martingale

I am taking a step back from Swap-Bot for a while. I have realised that with two young children, I just don't have the time to devote to it and I really don't want to find myself in a position where I have to let anyone down. We're also emigrating back to Australia next year so things are going to get even busier.

I will keep up with a couple of groups, but it might take me a year or so until I come back to swapping with the enthusiasm that I used to.

I love cross stitch, knitting and crafting although right now, I really don't get a lot of crafting done. Children make sure of that!

I am a book collector also. I have well over 1300 books at home (paper ones - I just can't get into the eBook thing) and love collecting second hand books.

I read most things, but I particularly love * history and historical fiction (that is what I am writing for my MA dissertation)

• Australiana

• literary fiction

• classics

• art books and art theory (my previous MA was in Art history)

• popular science

Classical and 1980s. I also like Jazz and music from the 1920s-1940s.

In my younger days, I loved dance music (mostly from the early to mid 1990s) but I don't listen to it much now unless I want a trip down memory lane.

• Crafting and crafty stash
• Anything for Journalling, Smash Books or Junk Journals - especially vintage ephemera or ephemera from other countries.
• Anything cross stitch related - floss (DMC or Anchor), charts, kits, bobbins.
• Vintage knitting patterns
• Stationery
• Letter sets and note cards
• Stickers
• Washi Tape
• Cats (I have 4)
• Horses
• Books, reading and anything book related, especially bookmarks, reading journals or book plates.
• Running, especially marathons
• Good food and wine, although I don't like cooking myself.
• Beer
• Nature and the outdoors
• Beaches
• Sunshine
• Lasting friendships
• Blank notebooks
• Coloured pens and pencils
• Tigers
• Second-hand books with notes in the margins
• Art, especially early Renaissance and Avant-garde
• Steampunk

• Anything overtly religious. I am not religious and although I respect the choice of others, I prefer it not to be pressed on me.
• Television. We don't have one so it isn't something I am that interested in. Although I do watch movies and I have to admit I am quite addicted to Game of Thrones...
• Spiders
• Snakes
• Celebrities and celebrity culture
• Badly written fiction, especially Chicklit.

I will always do my very best here on Swap-Bot, and I will try to ensure that whatever I send makes you happy. If you have any problems at all, or if for some reason my swap doesn't arrive, please contact me straight away before you rate and I will do everything in my power to get it rectified as quickly as I can.

I tend to be generous with hearts - basically my rule is, if I can see that real effort has gone into the swap, I will give a heart.