes inside fishbowls or stemware. I would love to get some mini figures to add to them!

I play a lot of board games and the only video game I play is Plants versus Zombies. It's hysterical and sort of relaxing.

I listen to a wide selection of tunes. Here's a brief list to give you an idea: Imagine Dragons, some Taylor Swift, System of a Down, Barenaked Ladies, The Bangles, Animated Disney movie songs, Songs from musicals, Lily Allen, Classical Piano, Just about anything from the 90's.......there's more, but I'm drawing a blank at the moment. The only thing I don't like is Rap. Country is okay, but I can only handle a few songs before I want something else to listen too. Love interesting blends especially underground stuff. Just nothing hateful or metal head

Zines! Have an extra one laying around? Throw it my way.

Friendship books/Decos/crams: I'm game, send some to me. I don't mind homers!

I would love anything homemade from you! If you have a specialty, I would love to see what you create (using cricut, paint, crochet, matchbox shrines etc.)! LOVE postcards naked; SENT THROUGH THE MAIL (complete with message and stamp)! I would love to hear about your life (family, job, hobbies etc.). I also love loooooong letters. I LOVE to receive items I can't get locally so any fun local things you take for granted, I'd love to get my hands on.deco books in any stage, zines and anything extras you want to add to any swap won't go unnoticed.

Since becoming a full time mom I don't have as much time for crafts as I used too, but I'm trying to change that!

Right now....

I use my daily happy planner. Any stickers or flat items I can paste in is totally welcome!

Collecting items for my miniature creations like terrariums and fairy garden.

sewing supplies for making cute sock dolls (look them up, they are adorable).