McPaintPants

Hello everyone! I've been on and off swap-bot many times since I joined in 2011.

I have been battling a major psychiatric disorder and anxiety for years. And it has been really tough. Sometimes that makes me less than the ideal person to swap with.

Hospital visits & periods of illness can mean I will be late without warning. And impaired cognitive processing means I often forget what I have and haven't done.

If I am late I will most certainly send an apology, but may not have the chance to message you immediately. My health has to come before this hobby, right?

If I have forgotten to rate you [please don't be upset, it's nothing personal.] A quick email should sort it all out.

All that being said, I think I'm usually a good partner to end up with. I put a lot of time and energy into my swaps. I will probably try to memorize your wishlist, and I know where to go for great finds!

Thank you everyone for all your understanding and support!

I'm 26, I live in Canada and I have no idea what I am doing! I'm a bookworm and a nerd (in the "I want to visit the museum" way, not the "I want to play space invaders" way).

I like to: READ!, swim (especially in the ocean), bake, cook big communal meals, ride my bike, follow art & craft blogs obsessively, thrift compulsively, waste all my time on Pinterest, and play board-games with my friends, who (thank goodness) are just as dorky as I am.

Seasonal Note: My birthday is, as you can see, November 1st, and I have always been obsessed with Hallowe'en & Dias de los Muertes. I would LOVE to receive creepy/weird, not-cute Hallowe'en decorations & doo-dads, especially vintage Hallowe'en items. Even if a swap says no Halloween things, please feel free to send them as it is a personal interest!

If you want to get a feel for my current aesthetic check out the DesignSponge.com page layout, it is the epitome of gorgeous to me.

I live so very close to a Daiso, so I have easy access to bento, kawaii & random Japanese goodness for cheap. So if that's what you're looking for, please PM me!

I also love putting together themed packages & sending profile surprises. I'm also more than happy to trade perzines. If you think we would make a good team, let's set up a private swap!

I'm pretty good at making:

• stuffies & dolls
• hand bound books
• zines
• drawings/ illustrations
• paper dolls

And I'm trying to learn about:

• modern calligraphy!!!!
• making BJD's
• hand-carving stamps
• textile/ repeat pattern design -being a illustrator for real
• making jams & preserves

{If you have any resources/advice/tips to share regarding the crafts I'm learning I would love it.}

I also intermittently:

• screenprint
• sew
• draft the occasional pattern
• knit
• crochet
• needle-felt
• sculpt & throw (ceramics)

When I'm reading someone's profile I like being able to get a feel for their aesthetic, that way I can make judgments about things that may not specifically on their wishlist. These are some websites I love because I find their artwork/aesthetics completely lovely and inspiring. I hope it helps you get a feel for what I like :)

Camilla Engman

The Jealous Curator

Myling

My Love For You Is A Stampede Of Horses

Sweet Station

All the Luck in the World

Inside a Black Apple

Amy Earles/Wool and Water

[Sam Moss] (http://www.samsammoss.com/)

• Canadiana ( snowshoes, the Group of Seven, beavers, random facts, & Canada History Moments, etc...)
• This American Life
• portraiture (real & imagined)
• folklore (esp. obscure folk-tales and stories/characters from other countries)
• vintage b&w photos -retro/pin up makeup
• magic(k) -shrines, alters, charms -Hallowe'en -Day of the Dead
• vintage floral prints -J.D. Salinger, Hemingway, Steinbeck, Plath, Eugenides, Capote...
• doll making
• my bike, Matilda Spiney
• my sketchbook
• ampersands !!!
• sewing small animals by hand
• unusual colour combinations
• books
• oddities, wunderkammen
• snails
• vintage linnens
• grey, navy blue, peach, mustard, red, mint green & light lime green
• teeth
• goats, hares, squirrels, bears, crows, raccoons & foxes
• mini softies & dolls
• washi tape
• graph paper, old school office supplies & vintage school supplies
• zines, especially: perzines, mental health zines, queer zines & gender themed zines
• stories & oral histories
• vintage/thrifted
• star charts, topographical maps, nautical charts
• woodgrain/fauxbois
• geometric patterns, prisms/crystals, rain drop shapes
• banners and bunting
• typewriters (I own seven & they all have names)
• narwhals
• dinosaurs
• sailors
• carny folk
• people with animal heads
• people wearing masks

Specifically searching for:

• a penpal, about my age to talk about zines, nerdiness, gender, baking, being shy, mental health, bikes... -really good instructions on typography/caligraphy -tips & hints from someone making their money from art making -Non-North American cigarettes, (My boyfriend smokes and would love this! But, non smokers, do not panic, no smoke or smokey things are going near, in or around any swaps!)
• a rock that's naturally shaped like a heart
• The Rescuers (1959), by Margery Sharp (new or used, as long as it's inexpensive)
• awesome perzines!
• vintage b&w pictures of people -printable patterns of vintage-looking dresses in size 22
• things to help get better at French, (immersion française pendant douze années, mais maintenant mon français est déplorable) (also two people I love are about to learn French for the first time & we could use things like flash cards and picture books with both French and English text)

Really, Really Want:

• anything related to the themes listed up there under "love"
• small, handmade dolls (not dotees)
• 110 film (colour) -hand drawn stickers
• streamers, stickers, clacking things for spokes, etc. for my bike
• typewriter ribbon
• books by Mark Dunn, other than Ella Minnow Pea & Ibid
• photocopies from your sketch book
• this headband
• jersey knit or cotton cowls or scarves like this lovely cowl or, this one
• cabinet of curiosity type items bones, teeth, coral etc.
• fake plug/stretcher earrings
• (peach, pink, grey, gridded or striped) washi tape
• hand-carved stamps
• handmade, palm sized plushies
• a crochet covered stone
• individual pencil crayons in neat colours
• vintage/vintage style (40's, 50's, 60's) dress patterns for size 20-22
• tights to fit 3x
• vintage tea towels with full printed images or embroidery
• your fine art
• prints of (your) art
• realistic rabbit figunines
• photobooth pictures of random people
• Phrenology busts, acupuncture figurines, reflexology feet, palmistry hands
• fortune telling, charms, magic(k), gris-gris

Or how about...

