LillyCalliope

SPOILER ALERT!: Your ATCs or CARDS may show up on my FLICKR page. If you don't want to see them before you receive them then please don't look! :)

So, my name is Amy, and I just turned 40...

I spent 10 years on Active Duty in Army Intelligence, as a translator. I speak Fluent Arabic & German. Grew up in Tucson, AZ and am in Tucson attending the University of Arizona and studying psychology. This is my last semester before graduation and grad school begins!

I also own my own business as a professional organizer, and I work primarily with clients who exhibit hoarding behavior.

Oh my - where to start...

Does collecting supplies count as a craft? heh...

Serious now:

1. Card-making: heavily embellished, 3-D, flowery & bling-y!!

2. Theoretically, Scrapbooking: When I'm 'ready' I will have any supply I could ever want for and a museum of photos to choose from! (sigh)

3. Altering frames & boxes & bags and other stuff probably not meant to be altered... (if I ever read up on how to add photos here then I'll attach some of my favorite projects. COLORFUL, Eclectic, Mish-Mashy and unique.)

4. Creating flowers: out of anything you can think of. Seriously - I'll chop up a sweater (or a place-mat, or a mouse-pad...) in a Sizzix Machine to create a cool flower embellishment. ...you can totally send me weird, textured things and I will place them into what I affectionately call my 'CHOP-CHOP' Category.

5. Jewelry-making. I'm a silver, silver-colored & silver-plated kinda girl. Always a sucker for a pretty pile of beads, too. I love Swarovski and other colorful crystals. :) Frequently I tear into old jewelry to make new - and have been known to use all kinds of jewelry as embellies - and all types of embellies as jewelry...

The BRAVE GIRLS CLUB!; Everything ever made by Apple; BLING (Rhinestones, Crystals, Glitter, ALL of it!), Dangly Stuff, ALL TYPES OF FLOWERS: Crocheted, Fabric, Fiber, Felt, and Especially Paper! (eg: Primas), BOLD Colors, Rainbows!; Cute Critters & Stuffies; Buttons; Sparkly Stuff!; FRESH FLOWERS; PSX Stickers & Stamps; Unity Stamps; Stampin' Up), ALL THINGS SCALLOPED!, STICKERS! (Puffies and liquid stickers hold a special place in my heart, Alphabet and other Thickers ROCK, Multi-layered, K & Co, Sassafrass et al., too many types); Anything purple, but also more subdued palettes too-I just love colorful, not so much monochromatic though; Baubles & Costume Jewelry, Tacky Rhinestone Jewelry, pieces & parts, Silver beads/rings/jewelry, AB-finish (Aurora Borealis) onAnything, but, especially on beads & crystals!; Mystic Sapphire & Mystic Topaz stones; Purple Turquoise; Flowery/Colorful/Ornate/Bold Patterned Cardstock & Thick Papers; BOLD Patterned Paper; Polka Dotty-ness; SIZZIX, et al!; All Magazines published by Northridge Media!; SPECIAL Editions of Scrapbooking & Card-Making Mags; Sams Club!; My CROP-O-DILE & My BIG-BITE!; CraftySteals.com; Nerdy stuff; Sciency stuff; Groot!; Flourishes; some steampunk; Cutesy vintage' STARBUCKS- yum!

Christian stuff is fine, but so is Arabic (not necessarily Muslim) and Jewish stuff. Whatever works. :)

I buy EVERYTHING in multiples - and am known for keeping an embellishment forever - or at least until I have another one to hoard... THEN it's 'safe' to use!! ;)

Look - I love, Love, LOVE Surprises! I am easy to please and enjoy most everything. Getting HAPPY MAIL is one of the highlights of my life! I don't know how I ever got by without the FUN anticipation of Mail-borne surprises!

• IMPATIENCE
• BULLYING
• LACK of COMPASSION

• LYING

• Spiders!!

And I really don't do Halloween or horror, ghosts or witches or any of that sort of thing. Also, I don't have any kids or pets, just so you know. Thanks!

Josh Groban, Andre Bochelli, Sarah McLachlan, Enya, Sarah Brightman, Modern Country, Classic Rock...
80's too, of course, and some of the current stuff that's on the radio these days.

Last but not least, I love to dance- my groove of choice is: SWING BABY, SWING!!! (...to include Big Band :) All ballroom fits there too, and lots of country, as well as Latin... But I think I was born after my time... From the Era of the Big Bands, to the Urban roots of the Lindy Hop I love all things SWING! :)

Hmm... I don't devour books the way I used to. I'm afraid I read more mags than anything lately.

So, the standard fare, of course, are articles & blogs on scrapping/cardmaking et al, as well as just about every crafting mag the industry puts out! Number One Fave was CARD TRENDS by Northridge Media, and frankly, I'd say it qualifies as a book every single month! Ha! (Update: they’re out of print, but I still love them.)

Then, I have a bit of a thing for Organizing books... ...and Storage books, ...and Self-Help of just about every type, ...and anything on ADHD, ...Personal Growth

The Marvel movies, THE MATRIX! Braveheart, Dances With Wolves, Titanic, Lord of the Rings/Hobbit series', City of Angels, Moulin Rouge...
Hmm... I Guess I like the Romantic, Sweeping Love Story paired with the Epic, History-Changing Storyline :)

Game of Thrones!! Seriously. GoT = Best.Thing.Ever. ANGEL & BUFFY & Just about anything Joss Whedon creates, to be honest (think: SERENITY and Dollhouse!).... BONES!
Then there was THE UNIT; possibly the most accurate Military Series on television EVER, imho - and SO genuinely got it right.

Oh - HOARDERS, on A&E. I have every episode on my DVR though. I can so relate - So many of us just have so much! Watching this show helps me relate to some of my clients as well. I am constantly in the process of becoming simpler - in how I think, what I do, how I do it, and with what...
I still have such an overabundance of everything. And while I know that's more from too much Retail Therapy than failing to throw things out... Still... The longer I watch the show, and the more I read on the subject, I think the behaviors stem from the same type of roots...