spinjenny

31st May, 2017: We finally moved back to our own house last week. The active phase took 33 weeks rather than the predicted 24, but we were out of the house for over 3 years, as we had to leave for safety reasons and the planning process took so long. We have another 2 weeks to finish clearing the rented house, but I expect that most of my craft supplies will still be IABS (In A Box Somewhere), either here or in storage, for quite a while to come. That will be very frustrating as I am so looking forward to get back into creative mode. However, I stupidly put my back out again on Saturday (trying to open a stiff sash window), so I'm in no state to do any crafts at the moment anyway, and no help at all with the rest of the move. [sigh!]

I may put pictures of my handmade swap items on my blog as I work on them, so partners who like to receive surprises should not look there. I will usually keep swap pictures on Flickr private until they have been received.

I have some unsent swaps from a rough patch in 2007 when 3 family deaths in as many months took away my ability to do anything creative for quite a while, and another from 2009 when my mother was very ill and needed all my energy and attention. The swaps affected were all 'handmade' swaps - all my stash/shopping/postcard swaps were sent out. I caught up most of those swaps, but I have found it hard to work on some craft ones from that period because they bring back difficult memories. I apologise again to those partners, should they ever read this.

Allergy-type stuff

I can't cope with most scented products, they make me breathless, make me sneeze and/or give me a sore throat. That includes items washed in many laundry products or with dryer sheets. I'm not likely to end up in hospital, but it is very unpleasant for me. If something in your package has a strong scent, I may not be able to use other items which pick up that scent either.

When we have cats again, they will have access to all rooms in the house so, although I try to keep all swap items away from them, I cannot guarantee that there will be no cat hairs on or in my packages. In particular, cat hairs seem to be attracted to clear sticky tape! If you have a cat allergy, please let me know and I will be extra careful. If your allergy is really severe, I can arrange to get bought items sent direct to you or get someone else to make something for you while I make something for them.

No-one in this house smokes.

Customs forms

If you need to fill in a customs form, please make what you send sound less exciting than I am sure it really will be. If you are sending hand crafted items or craft supplies, the best thing to do is to mark the "gift" box and just write "hobby craft exchange" in the description section and "NCV" (for "no commercial value") in the value section. This increases the chance that the item will actually reach me.

Hearts and extras

I give lots of hearts but not just because of extras, as I believe the swap item is what is important. You do not need to send extras to get a heart from me, and although I will appreciate anything extra you choose to send because you really think I will like it, it will not automatically earn you a heart. Please do not just send a lot of random 'stuff', as I should be de-stashing, not accumulating more things.

When I send extras myself, I do it in the hope of making my partner smile, regardless of possible hearts.

I'm 68 (as of 2017). My husband and I are now living in a cat-free house for the first time in over 30 years. RIP, Wysi (1993-2014)!

I am intensely curious about the world, I love to try something new, and I'm addicted to Killer Sudoku. I really don't know what else to write which isn't covered elsewhere in this profile.

Fibre crafts - I used to spend most of my free time knitting, weaving, spinning, dyeing,bobbin lace, braiding (kumihimo and other forms), felting and so on. I still do those crafts, but I am now doing many others too.

Fabric crafts - textile ATCs/postcards, quilting and other sewing. I have also been having fun making small sewn items like dotee dolls, Japanese owls, fabric ATCs and postcards, pincushions and needlebooks. I also want to dye/print my own fabrics.

Papercrafts - when I joined swap-bot, I discovered ATCs, and through them I began to play with 'art' again. I rarely make paper/card ATCs and postcards now, unless a particular theme appeals to me, although I occasionally do private ATC or postcard swaps. I want to spend more time 'playing', experimenting with art journalling rather than producing 'art' for deadlines.

