CrystalZ

Updated 1/17/24 My mothers health has stabilized and now that we are into the swing of things and know our new norm I hope to be able to get back to swapping again! I am still trying to dig my way out of the disaster that is my craft area but I do hope to get there sooner rather than later.

Updated 9/27/23 I am stopping swapping entirely for the forseeable future but will hopefully be coming back to it again. Unfortunately I have received some devastating news on my Mothers health and I need to take this time away to care for her. I do hope to one day return to swapping when the time allows though and I will be sporadically checking in from time to time here. Happy swapping everyone!

POSTAGE CANCELLATION MARKS/DATES - Once mail leaves my hands and is with the postal system I can't vouch for the accuracy of any postmark dates stamped on my mail by them. They may or may not postmark my mail on the day I mail it...more than likely it'll be delayed until it gets to a main post office or post office hub. And maybe there won't be any postmarks on it at all...such joy!

Resends/Tags/RAK's To Be Sent

Tag Games I am last on

My name is Crystal and I live in the Canadian city of Surrey, BC...just outside of Vancouver. I am a non-smoker so you should never get a smoky swap from me! I recently lost my fur-sister Mia...she was a 16 year old, brussels griffon & terrier mix and we miss her every single day. So weird not hearing her little foot taps on the floor or her little snores anymore :(

I am not what you'd call a gamer girl but I do enjoy playing a few console/pc games. Sims 4, Animal Crossing New Horizons, Palia, and Fall Guys are some of my favourites but I love the more nostalgic games from my teen years like RollerCoaster Tycoon and SimCity.

I am a child of the 80's and am a big kid at heart so I love anything that reminds me of my childhood. I am obsessed with Winnie the Pooh but enjoy Ziggy, vintage Care Bears, Strawberry Shortcake, Holly Hobby, Popples, etc.

Favourites/Collections

I am sharing a few of my favourites and my collections to potentially help my partners. Please know though that just because something isn't on my favs list etc doesn't mean I won't enjoy what you pick to send my way!

Favourite colours: teal (leaning more towards a lighter teal/aqua) or any jewel tone (emerald, sapphire, etc)

Favourite bird: owls and hummingbirds, but I really love all birds. I especially enjoy images of vintage (or vintage inspired) illustrated birds.

Favourite drinks: I am an tea drinker but I am not overly picky about brands. Some of my fav flavours are peach, anise, mint, and chocolate but I enjoy most any fruit or dessert flavour tea though (no raspberry/cherry/rooibos though please). I also really enjoy flavoured hot chocolate mixes.

Favourite food: cashews, dark chocolate, Eatmore bars, pistachios, Reese's Peanut Butter Cups, Reese's Pieces, rice crackers, HiChews (fav is grape), Skittles, sour candys. Overall I prefer candy or salty snacks over a chocolate any day.

Favourite scent: lilac, lavender, melons, peach, pumpkin spice, gingerbread, peppermint/spearmint

Favourite sports teams & athletes: NHL Edmonton Oilers, CFL Edmonton Eskimoes/Elks. Fav athletes are Wayne Gretzky and Trevor Linden.

Other themes I enjoy: butterflies, dragonflies, florals, gnomes, Paris (especially the architecture), woodland/natural critters, and mushrooms.

I love most any kawaii character but especially: Totoro, Pusheen, Sumikko Gurashi, and Pompompurin.

My papercrafting journey started with scrapbooking in '98 or so, then cards, then I fell hard for pocket letters in '15, and then on to ATC's.

I generally find myself collaging or creating using mixed media as opposed to drawing or painting etc. I envy artists that create beautiful handpainted or handdrawn atcs or deco pages...my mom has that artistic talent but that is not something I inherited unfortunately!

I am obsessed with paper and paper goods...hoarder, collector or whatever you call it I am that! While I love all things paper I do not need anymore paper scraps.

FAVOURITE PAPER BRANDS: Graphic 45, Prima, Blue Fern Studios, Webster's Pages.

I love my postcard collection and am always looking for new swaps! I prefer receiving them in an envelope but I also do swap for naked ones occasionally. I don't mind receiving well-made & sturdy Zazzle cards but please no handmade cards or ad/freebie cards unless they are tied to my likes/collections!

