browneyedmurmur

Now, just a couple of things to note before you read this novel I call a profile:

1) The “North” in my address has to be spelled out in its entirety, as it is the name of the road, NOT a direction. If you write “N.” instead of spelling it out, there is a good chance that the mail will not make it to me.

2) If you don’t receive a swap from me in a timely manner, PLEASE contact me! I keep my receipts from the post office and will happily check the whereabouts of your mail if it was sent with tracking. If it didn’t have a tracking number, I will resend your mail ASAP and send you a message letting you that know I have done so. In fact, if a considerable amount of time has passed, and you haven’t rated my swap, I will more than likely contact you to see if you’ve received it, and if you’d like me to resend, if only to ease my own mind. I’m SO not cool with the idea of leaving you swapless!

Now that we have that out the way...

Hello!

My name is Miranda, and I am a 42-year-old housewife and Etsy shop owner from Indiana. I have lived in the Hoosier state all of my life, mostly in small, rural towns (except for my time in Bloomington, when I attended IU). I have been married to my high school sweetheart for twenty years. We have no children (two miscarriages early in our marriage), and currently have no pets. We had two big yellow tom cats that blessed us with their presence (the namesakes of my Etsy shop), but they passed away a couple of years back. Harvey and Beau will be hard acts to follow, as they were practically purr-fect in every way, but I do hope to adopt again soon.

I enjoy nature and all of the peace, beauty, and creativity it holds.

I drink coffee or Earl Grey tea in the morning, and herbal or decaf tea before bed. Jasmine tea is the only one I’ve found I dislike thus far.

I play D&D and watch “Critical Role,” and “The Legend Of Vox Machina.” Caduceus Clay has my heart.

I tend to read nonfiction, mostly self-help or spirituality, but am also fascinated by Scandinavian minimalism and hygge (IKEA is my happy place).

I’m a Christian.

I’m also the eldest of two, a turbulent ESFP, a Cancer, and 4w3 on the enneagram, if that’s helpful - lol!

UPDATE, Feb. 2, 2022: In January of 2022, I was diagnosed with IgA nephropathy, an autoimmune disorder that damages the kidneys.

Yesterday, February 1st, 2022, my nephrologist (kidney doctor) informed me that 50% of my glomeruli (basically, kidney filters) were destroyed and irreparable, and that my kidneys have irreparable scarring.

I will be seeing her again at the end of May for blood work and a urinalysis to see if my kidney function is holding its own, or if the immune disorder has done more damage, at which time I may be prescribed steroids and/or immunosuppressive medications to keep my body from destroying itself.

All of this to say that I may not be as active here in the coming months, as I am planning on spending more time with my close friends and family until I have a better handle on what my future may hold. Don’t worry, though! The swaps I sign up for, I will send as usual (gotta keep that 5.0 rating, ya’ know), but I may not meet group participation frequency requirements as I have in the past. I won’t be angry if I am removed due to my failure to meet these requirements, but felt I owe an explanation as to why I’m not as active as I once was.

Favorite Paper Craft Style

I favor vintage, botanical, floral, entomological (bugs, bees, butterflies, other creepy crawlies, etc.), mushrooms, Victorian, and steampunk themes; that said, I don’t limit myself to these styles, as I also make things for friends, family, and pen pals. There is always room for something bright, cheerful, or cute in my craft supply collection. Christian faith-based and inspirational themes are fine, as are seasonal (NOT holiday specific) items. Really, almost anything goes!

Favorite Colors

I wear and decorate my home with black, white, grey, camel, rust, saffron gold, and bright golden yellow - think of the colors on a calico or yellow tabby cat. However, don’t limit yourself to those by any means! I craft with ALL colors, as I am usually creating something with the recipient in mind.

Favorite Flower

Strangely, I love the dandelion. It has nostalgic and melancholic symbolism for me. First, it is bright and cheerful, and reminds me of childhood bouquets when life was carefree and innocent. When the flower ages, it loses its vibrancy, and becomes more fragile, similar to how we, as humans, age. I also love that, even in its death, the same children that harvest the yellow flowers in the spring find joy in making wishes on its delicate seeds. Kind of a full circle thing, ya’ know?

Favorite Scents

I wear Simply by Clinique in the spring/summer, and True Gent by Avon (it’s a men’s cologne) in the fall/winter. Date nights get Chloe Narcisse. All of the scents I wear are no longer made, so I’m always on the lookout for a bottle for an affordable price! For home scents, I’m typically drawn to more masculine scents like pine, sandalwood, leather, woodsmoke, and tobacco, especially if they’re mixed with vanilla. I love Wildberry’s pear vanilla incense.

I’ve seen a number of ABCs, and thought it was an easy way to scan favorite things, so here goes!

