RooBaRoo

Profile has grown really long. !!!! But I HAVE neatly arranged it into heads. Just skip to where you need. Thanks!

03/01/2022 I completely stopped swapping & letter writing in June 2019. Then in March 2020, the lockdowns started & the postal system went haywire. I do not know how reliable it is right now. I am checking the waters by sending postcards to longtime friends.

Update 22/08/2018

Situation better. Main Post office seems to be able to send outward registry!!!!

Update 28/07/2018

Okay, my Post office situation collapsed. It was never very good to begin with, the employees had put up stiff resistance to sending registered anything abroad. I had stood my ground & they had relented to "letters & documents". I had conditioned them ( by sending something every other week) to send flat envelopes, however fat, & with the truth on the Customs declaration, not "letters & documents".

However, on 16/07/2018, they installed a new integrated software, & till now, have been unable to figure out, or have found an excuse not to , how to send registered post abroad. It's a mess.

I am 39 yr old female from India. I'm married, & I have a daughter who is 10 yrs old. I work full time in an insurance co. I enjoy snail mails & paper crafts.

Address - I use my office address here, I've found that it works better

Chasing ratings - I try to keep track of who I have sent but not got rated, I contact to find out the problem, & I have made several resends. I do not enjoy losing my stuff to postal thieves, but I do enjoy gathering & sending, so it is not a problem. However, this is NOT an OBsession with me ... so ... IF You were expecting a swap from me, & it did not arrive, & I did not contact You, then please YOU do, I would gladly resolve the issue.

3 ratings The 3 that I have acquired is entirely my fault. & I'm very ashamed of it. I assure you, I won't do that again.

Hosting & Angeling

I try to spread the swaps I host over different weeks, so that I can do justice to both vetting & preparing the swaps.

I will always angel Type 2 & Type 3 swaps hosted by me. I host a newbie-friendly only when I have sufficient material to angel 3 people!!!

Electronic swaps I host are designed to have all people as partners to each other. Thus, everyone already knows my responses - it cannot be angeled. Don't join it if it is too much of a risk.

Sadly, there is no way to angel a non-rated swap!

Crafts

Paper is my substrate. I paint (lazy), sketch, line-draw (I dislike calling it "Zentangle, I'm following nobody's "official" patterns!!), collage (beginner), Origami (beginner). I love to paint on fabric - cushion covers & prayer flags are favourite projects.

You can sample my crafts at the pinterest link . Beware, there'd be some kiddie stuff as well :) I hesitate to call my work "creating". Creating is when one makes something out of nothing, like a work of fiction, an invention, or a hitherto unknown business! I am merely artistically inclined! I compose, I assemble :)

• Teas : Darjeeling, Assam, Chai, Kahwa

• Books (store-bought) English language, Indian authors, for grown-ups and children, comics (once) popular in india

• trims & laces - these will be VERY glittery & kitschy

• scarf, stole or dupattaa

• Tee-shirts, stoles, "jholaa" (tote)bags, cushion covers (store-bought, in Indian kitsch/pop or folk(tribal) design OR bought-plain & hand-painted)

• souvenirs ( key chains, magnets, small purse, coasters)

• beautiful bangles (other accessories too... but these bangles (& Bindi) are particular to India, & you won't get them elsewhere)

Colours : No particular choice! However, I don't like fluorescent (neon) colours.

Motifs: Paisley, Squirrels, Owls, Mushrooms, Acorns, Coniferous trees, other trees, FLOWERING TREES, Sea stars, buntings/party flags

Olaf from Frozen, Big Bang Theory, Transformers, Krtek the mole :)

Anything related to Tintin or Sherlock Holmes (any franchise)

Book recos : Open to everything, except hardcore horror & sexual deviance, i.e., considering domestic violence, or drinking people's blood to be sex !!! … that really grosses me out.

I'd really love to try translations of authors of other languages.

Please recommend me your favourite authors from your country, preferably contemporary, but classic will also do!

Anything handmade by you, or written by you, something interesting you witnessed, or a life incident you relate to, anything You want to share, I love the feeling of “click” when I connect to a person thousands of miles away!!

Hey! Anyone knows Cheburashka?

I am almost-almost atheist. I dislike any attempts to pull me into any organised religion. Oh! I am okay with any kind of Holiday/festival imagery. Just not evangelizing.

I am okay with magazines cut up for craft, but not books. It makes me feel bad for the books!

Blank touristy postcards. NOT okay!!!! (WRITTEN touristy postcards- welcome, non-touristy postcards - written & blank both welcome :)

I've come to decide that tea is not really my cup of tea!! :D Coffee neither!

