greygooselime

5/29/18: I have a very busy summer including several trips away and hopefully moving! If I didn't rate you for something or you didn't get something from me, please reach out. I've never not sent something. I'll try to get on and check occasionally. Thanks.

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(FYI: If a swap deadline is a Saturday it will have a postmark for Monday. My local PO closes at 10am. I recently found out the mail leaves at 2:30pm during the week so my postman doesn't even drop at the PO until the mail is already gone! (Welcome to rural America.) Postmark is likely to be the next day regardless. If I haven't rated you for something, it's because I haven't received it. If you have not received something from me, the only way I will know is if you tell me. I send 100% of the time, so I can only assume you will receive it unless I'm told otherwise. Thank you.)

I always send my swaps, and I always send something I would want to receive. I do not get hung up on postmark dates...I trust we are all adults and do our best, and I won't "mark down" for sending late by a day. I will contact you if I don't get something from you before rating down. I hope you would extend me the same courtesy. Peace.

I am a Midwesterner born and raised. I live in western Wisconsin. (I can walk across one very long bridge and be in Minnesota.)

I am a single parent to a beautiful 8 year old son. I just graduated college in May 2017! I am forced to hold a job full time so I can support my art supply/paper/sticker/washi hoarding and traveling.

While I have very little time to myself, I make time for art or papercrafting of any kind. I have learned that preserving my sanity is a priority! I can sit in my art room for eight hours & it's like no time has passed.

In Sept 2017, I adopted two boy kitties, Spencer and Snowflake. I call them "the boys." They were a package deal adoption because they couldn't bear to be separated. I think they are adorable but they are destroying my art room! (We have to work on boundaries.) I apologize in advance if a rogue cat hair is part of your swap...I do my best but there isn't a vacuum effective enough.

I am an introvert. This does not mean I'm shy. It means I get my energy from being alone. While I would not change it, I know I need more social interactions in my life. Writing is a great outlet for me, and it is way more enjoyable than talking. My friends & family know me well...never call what can be texted. :) They are just not into happy mail which is problematic for me!

I love paper and any crafting related to that. Painted papers are awesome. I love ephemera, new or vintage for collage, junk journaling, art journaling, ATCs. Project Life. Zentangles. Photography. Stamping. Planning, journaling, and art-ing in my traveler's notebook. My travelers notebook is my new best friend. We go everywhere together.

Billy Joel, Prince, The Beatles, Beethoven, Matchbox 20, No Doubt, Fuel, Foo Fighters, Paramore, Sister Hazel, Tesla, Maroon 5, Collective Soul, Cake, Justin Timberlake, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Mozart, Soundgarden, Stone Temple Pilots...I could go on and on.

My dad was a career musician, and I have grown up around bands since I was in diapers. I have eclectic tastes and can find respect for nearly anything. Country music is the only one I would say is not my thing. (Although Garth in concert was amazing!)

The Voice. Project Runway. Top Chef. Breaking Bad. American Horror Story. Modern Family. The Bachelor (guilty pleasure). Cheers. Seinfeld.

The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down. Hunger Games series. Gone Girl. Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress. Not into romance novels but appreciated meeting Christian Grey and love a good smutty Sandra Brown suspense novel.

Most books I read are nonfiction, generally either art or self-improvement. I love any art books on mixed media, watercolor, doodles, journaling, etc. I also read destination books to learn about places I'm traveling to.

The Shawshank Redemption * American Beauty * It's a Wonderful Life * Stepbrothers * Just Friends * It's Complicated * Anchorman * Something's Gotta Give * Philadelphia * Purple Rain * Sixteen Candles * Silence of the Lambs * Goodfellas * Miracle * As good as it gets * Sideways * Black Swan * This is the End *Forgetting Sarah Marshall * The 40 year old Virgin * Knocked up * Vacation * The Shining * How to Train your Dragon I & II * The Sixth Sense * Mean Girls * Little Miss Sunshine * Under the Tuscan Sun *Elf

Travel! I've been on four cruises and have seen much of the Caribbean and starting to check off states one by one in the US. 2017: April in Paris and Prague. Miami in June. Venice and Florence in August. I love learning about different cultures. I live a very frugal life at home to fund my wanderlust. That...and I have a very travel savvy boyfriend who finds ridiculously cheap flights for me. I spend money on art/craft supplies and stamps...otherwise I'm content staying home.

