Hello fellow swappers!

To all my swap-bot friends: I'll be taking off the month of December--I will list a few swaps with due dates around mid-January. I wish everyone a happy holiday!

My name is Kristy, crafting is my favorite pastime and I love all things handmade. I love shopping online and although I have more craft supplies than I could ever need, I still love to shop for more ;+)

I have lived in or near the Columbus, Ohio area for most of my life. I lived in Raleigh, North Carolina for three years and in Clifton Park, New York (north of Albany) for 2 years. Ultimately, we moved back to Ohio to be near family. I felt it was important for my 4 children to have an extended support system. While Ohio isn't the MOST exciting place to live, I do love the change of seasons (except summer...I'd gladly skip summer). My husband and I now live in a humble home in Reynoldsburg, a southeast suburb of Columbus. Next to crafting, my favorite thing to do is sit in my recliner with a cup of coffee and look out the patio door at the wildlife and three huge oak trees in our backyard. I love to watch the birds, squirrels, groundhogs, raccoons, possums, and skunks. I feed them all each day. I've got the raccoons eating from my hand. Each spring, the mama animals bring their babies to my deck for snacks. I just love watching them grow--it brings me such joy! Nothing is cuter than wildlife babies.

Tim and I are big baseball fans, especially the Cincinnati Reds! We follow faithfully, even when the Reds' record is not so great ;+)

I absolutely love being a swap-bot member! I've been here for 14 years and have met so many lovely people. Crafting and swapping give me such a lift. When I'm creating, the hours just fly by!

Here are some of my favorite themes:

• Botanicals and Wildflowers

• Animals. especially bears, foxes, and other woodland critters (not a fan of monkeys)

• Nature

• Trolls & Gnomes

• Cats

• Birds

• Halloween

• Koi

• Snails--especially things that say, 'Snail Mail'

• Vintage Paris & shabby

• Heart-shaped things

• Pretty papers

• Textile snippets

• Vintage stationery (especially Current!)

I love receiving postcards in any of the themes listed above as well as:

• Baseball stadiums

• Bigfoot, Sasquatch or other cryptids

• Bears, Squirrels, Raccoons, and all other animals

• Fotofolio cards

• Inge Look cards

• Nouvelles Images cards

• Elephants

• San Francisco (especially Alcatraz!)

• Unusual images

• Zoo and Aquarium cards

• Map cards

• Interesting black & white images

• Sumo wrestlers!

Short and sweet here:

Harry Potter anything. While I appreciate that it got so many kids (and adults) reading, it's just not for me--too whimsical and not enough 'real' danger

Foam crafts or stickers

Color-your-own anything (including postcards)

Scented products (I get a headache!)

Over-long swapper profiles, profiles that read like a hospital chart, and those that make harsh statements like, 'DON'T send me anything ________! or ________! or ________!(fill in the blanks) It really takes the joy and inspiration out of creating something for a partner.

Some favorite movies: The ORIGINAL Fright Night, Prometheus, The Talented Mr. Ripley (this is probably my favorite movie of all time), Aliens, Last of the Mohicans, Hocus Pocus, Shawshank Redemption, White Oleander, Terminator series, Blood Creek (LOVE Michael Fassbender), The Thing. I love well-made scary movies! Not a fan of romantic comedies or most comedies, in general. My movie & tv choices might not seem to "fit" with the rest of my profile but I have always loved science fiction and scary movies!

Enjoying House of Dragons, Gangs of London (I LOVE this show), Succession, The Split, Ted Lasso (my favorite), Better Call Saul (except the sad ending), and my guilty pleasure reality shows: 90-Day Fiance and Married at First Sight. I also love true crime and documentaries.

I think (ok, I know) I watch too much TV but there is a TV in my craft room so I'm not likely to stop any time soon.

Mail art is one of favorites. I love to jazz up all my envies before sending--fun, easy and what's more fun than a colorfully decorated envie in your mailbox? I especially love the postoid rubber stamps--the ones that look liike a postage stamp but say something funny. I have quite a collection!

