Amoredilibri

Look at your craft. Now back to me. Now back at your craft. Now back to ME.

Sadly, your craft isn't like me. But if you stopped using dull crafting scissors and used AWESOME SAUCE tools, your craft could sparkle like me.

Look down. Now up. Where are you? You're in a Swap with the Swapper your Swapper could be like,

What's in your hand? Back at me. I have it. It's an envelope with two postcards from that artist you love!

Look again. The postcards are now ATC's!

Anything is possible when your craft is made with Awesome Sauce and not just stickers.

I'm in a themed Swap.

I'm a hot-wheelin', free-dealin', dyed in the Dune, hardcore geek. Not a nerd, but a geek (Note: I'm obsessed with the fantastic inherent in the universe but I couldn't tell you the top end of a motherboard if the universe's continued existence in this continuity depended on it, which it probably shall). Comic books, fantasy, sci-fi, movies, tv shows, and webcomics are my choice of poison.

My anime and manga friends have been trying to convert me for years, but nothing's stuck so far except Cowboy Bebop, Miyazaki's films, and Ranma 1/2 (well, everyone's read Ranma 1/2).

I've also got friends who have less plebeian interests, and they've been luring me into modern literature with much better success. Still, you'll have to pry the Neil Gaiman, Lois McMaster Bujold, Brian K. Vaughan, and Joss Whedon love out of my cold, dead, still grasping hands.

Studied literary fiction writing in uni, which was magnificently useless in terms of finding a job in this economy. Therefore, I have turned to crafts and arts and my personal brand of fan fiction enjoyment to give meaning, if not sustenance or any kind of practical succor, to my life.

I live right next to the Nation's capital, went to school in the self-touted Greatest City on Earth (really, B-more, really?), and surprisingly, have a long-distance, one-sided love affair with all things French Canadian and British (Welsh, Scottish, Irish, you get the idea). Also, recently went to Italy, and am now in love with Italian men (who flirted with me even when I looked and smelled like an old sack of potatoes), Italian food (omg... GELATO!), and the Italian countryside (bright, scarlet poppies everywhere).

If you're going to hang about for any amount of time, look for these frequently used catchphrases: "Awesome sauce", "Cool Beans", "Yeah no", and the always brilliant "What?"

I've got pretty eclectic taste, ranging from Classical opera to American songbook to Steampunk jazz to Swedish swing to Hipster rock to Country folk to Cajun blues to British rap to Bollywood to Female singer-songwriter to Bubbly pop and everything else in between. The only kind of music I really can't stand is anything house or electronica or techno or purely synthetic. Anything that smacks too much of eighties synth is just not my jam. I've usually got my ears tuned to the local public radio station or France's FIP station.

Played violin for nine years, so the whole classical music thing stuck with me. Love classical music and a flaming geek, so I'm a huge fan of instrumental soundtracks, mostly film, tv show, and video game scores.

Top 5 Film Composers

1. Bear McCreary: Battlestar Galactica, Terminator: Sarah Connor Chronicles
2. Dario Marianelli: Pride and Prejudice, Atonement
3. Michael Giacchino: Up, The Incredibles, Star Trek
4. Joe Hisaishi: Princess Mononoke, Howl's Moving Castle, Spirited Away
5. Howard Shore: Lord of the Rings

Bonus! Legend of Zelda

Sometimes I just wanna have fun.

I also like a good rock-out, just as much as the next girl.

I'm a closet country fan. I tend to the indie folk and more country-sounding but occasionally I dip my toes into the world of CMT.

Really, too many to name, so I'll go with authors, for the most part.

• SciFi

  • Lois McMaster Bujold: her Miles Vorkosigan Saga
  • Ted Chiang: a modern master of stories in the form of thought experiments
  • Isaac Asimov: of course
  • Ray Bradbury: Master of the Perfect Short Stories
  • Orson Scott Card: Ender's Game, Speaker for the Dead, and Xenophobia.

