Lexidh

2019: I will not be swapping in 2019. With freelance work, three scheduled surgeries, a new book idea, two houses to renovate and moving house (on top of the chronic pain I always struggle with), there just is no time for swapping. So if you don't hear from me before 2020, I'm probably OK, just busy. When I return I will only do very big private swaps.

I have published a book! Woooop! Go to http://www.catpasity.com for information on where to find it for sale, and lots of other info and pictures of the cats from the book =) This is part of the reason why I haven't swapped so much lately, writing a book takes a lot of time!

READ THIS BEFORE CONTACTING ME:

• Know that I suffer from Fibromyalgia + a spine injury and answer messages sporadically. I never know how much pain I'm going to be tomorrow or next week. You can read more about this further down in my profile, just know that I'm not ignoring anyone on purpose, me logging in to check on some things does not mean I'm up for answering messages =/

• If I send mail late on Friday it's not postmarked until Monday. You would think that with our postage prices everything would go quickly, but it's just the opposite =( There is no mail delivery on Saturdays anymore.

• Try to communicate with your partner before contacting me as the host.

• I do not need to know about swaps that are being sent on time, but if you are going to send late I need to know up front.

• If I haven't rated I haven't received. Asking about it won't help with that ;P

• Read the site FAQ if you don't know how this site works. I'm not an admin, and I'm not a helpdesk. I will not, and can not, help you swap. You have to make an effort!

• If you have a problem with how I host, please write it on a piece of paper, fold it nicely and shove it up your @$$.

If there is something else; contact me, please =)

My address is no secret:

Lexidh Solstad

Lotterudvegen 11a

2390 Moelv

Norway

My e-mail is: [email protected]

Hi! I'm Lexidh. Yes, that is my real name. No, it's not my given name. Not every gift is worth keeping. I'm a fibromyalgia ridden, sci-fi loving, slow gaming, chocolate addict that is probably known in the neighborhood as the Crazy Cat Lady. As long as I'm married to a Crazy Cat Man, it's no biggie ;P We don't have any kids, and we don't want any either. But with 8 nieces and nephews (so far), we are covered, I'm quite sure we will find someone to inherit our junk ;P Our junk now includes not just one, but two homes. Because one just can't let ones "perfect forever home" get away just because of the minor detail that you just don't want to move there right away. Someone else really wanted to move there, so we are renting it out for now. Sounds like we are super rich, but no, we are just damn lucky. No other way to put it!

I have three cats ruling the household, aged 1, 2 and 3, which is... interesting. Those who want to follow what they are up to has got the opportunity to follow them on Google+, I post photos of them every day over here: https://plus.google.com/u/0/collection/c7IYX

There is also a part time dog, aged 1, which is here about one night per week (sleepover), which makes life ever more interesting!

I live in Norway, a weird country in northern Europe, where everything is expensive, everyone is a socialist and the winter is 6 months long. Moving from Norway is not an option, but I do need some nice, long vacations to warmer places.

I LOVE Christmas, although we celebrate Jul, which is kinda the same with gifts and food and lights and trees and all, but we open our gifts in the evening on the 24th and it has nothing to do with religion. I love advent calendars with gifts in them. I give out lots of them to friends and family, so I use a lot of time and effort on that during the year. Shopping for them is an all year event, I can't help myself! Thankfully I've met some just as crazy people here on swap-bot that likes to swap advent calendars with me =)

Defining my love of life: ** Sleeping cats ** Games where I have to build something ** Android ** Star Trek, Stargate and other long sci-fi series ** ASMR videos ** Norwegian (hot) chocolate ** Strawberries ** Animated movies (not Asian) ** Bathing in a tub of a bit too hot water ** Chewing ice cubes ** Dogs that does not know me, but loves me anyway ** Walking out of a plane that just landed in a place that is 30C warmer than where you departed from ** Fulfilling a week long craving ** Cold water on a hot scalp ** A cat purring so hard you can feel it in your whole body ** Fresh linens on a warm body ** The “5 more minutes” of sleep ** Opening a present ** The owl in The Sword in the Stone (Disney) ** The last stitch on a huge cross stitch project ** How predictable my cats are ** Big German cars ** Eeyore mugs ** Watching fish swim in an aquarium ** Traveling to London ** A finished Sumdoku board ** Capybaras ** New craft supplies ** Living in a place with no natural disasters ** Green and purple ** Spoiling others ** Reading in the bathtub * MAIL!

Norwegian book pages - Unlimited supply!

Postage stamps - I have loads and loads of Norwegian postage stamps, more than you can imagine, and I've also got a LOT of stamps to trade by theme; Olympic Games, Christmas and all kinds of animals.

Anything from my Zibbet og Epla store is up for swapping! http://lexidh.epla.no https://lexidh.zibbet.com/shop

I do a lot of arts and crafts:

• Scrapbooking: Cats in 12x12" and 8x8", vacations in 12x12" and 8x8", recipe book in 8x8"
• Card making
• Jewelry making (Anything!)
• Candle and soap making (in molds)
• Cross stitching (mostly Christmas, useful items and animals)
• Sewing (stuffed animals, cat toys and other small projects, plus mending or upgrading clothes)
• Resin, embedding my photos on small items
• All kinds of Christmas ornaments
• ATCs
• Loom knitting (mostly socks, hats and leg warmers)

And a lot more! I make about 90% of all Christmas presents I give to friends and family, usually a big box with different items for decorating and using around the house for Christmas.

Not at all into: baking pretty things (food should taste good, doesn't matter what it looks like to me), all things confetti (what a mess...), knitting with needles (I suck), hama and other beading.