I am a huge fan of dark chocolate, peanut m&m's, craft beer, bloody marys, red wine, or a good buttery chardonnay. Other than that, I am pretty health conscious. I love yoga and pilates. I run. I am vegetarian, and try to eat gluten free and sugar free (though occasionally fall off the wagon on the sugar...life is too short).

I love online window shopping (especially Etsy & jetpens). My Amazon cart is always full of stuff I can't afford. Art & Music make me happy. Orange and pink are my favorite colors. Black/pink, gold/pink, turquoise/gold are my favorite color combinations.

I am obsessed with travel, Europe, especially anything Italy related or Tuscan inspired. Anything wine related. I love black and white photography. I'm into street photography and urban art/graffiti. I love art that is weird, bizarre, risqué, dark (Hi-Fructose Magazine imagery type). But then again, I love the impressionist period and Renaissance. I'm a big fan of all art.

I love things from other places like cool restaurant menus, interesting brochures, and especially maps. I like unique stuff for art journaling and collage. I like text, especially in languages other than English. I always love Halloween stuff.

For non-art/crafty items (although I always like good with that) I like tea (prefer black, white, or green tea over herbal). Flavored coffees (K cups are a treat). Car fresheners. Cute magnets. Cinnamon or Peppermint Altoids. Perfume samples. Anything from the Body Shop. Cosmetic samples are okay but I'm more of a Sephora girl than the Dollar Store type when it comes to putting things on my face. Yankee candles. Simple stud earrings. Scarves, hats, mittens. Unique candies/chocolates (something I can't pick up at any store).

I love seeing other people's art, painting, drawing, or doodling. So my most favorite thing is anything with your art on it! I save it forever.

Postcards: I prefer them naked and stamped unless the swap calls for otherwise. Don't know what to write? I like to hear about where you're from, current events in your area. I like quotes too. Sarcasm is welcome. My favorite postcards are: black & white, art (love James Jean, Freida Pinto, Van Gogh, Degas, impressionists - so nudes do not bother me), querky/inappropriate, architecture in urban areas/urban life, bridges, trains, cable cars, double decker buses, rainy scenes or umbrellas, beaches, interesting/odd, beautiful landscapes, animals wearing clothes (I've seen them...they are cute), doors and windows, old mailboxes, classic comics, Valentine/hearts, Halloween, art dogs, Indian or Japanese inspired, retro, Picatso, Anne Taintor, vintage magazine covers, Alice in Wonderland, vintage posters, "greetings from" state and Postallove country, Where's Waldo, state maps, candy and/or dessert related, Jetoy cats.

Specific loves A-Z:
*Angels, acrylic stamps, alcohol ink, art supplies, arrows, acrylic paints & inks, ATCs, Alice in Wonderland, Asian inspired (especially papers), abandoned places, anatomical heart
*Butterflies, bunnies, Buddah, black and white, bicycles, Boho-style, Boston Terriers
*Coffee and cups, calligraphy, colored pencils, clocks, chevron, cupcakes, cameras, cobwebs, crows, cacti
*Dragonflies, dragons, donuts, daubers, distress ink, dinosaurs, doors, Dylusions anything, dark humor and/or art
*Eurasia, elves, Etsy, elephants, ephemera, envelopes, embellishments, enamel dots
*Foxes, fairies, fireflies, foreign languages, flamingos, feathers
*Gorjuss Girls, glitter, Grumpy Cat, giraffes, gears, gold, globes, Graphic 45, ghosts, globes
*Hearts, Halloween, hot air balloons, haunted houses
*Ice cream, India ink, Italy, inchies, inserts for my traveler's notebook (standard size or A5)
*Journals, junk journals, jokers, Jane Davenport
*Kawaii, keys
*Leaves, labels, lighthouses, library pockets and/or cards
*Monsters, mummies, maps, Micron pens, markers, macaroons, mailboxes, mermaids, martinis, mixed media
*Newsprint
*Orange, owls, ocean, octopus
*Pink, panda bears, poppies, paint, paper punches, paintbrushes, Paris, paper doilies, Pitt pens, Posca pens, polka dots, pineapples, pin-up girls, pinwheels, pink poodles, pencil cases, peacocks
*Queens, quotes
*Radios, records, ribbon, rubberstamps, rainbows, robots, ravens
*Stickers, sock monkeys, sun, stars, stamps, stationery, Stickles, spray ink, skulls, sushi, steampunk, succulents, skunks, skeletons
*Turtles, trees, Thickers, tickets, tags, typewriters, text
*Umbrellas
*Vintage, vellum, Valentines, Virgo (my zodiac sign), vampires
*Washi, wine, windows, weird/cute people (check out Vera Lane studio on Etsy), Wink of Stella, watercolor, werewolves, wings
*Xyron adhesive
*Yoga, your art
*Zentangles, zombies

Intolerance, closed mindedness, cruelty to anything, bullying, superiority, greed, fear mongering, rudeness, insincerity, unabashed stupidity, and being judgmental. Nothing offends me other than that. My other dislikes are "first world problem" dislikes.If I get something that is not particularly my taste, I will pass it along.

