browneyedmurmur

Three very important things before reading this novel of a profile that I wrote...

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! I’m fairly new to swap-bot, and don’t want to have my swapping career ended by a bad rating before it even had a chance to begin! Lol!

3) Please know that I don’t want you to be stressed out if you get me as your partner! While I like some things more than others, I enjoy the idea of you making something that you love and want to share with me even more so.

Now that we have that out of the way...

Hello! My name is Miranda, and I am a 41-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). Although I enjoy visiting new places and bigger cities, there’s nothing my heart loves more than a colorful, country sunset that fades into a chorus of crickets and a light show of fireflies and stars...unless it’s accompanied by the crackling of a campfire and the lapping of a lake on the shore. Yeah,,,that might make it even more perfect!

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 walking in nature and just reveling in all of the peace, beauty, and creativity it holds.

I drink coffee in the morning, herbal or decaf tea before bed, craft beers (porters or stouts) and gin & tonics when the mood strikes.

I play D&D and watch “Critical Role.” Caduceus Clay has my heart.

I tend to read nonfiction self help, 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!

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 Yarn

I tend to favor worsted weight, but will work with about anything! I’m not picky about fiber content. I adore everything Malabrigo and Noro produce.

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 Lush’s Vanillary in the spring/summer and True Gent by Avon (it’s a men’s cologne) in the fall/winter. I’m 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

B: botanicals, birds, bees, butterflies, beetles, bugs, badgers (the animal, not the college sports team)

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

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

E: embellished paper clips, envelopes, emo music, embroidery, effort, ephemera

F: fall, flip books, folk music, fussy cuts, forest creatures, foxes

G: girly stuff

H: handcrafted items, hygge

I: insects, incense

J:

K: knitting, kittens

L: lace, leopard print

M: monograms, mythology

N: nature

O: old looking items

P: playlists, polka dots, photography, photo realism, pressed flowers, porcupines, pandas

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, steampunk, succulents, squirrels, skunks

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

U:

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:

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!

Nudity/pornographic material/sexually suggestive stuff

Holiday specific items (unless it’s the swap’s theme, in which case - GAME ON!); I love decorating for the seasons, though (ex. - not so big on Santa or Christmas trees, but love forest creatures in the snow or people skating and drinking hot cocoa).

Disney, Hello Kitty, or other popular cartoon characters

Kawaii, Sanrio, manga, or anime

Rap & country music

Girl power themes

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

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

Occult items like tarot cards or ouija boards

Drug culture, pot leaves

“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”

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, 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”

“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