Undesirables

Scenario: say, I hit a ditch on my Vespa & break my collarbone. So, a passer by asks who he should call, &

Expectation : I should say "drop me out of unassigned swaps", instead of telling him where my health insurance card is. because, according to certain "stellar" swappers,THAT is the right thing to do. "But you could at least have informed!!!!". Well, sorry, I'm more things, BEFORE being a swapper.

Sarcasm apart, if I suddenly disappear, & collect a bunch of "1"s, (which is likely, because I will NOT be anticipating death), please simply email my husband at yashendra@gmail.com, & ask him if I am alive or dead.

I'm fully aware that I am on certain swappers' "drama swapper" list. It's their opinion & they are entitled to it.

Some people get angry that every single person on the earth is not agreeing with them. When you threw me out of your groups wordlessly, I bowed out silently. Now, extend me the equal courtesy, & if I give someone a 2nd chance, let it be my decision.

I am not stupid & I understand the need to ban poor swappers, & also to call them out.

At the same time ,I do not appreciate snarkiness in Swap-Bot & I do not understand the ABSOLUTE need & obsession to get rid of one's "1" ratings, to the point that people have advised other people to wait till the next time Rachel holds the charity event, & then buy its removal & THEN start swapping. Seriously? You advise THAT compared to a genuine acceptance of mistake & a sincere effort to build up ones rating by doing more good swapping? I'm REALLY sorry, I FAIL to see the logic. & this "case" was with a SINGLE "1", not hordes.

Then there are people who give 3s for not "sent late", but "received late", & for resends, which are basically postal system problems.

These people, I avoid. I do not join their swaps, & steer clear of their RAKs, & if I'm partnered with them in other people's swaps, then ... well... tough luck!

Assertive Rights

Thread of important threads

All the news that's fit to print BY@boompowbeauty - NOT looking for angel for this one it was more fun sending than receiving!!!

2 Truths & A Lie Postcard #4 by @sweetsexyvicky

♡Marriage picture swap ♡ by @RebeccaR ...strange! she was the host%..strange! she was the host!

RSI - Show off your art - Greeting card by @defaultisdigital = @mehimeraki , I hosted this, ... ANGELED BY @nytetears THANK YOUUUUU!!

Whimsy Envelope - Naked?! The Emperor's New Envie! by @FarrenG

This was the time when I'd justed shifted to Kanpur, was using my home address, I was losing mail left, right, & center :( :( I am listing swaps that I never received. I will NOT rate "1", becuase, in all probability, it was my post office's fault that I did not receive, not my partner's. ALL THESE SWAPS ARE UNRATED Still, if anyone would RAK these, I'd be really happy. (These days, praise the powers that might be, I am actually receiving my mail)

Carpe Librum ~ 100 Members & 1yr Celebration Paper - contacted partner - she resent. Even resend did not arrive. :( RAK-ed by @changeling - awesome read!

A Very Merry Unbirthday Postcard Swap! July 2014 - 2 partners, did not receive either. Both kindly resent. One received, one missing ...

TAKE A RISK ATC - #1 - contacted partner. Neither received the original, nor resend

TAKE A RISK ATC #2 - same story. The risk ATCs turned out to be a very bad risk for me :(

Sarcastic & Subversive Postcards #3 - 2 partners - never received anything ... now both are inactive ... feels bad to rate them low ... so late & when they've left

...& ... Mag Clippings VDAY Fandanie & RooBaRoo I set this up for her because she had low ratings & I couldn't allow her on a group swap I hosted. Then I got late assigning partners, & she was so high strung with being banned out of swaps, she searched my address from her old records ... & ... unfortunately, it was this old address. I feel bad for her regarding this swap. The swap never reached me, I could not rate her anything.

I love to read. Humour, mystery, child-literature.

My favourite authors in English are Micheal Crichton, Gerald Durrell, James Herroit, Khaled Hosseini, P. G. Wodehouse, John Grisham, Alister Mclean, Mary Higgins Clark, J. R.R. Tolkien, Terry Prachett, Lewis Caroll & Jasper Fforde.

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Meg Cabot, Dr Suess, Agatha Christie, David Baldacci, Ken Follet, Frederik Forsyth, Sidney Sheldon(not all), Amish Tripathi & I am not embarrassed to include Dan Brown ...

My introduction to Arthur Haily, Ayn rand, Paulo Coelho & Robin Cook was bad! So I have to start over.