Bookbinding - I am interested in bookbinding - particularly in 'different' bindings, not just straightforward case-bound sewn signature books. I think making books will combine a lot of my interests. I'm always fascinated by how things are constructed, and by how those construction can be modified and stretched and tweaked. I can make polymer clay covers or embroidered fabric ones. They can be practical and useful, but they can also be whimsical, beautiful, funny. I can put anything I want inside my handmade book covers - blank paper, commercially printed books, my own journalling - anything!

Favourites - teal, blue, purple, burgundy, silver; also light grey and other natural fibre colours, but almost any other colour can look good in the right place. I mainly wear blues, blue-toned greens and light grey, and when I wear jewellery, it is silver, chrome, white gold and so on rather than yellow gold.

Least favourites - sludgy colours like mustard, ochre, olive - also neons. I don't wear pink or citrus colours (orange, lemon, lime), and I don't really like any of them as dominant colours, except for pink flowers, but they are all fine in smaller amounts.

These are just a few things which have come to mind at this moment. There are lots of other things I like:

• handmade textiles - handwoven fabric, handknit items, handspun yarn, hand-dyed anything, stuffies, quilts and more ...

• other handmade craft items

• photographs - black & white 'arty' photos, flowers and close-ups are my favourites

• Japanese/Chinese calligraphy and brush painting - I love looking at them, and I try to produce them

• 'Western' calligraphy and typography - I like looking at good examples and every now and then I try my hand at calligraphy myself - perhaps one day I'll practice enough to like what I produce

• pen and ink drawings, pencil sketches - that's how my DH wooed me, he's good at them. :-) My father was also very good and I want to get better myself

• the work of MC Escher - also optical illusions in general.

• cats, flowers, trees, birds, butterflies, dragonflies, bumblebees, monkeys/apes, frogs, sheep, llamas, alpacas, bunnies and other fibre-producing critters.

• chocolate, lemon and ginger

Just a few examples, not a shopping list. I love surprises, and I particularly like to discover new things.

• something you enjoyed making

• something which tells me about you and your interests

• postcards - any unused ones which I can send myself, but also written/postmarked ones featuring sheep or other fibre-producing creatures, textiles, fibre crafts or quilting, or ones with quotations printed on the front or handwritten on the back

• notecards, particularly if featuring cats or sheep or flowers

• craft papers - mulberry papers and similar, or if patterned, then subtle colours rather than gaudy

• rubber or clear stamps, mounted or unmounted, bought or hand-made, kindly used or new (particularly small ones for ATCs, background/texture stamps, border stamps, alphabet stamps, flowers, birds, cats) - also temporary mounting sheets (EZ mount, Tack N Peel, or similar)

• a small stamp of a wren, stylised or realistic - I have a lovely wren stamp now, but I would still welcome others

• fabrics for quilting/patchwork - cottons preferred - smallish scraps are fine, as I would mostly be using them for ATCs, postcards or small wallhangings, but of course FQs would be welcome too - small patterns and tone-on-tone are particularly useful for me, and I love batiks

• DMC stranded cotton

• knitting ribbons - the kind which are really a tube - plain or space-dyed

• I adore most chocolate (but not liqueur, marzipan, peanuts or cherry - see below), and I like to try sweets (translation, candy) which we cannot get in the UK - if I don't like it, I can almost guarantee my DH will eat it - particular favourites which I cannot get locally are Almond M&Ms and Moose Munch bars (milk or dark). I haven't tried Violet Crumbles yet, but I would like to do so.

I can't cope with most scented products, they make me breathless, make me sneeze and/or give me a sore throat. That includes items washed in many laundry products or with dryer sheets. I'm not likely to end up in hospital, but it is very unpleasant for me. If something in your package has a strong scent, I may not be able to use other items which pick up that scent either.

I will not be annoyed if you send me any of these things, but I will not use them. I can pass them on to friends or to other swap partners, but really it would be better if you save them to send to someone else:

• anything flavoured with any form of alcohol - not on principle, but even a tiny amount makes me very sick, and always has done. The only exception is rum truffles or other rum chocolate, as DH would love them!

