RoxieLilly

I am in my late 60’s, living in Oro Valley AZ, USA, which is in the Sonoran Desert. Oro Valley is a small town just north of Tucson AZ and 106 miles (177 km) south/slightly east of Phoenix AZ. It is incredibly beautiful here but can be harsh with the low humidity and the over abundance of sunshine and heat. I would love to share with others what it is like living in this desert and exchange handmade art.

I have always enjoyed making art and working with my hands and have done so all of my life. Unfortunately, I was not employed to what I most enjoyed doing, (like most of us) so making art and any crafts had to take a secondary position to my free time and monies. Now that I am retired, I can do what I want, within a more time and must conserve money parameters. And with aging, I also have to consider my less energy level🙄😆. In other words, no big projects. Swap-bot is perfect in that way.

I am “crafty” (origami, paper mache, beading, jewelry making, rubber stamping, scrapbooking, etc.) I also draw with pencil, graphite and colored and paint in water color and acrylics. I like to make (mostly) hand drawn, hand painted ATC’s and make greeting cards and postcards. I also like to collect, make and share bookmarks of all kinds. I also enjoy embellishing my envelopes. Recently,I have started to do book binding, creating small journals. It is tremendously satisfying in that I get to make a 3D object and create art at the same time.

I would love to have some international pen pals to share life, embellished letters, envelopes and/or art. If international, it would be cool to share tourist hand outs, flyers, ads, newspaper clips, postcards, bookmarks, all paper, fitting in a first class envelope, within weight limits, to keep postage lower.

Please, no other kind of gifting with swaps, except quality stickers, vinyl or scrapbooking, please no rude or kid stickers. Also, ATC’s, bookmarks, postcards, local tourist flyers/cards, interesting paper, or paper scraps, bigger than 3 inches (unless very interesting, than smaller is fine). All tuck ins are always appreciated but certainly not necessary.

I also like to collect smashed pennies and it would be fun to trade pennies. I like to use (when you can make your own) 100% copper pennies. Pennies minted after 1982 have zinc cores. Sometimes the zinc, of post 1982 pennies, show through the design on the smashed pennies. Sometimes the silvery zinc will enhance the stamped image, but most times it doesn’t look as nice, as the show through zinc can be uneven. I have lots of pre 1982 pennies to share, if you ask. For years I have been picking them out of my change. The pennies are getting harder to find, if you would like some (for a special trip, for instance, last time I was at Disney World, they had a lot of penny pressers) just ask. I would be glad to send copper pennies to another collector. You can send me a pressed penny in exchange. Unfortunately, I am seeing the newer pressers, are enclosed and using their own pennies. 😕

For a POSTCARD Swap, I enjoy postcards that have local points of interest or local nature, ie tourist cards, but I also like any kind of “art” post cards. Send these postcards “naked” in the mail. But if you like making your own (and I really like to get those kind of postcards) please send in an envelope, even if the swap wants it to be sent “naked,” so it wouldn’t get damaged.

My other interests are: going to the local sci/fi, fantasy, anime, Steampunk, comic cons. So, of course I enjoy/like all the related realities associated with those alternate universes. There are surprisingly many of these kinds of con events in this area. But then again, the Phoenix Metroplex is the 5th largest in USA.

I enjoy car camping, I am interested in archeology and ancient peoples. When young I was an avid reader, of anything, but heavy on sci fi and fantasy and English murder mysteries. I still enjoy those kinds of reads. But no more Westerns, no horror, no romances, no historical fiction or biographies, etc. I’m at that age where I feel I can indulge myself to read what I enjoy most.

I love all creatures, especially dogs. Presently, in my household, we have two youngish male tabby cats and a yearling Desert Sonoran Tortoise. Due to the outside dangers, they are indoor house pets and do not to go outside.

Sending anything in a swap that is creature related is always appreciated. I can honestly say there is not a creature I actively dislike. I can’t say I like Pacific banana slugs, which I met once while camping in the Pacific Northwest, like roaches, I would say I have an aversion towards😆 them. Nevertheless, I believe all living beings have a place in this world, even the rattle snakes, which we have in abundance here.

I am non religious but when younger I had an interest and involvement in Buddhism and Earth Religions. I now identify myself as an Atheist and a Humanist. I attend the nearby Unitarian Universalist Congregation. Please don’t send me anything with a religious theme except for Buddhism or Earth Religions. I would find that sweetly nostalgic, as it is appealing to a past version of myself.

If you’re looking at my profile and notice I’m not doing many swaps, it is probably because I am trying to practice making better art. I have a large library of “how to” books and really need to make more use of them. And recently I have decided to take a 3 credit watercolor art class at the nearby college.

I really do enjoy making a good and fun swap, but that takes time and care. I will always (unless I’m sick or dead) complete a swap. If I am sick, I will message and explain the lateness, if I am dead, you can give me a bad rating, I wouldn’t mind.

Please let me know if you haven’t gotten your swap. I will always be happy to replace it. And please rate me so I am not conflicted whether or not to message you. Are you having a crisis and am I a shallow, self absorbed person to bother you about a silly rating? Or did you just forget to rate? Or did you not get the swap? Mail service can be so iffy. For America and Canada, after four weeks I might (I don’t like chasing ratings) send a message. I’ll wait six weeks for international mail.

Thanks for reading my profile. I always read the profile of the person I am sending to. It is like a one sided pen pal letter, you get to peek into someone’s else’s life and get to know them a little.

Happy swapping🙂 Last updated Feb 2023