However, apart from series, there are so many standalone books I enjoyed, & though I am not right now seeking out those authors, eventually I will. Dracula, Ender's Game (& Ender's Shadow), The Catcher in the Rye, She's come Undone, Rebecca, Catch 22, 1984, The Jungle Book, The Book of Dragons ( E. Nesbit), Rule of the Bone, The Inscrutable Americans, How I taught my Grandmother to read, The Historian, Acts of Faith, Battle for Bittora (so unfortunate that now Anuja Chauhan is co-authoring withthe III-class Durjoy Datta), How to Kill, Gamechangers, You are Here (Meenakshi Reddy Madhavan), White Tiger, Lessons in Forgetting, A Case of Exploding Mangoes, Perfect Eight, The Curious Incident of a Dog in the Nighttime, The Skull Mantra (gotta read the Inspector Shan series), Aztec Autumn (Gotta read Aztec), Neanderthal ...

I try to read English novels by Indian, & now Pakistani, authors, these mainly fall in the category of "drama" or simply, "fiction". If You would like to try some, I could recommend.

I disliked "In other rooms, other wonders" & "the Diary of a Social butterfly". The monotony & depressive mood of one, & the amazing irrtiant-ness of the other put me off. I also seriously disliked the (highly acclaimed) "God of Small Things" & "Graffiti my Soul". Open to more books by those authors, though!

I love reading Natural History, & Ruskin Bond writes naturae reading Natural History, & Ruskin Bond writes naturaa Naturalist", by Ptyor Manteufel, who was a Russian biologist & conservationist (I understand), in translation. It is my all time favourite book, reads like fiction & I still relax with it. I wish I could find more of his work in translation.

I also read in Bengali, & my favourite author of all is Lila Majumdar. Also Satyajit ray (Feluda Series, Professor Shonku series , & everything else), Abanindronath Tagore, Sunil Gangopadhyay (Kakababu series (not the later ones) & those written as "NeelLohoit"), Manoranjan Bhattacharjo (detective Huakashi & EVERYTHING), the Tenida series, The Ghanada series ....

I do like the bestsellers Harry Potter Series, Hunger Games trilogy, Skulduggary Pleasant series, I'd like to read the Alex Rider series, the Percy Jackson series, A series of unfortunate events & so on ... I really like kid-lit & young adult.

I also enjoy reading adventure based children's classics, like Treasure Island, The Last of Mohicans, You get the Idea!

I was also totally awed by Bibhutibhushan Bandopadhyay's "Chander Paahaar" (available in translation as "The Mountain of the Moon") , Boy! Bengali authors CAN WRITE kid-lit! (Ask me for recos on translations)

I have only read 2 Popular Science books, "One,two,three, infinity" & "a brief history of time", I enjoyed both a LOT, please recommend me if You know something similar!

I read & enjoy fantasy & sci-fi, but I do not consider these in my favourite genres. I have not read horror - yet.

I am absolutely not into any kind of perversion, disturbing images that will never leave my mind's eye - the REALITY - the NEWS is full enough of that. I have yet avoided reading 50 shades of grey & the Twilight series ... I was excited when I came to know about it, but then, as it grew on me (& the entire world), blood-sucking sex just does not agree with me.

I also read read non-fiction, but it takes me a long time :P Mitch Albom, Luce Edward, Gandhi, Nehru ...

I read Seabiscuit - An American legend, & liked it a lot. That counts as non Fiction, & Elizabeth Gilbert, right?

I have not read much foreign literature, but I would love to (in English translation) Puskin, Gogol, Tolstoy, Chekov , Thomas Mann, Herman Hesse,Rainer Maria Rilke, & obviously, hundreds of authors beyond my humble domain of recognition.

Although living a daily life in India is demoralizing on a daily basis, the sheer brilliance of the incredibly numourous authors throughout the world (& including India) makes me think life must be worthwhile!

Last but not the least, Herge' (Tintin) & Rene Goschinni & Alberto Uderezo (Asterix) which I have loved at all ages :)

Please note that I mainly hand-draw/ hand-paint, so I really do not use any scrapbook-ing supplies, like die-cuts, ephemera, patterned paper, etc. Honestly, it gives me anxiety to use double-side printed paper - you HAVE to waste the print on one side.

These are the things which will be appreciated:

Stuff I do not get here:

• ATC sleeves

• Horizontal envelopes of any size

• Children's book illustration postcards

• Cartoon Band-Aid

• shipping tags - plain or decorated

• Comic books - Children's or Adults' - used/old but readable ones are fine!

• Sweet nothings(feathers, sea shells, little pebbles, little pine cones, acorns, I know it's crazy) Sea glass! (Received my first "magic matchbox, acorn-top locket, & sea-glass as extra in a swap from @sandara333 - she's a fairy for me!)

Craft supplies I actually use

• Felt sheets, esp., earthy colours

• leftover ribbons, laces, yarn

• random buttons

• Washi tape, esp. of paper

Wishes

• Pisanki

• Amigurumi

• Found poetry

• I'd like a "introduction to Steampunk". Type 1, 2 or 3.