• postcards tied to my likes/collections

• mountain scenes

• Unesco sites

• national parks

• historical sites and monuments

• touristy postcards from anywhere!

  • I would especially love to receive any from the Canadian Maritimes, Vancouver Island, New York City, New Orleans LA, and Paris France.

I have a very ambitious ongoing project to collect at least one touristy type postcard from every country in the world and the list of the ones still needed are below. Last updated 3/17/24.

Some are more "areas" versus official countries (ie the Holy See) and some are listed in their official spellings instead of their English names (ie Sint Maarten) but either English or non-English work equally well for me. There are also a few listed under their new names AND old names (ie Burma/Myanmar)...either one works for my collection. Either used or unused would be welcome!

A - Albania - American Samoa - Angola - Armenia - Azerbaijan

B - Bahrain - Bangladesh - Barbados - Belarus - Benin - Bhutan - Bolivia - Bosnia & Herzegovina - Botswana - Brunei - Burkina Faso - Burma / Myanmar - Burundi

C - Cameroon - Cabo Verde - Central African Republic - Chad - Comoros - Congo, Democratic Republic of (DRC) (formally known as Zaire) - Congo, Republic of - Cote d'Ivoire - Croatia - Curacao - Cyprus

D - Dijibouti - Dominica

E - Equador - El Salvador - Equatorial Guinea - Eritrea - Ethiopia

G - Gabon - Gambia - Georgia - Ghana - Grenada - Guinea - Guinea-Bissau - Guyana

H - Haiti - Holy See

I - Iran - Iraq

J - Jamaica - Jordan

K - Kazakhstan - Kenya - Kiribati - Kosovo - Kuwait - Kyrgystan

L - Laos - Latvia - Lebanon - Lesotho - Liberia - Libya - Liechtenstein - Luxembourg

M - Macau - Macedonia - Madagascar - Malawi - Maldives - Mali - Malta - Marshall Islands - Mauritania - Moldova - Mongolia - Montenegro - Mozambique - Myanmar / Burma

N - Nauru - Nepal - Nicaragua - Niger - Nigeria - North Korea - Northern Mariana Islands

O - Oman

P - Pakistan - Panama - Papua New Guinea - Paraguay

Q - Qatar

R - Romania - Rwanda

S - Saint Kitts and Nevis - Saint Lucia - Samoa - San Marino - Sao Tome and Principe - Serbia - Sierra Leone - Sint Maarten - Slovakia - Solomon Islands - Somalia - South Sudan - Sudan - Suriname - Swaziland - Sweden - Syria

T - Tajikistan - Tanzania - Timor-Leste - Togo - Tonga - Turkmenistan - Tuvalu

U - Uganda - Uruguay - Uzbekistan

V - Venezuela

Y - Yemen

Z - Zambia - Zimbabwe - Zaire (now known as DRC/Congo, Democratic Rupublic of)

This is just a small selection of things I like receiving. Please do not take this list to be an exhaustive list, it is just a few things that I use often is all. I welcome whatever you feel I may like!

At the top of my list is anything handmade by you (atc, pocket letter, bookmark, small painting, flip book, decorated tag, etc).

Followed in no particular order by:

• book pages (vintage or non-English are preferred but all are greatfully accepted)
• Canada Post postage stamps (new/uncancelled)
• deco tapes
• diecuts & punchies
• digital kits/files to self-print
• flat stickers of any theme except planner or teacher kind (loose or in a sheet)
• fussy cut images on cardstock paper
• Graphic 45 anything
• handmade envelopes (at least 4.5"x6.5")
• note papers / list pads / stationary of most any kind
• postage stamps (used) from around the world...if they fit my favourites list all the better but all are welcome. On or off paper or both good to me.
• small word or phrase/quote stickers or diecuts
• UHU gluesticks
• Ultra Fine Point Sharpies in any colour but I use black most often
• .5mm pens in black or black

Other "Crafty" Hobbies I Enjoy

I enjoy adult colouring from time to time and also diamond painting. Although I do struggle with storing completed diamond paintings....right now they are stacked flat but one day I would like to actually display them lol.

Travelling & Bag Swaps

I participate in a variety of bag swaps such as washi samples, postage stamps, stickers, postcards, memos, etc. I also enjoy other collaborative swaps including decos, atc jams, and collab-type postcards. I am always open to receiving extras within reason (I have seen swaps for like 100 bags...please do NOT send me that many as extra lol).

