ninou

update May 15th, 2012

I'm a young mom of now two daughters (see sections below) and I live in the North-West of France (Brittany). I'm also a teacher and a freelance translator... I have two dogs, shar-peïs (females). I love knitting, reading and taking photographs...

I'm a reliable swapper and I will always put a lot of thoughts in anything I send out!!

I love the idea of Random Acts of Kindness. I'm the girl who smiles to strangers, talks to old ladies at bus stops, helps out and volunteers information any time I feel I can be helpful. I guess my mom set a great example for me!

I'd love to be better at sewing so I'm taking a course as of next month! Any scrap piece of lovely fabric you may have will be welcome!

I used to knit a lot but now I can't seem to find the time or strength with my two little girls...

Being part of this community challenges me to practise new things and explore lots of interesting crafts! So far, I've enjoyed trying out Amigurumis, Dotee dolls, Inchies, Zentangles... It's really been a fantastic source of inspiration and challenge!

I love polka dots, black lace, bright colors but also cute kawaï food /animal characters. I'm not into anything religious or kitch.

Things that make me happy - to look at, to smell, to wear, on fabric, on paper, etc...

• Flowers : daysies, gerberas, red poppies, cherry blossoms, peonies and bright pink roses!

• Fruits: strawberries, raspberries, cherries (but not as a flavor) and apples!

• Shapes: HEARTS (I just love them) and stars!

• Colors: Bright Pink, Orange, Lime Green, Red, Aqua, Black... but I'm not a big fan of Yellow though...

• Celebrations: I love any occasion to celebrate and I'm a big fan of Halloween, Valentine's day, Christmas and birthdays!

Also, I'm a Chocolate Addict and I have a very sweet tooth!

Things I don't like:

I don't drink any coffee or tea!

I don't like cinnamon, licorice, mint, aniseed, figs, cola-flavored sweets, raisins or incence (or strong smells).

Craft material like:

• cute deco tapes

• clear stamps (love those) or rubber stamps

• sharpies or cool gel pens with glitter!

• chalk ink/ markers for the black board in my kitchen!

• stickers for the girls, any kind would be great!

I'm also a big fan of nail polish, especially O.P.I and ESSIE which are quite expensive here in France! Any color would be just great, I love mixing them and have multicolored nails! ;o)

Other brands are fine as well, I like minis too!

I'm trying to slowly get back to crafting and I would really like to be able to make more things for the girls. Swap-bot is a great place for inspiration and to challenge myself into doing things!

I'm very curious about brands we don't easily get here in France so I would be grateful for any of the following sewing or knitting material :

• Sewable fusible adhesive like Wonder Under, Heat n Bond or Steam-a-Seam

• Novelty thread (glittery for example) for embroideries

• Easy to follow sewing patterns or projects (copies from your favorite book for example)

• Noro Silkgarden (I'm looking for warm colors and dark ones to make this beautiful striped scarf)

• Any Japanese natural yarn really... (Ito, Habu, Olympus and Noro of course!)

• Yarn from Lion Brand (Bonbons or Amazing in Ruby, Roses or Vineyard)

• Beautiful hand-dyed soft natural yarn from local brands (merinos is my favorite).

I'm always happy to receive typical food from the US:

• Almond M&M's
• Reese's PEANUT BUTTER pieces, whipps or fast break bars
• Butterfinger
• Baby ruth bars
• Mac and cheese sauce
• Chocolate Pop-tarts
• Swiss Miss hot chocolate with mini marshmallows!

Anything chocolaty from any country like cookies, candy bars, etc.

But also:

• Lemon flavored cookies

• Toddler snacks

• Baking supplies (especially cute sprinkles, cupcake liners or frosting!)

Nothing with licorice, aniseed, alcohol, figs, raisins, cola-flavor, cinnamon, or mint, please!

As I mentioned earlier I don't drink coffee or tea!

I do love all kinds of nuts especially pecan, almonds, hazelnuts, and even coconuts!!

My oldest baby girl, Eloïse, was born in March 2008. She has got quite a character but she's also very eager to laugh!

She has dark blonde hair, blue eyes and fair skin. She's a sweet little girl, very cute in bright colors especially red, green, pink and purple! But I also like darker colors like grey or even black on her! Hair clips suit her very well!

Her hair is finally long enough to have fun, so cute elastic bands or hair accessories would be great!

She's a pre-schooler, so anything about school would be cool!

She also loves disney characters, especially Jesse, Woody and Buzz from Toy Story, Rapunzel from Tangled and she's also a big fan of Hello Kitty!

It would also be nice to get anything for her new room! For example nice ATCs, postcards, illustrations or drawings! :o)

As far as food is concerned, she absolutely adores the Graduates yogurt melts (any flavor) or the Beech Nut Let's Grow yogurt nibbles (which I'm very partial to also!). In fact, we don't have specific toddler snacks in France and any healthy snack for her would be great!! :o)

Adeline was born last summer (August 2010), and she's a sweetie! She has a lot of hair, very dark hair, and her eyes seem to become quite dark as well...

She's growing very fast and is already wearing size 2T.

For now, I think the colors that suit her best are white, grey, beige, pink and purple.

Hair clips for babies would be nice or anything with her name on it! :o)

Ever since she was born, I keep picturing her as a sweet little red riding hood so I'd love to receive anything related to this fairy tale to decorate her room even if not in red - for example a purple version would be awesome!

My kitchen is mostly deep red and I've started incorporating some aqua blue accents just for fun! ;o)

My living room is still very undefined. It's mostly white on white with some beige thrown in!

My bathroom is orange and blue with some grey. I would love to add more yellow into the mix to make it a happy place!

Our master bedroom is all green and blue with lots of maps and globes !

The girls share a room which is very colorful but soft greens, oranges and pinks are the main colors!

As for my craft room, it's also very colorful with maybe a bit more purple and red!