ixykix

I'm currently not very well at all, which is why I'm not doing many swaps - I'm keeping numbers of swaps low so I can manage to do them properly!

Hi, I'm Fran, from the UK. I'm late 30's, I have fancy rats (A 1yr old Black Berkshire Dumbo girl named Tesla from rescue and two baby sisters - a Black Berkshire names Bingo and a Black-Eyed White called Ditzy). I love narrow boats and canals and I can't stop making things!

I'm newly vegan (been vegetarian for 6 years) and I've been married for almost 15 years.

I will always send out in a swap - I will never flake. I do have a chronic illness (Behçet's disease - http://www.behcets.org.uk/ ) and very occasionally do end up in hospital - if this is going to delay my sending out any swaps then my hubby will come on to let my swap partners know.

If your swap item does not arrive (I'm in the UK so international swaps can take a while to arrive) please contact me first so I can check with the Post Office and send you a make-up item :-)

I'm mainly a maker of resin jewellery (http://www.ixykix.etsy.com/) and many other crafty bits including greetings cards, notebooks (I book-bind), fabric / stitched items, random steampunkery including strange contraptions!

I absolutely adore baking (wheat free) cakes and making jams and marmalade! I'm enjoying baking for my vegan friend too - I love a challenge!

Also, I've been creating artist books (altered text books) for many many years and sell and trade ATCs/ACEOs, prints and original books (http://www.franhorne.co.uk)

Please don't be limited by my likes (and small list of dislikes!) - I want to swap with people here to meet new folk and see new things! I do love receiving items that I like and am familiar with - but really really happy to get stuff that I've never seen before!

In no particular order........

My General Crafting LOVES:

• Resin Jewellery
• Upcycled Jewellery
• Silicone Mould Making
• Altered Text
• Artist's Books
• Card Making
• Handmade envies
• Paper craft
• Hats and Fascinators
• ATCs
• Cupcake baking
• Alternative Plushies
• Tote bags
• Preserves

Materials I LOVE:

• Broken watches and clocks
• Circa 1890 - 1920 Postcards
• Washi tapes
• Scrapbooking papers - totally addicted!!
• Rubber stamps and ink pads
• Random jewellery findings in antique copper, antique gold or sterling silver
• Old, falling-apart, books
• Anything Tim Holtz
• Steampunk papercraft items
• Sharpies
• Pro-markers
• Lace (particularly neon!)
• Ribbon (mostly patterned)
• Embroidery threads - particularly metallics
• Postage stamps - my friend's little boy collects them (and I like to use the odd one or two on ATCs and greetings cards), so I like to save them for him and me! - if you could post out to me with real stamps that would be so awesome!

Themes I LOVE:

• Anything Victorian or Edwardian
• Mad Scientist Laboratory
• Antique Medical and Lab items
• Anatomy and Physiology
• Clockwork
• Dark Hearts
• Steampunk
• Geekery
• Darkly Victorian
• Dieselpunk
• Nerfpunk
• Japan (modern day and historical)
• Harajuku
• Anime
• Tea Parties
• Cupcakes
• Fancy Rats

I'm addicted to making Resin Jewellery, I love casting my own molds in silicone rubber using whatever interesting shapes and objects I can get my hands on. I particularly love making molds from old broken jewellery.

I create unique books (Artist Books), reborn from antique and forgotten beginnings, or are revived from text book status into a new life of prose... I have been working in this way with books for 17 years and cannot imagine life without my books! I discovered over time that others were calling this "Altered Text". In my naivety thought I had invented it!! I later discovered a number of other artists using the same method of working and became fascinated with Artists Books. I first began 17 years ago working in a way which is quite similar to what is now called "Blackout Poetry", though I tended to make quite colourful pages rather than just in black and white. My very first way of working was to cut out strings of words from magazines and newspapers and make poems that way. I called this "collage poetry". I have exhibited quite a few of my books (I tend to alter whole books – then produce ATCs as prints from the books – but am starting to make ‘one-off’ ATCs this way now too). Most of my books are at least 100 pages and take many months to complete – but I love them! They are like my diaries.