Otherwise, I detest meat...no moral objections. I just find it really yucky. Black licorice is nasty. I'm allergic to avocados and honey. I am petrified of snakes.

I would politely decline the following:
-Teacher/reward stickers. -Disney stuff. -Baby/toddler/kid stickers/scrapbooking stuff
-Country/farm-related stuff (I'm from Wisconsin...I see plenty) I'm a big city girl at heart. I do like landscapes, just minus the cows, chickens, and farm equipment
-Cowboy/cowgirl/horse stuff
-Overtly religious items
-Keep calm and do whatever
-Vanilla scented anything
-Cigarette smoke
-Recipes/recipe cards - I hate cooking/baking. I would eat out/order in every meal if I had unlimited funds.
-Christmas gift tags
-memo pages, note paper, page flags, post-its - I have a lifetime supply
-fabric or thread - I can't sew on a button.
-chipboard
- paperclips

I am not a fan of skipping ratings. I put a considerable amount of work into my swaps. It's really nice to hear back from you that you got it! If you ever do not get a rating from me, it is an oversight or I didn't get it. Please reach out and message me, and we will figure it out. I don't call out folks for being non-raters, but you know who you are...

I would never flake. Always feel free to communicate with me if you didn't get something. (My son is still waiting for his welcome back to school card from two years ago from his aunt...stuff happens out of our control sometimes.) And we all know international mailing can be extremely unreliable. Same goes for postage due...I know this is a drag. If this does happen, let me know, and I'll rectify it.

Postmark may be a day after I marked something sent. The post offices where I live and work have different hours...and some of them are rural so they have very short hours too. I consider it sent when I've dropped the items in the mail box.

I'm all about sustainability. While I love new things (and buy plenty of them), I think sometimes you can use an envelope two or three times (or more with creative taping), and it only gains more character. I typically make my own or reuse/recycle.

I have A LOT...I do this not because I expect a lot, but because it get massive anxiety when I get matched up to swap with someone and I can't tell from their profile what they really like or even what they do with the stuff I'm mailing them. No one should have that problem with me. :)
*any unused stamps US or global
*tiny word stickers
*travelers notebook inserts standard size or A5
*tarot cards
*enamel dots
*stencils
*ephemera
*cool pens
*quotes
*india ink
*tiny paper doilies
*Lumiere paint
*Twinkling H20 watercolors
*skinny washi
*washi with hearts or snowflakes
*stationery
*inexpensive dies or embossing folders for my Cuttlebug
*stamped images
*labels with my name and address :)
*full-sized notecards
*mini ink pads
*alcohol inks
*Dylusions paints or sprays
*Tim Holtz distress paints or stains
*Perfect Pearls
*foreign book or comic book pages
*your handmade flat art
*Liquitex acrylic inks (only have pink & purple so far)
*anything from Crate Paper, Dear Lizzie, Lawn Fawn, Graphic 45
*playing cards that are unique or different than the typical red or blue pattern on the back
*rubber stamps used or new
*die cuts or Cameo cuts if you are lucky enough to have one!

Personal tracking:
Late/missing:
*November PC messaged 1/4. rated 1 on 1/12 & messaged swap coordinator. Rtn msg from coordinator 1/13. Never received angeled PC. 3/13 rated 1.
*2017 Motto PC swap Messaged 2/9. No response 3/13. rated 1.
*NH Mini Envelopes + small surprises messaged 2/9. No response 3/13. rated 1.
*Mini pocket letter birds - messaged 3/13. rated 1.
*Mini pocket letter black/pink - sender @karenjefv is partially suspended & hasn't been online since 1/11. Coordinator has also not been on 1/24 and is the sender of NH Mini Envelopes above who didn't send. Messaged sender 3/13. Rated 1. Angeled by @nancybarlow
*WIYM: Happy Flat Mail JUNE, 2017: International Messaged top sender on list 6/19 (R.) She is partially suspended. Rated 1.