• completed paint by numbers
• back issues of Uppercase, Hi-Fructose and Juxtapose magazines
• a low-brow/pop-surrealist art magazine from your country
• Little Miss Scatterbrain keychain
• really red lipstick
• nail polish
• embroidery floss
• rub on letters in plain fonts
• letter stickers in boring fonts
• thickers!
• mid-sized, unlined, brown paper covered Moleskine notebooks (come in a pack of three but I don't need them all
• papercuts & silhouettes
• those little millinery birds
• VIA instant coffee
• art postcards
• vintage aprons (full is the most amazing)
• a cowl (grey, mustard, brown, rich blue, red...)
• bubble bath
• Avon bubble bath (does that still exist?)
• super dark chocolate
• vintage decorative tea-towels
• pistachio anything
• gummies with no gelatin(e)
• anything Barbapapa
• those tiny scissors shaped like a bird

Still can't see anything to send?

• neat images from old national geographics
• graph paper with an odd sized grid or any paper with weird lines
• vintage or vintage looking buttons
• paper doilies
• crocheted doilies that are not white
• a picture drawn by your son/daughter/niece/nephew ( I love having kids' art around to remind me that drawing can be fun and beautiful)
• an assortment of interesting 'security' envelopes ( for the patterns inside) -sharpie pens -a bookmark -those tiny post-its for flagging parts of books -yellow hb pencil -a drawing pencil or two -Lisa Frank!! or lisa frank-like things (I can't believe these are cool again!)

• inchies
• atcs
• dotees/button dolls

It's not that I have anything against these crafts, but they're just not my thing and I feel bad receiving something lovingly handcrafted that I don't collect or display. If you make something beautiful it deserves to go to someone who will adore it!

I don't really like 'girly' or 'cutesy' things (like rhinestones & gems, stiletto or purse themes, Hallmark angels or teddy bears etc.)

I do not want any scraps of fabric, yarn or paper. I am trying to de-stash and little bits of things do not help. I also don't need any more stationary, unless you find something mind-blowingly awesome.

I'm freegan so I eat mostly vegan but do not waste food that comes my way that contains milk/eggs/derivatives. I'm still very strict vegetarian so I do not eat gelatin(e) or rennet. I also do not use leather or commercially processed feathers. Please PM me if you have any questions but I understand that sending me food can be an ordeal. __ I don't really like characters or brand name kawaii. (except for Moomin & Barbapapa & Pony Brown)

I'm allergic to all metals except surgical steel & pure gold. So I can't wear a lot of jewelry. Pendants I can put on my own chains are great, and I can wear inexpensive earrings in short bursts but most necklaces, rings & bracelets will be passed on to a new home, where they will be loved and not cause rashes. :)

Weird Dislikes

• purple, all shades (I have no idea why)
• photo & hyper realism
• dealing with computers!
• coil-bound notebooks really bother me for some reason
• the seams on socks. I am so picky about my socks
• floral or artificial smells
• reading hardcover books, they're just too heavy (probably why I'm not at risk of anyone mailing me one, either)
• soup ( I realize this makes me sound so crazy. everyone likes soup!)
• carbonated beverages

I am always ok with receiving thrifted/used items that are clean and in good condition, even if the swap requirements specify otherwise.

I try to reuse packaging when it will not compromise the safety of the contents. Please feel free to send to me in recycled packaging.

I will be shipping through Canada Post, which is notoriously slow compared to other postal services and also shuts down on weekends. I'm sorry.

Hearts

Now that I've been on here a little while, and learned a bit more about the heart system I wanted to let all my partners know how I give hearts so you can know what to expect from me come rating time.

I want to give hearts for care & effort not extras. If a package floors me, if you took the time to read my profile for a sender's choice swap, if I can see that you went the extra mile, fulfilled a wish...

Just because I don't give a heart does not mean I didn't like your swap, please don't be hurt or offended.

xoxo

My favourite authors, I just realized that I feel weird not even mentioning them! There's too many books I love so this list is of author's whose books I have read more than two of, or whose book I have read more than twice. (Thanks MsKadie, good guidelines).

Herman Melville, Jules Verne, Hemingway, Stienbeck, Margret Attwood, C S Lewis, JK Rowling (shush!), John Wynham, Truman Capote (!!!!!!), Mark Dunn, Francesca Lia Block, Tove Jansson, Toni Morrison, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (I have a very big crush on Sherlock Holmes.), Sylvia Plath, JD Salinger(!!!), Wally Lamb, Jack London, Shirley Jackson.

I really like magical realism, dystopian fiction and soft sic-fi, fiction from the early 60's (in general). I read non-fiction about mental health and things like why we evolved to love story telling; how food systems work; gender, queer & feminist politics/bios.