For label bags I do prefer last signers/homers over new or travelling bags, if at all possible. Otherwise I will play them as needed and continue passing them along when I can.

FB'S / X-Slip Bags / Slams / Crams / Sticker Books

Please please please do not send these to me as I do NOT participate in them.

General Crafts

I unfortunately do not do any crafts other than papercrafting such as knitting, candlemaking, sewing etc thus I can not make use of any items for other crafts like paint, crochet hooks, yarn, or knitting needles, etc.

I am pretty easy to please overall but below are the other things I dislike or simply just have to much of already.

• ATG tape gun or the refills
• big gemstones/rhinestones
• cherry flavoured tea
• craft books for any craft including papercrafting
• gory themed items (I prefer cute Halloween versus blood and guts Halloween)
• junk mail type ephemera (such as store flyers, newspapers, real estate ad cards, coupons, restaurant menus, etc....basically the stuff that goes from your mailbox to the recycle bin I have zero need for)
• magazines or magazine cutouts
• makeup
• paper scraps (unless for a destash swap; I generally have more than enough of my own, thanks!)
• paper straws
• perfume or perfume samples
• raspberry tea
• rooibos tea
• rose scented anything

My Mom is my very best friend and is my world. I may from time to time join swaps/play tags and ask for a gift/stocking stuffer for her instead of me so I wanted to tell you a bit about her and her likes.

Her name is Mavis...her birthday is July 27th so she is a Leo and her birthstone is a ruby. Her favourite colours are cream/ivory and/or purple.

She most enjoys watching "her stories" on tv....Chicago Fire, Chicago Med, Chicago PD, Hudson & Rex, NCIS, NCIS Los Angeles, etc. She likes reading magazines and short article type books (think of the facts & trivia bathroom reader type books, Reader's Digest, etc). No novels please.

She also really enjoys refinishing wood furniture/items like tables, jewelry boxes etc. She can use little knobs or embellishments for the jewellery boxes. She doesn't do ANY other craft like scrapbooking, painting, or sewing.

She likes anything blingy or sparkly. The blingier the better!

She collects:

• atc's with a hummingbird, cardinal bird, dogs or cats, or images of vintage items on them (like an old timey stroller, or vintage ladies etc)
• anything that says "Live, Laugh, Love" on it
• anything Calgary Flames (ugh don't even start me on that lol)
• postcards featuring churches and old timey/vintage images (cute ads, etc).

Treatwise she enjoys chocolate and caramel flavours. She prefers coffee over tea but does sometime drink green tea. Please do not send gum or chewy toffee/caramels for her.

Anything you are sending to her please address to Mavis Armitage. She has the same address as me though.

MOVIES

I am a huge lover of Disney, Pixar, and DreamWorks movies like Happy Feet, Toy Story, Shrek, etc. My fav of course is Winnie the Pooh :)

I am a big fan of both Paul Walker and Vin Diesel so pretty much anything with either of them in it I love...any of the Fast & Furious movies, XXX, etc.

I also enjoy the musical/dancing focused movies. Grease 1 & 2, Dirty Dancing 1 & 2, Footloose (original and remake), High School Musical series etc.

TELEVISION

Comedies: Golden Girls, Big Bang Theory, Two Broke Girls, Facts of Life, Family Matters, Two and a Half Men, The Odd Couple (new one, never watched the original), Friends, Frasier

Drama: NCIS, NCIS LA, NCIS New Orleans, CSI Vegas, CSI Miami, Hawaii 5-0 (new one, never watched the original), Magnum PI (original one) Murder She Wrote, Murdoch Mysteries

Educational: River Monsters, Zoo Juniors, Food Factory, Food Factory USA, How It's Made, Mythbusters (with original team)

I understand life happens and will give people a second chance to make things right. So if you have flaked on me, and want to make it up, please message me!

Listed below are swaps I have been flaked on (thankfully not many) and the kind angel that came forward.

Sparkly-Inchie; angelled by @JudalineZ thank you!

Where You Live PC November; angelled by @LucyToons thank you!

A Less Ordinary Animal Postcard; angelled by @Fever thank you!

CS: Quick Gratitude Notecard

Stuffed envelope craft destash #1