sassafrass

Hey, I'm Christine and I love swapping :) I put a lot of heart into my swaps and always send on time. I usually rate a couple times a week as I pick up my mail.

** I also have a Canadian mailing address **

If you have not received my swap after a reasonable amount of time please let me know prior to rating a 1. I've been here 13+ years, and am very serious about swapping. I don't flake. I'm more than happy to resend if something's gone wrong and will always extend the same courtesy.

Below are some things about me. This is to help with any profile related swaps, and to get to know a bit more about me. Please don't feel this is a "must send" list. I always appreciate everything that is sent to me and the thought behind it.

I'm a wife and cat mom :) I'm a huge animal lover, but especially fond of cats. We lost our 3 seniors (17.5 and 18 years old) within about half a year of each other. We recently lost our last girl to kidney disease, and now only have a previously homeless cat who has more or less adopted us :) So strange to have only 1 cat in the house!

I design and create metalwork jewelry, and it's my passion and full time gig. I am lucky enough to spend my days in my studio, creating pretty things to send to lovely people around the world.

In my spare time, I love to do crafts of all kinds (see below), spend time with my hubby and binge watch our fave shows. I love going to thrift shops and vintage and antiques markets and could spend hours upon hours (days? lol) sifting through old treasures. I am part of a group that sends cards to seniors and that's something I really love to do! This year I hope to get back to crocheting scarves for homeless shelters. I'm painfully slow at it, but I try my best ;-)

I love creating so many different things, and can't think of much I have not tried yet.

I love paper crafts, scrapbooking, stamping, painting, mixed media art and collage, art journals, junk journals, ATC's, glue books, gelli printing, stitching, woodworking, altered art, and digital art. I've begun trying out more painted and dyed papers and loving that. I've also been getting back into more woodworking, beyond farmhouse signs and it's so exciting! Hopefully I will keep all my fingers hah!

During lockdowns, I started to get back to some things I hadn't done in a long time ... crochet, sewing, cross stitch, embroidery and macrame (it's actually cool again lol).

Proud owner of a Sizzix Big Shot, Cricut Air Explore, Cricut Maker, Cricut Easy Press. If you have some fave cricut crafts, let me know!

Vintagy Things

• old photos, especially Victorian photos like tintypes and cabinet cards. I also love black and whites from the 1920's and 1930's
• RPPC
• vintage ephemera, old maps, travel stubs, old documents, victorian postcards, vintage postcards
• vintage hat pins
• old skeleton keys
• old used postage stamps from around the world

Crafty Things

• Love anything from Tim Holtz, Maggie Holmes, Dear Lizzy, My Minds Eye, October Afternoon, Basic Grey, Crate Paper, etc.
• handmade junk journals
• handmade envelopes
• Flow/Frankie magazines
• Things for junk journals/smash books
• chipboard and embellishments of all kinds
• sari silk ribbons (any colours!)
• rubber stamps (love artsy ones and vintage style)

Miscellaneous Random Things :)

• small shells and beach/sea glass
• absolutely LOVE anything from Papaya Art
• birds
• pretty florals
• botanicals
• Anything Edward Gorey
• owls and woodland
• cats
• Moomins
• Somerset style
• nature inspired things
• I love and appreciate anything handmade :)

Fave Colors

• My favourite colours are kiwi/avocado/moss/celery greens, turquoise, aqua, teal, and choc or moss brown, jewel tones, fall colors, rustic colors. Not really into primary colors or fluorescents/neons

I appreciate and welcome everything I receive. The following are just not really my personal taste:

Heavily scented items, primary and neon colours, cartoonish/child-like items (except those mentioned above), anime, kawaii, etc. (unless noted), religious/political items, dragons, vampires, etc., snakes, sloths, those yellow smile face stickers (yes, I'm weird lol)

Will Trent, Ghosts, Alaska Daily, Chicago PD, Criminal Minds, FBI, Cold Case, Friends, The Mentalist, Law & Order (the original, not the reboot), Castle, Bones, Elementary, Sherlock, House (MD), The Closer, True Detective, Cardinal, Dead Like Me, Person of Interest, Bosch, Only Murders in the Building, crafting shows, serial binge watcher of Investigation Discovery channel.

I love music and can't get through a day without it! Mostly an alternative/grunge gal, but I'm all over the map really! Some faves:

Red Hot Chili Peppers, Brad Sucks, Garbage, Thirteen Senses, Muse, The Verve, The Cult, Linkin Park, The Black Keys, Pearl Jam, Sisters of Mercy, Oasis, The Offspring, Broken Bells, Foo Fighters, AC/DC, The 69 Eyes, AFI, Neverending White Lights, etc

Books I most enjoy are mysteries and crime dramas. Some of my favourites being from James Patterson (love the Alex Cross ones!). I also love Stephen King, Stieg Larsson, Kathy Reichs (Bones), Tess Gerritsen (Rizzoli and Isles)

I'm a bit obsessed with craft books and arty magazines. Forever growing collection of Stampington/Somerset mags is my favorite.

My fave movies are rom coms, comedy, some action movies, and thrillers. Love any and all James Bond movies!

I must admit I am in love with Robert Downey Jr. I know we are meant to be together, and as soon as he realizes this, it will all be good! ;o

Just notes for me:

Sent ISS: 3-2-1 swap to @eevalah (with tracking) and the envelope was returned to me with Finnish post return label on it. I have contacted her, but she has logged in and not responded to my message. Also sent email to her and not gotten a response. I will re-send if/when she does decide to come back and provide the appropriate Information. Pic of envelope is on my Flickr.