EffieDarling

*Hi, I'm Effie!

I'm a laid back, crafting, knitting, music appreciating, tv series watching, pc game playing,geeky girl, and all around disorganized perfectionist, . Yup...that's me grins Single Mom, who is approaching the empty nest phase quicker than I can believe.

I currently live in Western NY, but will be relocating to the Pacific Northwest in the summer of 2014 to be with the love of my life.

I am a voracious reader of books, I could easily spend an entire afternoon browsing in a bookstore, and if it has a cafe in it, well, I'm good for the day.

I should add that despite everything it says below, that my inner princess absolutely adores all things pink and sparkly and kawaii. And sometimes? I feed her.*

*This list could get horribly long, so I think I won't give too many specific books.

I read a TON of YA ... it is my favorite genre the majority of the time. Some fairly recent ones that I have absolutely loved are:

Tell the Wolves I'm Home by Carol Rifka Brunt (Amazing book. Made my heart ache.) Monstrous Beauty by Elizabeth Fama If You Find Me by Emily Murdoch Harry Potter J.K. Rowling The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

I do not Squee over Twilight. I like my vampires a bit more dark and dangerous, thank you. I love zombie books, reimagined fairy tales, post apocalyptic settings, books with some sort of magical element, books about food (not necessarily cookbooks, but those too!) paranormal romance, historical fiction, craft books, knitting books, sewing books.

I love, love, love MAGAZINES. Especially magazines that are a bit more difficult to find, foreign cooking and craft magazines like delicious, Donna Hay, Jaime, CottonTime, Mollie Makes,, independent magazines like Taproot, Kinfolk, magazines about journaling and writing, magazines about BOOKS, travel magazines. Etc, and so on.*

Moulin Rouge Practical Magic The Great Gatsby The Life of Pi Sense & Sensibility Pride & Prejudice Alice in Wonderland The Chronicles of Narnia Harry Potter

Sons of Anarchy Breaking Bad Weeds Game of Thrones The Walking Dead The Killing Orange is the New Black Fringe Doctor Who Torchwood Dexter Revolution Downton Abbey Orphan Black Once Upon a Time Grimm Eureka Warehouse 13 Sherlock True Blood

If there is a BBC version of it, chances are I like that more than our Americanized version.*

*I am notoriously horrible with remembering song and band names, so this one is difficult for me, lol

The Lumineers The Civil Wars She & Him The Avett Brothers Ben Howard Maroon 5 Omnia Faun Pink! Sheryl Crow

I'm not a fan of country, but I do adore Indie and some bluegrass and such.

I love the music I grew up with as well ... Abba, Neil Diamond, typical 70's feel good tunes ...

Same goes for a lot of the 80's ... because I know most of the words and can sing along when no one is around grins Classic rock for the same reasons.

Generally, I can find music I love in nearly every genre.*

Colors I lean toward for home decor

I love cozy neutrals and colors that are reflected in nature. I am not a fan of neons or brights.

Holidays I lean more toward Yule than Christmas and amid the whites and neutrals I love I like to add in small pops of green in the form of sprigs of evergreen or paperwhites and little surprises of red.

Collections I don't have specific collections, but I do love things with foxes, swans, ampersands, architectural bits, typhography, quotes, nesting dolls, hedgehogs, mermaids, things faery tale related, tins of various sizes, mason jar things, washi tape, bakers twine, letterpress postcards, cards, and prints, stationary, pens. I am not a fan of any of these things in a Disney sort of cartoon version, preferring artistic, folk, or "natural" versions.

The exception I love love love kawaii letter sets. I am particularly fond of Hello Kitty, San-X's Sentimental Circus, Kutusita Nyanko, Piggy Girl and Rilakkuma,

Stationary in general I love stationary, both the pretty, elegant, and the fun and cutesy. Stickers, pretty pens, fun envelopes, envelope templates, washi tape, blank greeting cards, postcards (love the Jetoy Choo Choo cats!) any little bits and bobs that make letter writing fun to do and fun for the recipient to get. My love and I are long distance for another year and I have a few penpals, so this sort of stuff is always welcome!

