mangopassion

Thank you so much for visiting my profile!

I am a thirty something that loves to create, cook, and bake! I love board games, card games, and Sudoku. I have lived in California for most of my life, except for the three years that we moved to Colorado trying for a better family life. While Colorado was absolutely beautiful (and I loved it, and now I miss it SO much), all of our family remained in California and we missed them dearly. We ended up moving back to the land of fruits and nuts in October 2007. Man... the heat is killing me, though! LOL

Taking photos of my everyday life is something I love to do, but you will rarely find me in front of the lens. I recently discovered that I enjoy taking photos of inanimate objects around my home – thanks to photos that I see on Flickr and/or other people’s blogs.

I really don’t have a favorite color… as I pretty much love all colors! However, I am not too keen on neon colors.

My life mostly revolves around my family! My hubby and I are high school sweethearts ♥ and have been married for 13 years. We have two wonderful kiddos! Sweetness, our daughter, is nine years old (going on 25) and our son, Pumpkin is six years old.

We also have two fur-babies! Our Golden Retriever, Copper, is 3; and our cutie-fuzzy-kitty, Dude, is still just a kitten. They are every bit a part of our family as any other member!

My kitchen is decorated mostly in red, but I am trying to add some pink, turquoise, and black in a retro look! The rest of my home is sort of a mosh posh of color. My kids’ bathroom is an underwater theme in a cartoon-y sort of way. Sweetness’ room is very eclectic and doesn’t have one particular style – except to look like a little girl lives there. Pumpkin’s room has richer colors in it… dark blue, dark red, taupe. Our master suite is not really decorated at all yet. :o)

scrapbooking (all paper crafts, actually) is a real passion of mine. I have been paper crafting since I was a little girl. I discovered that scrapbooking was a real craft that actually existed among the real world when I was in high school. Back then, though, I knew nothing about being acid/lignen free so I scrapped on anything and everything… including dollar bills! :o)

However, I am not a traditional scrapper. I don't use most of the things found in bulk at Michaels or Hobby Lobby. I am more of a free style and eclectic scrapper.

I'd hate to even ask this, but I would feel wasteful if I didn't. Please don't send me any scrapbooking items unless I've specifically asked for it in a tag or in my likes list. ((blush)) Thank you!

Thankfully, I’ve been able to sell my work for the past 8 years to help with our family income. I appreciate all my clients and all of the people that have encouraged me to think bigger and to give me the courage to sell my creations.

sewing and embroidery are also among my favorite crafts. In fact, I sew on a lot of my paper crafted items!

When I was a little girl I would embroider and cross stitch… until my mother thought I was old enough to use a sewing machine. When my daughter was born, I sewed a lot of her clothes. I loved to sew all those little ruffles and dresses and bloomers! Ahhh… those were the days.

Now that Sweetness is older, she doesn’t really allow me to sew her clothing. I don’t really have the time anyway. :o)

But sometimes I am still able to sit with an embroidery hoop, some thread in a needle, and stitch away! I usually don’t embroider with any particular pattern… it’s more of a doodle embroidery I also like to make unique pincushions and other softies. :o)

♥ handmade things that you've given your heart and hand to (those mean the most)
♥ vintage buttons
♥ ribbons, lace, ric rac, fiber
♥ straight pins with cute, odd, or decorative heads
♥ candles (particularly Yankee Candle and/or White Barn Candle Company)
♥ board game pieces
♥ fun mechanical pencils
♥ cute/pretty pens
♥ any kind of ephemera
♥ wool felt or scraps of wool from an old sweater or other item
♥ fantasy items (dragons, unicorns, fairies, etc) for my daughter or for her scrapbook pages
♥ sharpies in any color and any size
♥ shrinky dink “paper”
♥ gum in any flavor
♥ handmade pincushions
♥ cute birthday cake candles
♥ crayola brand crayons, colored pencils, and markers
♥ vintage sewing patterns for aprons, children’s clothing, and toys
♥ kitchen-ish stuff (a la measuring cups, utensils, etc.), especially if they're red, pink, or turquoise
♥ your favorite recipes
♥ happy bunny – he’s evil, but I love him!
♥ anything mary engelbreit
♥ Sudoku
♥ vintage handkerchiefs
♥ handpainted things of cupcakes for my kitchen in a retro feel
♥ Quality over Quantity

fabrics
♥ linen
♥ kawaii fabrics
♥ vintage fabrics
♥ retro fabrics
♥ Michael Miller
♥ Amy Butler
♥ Anna Maria Horner
♥ Tanya Whelan
♥ Sandi Henderson

vintage paper goods
♥ ledger paper
♥ sheet music
♥ children’s books
♥ children’s illustrations
♥ post cards
♥ greeting cards
♥ ticket stubs
♥ train boarding passes
♥ amusement park tickets
♥ flash cards
♥ playing cards
♥ maps
♥ paper dolls
♥ etc