• anything containing ground almonds, including marzipan. This is not an allergy but it's a strong aversion, as they always taste rancid to me. Whole/flaked/coarsely chopped almonds are fine, as are most other ground nuts including ground hazelnuts.

• anything containing peanuts, including peanut butter - again I'm not allergic, but I have an aversion to them too.

• strawberry or cherry flavoured things - I am somewhat allergic to strawberries, and although I like real cherries, artificial cherry flavours tastes horrible to me.

• coffee, or anything coffee flavoured or scented.

• chewing/bubble gum, as neither of us like it.

• I prefer to avoid artificial sweeteners as much as possible, so on the whole, I'd rather have the 'normal' version of foods and drinks than the 'diet' version.

• I'm not into really 'girly' things. I don't wear make-up, nail polish, lip gloss or similar products, nor do I wear earrings.

• I'm not into Hello Kitty or Kawaii type of cute things, though I would make an exception for small SheepO items.

• socks - I rarely wear other than hand-knit socks.

• knitting and spinning stuff - I still knit and spin, but I am not doing either much at the moment as I've been distracted by other crafts - I have a big enough stash of yarn and spinning fibre to last me several lifetimes.

• although I make ATCs and do other papercrafts, I don't use ephemera or stickers much, or other people's stamped images.

• I am interested in religion and spirituality in general, and particularly in learning more about non-Christian religions as I grew up in a Christian-dominated culture so I am familiar with the basics, whereas other religions are less familiar to me. However, I am an agnostic-tending-to-atheist, and I hope my partners will respect that and not send me anything which comes across as trying to convert me or put down my beliefs.

I'm not sure how useful it is to list these as I don't usually join the kind of swaps to which they are relevant, but as it seems to be expected, here they are ...

Books

Fiction:

I read a lot of science fiction and fantasy. I love Terry Pratchett, LOTR and Harry Potter. I also like crime fiction, particularly if it has some humour. I love the Stephanie Plum books, but can't quite get into the No 1 Ladies' Detective Agency series. I'm currently enjoying historical crime fiction like the CJ Sansom Shardlake series, particularly ones which seem to be fairly accurate depictions of their period. I am not fond of gory horror or romance novels, but there are exceptions.

Other than those genres, I have eclectic tastes. I discover other enjoyable books by browsing the library and book stores (local and online) and by reading reviews - personal recommendations from friends too.

Non-fiction:

• Craft books, of course - history as well as How-To.
• Books which celebrate words and word-play.
• History and archaeology books about the lives of ordinary people rather than full of kings and generals and dates of battles.
• Serendipitous library and bookstore finds.

Music

A wide range, including early classical, blues, folk, rock.

Movies

"Casablanca", "Some Like it Hot", "Harvey", "The Blues Brothers", "Life of Brian", "Chicken Run", Wallace & Gromit, Indiana Jones, "Spirited Away", "Kind Hearts and Coronets", the Marx Brothers, "The Ladykillers" (1955 original), "The Producers" (1968 original), "Truly Madly Deeply", "Sleepless in Seattle", "The Rocky Horror Picture Show"

TV

It's so difficult to pick just a few titles, but MASH was probably my favourite ever comedy series, Hill Street Blues and the Law & Order variants are/were the best US cop shows, "ER" for US medical dramas.

I love SF, so of course I was a Trekkie, but I also loved Babylon 5 and Stargate. Nearer home, I am so pleased they revived Dr Who.

I also love cookery shows, wildlife/nature documentaries, some quiz shows (like The Chase, Pointless and Only Connect), lots of UK drama series and classic serials.

(Relatively) recent shows which I have enjoyed include Scandinavian crime series, Homeland, Person of Interest, Strictly Come Dancing and the BBC version of Great British Bake-Off (and some of its spin-offs).

During the day, I listen to BBC Radio 4 more than I watch TV.