allofmyheart

I live in the South of England with my husband, our two teenage sons and two cats. I joined Swap-Bot a few years ago and enjoyed trying different swaps. I have been inactive for quite a while now but am looking at getting involved again, perhaps so I can host the kind of swaps I like!

I work part-time and do the minimum of house work; I'd much rather be crafting or messing around on the Internet. I seem unable to go to Hobbycraft without spending at least twice as much as I intended. From time to time I make things and occasionally sell them at events; you can see the kind of things I make here: https://www.facebook.com/AllofmyheartDesigns

I seem to live my life on Facebook. I never write a hand-written letter but I will keep in touch by e-mail or on forums or sites. That doesn't mean I don't like to get letters - if you want to pop a letter in with your swap I'd love to read it! (as long as it's in English, French or simple German) but I'll probably keep in touch online thereafter. I met some of my best friends on internet forums devoted to obscure interests or fandoms. I like cake, cheese and chocolate, but am trying to lose another stone, so I don't have them as often as I'd like.

I like to travel, in the UK and Europe - hopefully further afield some day! My husband and I like walking in the countryside and exploring foreign cities. Some of my favourite places include: horse shows and agricultural shows, the Natural History Museum, and other museums and art galleries. I also love the theatre and used to be a bit of a Royal Shakespeare Company fangirl in my youth.

I always strive to think the best of people, and I like a laugh. If you read Discworld, I'm basically Lady Sybil with occasional aspirations to be Nanny Ogg.

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• delicate, 'pretty' things, not too chunky
  • purple, blue, crimson, turquoise, silver, gold, copper
  • shiny, glittery, decorated stuff, embroidered or beaded (not big sequins though)
  • supplies for my crafts (see 'Favorite crafts')
  • horses
  • cats
  • almost all wild animals
  • Art Nouveau
  • PreRaphaelites
  • steampunk - particularly any bits I could incorporate into jewellery, hat trimmings, etc
  • Victoriana, vintage images, etc (by 'vintage' I mean at least pre-1960s, back to as old as you like. Can be reproduction or original or just 'vintage-style', but not just 'second-hand stuff from the 80s and 90s', please)
  • Indian and oriental designs
  • history
  • dark chocolate
  • ginger in any form
  • almonds, cashews, pecans, pistachios
  • marzipan
  • tea (especially Darjeeling, Earl Grey, rose or jasmine scented, vanilla, etc)
  • dangly earrings (I have pierced ears)
  • things that smell of spices (think cinnamon and other Christmas spices, Opium perfume, etc)
  • Body Shop body spray, body butter and talcum powder
  • peacocks
  • organza bags and organza ribbon
  • pretty used postage stamps, from anywhere in the world, if they are the sort that can be soaked off envelopes (not the self-adhesive kind). Fewer and fewer of these about now?
  • Benedict Cumberbatch, Peter O'Toole, Michael Caine, Alan Rickman, Philip Glenister, James Norton

• anything too big or chunky
  • orange, yellow, lime green
  • paganism/occult
  • spiders
  • liquorice
  • chewing gum
  • coffee
  • sewing, knitting or doing any needlecraft
  • things for/to do with babies or toddlers, or kids craft supplies
  • things that smell of hippie shops (patchouli, ylang ylang)
  • Disney or other cartoon characters
  • dolls or teddy bears
  • clowns
  • plastic beads or charms, unless really unusual/quirky (on the whole I'd prefer glass or metal)
  • anything Halloween-themed
  • loose glitter or glitter glue
  • Ann Geddes baby pictures. Babies look lovely as they are, without being dressed up in stupid flower costumes.

I don't use... - postcards (not a collector) - nail polish (apply it to my toes about once a year, that's it) - fridge magnets (have more than enough already!) - rubber stamps or ink pads (never got the hang of doing it neatly, but if you want to send me some stamped images that would be great!)

• Card-making and similar paper crafts. At the moment I'm really into making vintage-style cards. Paper, images, and embellishments such as paper or silk flowers, adhesive jewels and pearls, brads etc would be fab. Rub-on wording and images would be really useful too. 7 Gypsies and Tim Holz are among manufacturers I like
  • Jewellery making - I love steampunk-style charms etc, and I like to re-use bits of old or unwanted jewellery in something new. I also like glass lampwork beads. For more ideas of my taste please read my list of likes & dislikes and have a look at my Facebook craft page
  • Miniature scenes for model horses (if you have heard of the model horse collecting and showing hobby, that's what I do)
  • Stuff for any of the above would be fantastic!
  • I have a Cuttlebug, but not many dies for it

Sherlock; Life On Mars; costume dramas; history documentaries; Strictly Come Dancing; The Great British Bake-Off; Grantchester; The Musketeers

Mark Knopfler; Horslips; Celtic/folk-rock in general; cheesy rock like Meatloaf or Guns'n'Roses; Billy Joel; Neil Diamond

Detective stories, particularly Reginald Hill's Dalziel and Pascoe, also Elly Griffiths; Terry Pratchett's Discworld; historical novels; children's books such as Harry Potter and Eva Ibbotson; old-fashioned pony books (Josephine Pullein-Thompson, Elyne Mitchell's Silver Brumby series) Illustrators: Edmund Dulac, Victor Ambrus; travel books