♥ strawberries
♥ cupcakes
♥ matchboxes (not the cars)
♥ owls
♥ hedgehogs
♥ mushrooms
♥ birds
♥ robots
♥ kawaii

I am fairly new to Kawaii... well, except for the Sanrio stuff that I had when I was little. :o)

But of course, since being on Swap-Bot, I have discovered a new obsession! Also, the good thing (and maybe not-so-good thing) is that when I find a new hobby and/or obsession, I spend a lot of time researching it!! LOL

I've noticed that others can list many things that they like and they know what their dislikes are. Unfortunately, since I don't have access to a lot of it (my Sanrio store carries some and I have been drooling over some websites LOL), then I don't have an exact list of what I like. But I'm going to try!

Items I think I like
♥ deco tape
♥ sticker sacks
♥ sticky memo pads
♥ memo pads
♥ 4 x 6 note pads
♥ file folders
♥ sticker sheets (especially the puffy ones)
♥ pens
♥ mechanical pencils
♥ erasers that look like foods, but not with faces on them
♥ letter sets
♥ anything having to do with stationary ♥
♥ anything San-X ♥

characters I think I like
♥ cinamaroll
♥ penguins (Suki To Issyo Penguin -- LOVE HIM!)
♥ wizard of oz & party of oz
♥ alice in wonderland
♥ the cutesie foods, but not with faces (strawberries, cakes, cupcakes, ice cream cones, etc.)
♥ Little Witch Town by Mind Wave
♥ Sakura Cherry Blossom stuff
♥ relax bear

I don't think I like
* foods with faces on them
* plush toys (because I don't have room for them... but they sure are cute!!)
* clover stuff

This list will continually be updated as I find more likes and dislikes

• licorice or anything licorice flavored
• white chocolate
• knick-knacks – I don’t do clutter. Please don’t send me anything that just sits and looks pretty ;o,
• puzzles – don’t get me wrong… I like them, but I’m picky ;o,
• I’m not a tea drinker
• no blue wooden ducks or anything from that 80’s country genre
• potpourri
• floral scents
• tie dye
• bath and body stuff – I’m too picky (UNLESS it’s homemade … I LOVE homemade bath/body products)

♥ Sweetness ♥

Sweetness is an awesome artist! She is totally and completely right-brained in every way. :o) She loves fantasy items… especially dragons! She can create almost anything out of anything. Sweetness just started cheerleading and loves it! She is not very shy and can pretty much talk to anyone about anything! She is allergic to products that contain milk protein (casein and whey). She loves sweets, but since she cheers, we would love energy or protein bars. :o)

♥ Pumpkin ♥

Pumpkin is very inventive and he is currently trying to build his very own Iron Man suit! :o) So he is trying to collect any and all metal pieces he can get his hands on. He is also very creative with his Legos and can build anything! He would love to receive anything that most people might consider junk (old pieces of small chains, old clock pieces or insides of anything electronic or with gears, pretty much anything metal! LOL Pumpkin also likes stickers, Halloween, pens, Magnetics, and he is passionate about Indiana Jones!! :o)

Pumpkin is allergic to anything that contains milk protein (casein or whey). We also don't like to give him things with Red 40, Blue 6, or High Fructose Corn Syrup.

♥ Copper our Golden Retriever ♥
What a great doggie he is! He loves stuffed animals, rope toys, and everyone he meets! Unfortunately he is allergic to several foods, so please don't send anything food for him as we are still trying to figure out all of his allergies. :o( We know for certain so far that he is not allergic to duck and potatoes.

♥ Dude our kitty ♥
He's just an awesome little kitty! He likes the little balls with bells in them or pretty much anything he can "bat" around. He loves to eat! LOL He likes chasing laser beams. He isn't allergic to anything that we know of. :o)