LucyMayleen

Swap notes and procedures below!

My name is Lucy Mayleen Grey. You can call me Lucy, Mayleen, or Grey. :) I'm a 19 y/o girl in the USA and I've just stumbled across this site in my newfound love for all things snail mail.

I'm a full time student and employee, with all the interests of a first grader. Video games, animated movies, soundtracks- if your five year old likes it, chances are I will too!

I'm not a creative person by nature. To me, it's always been one of those things you're either born with or you aren't, and it just sucks if you're one of the latter like myself. However, Pinterest, this site, and other sources lately have made me reconsider. I'm in the process of trying to BECOME a creative person, so any advice or suggestions or even just encouraging words are appreciated. 4/16/2013: I've been a lot better about this negative thinking lately! Recently I've taken an interest in hand-drawing ATCs, even though I'm not very good at it, soap making, and journaling!

Two things I really enjoy doing are:

Reading- I prefer young adult fiction- sci-fi, paranormal, historical, you name it. I'm not much for non-fiction and real-life issues. I prefer fantasy and make-believe, sword and dragons and magic. ;)

Writing- I don't do quite as much of this as I would like, but I'd love to find some creative writing penpals to swap prompts and challenge one another. Right now I primarily write fanfiction for some of my favorite movies/anime series, though none of it is posted anywhere (maybe when I build up the courage!). I'd also like to write my own YA fiction novels one day!

So far, I haven't discovered a craft I'm particularly good at. I'm hoping to find something I enjoy as well as prosper at, so I'm in a bit of an experimenting phase.

Right now I'm working with sewing, quilting, and cross-stitching, and I'm capable of crocheting simple scarves and blankets (unfortunately I haven't found out how to read patterns just yet). I have no artistic ability whatsoever, so anything that requires the ability to draw more than a stick figure is out of my reach.

If you've got suggestions for a craft I should try, I'd love to hear them!

I don't know if when I'll get around to doing a swap like this, but just in case here are some general food/drink guidelines:

• Recipes: I'm a very picky eater. Pretty much, if it isn't chicken, beef, pasta, or cheese, I won't eat it. It's a sad, unhealthy lifestyle I live. Oh! If you do anything special to ramen noodles, I'd like to hear about that!

• Sweets: There are very few things I don't enjoy when it comes to sweets. I guess the few would be: licorice, coconut flavoring or coconut inside, nuts, dark chocolate. I'm particularly FOND of Milky Ways, Three Musketeers, Reese's Cups -the big ones-, Sprees, Werther's hard candies any flavor, etc.

• Drinks: I'm more of a hot chocolate/coffee drinker than a tea fanatic. But when I do drink tea, I prefer Early Grey or fruity flavors (esp. peach and strawberry). Powdered cappuccino mixes are great!

I don't have any allergies that I know of. :)

I would love to receive any of these things:

• ATCs - any skill level is appreciated, as I have no artistic ability myself. Favorite themes are listed below in the misc. favorites section!

• Gift cards to Michael's, Hobby Lobby, Etsy, Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Visa

• Soap making supplies: essential oils, molds, food coloring, cookie cutters, party favor bags

• Fabric- by the yard, half yard, fat quarters, charm packs. I especially like purples and pastel colors or the "chic" patterns. Old sheets, clothes, or pillow cases I can cut into scraps. :)

• Lists, journals of lists, envelopes of lists.

• "Interesting" earrings - animals, food, nerdy, polymer clay.

• Polymer clay figurines!

• Ribbons. My hair is finally long enough to pull back for the first time in years and I'd love some ribbons to tie in it- whole rolls, single bits, anything is welcome.

• Washi tape!

• Suggest me a new craft to try! :) I'm into soap making and quilting and I'm trying to hand-draw ATCs; teach me about a craft you enjoy!

I'm not really picky about the picture on the postcard, but if you're really wondering I prefer non-touristy, non-scenic views. Themes I would probably particularly enjoy would be Lord of the Rings, anime, festivals, carnivals, and junk food.

Really, though, what I care about most is the writing! If we're doing an un-prompted swap, I would love it if you could jot down a quick inspirational quote, or a joke, or a list, or something that made you smile the day you wrote it! :)

• I am unable to make it to the post office on weekdays. I can usually send out USA swaps anyway because I always have stamps at home, but international mail will always go out on Saturdays- I won't sign up for swaps with pre-Saturday deadlines because I won't be able to send them. Expect bulk mail-outs for swaps, tags, etc. on Saturdays!

• Thus far, I haven't had any problems with my mail outs not arriving. I strive to send everything not just on time, but as early as possible. If for some reason you don't receive a swap from me, please let me know before you rate down and I will gladly resend. I also do a lot of email swaps, so please be sure to check your junk mail if you didn't receive an email from me (and if you didn't, I'll resend that as well!) Oh! Also, I only check my P.O. Box 2-3 times a week. I try to go on every Monday, Wednesday, and Saturday.

• I'm always open to private swaps. I'm out of destash supplies right now, so for the moment all I have to offer is handwritten letters, PCs, hand-drawn/painted ATCs (amateur level), and other flat mail goodies.

• I would really like to try a journal swap. I don't actually journal on a regular basis, but I think a prompted journal exchange would be fun! I will do as many of these as you'd like! I'm really interested in random journals, list journals, daily entry journals, and creative writing journals (I think it would be so cool to do one of the DeviantArt 100 themes challenges in journal form).

• Lastly, I always rate and I would appreciate if you would do the same. Thanks!

Disney Movies: Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin, Tangled, Tarzan, Hercules, Peter Pan, Little Mermaid!

DreamWorks: The Croods, How to Train Your Dragon

TV Shows: Once Upon a Time, Chicago Fire

Anime: Naruto Shippuden, Fairy Tail, Bleach, FMA: Brotherhood, Inuyasha

Video games: Legend of Zelda, Mario Party, Yoshi

Color: Purple

Scents: I love vanilla. I'm also a huge fan of fruity fragrances, but not so big on floral scents (with the exception of sweet pea and plumeria!)

ATC Themes: Wisteria, Yellow Roses, anime, mythical creatures, My Little Pony, fairy tales, purple, Pokemon, Legend of Zelda, Yoshi, Mario party characters, so on and so forth. :)