orneryswife

I am an almost 60 yo wife (40 years!) to Ornery, Mom to Elizabeth (39) and Ryan (33), and Grammie to Micah (9) and Makayla (8) (aka the m&ms).

I am home-bound with an undiagnosed condition that has left me partially immobile. But, I am grateful to have cheated death twice in two years, and while I am not where I would like to be physically, at least I am on the right side of the dirt! :) I am gradually improving and am adjusting life to make me more independent. My husband is delighted that I can now wash the dishes and cook at the stove unaided!

We do not have a television. We had a video player for a few years while we were homeschooling our kids, to watch math instruction and other videos but we have never had cable. We do a lot of YouTube watching, and have about a dozen DVDs that we watch on our computer from time to time. I listen to podcasts, but rarely to radio. I still have an iPod loaded with old favorites and tons of sermon series by favorite ministers. Ornery watches woodworking videos, I watch art, crafts and natural health related videos. I have lots of feel-good books on my Nook ereader but I don't spend as much time reading as I do creating things these days.

Since my children are grown, it's just Ornery and me in our beautiful color-filled home. We live in NE Oklahoma near Tulsa. About 8 months of the year, my yard sports a variety of blooming plants, the more the better as far as I am concerned. One of the hardest things I had to give up when I was no longer able to walk was working in my yard. My daughter is studying horticulture online, and it is fun to discuss our shared interests. (She is also very talented as an artist, but doesn't do much art these days.) We start seeds indoors and are working toward filling an enclosed porch with herbs, edibles and flowers.

If you look at my Instagram feed, (link above) you will see equal parts garden/yard posts, and whatever odd crafty project I am immersed in at the moment.

I enjoy a wide range of crafting things, and occasionally dabble in poetry and creative writing. I used to blog regularly, but when I switched to doing most things on a tablet instead of a computer, I gave that up. Now most of my updates are on Instagram.

SEWING

I have made numerous skirts and doll clothes for Makayla, and have made odds and ends for around the house such as pillows, curtains, Christmas stockings, fabric shopping bags, etc. I recently purchased a new Brother sewing machine that I am still getting used to. I want to make a few mug rugs, and discover ways to use up some of my scraps ... maybe a crazy quilt? I also enjoy embroidery, but not counted cross stitch. I recently stitched a dozen flour sacking towels using those old fashioned Aunt Martha's iron on transfers. And, I love to stitch on paper!

WEAVING

It all started with a demonstration on a triloom at Silver Dollar City. Elizabeth talked her dad into helping her build a loom, and I watched her weave in my livingroom for a couple of years. She sold dozens of beautiful shawls, and while I loved watching her, my hands and body did not fit well with such a large loom.

A couple of years later, she got a table top tapestry loom, and I decided that might be more my speed. So Ornery built a simple frame loom for me, and I have made several tapestries on it. A pen pal recommended that I try some note cards with weaving on the fronts, and it is an extremely satisfying project, but the cards are bulky so I have started making sturdy envelopes to mail them in. I have more yarn than a body needs, but I do enjoy playing with the beautiful fibers! Sadly, I never could master crochet and knitting doesn't hold my interest.

MIXED MEDIA ART

I am happiest when I am in my studio or playing with color in some fashion. I don't draw anything other than stick figures that you might recognize, but fortunately, I happen to like abstract art better than realism, so it turns out I am okay with that lack of skill. I am not a master at any of the mediums, but I do like to dabble in:

• acrylic paint
• alcohol inks
• art journaling
• collage
• mail art
• pastels
• stamping/embossing
• washi tape
• watercolor
• gelli printing

I have a substantial collection of ATC's and Altered Rolodex cards. I have several binders filled with amazing mail art, which is probably my favorite collection of all. Some of my ATCs are in frames on the wall in my studio, others featuring little houses (my favorite theme) are on the wall in my dining room.

JIGSAW PUZZLES

I am a huge puzzle fan. I have over 100 in my collection, mostly 500 piece, but a few 1000, and several 300 piece, which lately has been more my speed, just because they work up quickly and are easy to handle.

PEN PALS

I have several (10? 15?) fairly regular pen pals, but I am always up for exchanging letters with new friends. I enjoy receiving mail, which was the reason I joined Swap-Bot all those years ago! I had to take a break from the letters when I was recovering from my illnesses (cellulitis/sepsis) but I am back online with most of them now.

