crimsoncat05

I'm a Midwestern small-town girl transplanted to the AZ desert. I hang out here with my BF, our crazy Shelties, and our two energetic (but exasperating!) tabby cats. We haven't done too much traveling out here yet, although there are plenty of places I'd like to see... Seattle, Portland, San Francisco, and Las Vegas, to name a few. I love crafting!!! Give me a pair of scissors, some paper, and a gluestick, and I'm happy! I love trying new crafts, and I'm always on the lookout for new and interesting techniques to try. I sell some of my creations through my Etsy shop, Crimson Cat Paper Arts.

I also write semi-regularly about random and crafty things in my blog (link above); stop by sometime and say Hi!

I'm taking a bit of a swap-bot break this summer, since we just got a new puppy named Bisbee; she's quite a bit of work! (stop by my Flickr page for some cute pics!!)

my all-time faves are:

Star Wars (the original 3), and Lord of the Rings, all three of them... I still have a crush on Luke Skywalker, and I love Legolas and Aragorn!

I also like: Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers musicals Elvis musicals, Hugh Grant movies, 1950s movies (Rock Hudson, Jane Wyman, Doris Day, etc.), and historical chick-flicks- Marie Antoinette, Sense and Sensibility, things like that.

I love papercrafts of all kinds- making ATCs, iris folding, tea-bag folding, embroidery on paper, rubber stamping, etc. I also love trying new things- I have polymer clay and tools but haven't tried them yet; would love to try soldering and microscope slides; would love to do collage with beeswax; have just taken a couple classes on painted journal pages so would love to start an art journal...

Things I like: I like cats, flowers, birds, butterflies, dragonflies, trees, etc. All sorts of things involved with nature. I love gardening and flowers, although I haven't figured out how to do it too successfully here in the desert yet.

I love cookbooks and recipes, although I don't do a lot of cooking from them! I especially like vintage cookbooks for the graphics, and recipes from small-town church cookbooks because you know they're tried and true recipes.

I love to read- right now I am working my way (very slowly!!) through The Lord of the Rings books.

I love vintage and historical things- the 1930s-1950s were great for style, popular culture, and great color combinations. I also like Southwestern and Mexican style, since we live in AZ, and I would love to learn more about Frida Kahlo, Georgia O'Keefe, Day of the Dead, and Native American culture and art.

My favorite holiday is Christmas- I love vintage Christmas decorations and ornaments! I also love vintage or vintage-style decorations from other holidays: Easter and Halloween come to mind.

Favorite colors: red and green (just not the regular bright colors- I like cranberry red, mauve, sage green, and hunter green) I also like blues and purples... colors from nature, mostly, not neon or fluorescent colors.

Wish list: I would love to get all sorts of tiny embellishments, ribbons, interesting trims, etc. for use in ATCs and other papercrafts. I loooove paper, and am always looking for decorative, unusual papers (printed, handmade, etc.). I also am starting to collect magazine images, book text, and other random images for use in ATCs, inchies, and collage work.

Dislikes: "too-cute" stuff, neon-bright colors, no "dark" arts or goth stuff, I don't really get into the naked ladies in artwork, I dislike spiders (I'm deathly afraid of them)... I don't knit or crochet, so yarn and similar things wouldn't be of any use to me.

I don't watch a lot of network TV: our TV is usually set on Discovery, TLC, The History Channel, or the Food Network.

My favorites include: Iron Chef America, Diners Drive-Ins & Dives, What Not to Wear, Decorating Cents, That 70s Show, King of the Hill, Roswell, Highlander (the series with Adrian Paul), Star Trek Next Generation (with Captain Picard!), and American Chopper.

My current fave: the new season of Deadliest Catch just started! I also like watching Chefography on the Food Channel. (guilty pleasure: I also watch General Hospital when I get a chance.)

I dislike most of the current "reality" contest shows, and have never watched an episode of Dancing with the Stars, Survivor, or American Idol.