AMAZON

I'd love to get anything of my Amazon wish list, including Kindle books: https://www.amazon.com/gp/registry/wishlist/3J97XQRXPH4G2

CRAFTING WISHES

• Glitter, especially chunky glitter, chips and mini beads and other things to put into shaker cards. Any and all colors, but especially white
• Scotch 3M ATG tape gun acid free refill rolls (for the pink gun).
• Cat themed fabric. I want to make myself a cat quilt one day and I'm saving up different fabric
• Cat scrapbooking supplies (male cats, lots of boys-stuff work fine for them!)
• Dog scrapbooking supplies (female dog, alaska husky, so nothing for male dogs and nothing for the kind of dog you can stick in your handbag!)
• Alphabets (stickers, thickers, chipboard, anything really)
• Cooking and travel themed scrapbooking embellishments
• DMC thread, any color (other brands are OK, but DMC is what I use the most)
• Post extenders for post bound albums
• 12x12", 8x8" and 6x6" albums, and/or page protectors
• Aida (fabric with holes for cross stitching), any color and size

• Waxed linen thread, 2 and 3 ply, all colors
• Black Extra/Ultra Fine Sharpies. Seriously. Can't get them here!
• Zippers, any color, length and size.
• Black 6mm and 7mm jump rings for jewelry making
• Glass beads in pink, red, black and white
• Chains for jewelry making, any size and length
• Lobster clasps from 11mm and larger, any color
• Gold, silver, black and brass colored pins for fastening beads. Any length, width and tips
• 2 and 4 hole buttons in all colors, especially white and purple
• Seed beads that are big. 3-4mm in diameter, size 6/0
• Card blanks with or without envelopes
• Paper in sizes 6x6, 8x8 and 12x12 inches.
• Embossing folders
• Glue dots, any size/brand (permanent, not repositionable)
• Self adhesive half pearls in any color
• Tapestry needles (blunt needles for cross stitching) size 26
• Patterns and kits for cross stitching full size Christmas stockings
• Towels of any size with a strip or patch of aida to cross stitch on

COLLECTIONS

• Postage stamps from any and all countries (or fake places) in the themes I collect; Cats (any cat, wild or domestic), Olympics (and Paralympics and all other stamps with the Olympic rings on them) and Christmas (not religious, but Santa and snowmen and all the nice happy stuff).
• Cat themed ATC
• Capybara themed ATC
• Norwegian postage stamps, even the ones you got on mail from me
• Cat themed fabric (for a future quilt)
• Funko Pint Size Heroes: The Nightmare Before Christmas Vinyl Figure, either in package or unwrapped (I don't have any, so it doesn't matter at this point)

HOUSE, HOME AND LOVED ONES

• Wide packing tape with any kind of pattern.
• EOS Lip balm, Lemon or Tangerine (only those two!)
• Tassimo tea discs in Orange Pekoe and Russian flavor
• (Fun) tea infusers
• Happy Hippo Kinder, Reese's Peanut Butter Cups and Hershey's Take 5 Pretzel Milk Chocolate for my husband
• Fun toilet paper rolls
• Cat toys with catnip in them. The bigger the better!
• Animal shaped cookie cutters

OTHER

• The Commitments Soundtrack on vinyl. Yes, old fashioned LP record. Used is fine. Both the original and Vol 2.
• Leggings / tights (with or without the feet part) in size XL/L. Both with and without patterns are just fine, and any thickness/density. Especially blue, green and brown!
• Socks! Thick and thin, anything from calf to over-knee, but not ankle socks (they just fall off). Especially blue, green and brown! Black, white and grey are also awesome.
• Snail themed items (not Turbo movie merchandise)
• Doctor Who, Stargate, Star Trek, Nightmare Before Christmas and Discworld items

When sending a package to Norway it's important to add a custom declaration sticker, and fill it out right. There you tell what is in the package, and it's value. If the value is to high (above 30 US dollars) I have to pay taxes if it's not marked properly as a gift. And if there is no custom declaration someone will open the package and sort trough it to see if I have to pay for it. As you can imagine; that takes a lot of time. If you can't get these stickers; let me know, I'll send you some =)

I also ALWAYS send out the packages, mostly as soon as I get my partner(s), or save up to send a huge batch at once, trying to save on postage in case I get the same partner for more than one swap (that happens very often!). So if you haven't received a swap from me; tell me! I will resend if it's a month since I sent it, no worries =) Unless I'm dead (or in a coma) you will get your package, one way or the other. I think I proved that in 2009 while I was badly burned and left homeless by a fire and still managed to get everything in order.

Communication and trust is very important here at swap-bot. I know that many are afraid of the drama and hostility that is involved with rating down to a 3 when the swap has been sent too late according to the send by date, but there shouldn't be any drama involved at all. If a swap isn't sent on time it didn't meet the swap requirements, and that's the end of it. It doesn't matter if you have a reason for sending late or not, your partner might give you a break, but don't expect it, especially if your partner has no idea that the swap is late before he or she see the postmark on the envelope/package. Rate fairly! It is the most important tool we have here at swap-bot.

If I get an item in a swap I don't feel the need to keep, either because it's not my style, I don't have space for it, I have too much of the same thing and so on, I will send it to someone else. I am not a hoarder of things I see no use for in my future, that is why I'm swapping! I expect others to do the same, and I will not get mad if I get something back I've sent out before. I try not sending something back to where I got it from, but I can't guarantee it not happening.

I also reuse packaging, not so much because of the earth needing saving (the planet is fine, it's the people that are f*cked), but it saves money. EVERYTHING in Norway is expensive.

If you get a swap from me you are not happy with what you got: please contact me. But remember: Norway is one of the most expensive countries on the planet. You can hardly get anything worth sending for 5$ here. It's very hard to know what someone expects to get for $5 when you haven't even been to the US. Example: One big glass bead for jewelry making will cost more than $5 here. I'm not trying to rip someone off, I just need some guidance from time to time!