I love paper of all kinds and, along with the beautiful papers, papercrafts.

ATC's! I used to hate them and be consistently irritated at how many ATC swaps there were here on swap-bot. Now I love them! I love nearly all paper crafts.

Love creating junk journals using vintage ephemera and I'm crazy for using vintage books in all my work.

I LOVE to read but am super fussy about what I choose to read. If you are an avid reader and read anything in the suspense/thriller/horror genres, please send me a recommendation! With so many book choices available, a recommendation from an avid reader is worth its weight in gold. Presently reading 'Malus Domestica' and love it. It's about a young woman who is a witch hunter and the witches are SCARY! I would sooner die than read 'chick 'lit' -- why is it that a whole genre (chick lit) of mostly fluffy nonsense is defined as reading for women??

Hubby and I are retired. I'm trained as a middle school language arts, social studies, and math teacher. Occasionally, I tutor for reading comprehension. Hubby was a park ranger in Kentucky and Ohio.

I am a mom of four grown children and a granny to ten adorable grandchildren (Noelle, Xander, Lucas, Evan, Kristopher, Aaliyah, Londynn, Ciana, Kendrick, and Lyric). Unfortunately, my sweet Noelle and Lucas live in El Dorado Hills, California ;+(--much too far away from their granny.

I spend a fair amount of time in El Dorado Hills with my eldest daughter and her family. They also have two of my granddogs--Dasher and Dancer--East German shepherds. Being there takes me back to the bustling household when MY children were young. We're planning a move to California or New York in the next couple of years.

My hubby is the light of my life. We met on match.com and have been together for 19 years. We are so lucky to be able to spend a lot of time together. I love my life and count my blessings every day.

I am an only child and have always wanted a sister to share with. I love that I have some crafting 'sisters' here on swap-bot!

My indoor four-legged furbaby is Junebug--a VERY large (24 lb) gray tabby. My daughter found Junie abandoned in a cart in a Target parking lot in mid-December. She had a collar mark around her neck, so she was someone's pet and was just dumped. We're in the process of adopting and bringing in an outdoor kitty who adopted us! My daughter has named her Vixen--my daughter is determined that, as a family, we have pets named after each of Santa's reindeer! Vixen is shy with everyone but me, but she loves being indoors, sleeping on her heated blanket, and having plenty of food and snacks. I truly enjoy the company of cats. My sweet cat, Mizzy, passed on June 14, 2022. She was so loved and our home seems much emptier without her. For me, a pet--any pet--makes a house, a home.

I'm not a stickler about postmarks; in fact, I've never checked a postmark in my life. I do understand the need for rules within this swapping community, but if you're going to be late in sending a swap to me, just be courteous and let me know. Although I take my role as swapper and host very seriously, I will never engage in public shaming of other swappers or have a 'Flaker List' on my profile. Remember . . . life happens.

I'm consistently puzzled when swappers say they 'hate' a specific color. I want you to be inspired to create something special for me, so use whatever color speaks to YOU. It's not my job to ban a color that might spark your creativity. I appreciate anything created with love and inspiration and if it's not one of my favorite colors? It must be one of yours and that's good enough for me.

In a community of inspired, thoughtful, and artistic swappers, I believe we should show each other kindness, grace, and understanding. We all have enough stress in our lives outside of swap-bot--let's not let swap-bot become a source of stress and negativity instead of the joy it is meant to be!

Just a quick note re ratings: I like to take my time with ratings. Often, the items I'm rating took a long time to create and I want to say more than just, 'thank you.' That said, I often save swaps for up to 10 days before rating. I sit down with a cup of coffee and enjoy rating and doing justice to the senders who put their time and effort into creating a swap for me. If I rated every day, I would end up just saying, 'thank you,' trying to fit rating into each day. Please respect my rating style. Thank you so much.

I appreciate kindness in any form. One of my favorite quotes is from the Dalai Lama: "Be kind whenever possible . . . it is always possible."