ladychiara

Hi there my name is Helen and I live in the Geelong area of Victoria in Australia. I live with my partner of 3 years, my 2 teenage children , 2 funny puppies and 3 bossy cats!

Both of my children are on the autism spectrum and will likely be at home with us for some time yet. My daughter is 20 and beginning her first year of University this year. My son is 16 and attends a local High School.

We are fortunate enough to live on the rural edge of town and enjoy our small acreage with it's birds and native wildlife. We live a simple life grow our own vegetables and enjoy pottering about. My partner had a cancer scare a couple of years ago now and is still recovering post treatment so life is pretty slow around here.

I am 50 years old but still only feel 25 on the inside ;) I'm a bit of an old fashioned gal and enjoy being a homemaker. In a past life (pre-children) I worked behind the counter in pharmacy and loved the contact with people.

I have always enjoyed arts and crafts as a way of relaxing and having fun. I have enjoyed meeting and making new friends via online forums and groups. I am excited about the prospect of swapping with like minded friends on swapbot.

Whilst fairly new to formal swapping I promise to ALWAYs fulfill my swap commitments and to leave ratings for my swap partners in a timely manner. I am a firm believer in the golden rule and always treat others as I would like to be treated.

I have tried many crafts through the years and currently am discovering ATC's and zentangles. I enjoy papercrafts, cardmaking and have attempted quilling. I have quilted but not recently, cross stitch, simple embroidery, knitting and am dying to learn to crochet. I would also love to learn to use my sewing machine. (it HATES me!!!) I have done folk art and would love to take watercolour lessons.

I love to read, I write poetry and keep a blog. I enjoy photography and hope some day to get a good camera and really learn how to use it. I love thrift shops and garage sales.I love flowers and would like to try pressing them some day. I don't watch much TV but when I do it's usually the ABC. Wildly eclectic tastes in music, everything from Hard Rock, Classic Rock to Celtic, New Age and everything in between.

I have pretty eclectic tastes and some of the things/styles I like include: almost anything vintage, shabby chic, jewel tones, plaids, gingham, soft pinks, moss green, palest blue,cream or white, gold, burgundy and gold esp for Christmas, pretty things but nothing too cutesy. I usually like classic or traditional styles.

My favourite colours include red, hunter green, soft pink and lemon. I also like muted colours in pinks, greens, browns and purples.

I dislike orange and bright yellow.

Some of my favourite things include: childrens picture books especially vintage or Christmas themed, roses, pansies, cottage flowers (ie:wildflowers, lilacs, bluebells, daisies, cornflowers), bluebirds, Owls, old greeting cards, anything miniature, charms old fashioned kind, cute vintage ornaments (ie:1950s dogs or children), scotty dogs, doileys, vintage jewellery, Chocolate, Old teacups and saucers, Old china, Small jugs, Stationery, Magazines - I have had to curb my magazine buying as they were taking up my craft allowance and taking over the house!! *sad face, baking, coffee. (I don't drink tea)

I have many collections that include the following: vintage jewellery, Christmas themed jewellery, scotty dogs, Fenton glass ducklings, Owls, Pretty Tins, Vintage postcards, Calling Cards, Trade cards, swap cards, Vintage greeting cards, Vintage linens, Victorian scraps, Owls, China,

Some things I don't like much include: oriental design, modern minimalistic design, spiders, horror, rude people, orange, fluoro colours.

Wish List: Ribbons and trims for ATC's or cardmaking, embellishments, charms, anything vintage, tags, Owls, pretty or vintage graphics, glimmer mist, notebooks or notepads, any kind of stationery, stamps, postage stamps used or unused but real ones not the stick on kind. any kind of paper supplies, Dark chocolate, Lindt balls, magazines - crafty or vintage style, nice hand cream or foot cream.