• Fantasy

  • Charles de Lint: creator of Newford and truly well-written urban fantasy
  • Jacqueline Carey: Kushiel and Naamah series
  • Patricia McKillip: of course
  • Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett: cheating, I know, but they're so inextricably linked in my head due to Good Omens and their cult status and their Britishness.
  • Diana Wynne Jones: who was writing Harry Potter, really, before the world knew what good British boarding school fantasy literature looked like.
  • Tanya Huff: thrilling detective series that is like if Bella had been a half-blind, kick-ass, grown woman doing top-notch detective work in Toronto
  • Guy Gavriel Kay: writes the most stunning historical fiction, only fantasy by dint of some mysticism and his wizard-like control of wordsmithing.
  • Robin McKinley: Her writing is like sitting down to a table, wrapped in the coziest, softest afghan, and making your way through a homemade bowl of stew (with that new recipe that worked on the first try) while listening to the radio croon new music (that instantly becomes your favorite) into your ears as the wild, winter winds rage outside and occasionally rattle the windows.

• Pre- Raphaelites
  • Dante Rosetti
  • Frederick Leighton
  • John Waterhouse
• Art Nouveau
  
  • Alphonse Mucha
  • Victor Horta
  • Gustav Klimt
  • Antoni Gaudi
  • Aubrey Beardsley
• Illustration
  
  • Gustave Dore
  • Edward Gorey
  • Edmund Dulac
  • Arthur Rackham
  • Beatrix Potter
  • Kinuko Y. Craft
  • Stephanie Pui-Mun Law

I like pretty, pretty costumes, and things that go BOOM! so there's a lot of period romances and big sci-fi actions on my DVD shelf. Here, instead, is a list of movies that are on my Need-To-Watch List. If you've seen any of these, drop me a line with your thoughts.

• After the Thin Man (1936)
• How to Steal a Million (1966)
• SAW IT! Vanity Fair (2004)
• Rang De Basanti (2006)
• As You Like It (2006)
• The Duchess (2008)
• Jaane Tu . . .Ya Jaane Na (2008)
• Let the Right One In (2008)
• The Good, the Bad, and the Weird (2008)
• SAW IT! Moon (2009)
• Agora (2009)
• Ondine
• Crazy Heart (2009)
• SAW IT! LOVED IT! TOTALLY GOING TO SEE IT AGAIN! Scott Pilgrim vs. The World(2010)
• Never Let Me Go (2010,not released)
• Megamind (2010,not released)
• Easy A (2010, not released)
• Tron: Legacy (2010, not released)
• Green Lantern (2011, not released)
• Cowboys and Aliens (2011, not released)
• The Avengers (2012, not released)

Current obsessions include

• 30 Rock
• Being Human
• Big Bang Theory
• Chuck
• Community
• Doctor Who
• Eureka
• Mad Men
• Merlin
• Parks and Recreation
• Southland
• Supernatural
• The Good Wife
• True Blood
• United States of Tara
• Vampire Diaries
• Warehouse 13

Right now, I'm obsessed with making paper everything. I've gathered all sorts of tissue paper and handcrafted papers and packing paper and copy paper in order to make paper flowers, origami cranes, and stars to string up around my room.

I love the sky in all its moods and hues. I love the idea of flying, and if ever I traveled back in time and entered into the alchemical study of magic, I'd pick Air in an instant.

Therefore, very engaged in crafting mobiles to hang from my ceiling and fly around whenever the breeze picks its way through my room.

I've dabbled in crochet and painting, both of which I'm attempting to improve right now with the help of friends more skilled than I. My next crocheting project will be a headband with a crocheted flower, and my next painting project will be probably be some type of fanart in acrylic.

My sewing skills are nonexistent but I persist in tearing up my t-shirts and knotting them back together again.

I love using items I've got lying around or that I find while out walking, through the fields and in the city.

I'm currently in the middle of attempting to create my own perfume using 95-proof alcohol and herbs found in my backyard. Rosemary lavendar with a hint of lychee, lime, and honey. :D

If you'd like to see pictures of some of the crafts I've done, feel free to stop by my Flickr.

• Let Us Read and Let Us Dance

Sun Setting on Stories

Pop Heroes in Pop Color

Seasons Passing