Beverages I love tea, coffee, and hot chocolate. I like a wide variety of tea, and always enjoy trying new ones. Some of my favorites are Teavana Lavender Dreams, Kusmi Petrushka, Chai, Moroccan Mint, and Sleepytime. I love florals like rose, violet, and lavender. For coffee I prefer darker roasts to light, and unflavored over flavored, though I do love hazelnut and chocolate blends. I have not met a hot chocolate I didn't like.

Sweets & Treats Chocolate. the darker the better. Fun and wild flavors? oh yeah. Black licorice. Kinder Eggs, Foreign candies. Love foreign candies. Same with cookies/biscuits. I love receiving regional specialties. Bacon. Need I say more?

Scents for the home I do not like food scented candles, and am allergic to all artificial lavenders, but am fine with something using lavender essential oils. I do also enjoy cinnamon scents, even though they are technically a food scent. My wintry favorites are pines and woodsmoke, bright and cozy all at the same time. I love Christmas scented candles. Nag Champa incense is my favorite

Scents for my body Again, no food scents here. I don't particularly want to walk around smelling like a pumpkin pie or a warm vanilla cookies, lol. I am head over heels for Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab (known s BPAL among fans) and Trading Post items. Head. Over. Heels. Same for LUSH. I also enjoy Bath and Body Works body sprays and hand lotions.

Fun & Games I love playing boardgames with family and friends. Our current favorites are bananagrams, Zombie Fluxx, Blokus, and Apples to Apples (a huge family favorite for when we are all gathered.) I would love to add new games to our household, especially cribbage and backgammon.

I prefer to not receive anything religious in nature, please. I have my own set of beliefs, as I am sure you do, I just prefer not to include those beliefs here. Thank you for understanding.

disclaimer: not my craft room or my pic

I love to knit. I am a fairly new knitter, but have accomplished several projects that I love. A cabled hat and a snuggly shawl are among my most prized accomplishments thus far.

I prefer natural fibers though I realize blends and acrylics have their place. My favorite yarns so far (I have limited experience) I absolutely love Malabrigo, Tosh Merino Light,Brooklyn Tweed, and KPPPM. I very much wish to try Cephalapod Bugga, and The Woolen Rabbit's Essence.

For yarn colors I enjoy earthy colors, neutrals, the colors found in nature. butterflies and moths, foxes, bear, sheep, of course, a field of wildflowers, a mossy forest. Muted pastels (not the cotton candy variety, more like water colors and dusty pinks), jewel tones, actually muted colors in general. I also love shades of white. I’m not a fan of primaries or brights.

I dug out my sewing machine again recently and am having a grand time stitching up knitting accessories (like project bags and needle cases) clothes for the grandbabies and home accessories. I love Japanese fabrics, Amy Butler, Anna Marie Horner, Liberty of London (And their Hello Kitty patterns!) Tona Givens, and pretty much most of what is sold on FabricWorm.

I like to embroider, especially when I can combine it with embroidering on a wool felt item. I love to adorn small pretties like needle cases, purses, wee little dolls and ornaments. One of these days I really want to give needle felting a go.

I like to quilt, though I haven't done it in a few years, and am int eh planning stages for a quilt for my SO's and mine new home.

I am starting to work on an illustrated journal and enjoy using various pigment pens, pastels and watercolors as I go. It is making me itch to get more deeply into mixed media arts and do trading cards and altered books.I always enjoy receiving new good quality art supplies and ephemera. As a lover of paper crafts and mixed media I am itching to give ATC's a go.

I would rather have a few supplies of higher quality than that of the Walmart variety. This is especially true when it comes to yarn and fabric.

I love well done craft books and craft magazines. There are a few I am particularly anxious to add to my library.

Sewn by Hand Zakka Style Drape, Drape Aimee Ray's Sweet & Simple Jewelry HAPPINESS FLOWER COLOR QUILT - Japanese Craft Book

I am not a smoker, and while I don't mind if you are, I would appreciate it if you made reasonable effort to not send things that smell heavily of it.

I wear a size 8 1/2 shoe, US

I have pierced ears, and prefer silver over gold for all jewelry

For phone accessories my current phone is an iPhone 4S

I have 1 cat (Finnegan) and 1 dog (Coco)

I have recently started collecting pressed pennies as souvenirs of my adventures.