hanfmuk

09 July: Two days ago my bedroom ceiling collapsed, covering everything I own with a thick layer of rubble. I'm currently staying with friends while my flat gets fixed, but I've had to put everything that was salvagable into storage. This means I'm currently unable to make anything or to get online for more than a few minutes on occasional days. I will do my very best to get the swaps I owe out as soon as possible but there may be some delays. I apologise for any inconvenience.

Hi. I'm a 27 year old postgrad student in Scotland. I love pretty much any kind of music and books, and enjoy getting to know people all over the world.

I'm also a member of postcrossing and sendsomething.net, because I love sending postcards and letters (I love receiving them too - there's something very nice about getting some proper mail through the letterbox).

I love having penpals, so if you'd like to swap letters on a regular basis, let me know.

I speak French and Swedish, and can understand written Danish, Norwegian, Spanish and Italian.

Oh, and if you're reading this because you've got me as a partner in a swap that involves food, I have no allergies although I am vegetarian.

I love pretty much any kind of music, but here are a few of my favourites:

CLASSICAL: Alfven, Beethoven, Chopin, Crusell, Elgar, Kalivoda, Poulenc, Rachmaninov, Rautavaara, Tchaikovsky

NON-CLASSICAL: Adiemus (Karl Jenkins), The Barry Sisters, Billie The Vision & The Dancers, The Cliks, Corner Stone Cues, Emiliana Torrini, Golem!, Gotan Project, Hem, The Klezmatics, Lorraine Feather, Lost In The Trees, Marit Larsen, Pine Leaf Boys, Rabbinical School Dropouts, Sarah Shannon

More generally, my favourite genres include: Classical from the romantic and early modern periods, Klezmer, Showtunes (tacky, I know, but true), 1940s type swing and big-band, Rock 'n' roll

I'll read anything, but my favourite books of all time are probably:
Waterland (Graham Swift),
A Tall Man In A Low Land (Harry Pearson),
Goodnight Mr Tom (Michelle Magorian)

Other books I really like include: Archangel (Sharon Shinn), Around The Houses (Amanda Boulter), Du och jag, Marie Curie (Annika Ruth Persson), Ender's Game (Orson Scott Card), Everything Is Illuminated (Jonathan Safran Foer), The Happy Prince and other stories (Oscar Wilde), The History Of Love (Nicole Krauss), Landet Utanför (Maria Gripe), Les Mots Pour Le Dire (Marie Cardinal), Perfect Skin (Nick Earls), Smalltown Antichrist (Iain Grant), Soul Kiss (Shay Youngblood), To Kill A Mockingbird (Harper Lee)

At the moment I'm mostly reading sci-fi and fantasy, along with true crime (especially anything to do with forensic psychology) and non-fiction about WWII

10 Things I Hate About You, Addams Family Values, The Broken Hearts Club, Chaos (the French one, not the horror one), Drop Dead Gorgeous, Keeping The Faith, Kind Hearts & Coronets, Lawless Heart, Life of Brian, Romy & Michele's High School Reunion, Sidewalks of New York, Tillsammans, When Harry Met Sally, While You Were Sleeping

Band of Brothers, Battlestar Galactica, Black Books, Buffy The Vampire Slayer, The Daily Show, Dharma & Greg, ER, Father Ted, Frasier, Maid Marian & Her Merry Men, Numb3rs, Sleeper Cell, The Sopranos, Spooks, Stargate SG-1, Stargate: Atlantis, The West Wing, The Wire, Without A Trace

My very favourite 'like' is tea. I've discovered so many awesome new types since joining SwapBot, though my favourites are still black tea flavoured with fruits (especially Hornimans MixTe: Te negro con flores - it's heaven in a mug!).

I also love...

• craft supplies (see below for a list of crafts I'm attempting to master!)

• candy (I'll try anything other than black licorice or aniseed flavoured things, but I've just discovered the wonder that is salt water taffy and would be super mega grateful for some of that!)

• recipe cards (the free ones you can pick up at supermarkets),

• chocolate (absolutely any type except the stuff that's flavoured with chilli flakes),

• funny postcards,

• black & white postcards,

• learning languages,

• anything Wicca-related,

• feminism,

• Amnesty International,

• used stamps (I use them for decorating notecards)

• pages from fairly small notebooks that are either coloured, patterned or an interesting shape (odds are I'd never use all the pages from one of these notebooks, so any random non-written-on pages would be great)

• memo sheets

I also love map postcards from all over the world. In particular, I'm trying to collect all the USA state ones. At the moment I have the following:
- Alaska's inside passage - Arizona - Arkansas - California - Delaware - Florida - Georgia - Hawaii - Kentucky - Maine - Maryland - Massachusetts - Michigan - Minnesota - New Hampshire - New York - North Carolina - Oklahoma - Pennsylvania - Rhode Island - South Carolina - Tennessee - Virginia
If you could help me to complete my collection I'd be very grateful.