A: The Antiquarian Sticker Book, address labels, autumn, Alice In Wonderland (NOT Disney), American traditional tattoos, alternative rock

B: botanicals, birds, bees, butterflies, beetles, bugs

C: Christianity, coffee, coffee dyed paper, cocoa, chai, cardstock, cats, crochet, cross stitch, collage, Critical Role, Caduceus Clay (a character on Critical Role)

D: doilies, die cut words, Dungeons & Dragons, dandelions

E: embellished paper clips, envelopes, emo music, embroidery, effort, ephemera, enneagram 4 related items/themes

F: fall, flip books, folk music, fussy cuts, forest creatures, forget-me-nots, forsythia

G: gothic

H: handcrafted items, hygge

I: insects, incense

J:

K: knitting, kittens, Klimt

L: lace

M: mythology, mums, marigolds

N: nature, nu metal music

O: old looking items

P: playlists, photography, photo realism, pressed flowers

Q:

R: ribbon, random combinations of things

S: stationery sets, stationery paper, stickers, scrapbook paper, seasonal (NOT holidays), song lists, Shel Silverstein’s children’s poetry books, Sweetarts candy, squirrels

T: Tim Holtz, tea (anything but jasmine), tea stained paper, tags, travel, tickets

U: unused postage stamps (particularly the old fashioned “lick ‘em and stick ‘em” kind)

V: vintage, Victorian, vintage ads

W: wrapping paper, washi tapes, washi stickers, The Wizard Of Oz (L. Frank Baum’s books, NOT the movie), Where The Wild Things Are (the book, NOT the movie), wilderness, wax seals

X:

Y: yellow

Z:

Christmas items of any kind. Our first miscarriage began just after opening gifts on Christmas Eve, and continued throughout Christmas Day. While I’ll always be mindful of and thankful for Jesus’ birth, I find the holiday’s festivities to be a sorrowful reminder of what might have been.

Politics of any kind. I do this for fun, to escape from all of that gobbledegook. I don’t want it ruining my happy place!

Pornographic material/sexually suggestive stuff

Holiday specific items (unless it’s the swap’s stated theme, in which case I knew what I was signing up for, so GAME ON!)

Disney, Hello Kitty, or other popular cartoon characters

Kawaii, Sanrio, manga, or anime

Rap & country music

Girl power/feminist themes

Romantic comedies (I like tragedies, though), or romance novels

Stickers for teachers, students, or moms; daily planner stickers

Tarot cards or ouija boards

“The Walking Dead”

“Fear The Walking Dead”

“The Walking Dead : World Beyond”

“Law & Order : SVU”

“True Blood”

“Breaking Bad”

“The Sopranos”

“Sons Of Anarchy”

“The Killing”

“Bates Motel”

“Stranger Things”

“The Goes Wrong Show”

“The Masked Singer”

“Grey’s Anatomy”

Brand New

Vampire Weekend

Straylight Run

Dashboard Confessional

Lord Huron

Taylor Swift

Chris Isaak

The Killers

The Decemberists

David Bowie

Weezer

Woodkid

Twenty One Pilots

Gregory Alan Isakov

The National

90s alt rock, 00s emo, nu metal, folk, stuff that I hear on television shows that almost always ends up being European, rockabilly, surf music, sad/depressing songs

“Moulin Rouge”

“Baz Luhrmann’s Romeo & Juliet”

“Fight Club”

“Goodfellas”

“Pulp Fiction”

“Kill Bill”

“Best In Show”

“Zoolander”

“The Shawshank Redemption”

“The Breakfast Club”

“The Princess Bride”

“Labyrinth”

“The Dark Crystal”

“Legend”

“Clue”

“500 Days Of Summer”

“Love Is a Mix Tape: Life and Loss, One Song at a Time” and “Talking to Girls About Duran Duran: One Young Man's Quest for True Love and a Cooler Haircut” by Rob Sheffield

“Till We Have Faces” by C.S. Lewis

“Anthem” by Ayn Rand

“Fahrenheit 451” by Ray Bradbury

“Animal Farm” by George Orwell

“How Starbucks Saved My Life” by Michael Gates Gill

“Alice’s Adventures In Wonderland” and “Through The Looking Glass” by Lewis Carroll

The “Oz” series by L. Frank Baum

“Where The Sidewalk Ends” and “A Light In The Attic” by Shel Silverstein

“Where The Wild Things Are” and “Pierre” by Maurice Sendak

“Harold And The Purple Crayon” by Crockett Johnson

“The Little Book Of Hygge” by Meik Wiking

“The Road Back To You” by Ian Morgan Cron

“Sacred Pathways: Discover Your Soul's Path to God” by Gary Thomas