rafacosta

I'm Rafaela, I'm Brazilian, and traveling and getting to know other cultures and people is my great passion in life.

UPDATE! March 7th: For several days I haven't been able to log in swap-bot due to some very difficult personal issues. I'm catching up in answering received messages, as well as a few pending ratings and re-sends.

RE-SENDS!: When I prepare my swaps, I'm always thinking how can I make it personal and bring a smile to my partner's face. I really love to send my swaps. Many of my sent swaps have gone missing, though. Others are simply taking long to reach their destinations. This has been going on for a while now and I always try to do my best to make it right and put together a re-send just as special as the original missing package. I must admit that this has overwhelmed me. As much as I love doing this, it has taken its toll financially, restricting me from joining other swaps. And when some difficult times came along recently concerning personal issues, my re-sends just ended up being put aside for some time and fell behind. I want my partners to know that in no way it means lack of respect or caring.

I'm resuming my normal activities at the moment and this includes swap-bot. I hope to bring everything up to date real soon. Thank you very very much for all the understanding and kindness with which you all treat me here. I promise to continue doing my best to make this swap-bot experience a nice one for those who cross my way here. =)

All my life I've been pretty much busy with studying, academic research, writting papers, etc. I never thought I had any inclination or patience for crafting, but just some months ago I decided to let my 'artistic' creativity flow and started learning how to hand-sew and make crafts. I'm at a very early beginner's level in crafting, but I really put my heart into it. =)

I had already become addicted to making inchies, now I'm getting into matchboxes, which are so cool to make!

• polka-dots; stripes
• all colors! color combinations of pink/grey or pink/white or orange/brown or red/turquoise or red/black or teal/red or acqua/brown. Really, I like all colors. Bright tones, pastel tones, monochromatic patterns, etc
• Kawaii stuff (I'm not an expert, "brandless" kawaii is just fine, I just like cute stuff)
• Hello Kitty, Snoopy; Betty Boop; Asterix & Obelix; Strawberry Shortcake; Pink Panther; Emily, the stranger; Flinstones; Pucca; Petit Prince; Disney's characters
• traveling; things related do Paris, London, Greece, Italy, Holland, Spain, San Francisco (CA) and many other nice places!
• buttons, laces, felt, fabrics, all kinds of sew stuff; scrapbooking, papercrafts, decorated boxes
• lampwork beads; beads in general; charms; cabochons; etc
• chocolat
• matrioskas
• Momiji dolls, Unazukin dolls
• paper dolls
• photography
• flowers!!! every type, every color
• pin-ups (love them!); vintage; 50's/60's theme
• summer, fall, winter, spring (I love season's colors and theme)
• ocean, beach, lakes, mountains
• art: Van Gogh, Monet, Rembrandt, Renoir, impressionists in general
• football (soccer)! yeah, that's right, I'm a big soccer fan. =)

There are so many other things that I like! It's really ok to surprise me with things that are not in the list!!!!!! Chances are that if you put your heart on it, I'll love the surprise. : )

DISLIKES candies and chewing gum; Harry Potter; religious-themed items (although I do respect every religion and religious-oriented people); prum; coffee, tea

I would never, never flake a swap. Please, keep in mind that I'm sending overseas (priority) mail, so it'll for sure take longer than domestic-mailed items! Please, contact me if you haven't received in a reasonable period of time.

I always look at my partners profile and try to put together things according to her preferences as much as I can. My goal here is not to get as many hearts as I can. I like to put together something that will please the other. I always put a lot of caring in everything I send. Getting a heart is just a consequence and everyone should feel free to give one or not. Of course I like to get hearts, but what really matters is that my partner enjoys what I send.

As soon as I receive something from someone, I'll rate that person to let her know about the arrival.

Feel free to contact me if you have any doubts, or comments or 'just because...'. = )

. R.E.M., Stone Roses, Pixies, Midnight Oil, Stereophonics, The Smiths, The Cure, Coldplay, Hoodoo Gurus, 10.000 Maniacs, Manu Chao, Radiohead, U2, ; Pearl Jam; Matchbox 20 and plenty more.

. all by Victor Hugo, all by Agatha Christie and the Sherlock Holmes collection, Brave New World (A. Huxley), A Hundred Years of Solitude (G.G. Marquez)

. C.S.I., C.S.I. NY, C.S.I. Miami, House, Lost, Friends