I know asking this is a long shot, but if you have any back copies of Bust magazine, I'd really love them. I know postage for magazines can get quite expensive so I'm happy to do a private trade for them... it's just such a brilliant magazine and so hard to get hold of in the UK.

My favourite colour is purple (any and all shades) but I also really like browns, rich greens and blues

I'm not exactly artistic and I have the attention span of a gnat, but I'm trying out a number of crafts and really enjoying them.

Crafts I'd appreciate supplies for are:

• cross stitch
• crochet (I'm very much a beginner here so if you have any super-easy patterns, I'd love a copy. I'd also really like any odd bits of wool you have left over from other projects - I like making hair scrunchies with these)
• jewellery making (with metal wire, and with beads, though not plastic ones)
• origami, especially jewellery: oh my goodness, it's just so much fun! I'm still a beginner but am just having so very very much fun with it!)
• making notecards & postcards
• ATCs (I already have more than enough card blanks though)
• 'creative correspondence' (I'm not really sure if that's the right term, but I like turning used envelopes, paper bags, and pretty much any paper I can get my hands on into decorated sheets of writing paper)
• handmade envelopes
• macrame

Any old craft magazines, or articles/projects torn from old craft magazines would also be great to get.

I don't like liquorice or aniseed, or anything flavoured with them.

I don't wear make-up (including nail-polish).

I wear earrings and necklaces but don't like bracelets/bangles and my fingers are too small for most rings.

I don't have a bath, so can't use any nice bath stuff (though anything for the shower is welcome).

While I love to receive handmade items, I prefer it if they're things that actually have a use. For that reason I'd rather not receive dotees, stuffies or inches.

I'm always open to doing private swaps - just drop me a message and we can sort something out.

Things I currently would like to swap are:

I'd like to send...

• teabags (I have many many types and flavours so should be able to find something you like!)
• notecards
• lettersets
• postcards
• plastic beads (I can send you a photo of ones I have, if you're interested)
• homemade envelopes
• paper for crafts
• magazine cuttings/pages (including from magazines about art, tattoos, stamps, aeroplanes, British history, Scottish history, science, and general interest)
• books (I have hundreds I'm looking to offload, both fiction and non-fiction, so let me know if there are any topics in particular you're interested in.)
• hot chocolate
• stamped images and phrases (I have a decent range of rubber stamp designs, including a lovely 2.5inch square haiku with illustration, hieroglyphics, bones (from a kids' science-learning set) and some Rennie Mackintosh style flowers and corner designs from a local stamp-designer who recently closed their business)

I'd like to get...

• handmade envelopes and other types of creative correspondence things
• beads made from anything other than plastic: I'd especially like some handmade from Fimo or other modelling clay
• paper for crafts
• stickers and embellishments (except for Christmas-themed ones)
• used postage stamps
• jewellery findings
• ribbon
• Art Nouveau cross stitch patterns
• rubber stamps (though not Christmas-themed ones)
• fruit flavoured black teas
• fluffy socks
• old craft magazines or articles/projects torn from them (I know magazines can get really expensive to mail)
• back copies of Bust magazine

If I haven't received anything one month after the 'send by' deadline of a swap, I send a PM to my partner to ask about the situation.

Swaps listed here are those where I haven't had a reply to my message.

Trick or treat swap UK & Europe by @elouises13 Kindly being angelled by @pookledo

Elven Music CD Swap by @Snorkmaiden EDIT: Kindly angelled by @msteidl

~A~ Recipe Postcard by @Raylyn EDIT: kindly angelled by swap coordinator @DarkSkullMistress42

Fall Means To Me cd by @melissarr EDIT: kindly angelled by the swap coordinator, @msteidl

Recipes In A Mini-Book by @beachbum

Fun Scavenger Hunt by @jmmessina3 EDIT: wonderfully angelled by @disneyfreaksam

Cosy Up with a Good Notecard by @PostMuse who was also the swap co-ordinator EDIT: kindly angelled by @thefruid

International Tea Swap #1 by @Aurore EDIT: kindly angelled by @choke

LBQT Valentine ATC Swap by @callalily EDIT: beautifully angelled by @choke

Favorite Recipe Swap by @Tracy

Recipes!Recipes!Recipes by @Jewelstonefly

Diary Postcards For A Week by @medea9