user2984

I am a 30-something, married, stay-at-home mom with one son, a dog, and three cats.

I LOVE to travel and my travels are only limited by available funds and vacation time. I have no self-control when it comes to travel. I froth at the mouth from excitement with the Travel Zoo Top 20 hits my in-box each week. I have been to Mexico, Canada, Italy, Corsica, Madeira, Spain, France, the Canary Islands (four of the seven), Germany, Austria, China and most of the U.S. My favorite souvenirs are postcards, socks, stationery, and coffee.

My favorite stores are ones that sell potential: hardware, grocery, and art supplies.

I love fountain pens and manual typewriters.

Garden gnomes are AWESOME.

Bluegrass, Classical, Country, Opera, Folk, Broadway.

I play the piano and sing, which led me to study music in college, way back in the dawn of time and seemingly a lifetime ago. I still play piano, dabble with guitar, dulcimer (mountain), and have recently made up my mind to learn to play the ukulele... if I can get it away from my two year old long enough to tune it.

Amelie, Shawshank Redemption, Billy Elliott, Chocolat, Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, Princess Bride, Steel Magnolias

Hurrah for Netflix! Without it, I probably would never get to see anything but PBS kids programming.

Doctor Who, Torchwood, TopGear, Bones, Big Bang Theory, Battlestar Gallatica

I am a geek at heart and secretly British. I love sci-fi shows, even some of the really bad ones with lousy special effects and each time I get hooked on yet another BBC programme, I emit a sigh of longing.

Zines, Scrapbooking, Crochet, Paper Crafts, Candle Making, Embroidery, Sewing, MailArt, Painting, Drawing

I am primarily a zinester these days, but I delve into the world of mixed media quite often and combine those two interests into mail art. I will paint anything that looks a little dingy, tired, or blah if it'll stand still long enough.

If it's not a paper craft (zines, scrapbooks, mail art) anything else I make must be functional. I don't go in for crafts that have a primary function of collection dust. I have enough dust (and pet hair!) collecting on the things I already have, so anything I make must have a purpose. My tissue box doesn't need a cozy my walls are covered in pictures and art, and I don't wear much jewelry.

With that being said, I think everyone is an artist whether they express it through meals for their family & friends or the way they put together an outfit. I love to see creativity expressed and shared. I applaud and appreciate the efforts that go into each handmade item, whether it's a letter or the aforementioned tissue box cozy.

I am a voracious reader with a library on continual circulation, thanks to paperbackswap.com. Some of my favorite authors are Barbara Kingsolver, Bill Bryson, Janet Evanovich, Laurie Notari, Jill Conner Browne, Dan Price, Anne Lamott, and Jim Butcher. I like mysteries, memoirs, biographies, travelogues, how-to guides (primarily on alternative building, art, gardening, and sustainablility), cookbooks, and novels covering a wide range of topics.

I have a ritual of re-reading the Harry Potter books before the release of each new book and film. Looks like this will be my last marathon just before the last movie comes out in July. It usually takes me 10-14 days to get through all 8 books (that's including The Tales of Beadle the Bard).

~Garden Gnomes (the cute ones, not the creepy ones that look like the cousin of Chucky) ~Black Bears ~Redwood Trees ~Lady Bugs ~TARDIS ~Fountain Pens ~Glue Sticks ~Sunflowers ~Cats ~Dogs ~Whales ~Llamas/Alpacas ~Raccoons ~Dragonflies ~Purple ~Koi ~Elaborate fish ~Swirls ~Kokopelli ~Red ~Sun, moon, stars