waldenpond2

I am a high school English teacher. I love reading, books, language, nature, knitting, tea, and colorful, cozy things.

Liking nature aside, I have a deep fear and phobia of butterflies, bees, and bugs in realistic or even cartoony/cute form. Please send bug-decorated things to someone who will enjoy them more. :)

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I can think of few things better than curling up under a blanket with a book, tea, and delicious snack... Something I have much less time for since having my son and thus enjoy all the more as a special treat. :)

Adore:
Thoreau, Emerson, Jon Krakauer, Amy Tan, David Mas Masumoto, and LouAnne Johnson

General Favorites:
Cat's Eye, Handmaid's Tale, Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood, the Dragonriders of Pern series, Mists of Avalon, Gone with the Wind

Young Adult Favorites:
Queen of the Tearling, *Hunger Games trilogy, Riddlemaster of Hed trilogy, Catcher in the Rye, To Kill a Mockingbird, Alanna Song of the Lioness series, Harry Potter series.

Children's Lit:
Little House in the Big Woods, Anne of Green Gables, Little Women, Little Princess, The Secret Garden, the Ramona series, Antoine de Saint Exupery, Tove Jansson's Moomintroll, Roald Dahl, and most sweet children's literature.

• traveling! Alaska, glaciers, the Arctic Circle -- my heart goes pitter-pat. I'd love to visit New Zealand, Scotland, Ireland, Iceland, Finland, and the Baltic / Scandinavia someday, too.

• languages -- currently learning Icelandic from a book and disc.

• baking, cooking (easy but delicious recipes mostly)

• making paper crafts, carving stamps, and knitting. I know how to knit, purl, and decrease, which limits me to scarves, baby blankets, and hats. Someday I will learn how to use double-pointed needles.

• beginning to learn: crochet, sewing, needle felt, and quilling.

• collecting stamps, domestic and foreign, to use in making gift tags.

• landscape and nature photography -- especially in macro

• organizing -- it's therapeutic!

I love tiny, pretty pieces of beach glass and tiny unusual stones/ pebbles. A collection is displayed on my bookshelves.

I'm enamored by paper tags large and small, sparkly and solid, patterned and embossed, circles, scalloped, shipping, oh... how I love tags!

I also collect:

• stickers and embellishments: ribbons, flowers, charms, or sparklies. Please, no foam.

• beautiful altered matchboxes. There are so many talented matchbox-makers on SB!

• sewing-related: vintage or unusual buttons, lovely ribbons and trim, cotton lace, pretty fabric, nice felt, or soft yarn.

• vintage children's paperback pictures, wooden thread spools, miniature glass vials, small tins, charms, and dollhouse miniatures

• sweet koalas and orangutans, charming hand-drawn turtles, elephants... Apples, aprons, gingham, red-checks, and other pioneer-y things

• the original Rainbow Brite and Care Bears from the '80s.

My sense of aesthetics is characterized as "charming, lovely, and nature-inspired."

My favorite colors are all shades of blue, green, and purple. And rosy, deep raspberry pink. Rainbows and peacock colors: blue - turquoise - green - brown. Happy lemonade yellow with sea green and royal blue. And peppermint red and white stripes or polka dots!

• Christmas. Cute snowmen, cozy hot chocolate, sparkling lights, gorgeous wrappings... my very favorite holiday followed by Valentine's Day!

• scents: balsam, pine, cedar, lavender, sage, rosemary (woodsy or smoke scents) apple, citrus, peach, chocolate mint -- actually, chocolate, period.

• dandelions and trees, flower fairies or fairy gardens, magnolias, columbines, rose geraniums, sweet peas, freesia, Iceland poppies

• hand-made bookmarks, carved stamps -- any of your hand-made crafts that shows thought, care, and the maker's delight.

• nickel-free hand-made earrings or jewelry. Sparkly pins and brooches.

• Kate and Will ephemera

• Baker's twine and washi tape -- it does a crafter's heart good.

• address labels (do not have any right now with our new address), flocking or embossing powder.

• comics and cartoons: Peanuts, Calvin and Hobbes, Zits, and Mutts.

• Becky Kelly, Tasha Tudor, and Suzy's Zoo: delicate, charming, and lovely artwork.

• nature art: and photojournalism/ landscape photography: Andy Goldsworthy, Dorothea Lange, Ansel Adams, Group of Seven, and Thomas Kinkade.

• anything relating to mail, calligraphy, script, sealing wax, or Victorian/Edwardian-inspired.

• Kawaii (any cute, food/dessert, or Christmas, but not the realistic animals or skulls), Sanrio (Hello Kitty, My Melody, and Little Twin Stars), Disney's Beauty & the Beast and Pocahontas, and Moomintroll. Hallmark's Hoops and Yoyo make me chortle with glee!

• brightly colored and unusual school supplies or student reward stickers. It never fails to get a grin when I put scented scratch 'n' sniff stickers on homework. :)

• Music: Enya, Adele, Yo-Yo Ma, Handel, Sarah McLachlan, Alanis Morissette, a wide variety....

• Movies: Anything with Audrey Hepburn or Humphrey Bogart or Julie Andrews, Little Women (Elizabeth Taylor version), classic and well-done -- usually related to families of some sort. :)

• TV: Downton Abbey (Mary and the Dowager Countess are my favorites) and Game of Thrones (Love Tyrion's wit!).

• Alas! I have become a coffee drinker in self defense against the multi-wake ups involved in parenting a young one. I'm loving Keurig cups in various flavors of cappuccino or anything sweet. I say I take a little coffee with my cup of milk and sugar, please. :)

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Black tea, oolong, or rooibos fill my teapot almost daily.

I love Nordqvist, Harney & Sons, Pickwick, Lupicia, Teavana, and tea from unique shops.

Favorite flavors: chocolate, strawberry, apple, pear, blueberry, mint, jasmine...

Loose tea is fantastic, but please include a note sharing the ingredients, flavoring, and type of tea, please.

I do NOT like green tea, chai, coconut, or tea with cinnamon, licorice, clove, anise (any "spice" flavoring).

• paper-related items: cards, postcards, ATCs, envelopes, pretty bookmarks, etc

• stamp gift tags (or gift tags in general)

• cupcake toppers

• button jewelry

• yarn-wrapped wreaths (this is a time-intensive one)

• other things within my ability -- just ask. :)

For my Dear Husband, if you like :)

He likes European soccer. The Simpsons or Futurama. Dark chocolate. Sriracha (we go through several bottles a year and he has a tshirt with a little cartoon guy holding onto a bottle saying I love Sriracha!), ghost chilis, or anything spicy.

For my sweet little boy, Edward, born in 2013:

Books -- his first word was "book"! He currently wears size 5T.