Along with a friend (and fellow artist) we put on an exhibition of Artist Books last summer and to our delight it turned out to be really popular, so much so that I have run workshops on working with altered text. I’m so enthusiastic about it!

You'd probably describe me as a Steampunk - I love studying the Victorian and Edwardian eras. I have a particular interest in Victorian and Edwardian medical & laboratory science (I'm a young retired cardiac clinical scientist and could affectionately be described as a geek!) So I collect ephemera relating to what can best be described as a 'mad scientist laboratory'!! I do love crazy mechanical contraptions too, things with blinking lights, whirring mechanisms, cogs, gears and copper piping!

I have been a member of the “Brass Goggles” Steampunk Forum for sometime where you will find me there as “Mrs Van Horne”; I have been a Steampunk for quite a long time, many years, though I did not know for quite a while that that was what it was called!

I'm really, really loving nerfpunk too! The combination of steampunk style with neon is my idea of heaven!

I'm learning Japanese as I really love Japanese culture - but I'm still really a beginner!

I am also addicted to Card Making (the effects of which can be seen strewn all over my house!!) Really love TIM HOLTZ stuff and anything crafty relating to Steampunk.

I love baking cakes, mainly cupcakes - I'd much rather be baking them than eating them! So I'm always trying out new recipies on family and friends - not that they mind!

I've recently gotten into making jams, marmalades and other preserves

I'm desperately trying to find NEON lace in any neon / fluro colour, but would adore neon green or yellow in particular. I'm mainly looking for edging lace at least an inch wide, but the wider the better.

I do love sewing and making fabric items, though my skills are not as good as I'd like and I'm trying to improve on them

My favourite colours are red, copper, antique gold, yellow, burgundy, teal, turquoise, green and all neon colours.

I also love glitter and all things sparkly!!

I seem to have a current obsession with Green Leopard Print!! (including neon green!)

In postcard swaps if the image is senders choice or a profile choice I quite like the following images etc on cards:

• Steampunk
• Victorian and Edwardian
• Science and Medicine
• Skulls
• Japan (modern day and historical)
• Harajuku and Fruits (not the edible kind!)
• Geisha and Maiko
• Kawaii
• Geekery
• Clocks
• Engineering
• Old machines
• Vintage Safety Cards
• Books
• Cute Halloween
• Tea, tea parties, cakes, cupcakes
• Gothic
• Interesting Quotes
• Metallics
• Vintage Pin-Up
• Vintage Fashion
• Vintage Advertsing

I'm not so keen on cards with humor, nudity or tourist images (unless the swap calls for it), cutesy themes, pastel colours, teddy bears etc, but kawaii is fine!

Though I certainly don't want to tell you what to send or to not send things to me, here are a few things I don't like... I won't be mad if I receive them ;-) I'd just pass them onto someone else who could use them....

Clowns pretty much scare me!

I'm not overly-keen on too-cutesy stuff - though the odd bit of kawaii is fine as I love many things from Japan.

I'm not a fan of baby pink, baby blue, pale colours in general, faeries/fairies, unicorns, teddy bears.

A HUGE thank you to:

@kerrydwynn for Angeling to me for the "What your area is famous for Postcard" Swap, when I was flaked on.

@misscorina for Angeling the postcard in "Tea is a cup of life" (postcard and teabag swap)

Please don't send me jewellery with magnets in (I have a pacemaker so can't wear magnetic jewellery)

If I'm in a foodie swap - please avoid sending me anything with WHEAT in it thanks :-)

I'm also a vegan - so no animal products please. I'm ok with folks using recycled leather and upcycled wool jumpers etc - but prefer not to receive items made from new leather, wool, beeswax etc thanks :)