While I really enjoy writing letters, I am not great with sending "extras" because I can't get out to shop. However, I like to think that my letters are worthwhile even without the extras! 😁 If you write to me, I almost always write back.

I am a very reliable swapper. If I don't think I will be able to send, I drop from the swap. Always. Even when I was hospitalized, I managed to send my swaps on time. If you have not received a swap from me, please let me know as soon as possible. I generally mail the day partners are assigned, or at the latest a day or two after.

Likewise, I am a very prompt rater. There is nothing worse than spending time and effort to create a personalized swap only to wonder if it ever arrived. If you are a late rater or non-rater, please do not join my swaps.

If I happen to be hosting a swap, I will always angel if necessary. I tend to swap only within the safety of a group, but I know things can happen that are out of our control, and I will always try to make it right for those who join my swaps.

I try to make my swap descriptions as clear as possible, but if you ever have questions, please don't hesitate to direct message me, and I will answer your questions.

I really appreciate you being willing to swap with me. I try very hard to please my partners. If you are interested in a private swap, please send me a message!

For swaps that require personalization, tuck-ins, gifts, extras, etc., here is a list of my preferences.

HAPPY TO RECEIVE THESE THEMES OR ITEMS

• A- ATCs, ATCoins, Artist Tiles, altered books/tags/playing cards, alcohol ink, acrylic paint,
• B- birds (especially quirky ones), bees, butterflies, bright colors, bats (we have a house for them), beads, Bible verses, bells, book pages, blue/green color combination
• C- coffee, COLOR, composting, corrugated paper, copper anything!, Christmas, contemporary style art, card making, clear communication, cooking, old clocks/clock faces, collage, cotton clothing, crocus, coral bells
• D- daisies, dahlias, daffodils, dogwood, decorated mail, doll clothes patterns (12 or 18"), dragonflies
• E- echinacea, embroidery, embellishments, ephemera for art journals or cards, e-books, experiments
• F- flowers, funny quotes, fonts, fountains, ferns, fungi, fabric
• G- gardening, art glass, gelli-prints, gnomes, greenery, glitter glue (NOT loose), gears
• H- house keeping, houses of any size/shape/description, handmade envelopes, hearts, hydrangeas, herbs
• I- Instant pot recipes, inspiration, integrity, ink, Irish wolfhound (don't have one, just think they are cool looking), iris
• J- journals, clean jokes, (especially play on words/puns)
• K- kitchen gadgets
• L- letters from friends (old or new!), labels (I love my label maker!)
• M- mail art, magazines about gardening or art, mixed media, mushrooms, maps
• N- note cards (especially Punch Studio), nigella
• O- organization, organic food/gardening, Ornery (he's my favorite), orange flowers
• P- puzzles ( jigsaw, word search, easy crossword), personalized address labels or swap cards, peonies, peacocks, pastels (art medium, not colors), poppies, pink flowers, purple flowers, Panera, phlox, petunias
• Q- quilts, quotes, quirky things
• R- Rolodex cards (2.25x4"), rubber stamps, rainy days
• S- stickers (flowers, leaves, inspiration, seasonal, not kawaii or kiddie style), stars, seed packets, spray inks, spiky hair, sheepskin slippers, sunshine, surprises, seam binding tape
• T- typewriter text, thunder storms
• U- unused postage stamps, unique designs (outside the box, with a different twist)
• V- violets
• W- washi tape (except for tapes with words or kawaii), weaving, words, watercolor, wood burning, waterfalls
• X- xyron
• Y- yarn, especially smaller balls like the end of a project, Yupo paper
• Z- zippers, zinnia

PREFER NOT TO RECEIVE

• tea of any kind. After drinking so much on diets, now I can't stand the thought of it!
• art with images of people or faces, especially those old time found relative pictures - creepy! I don't use people, dolls, or human body parts in my art.
• scented items
• Halloween anything (although I do love the fall)
• postcards - I don't use them or collect them. If I join a PC swap it is for handmade mailart, which is a different animal altogether, in my opinion.
• coloring pages - I am really bad at coloring inside the lines!
• plastic deco tape
• bulky bling