PeliKat

Note: June 22, 2018 - My apologies to those who have sent me swaps in the past week and are waiting for a rating. I have been I'll and am still feeling weak and under the weather. I promise that I will get caught up with ratings for the mail I've received; I appreciate your patience!
Thank you!

Greetings! I'm Kathy Bates, and no, I am not the famous actress, (although I can relate to her in many ways). I read that I should introduce myself to my swap partners, so here it is: I live in Southern Indiana, near the Ohio River, with Lisa - my work partner AND my life partner; we have two dogs: Sophie the Pug and Foxy the Pomeranian, and we have just added two guinea pigs to the family. I love Capybaras, but they won't pass the city code for house pets, so guinea pig will suffice, and they look just like miniature capybaras with much shorter legs. Lisa and I work together in a family business, but when we aren't working, I keep busy with several hobbies:
1) Family History (especially the Heritage scrapbook I'm putting together) so genealogy is a big love of mine; 2) growing Bonsai trees (which we used to sell on the internet, but don't now due to having to WORK at the family business) tree postcards and stickers are always welcomed; 3) browsing through antique store/thrift stores/consignment stores (where I find a LOT of items to use in my craft projects!), 4) surfing Pinterest (where I have pinned so many things that I'd love to try), and, of course, 5) Crafting (especially paper crafts!). There's nothing more fun than meeting the challenge of turning some found crap into something fantastic! And really, one person's crap is another persons treasure, right? My main project right now is to figure out how to move my craft room into my Living Room, which is, after all, where I do most of my 'living'. The trick is to get it all organized so that I can find what I need when I need it, without having the place look like a craft store was blown in by a tornado. We all know that "creativity is not a pretty sight" until the project is finished and the mess cleaned up, right?

I like all kinds of paper crafts, love getting happy mail, (postcards can be sent in envelopes or naked and stamped/written on; I love them either way!); I enjoy putting together 'packets' of goodies for other people to enjoy, and learning new things. I'm always on the lookout for new ideas to use in crafting and have a big collection of materials that I like to share with other crafters.

Happy swapping to you! May your mailbox be full of happy mail and your postage stamp supply renew itself continuously!!

Thanks so much for swapping with me, Kathy Bates, (not the actress).

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Updated 3/19/2018

Favorite things: bees, dragonflies; crafty bits and pieces like ribbon, buttons, charms, and unique papers/gift wrap/book pages, fancy printed napkins; anything beach related, whether on the shore or in the water; dogs especially pugs; birds and feathers; bonsai trees; genealogy; cats; guinea pigs; capybaras; chocolate! I also like bath and shower gels, pretty kitchen towels/hand towels/washcloths.

Favorite movies/TV shows: anything with Robin Williams, everything Walking Dead or Z Nation, police shows, hospital shows, fire department shows, end-of-the-world/saved-by-the-hero type movies, The Last Ship, movies based on true stories. Also Fringe, Deadwood, Jurassic Park series, Medium....

Favorite Music: just about anything from Mozart to Pink, reggae, 60s/70s/80s Pop, Heavy Metal, but not Thrash Metal; Country except for the really twangy kind, Gloria Estefan, Eurythmics, James Taylor, Pentatonix, Ed Sheeran, Adam Lambert... And lately, Leonard Cohen. Just no Gospel or Justin Bieber.

Wish List: Time, Money, and Good Health... But don't we all want those things??!!! Since there is never enough of those three items to go around, in lieu of that, I would love to receive anything whimsical or humorous - I love to look at the funny side of Life! Or you can check out my 'favorites' lists. Basically anything I get in the mail that isn't a bill or an advertisement is 'fun mail'!!! I'm not into Disney or religious things, so please don't send those items.

Favorite time of the year: Autumn, when the leaves are beautiful and they crackle under my feet when I walk, and the air smells so crisp! Next favorite would be Spring, when everything starts waking up again. Summer is usually too hot for me, but Winter is okay, as long as there is coffee and cocoa available, and a big pot of soup!

Hobbies: (1) I've been working on my family history, so genealogy is a big interest. I have one family line tracked back to the 1600's. My mother was a German war bride, who came to the US one year before I was born and gained her US citizenship after learning the language and studying about her new country. So working on her ancestors is a bit of a challenge, but little by little, I'll break down those walls! (2) I also grow bonsai trees, and used to sell them at art fairs and craft shows. I didn't get rich off of it, but did make enough money to finance my bonsai hobby and make trips to bonsai nurseries to choose more trees to play with and train. I still have a few that I will sell, but my collection is now at about the quantity that I can care for easily. (3) I've discovered the joy of birds and have several food and water stations for them out in my yard. Our regular visitors all have different personalities, and it's especially exciting when we get a new visitor! That sends me scrambling to the bird books to learn more about that species.

~~~~~~~~~~ If you don't get a swap from me that you are expecting, please let me know before you rate, so that I can check on it and make things right. I think a lot of the time it's the creating and sending out things that is the most fun for me, and I definitely don't want to be a flaker! I also try to err on the side of sending more than required; it's part of my 'declutter' campaign! If you should receive a swap from me with postage due, please let me know so that I can take care of the extra cost.

Updated 4/14/18 The Low Rating of 3 on my record: This was for a stamped image swap; the first envelope I sent was not received by the swapper it was sent to. A second mailing, which included extra stamped images (I had gotten some new stamps and was having a great time trying them out) was received, but the recipient said that they the images were not clear enough and that they had been trimmed to close to be used. I'm confused, because the second set that I sent was stamped on blank index cards, with only two images per card on most of them, and I sent the images that were fully stamped, keeping the lesser quality ones to use myself. I'm wondering if perhaps the first mailing turned up and was mistaken as the re-mailed packet. I offered to re-do and re-send a third time, requesting info on how much white space she would like around each image, but she declined. Hopefully, my 190+ ratings of 5 and my 160+ hearts will stand on their own if I'm borderline on joining a swap.