Ryder

I am a proud mum and foster mama.

All of my children are special needs (heart conditions, ASD, cerebral palsy, FASD, anxiety, PTSD etc).

I have been swapping and penpalling for over twenty years through various groups, I find it a great stress reliever.

Some of my favourite crafts include:

• Flip books
• ATCs
• Pocket letters
• Altered books/journals
• OTP items

Other crafts I enjoy: quilting, sewing, knitting, crochet, toy making, cake art, and card making.

• Christmas (Traditional red/green colours, berries, candy canes, nutcrackers, and gingerbread are my favourite themes)
• Hot chocolate sachets
• Squirrels, bees, arctic foxes, jellyfish, axolotyl
• Disney (Mickey/Minnie, Maui, Dr Strange, Loki, OG Aurora/Maleficent are my favourite)
• Little Golden Books
• Yankee candles
• Novelty patterned socks size 9
• Candy (nothing sour please)
• Pink in any shade
• Disney park maps
• Ocean/nautical themed scrapbooking paper, cardstock and supplies (mermaids, beaches, anchors, lighthouses etc)
• Apple Barrel paint, any colour or size
• Squishmallows
• Lush shower gels (Grass is my favourite)
• Bella Carta, Stamperia, Echo Park, Tim Holtz scrapbooking paper, cardstock and supplies
• Board games and card games
• Firefighter themed scrapbooking paper, cardstock and supplies
• Daphne's Diary magazine
• Sugar free snacks and drinks
• Mills and Boon large print books
• 0.2 fine point markers
• Lip crayons and lip glosses in light colours.
• Sample sized perfume, cosmetics, skin care
• Eyeshadow, blush, clear mascara
• E6000, double sided tapes/dots, mod podge
• Amish romance novels
• Wheat bags

All of my children and foster children are special needs.

Mr W is ASD, high functioning, with anxiety. He loves snacks, anything to do with firefighting (he is a volunteer firefighter at two different units), gaming magazines, and travel gadgets. Mr W wears a men's M in shirts, 32 in pants, 9 in shoes.

Mr T is ASD, low functioning, with FASD, and PTSD. He loves bugs of all kinds, monster trucks, cookies, Ryan's World, Octonauts, PawPatrol. Mr T wears a size 7 in clothes, 12.5 in shoes.

Miss K has cerebral palsy, non verbal ASD, and hearing loss. She loves soft dolls, pram dangles, things she can chew, musical toys, soft or sensory balls and plastic blocks to bang. She wears a size 1 in clothes, 4 in shoes.

• Spode Christmas Tree items, used is fine
• Starbucks mugs and travel mugs
• Christmas nutcrackers in any form
• Disney Doorables
• Squishmallows

If you are in a postcard swap with me, I really love postcards with the following themes...

• Beaches
• Christmas
• Squirrels
• Maps
• London, Alaska, or Hawaii

If you are stuck on what to write, I always love getting lists, especially shopping lists, I love comparing prices around the globe.

• Lavender (allergic)
• Nuts, liquorice, sour candy
• The colour purple in any form
• Post-its and sticky notes
• Glitter
• Anything hateful or toxically positive
• Washi tape

I have been pen palling for over twenty years, and am always looking for new friends. I am particularly keen to find a like minded pal in the following locations:

• Canada
• Alaska
• Scotland
• Ireland

I rate all swaps as soon as I receive them. If I have not rated you, it means that your swap has not been received.

I have been getting a lot of questions from swap partners lately, asking why I have not given them a heart.

Firstly, I believe that hearts are subjective, and should never be expected.

For me personally, I give hearts if the swap made me smile or was exceptionally thoughtful. I have been known to give hearts for email swaps or postcard swaps previously.

It might be as simple as reading my profile and using postage stamps that match my likes, or making me a pouch from a material that matches my likes. It might be as simple as a thoughtful note on the back of a postcard.

The swap category, or adding extras, does not determine if I give a heart or not. In a lot of cases, the generic extras sent to me end up in landfill as I have no use for them and no one to pass them along to.

While I enjoy every swap I get sent, I do save my hearts for those that I consider exceptional or which made me feel gooey happy.

Thank you for taking our likes/dislikes into consideration.