candyn

9-5-12 I've slowed down on swapping a lot lately, but will pop in now and again to still join in the fun.

I'm a mom of three and luckily married to a nice guy that I'm still in love with after 14 years together. I love my spawn: stepson (21), daughter (11) and son (8). We are silly people.

I enjoy creating things and always have a few projects going as they keep me sane and motivated. My interests are varied and span many types of craft: arts, hobbies, writing, blogging and music. We love nature and enjoy hiking in all types of weather.

Art mediums I enjoy working in the most: Clay - paperclay, polymer, I love earthen clay too... if only I had a wheel and kiln, sigh... I love to use scrapbook supplies for things other than scrapbooking, the paper, brads, and doodads. Fabric, yarn, as I enjoy sewing, crochet (love knitting but am terrible at it), just discovered amigurumi - so cute! I love making art dolls, in all ways - cloth, tiny, big, clay, whatever, they are a fun way to use all the kinds of mediums I love. I also really enjoy drawing and painting with colored pencils, watercolor, acrylic and ink... anything with COLOR. I love color.

I was a graphic artist for the local paper and still freelance for them. So I love all computer created/digital art too. Photoshop holds a dear place in my heart.

I love photography and taking pictures, I'm no great photographer and only have a point and shoot camera, but it doesn't stop me from trying.

I adore playmobil, lego and toys in general. Dress up is still fun, costumes and such. Sometimes I think I got into the whole parenthood game to get back into the playroom.

Unfortunately, we are dealing with some major food allergies here so it is better for me not to receive any foods. I will likely stay out of any kind of food swaps anyway, but I figured I should post it just in case.

We do a lot of cooking, baking and trying new recipes. I'm always looking for good gluten and nut free recipes, and/or dairy free. Sigh... I know. Tea and coffee and all the stuff that goes with the ceremony of the morning cup of caffeine rank high with me.

Sting, he deserves his own line...

I will listen to anything pretty much. From classical to the newest stuff and most of the fringes. It is probably on my ipod.

iTunes is my weakness.

Really great quotes fuel me. The kind that make you wake up and realize you are alive.

Young adult fantasy is my favorite genre to read. Like Philip Pullman, Susan Cooper, Madeleine L'Engle, J K Rowling, Angie Sage, etc. All that stuff, I have always read that genre and it is still the first type of book I reach for typically. My favorite types of movies are along the same line as well. Lord of the Rings and such.

I also read some horror, drama, romance and classics. I will read anything from comic books to Shakespeare if it is in front of me.

I find fairy tales, folk tales and nursery rhymes an endless source of inspiration for art and writing.

Magazines (craft, design and cooking) and non-fiction books (biographies, craft, history, science). Love those too. Magazines I like enjoy are craft, writing, home decor, dolls, blogging... I like a lot of different kinds to be honest.

Zines. Love them. Everything about zines is awesome.

Favorite poets? E.E. Cummings, W.H. Auden, Yeats, Carl Sandburg, Rilke, Shakespeare, Maya Angelou, Shel Silverstein, John Hollander

Mixed media, art dolls, colored pencil, watercolor, acrylic painting, ink, fine art, journaling, word art, sewing, knitting/crocheting, costuming, fantasy dollhouse miniatures, polymer clay, sculpting, photoshopping... Everything. I am craft manic. I need to make stuff like I need to breathe.

Grimm, Avatar, Pokemon, True Blood, Food Network,

If you are looking at my profile to glean what I like in order to make something for me, please just create something that pleases you. Discovering the variety of skills and ideas that comes from participating here at swap-bot is one of the main reasons I am here.

Art that you can tell the artist enjoyed making is the best. I love all colors, textures, materials, etc. So knock yourself out. Make art. I'll love it. ;0)

I love children's literature and fairy tales for many reasons. The artwork is always so amazing and inspiring. The stories, whether the old school - wolf eats girl kind or newer YA novels written based on the old stories. I love them. I hesitate to write favorites on here because I don't want to limit my partners. I enjoy seeing what people come up with more than people trying to cater to my whims I guess. But to keep with the rules of the group, my personal favorites are Red Riding Hood, Alice In Wonderland, Hansel & Gretel, Princess and the Pea, and Swan Lake. Still, I really enjoy learning about new stories I might have missed as much as I enjoy receiving things based on my beloved stories.

First: I like anything, I am quite easy to please. Heck, I don't need extras to be honest, I rate hearts for a package/letter if it looks like someone cared about making it. I don't want this 'like' list to limit people at all, because truly, - I'm easy to please. But since I enjoy reading what others like, I thought I'd include some of my own things.

Things I like include handmade stickers - especially original illustrations or photography. I've been scouring etsy for such things lately and it seems only a few people exist so far to fulfill this need in me... lol. I also like handmade bookmarks, stationary, envelopes, beads, hand-carved stamps, cupcake toppers, paper dolls, zines and little journals.

I love little creatures. Needle felted, felties, amigurumi, clay creations, dolls. I like cute, beautiful or artsy more than macabre though. Little houses made of anything, 2D or 3D - love them.

Buttons, bits, bobs, string, mini things... I like funky socks quite a bit. The only kind of jewelry I tend to wear is pendant necklaces - clay, artsy or scrabble tile type, and bracelets. But I do break down old jewelry for art supplies.

Wow - that's probably quite enough, huh?

Violence based things. I do love Halloween and especially old school and classically scary stuff. Just not things that look like violent crime scenes, you know?

I don't tend to do food swaps, but just in case: No foods please. Unfortunately, we are one of 'those' families, two steps away from life in a bubble.

In case I ever do a kid based swap I should throw some of this in here.

My daughter: She love dragons. She also likes paper, stickers, fairies, animals, little birds, dolls, pokemon, soccer, reading, music and math. She plays piano, violin and just started electric guitar. She also dances. Busy, crafty, sweet kid.

My son: He loves super heroes, bakugan, pokemon, lego, football, baseball, soccer, video game type creatures. He is currently learning to read chapter books. He also takes guitar, piano, violin and dances. He also wonders why dotee dolls are always made for girls. lol

The both enjoy geography quite a bit and love to look up where my over sea swaps have come from.

My kids just plain dig swap-bot. They wish there was a kid based place that was the same, though secretly I am glad there isn't because that would keep me in debt with postage more than I already am :0)