• I'd like a peek into what "hearth Witches" mean. I am not thinking of "converting", I'm quite the sceptic, however, I feel so curious. I do not know what my element is, actually I do not like to feel limited by one element, but anything "earth" pulls me, like woodland animals ... I'm sorry if hearth Witch-ing is not supposed to be classified like that! AND I'm sorry, I cannot reciprocate in kind on these two topics!!!

(Recently received a beginner book on Celtic magic from @lauriburkett17 in a tag(sadly, this was a re-send, :( the original tag got lost) - her FIRST book - I'm totally touched by your generosity, lady!!!)

Trades & private swaps

I would love to know nursery rhymes from different countries (of course with a translation) & if You can send (any kind of ) pics of the characters, even more great!

I'd REALLY like to swap some children's books (English language) from other countries. I'm ready to spend a reasonable amount on both the book & the postage.

"Little box of nature" swap

I would love to swap a decorated "scene in a jar" (plastic jar)

Or maybe a shaker card?

Received RAK/ Angel/ Wish

Out of the blue, @Melbournegirl sent my daughter some lovely stickers :) :) Received CPG 10/29 RAK pretty notecards from @OrigamiGrace

RSI - Show off your art - Greeting card by @defaultisdigital = @mehimeraki , I hosted this, ... ANGELED BY @nytetears It was absolutely random & caught me by surprise!! :)

Used Vintage Postcards from @theevidenceisme :) :) :) Blank postcards - international from @piratejimbob :) Thank You!!

Gallery postcards cut into found images from Dsweeny :)

Thank you @BhindBlueEyes for the coulouring pages ... I love how you frequently keep your RAKs international!

Received RAK for Carpe Librum ~ 100 Members & 1yr Celebration Paper from @changeling :) :) :)

@Soph @ShinySerra @groudhogstamper & @kellpepper sent me Requested Easter RAK & also ... @Mgallardo87 & @wolfeagle ... So grateful for such caring, generous, attentive people :) :)

Thanks @Lady for the Chinese New Year RAK :) :) (I'm not finding its link!!)

Awesome Sherlock Holmes PC received from @smadronia in Naked Postcard RAK - US & Intl, Up to 70 people!

"consolation" RAK from @pynart2 in A envelope full of goidies .... SO sweet of you!!! :)

Handmade envelopes & stationery from @Caf1988 in Destash RAK - Thanks for the lovely stuff!!

@LoveThis sent me cartoon, Christmas & foreign text used PCs, even though I didn't specify the numbers! It is the gift that keeps on giving! I received a total of 8 envelopes full of used Postcards !!! Thanks a lot!

Received Sticker Palooza RAK from @apryl - We loved it :)

Received 2 awesome War scene postcards from @user6937 THANK YOU!

RAK~ De-stashing from @earthnk are gorgeous promo books that I am too much in love with to cut up!

Thanks to @Smadronia for cute Library-themed laptop sticker through Carpe Librum forum RAK!

Sent RAK/Angel/ Wish

Not including angel on own hosted swaps.

Sent @jackwomanbatman a Notebook decorated with feminist sarcasm, simply because it was so much fun!!

RAK to a Terminally Ill Child

Wishlists November 2017 to @bbeth @MsRose & @LadySunshine

RAK - For My Brother TO @A123987

Card & goodies for Holidays are hard to @Ryleighsmom

Envie In need of happy mail @Rosina176

So.. I was cheated on.. to @dial208Medusa

A SPECIAL REQUEST to @Soph

Angeled Comics # 11 Wonder Woman (Diana Prince) to @LunaMoody

Angeled Fun~Green and BLACK 8*10 Envelope to @ zebragirlzebra

& also a Happy mail to one swapper's father, who passed away before it'd reach ... RIP, I hope it was a peaceful passage.

Sent to @emelardawn @Mimi7 & @user6937 for Double-sided children's illustrations

& @dictionary @smadronia @Mye @pianoheart @Bhindblueeyes @mgallardo68 @ChrisAnne @Moominbrooke & @glennasgarden for In a "Holi" mood? .

Too bad @emeraldawn later turned out to be a huge flaker :(

Just for fun Mom-&-baby collaboration Handmade PCs to @Stephielentz @ChrisAnne @user6397 @bblue @WestTexasPenny @CaliGirl & @fenamerica13

Again, @Stephielentz went on to collect 15 1s. Hate it. Then I started vetting receivers for my RAKs too! :D At least, I recognize RAK hogs.

Sent 2018 Christmas cards for kids suggested by @Katja @TessyT @tichyleon & @apryl & books & card to children of @Lillypooh12 & @jannieb

Flat ornaments to @groundhogstamper & @bjansen

Pattachitra Authentic art postcard WITH religious connotations to @WombatLady & @changeling

Postcard RAK to @dancingtiger & @ByJQ