splendorpursuit

Crafty lady from California, proud mama of two fur babies. Addicted to all things beautiful paper and modern mixed media. Would love to get into encaustic but I’m too much of a chicken. And I already spend so much on paper/mixed media that I could never afford to set myself up properly.

Please note: i share items that I am proud of on my Instagram. So beware to my partners if you prefer to be surprised!

💌🎨 March 2019 UPDATE:
Due to health and way too many high-effort swaps and personal projects as of late, I will be closing out my current swaps and taking a break from SB. If I owe you ratings, know that I 100% know I owe you ratings and I’m getting to them as soon as I can, I promise. My life has just rapidly devolved into quite the little quagmire. Feel free to send me a nudge if the rating is urgently needed. Merci. Outside of ratings, you can reach me via my Instagram account linked above. See you there. ❤️

To save some of you time:

• I’m not a huge fan of western religious iconography so if you send me something cross/Jesus related, it will likely go unused.

• Racism/homophobia; basically: don’t be an a$$hole to your fellow human and we will get along fabulously. Actually, just don’t be an a$$hole, period.

• Vintage/Steampunk. I like distress to a degree but I don’t like the sepia/vintage photo look as it looks dirty to me. I like my vintage as clothing, furniture and wine only. Steampunk in limited doses. Right now I’m rather obsessed with Mitform Casting.

• Postcards. Well...not so much dislike, more that I don’t understand the obsession?

• Disney and super obvious kiddie themes (except for rainbows and unicorns, those can stay). Doodlebug and the like are super cute, but just too much for me. I like their washi, though. And I make an exception for cartoon-friendly holiday collections, however. Everybody is a kid on holidays. 😉

• Hazelnut anything. Not allergic, just don’t care for it.

I like the following (will add more as I remember):

• making stuff: paper crafts, off-the-page and standard mixed media (I’m really into texture, dimension), watercolor (total beginner!), acrylic painting, alcohol and acrylic inks, collage and fiber art, drawing, hand lettering (warning: I’m terrible; I would’ve never been a surgeon as I just don’t have steady enough hands, and the same is true for lettering sadly), mail art, color studies, photography, stamping, etc.

• Other artists, such as Camilla d’Erico, TandiArt, Michael Parkes, and lately Illustrator Kristina Brekke of LadyKikki.

• music

• stickers, embellishments, ephemera, and have an addiction to funky shaped paper clips

• flowers, nature, plants, animals and insects, the ocean (except in handmade crafting; they remind me of a cheap motel, always.)

• mixed media oodles and bits, like wood and metal, fabrics and found objects, etc. I’m currently stalking the Mitform Casting’s website until I can mentally justify the cost to ship it from the UK.

• Funky tissue paper. I like text, bold patterns and colors, random animals, prints, metallic, iridescent, etc. Honestly, the weirder the better.

• mythology/regional legends 🐲

• learning + books

• sharing my learning + books 📚

• tea/coffee, baked goods, veggies (Cali girl born and raised) Lebanese food, sushi, New York Super Fudge Chunk

• urban agriculture and edible city movements, as well as underrepresented food sustainability programs; these are primarily what I choose to volunteer my time with. 🍎🍊🥦 It still staggers my heart to remember that as a native Californian, I see crops surrounding me year round, yet we will also see 80% our crops exported to other countries, while families and the homeless are still starving within miles of said crops, and across the country. For info on what cities should look like, check out Seattle’s take on food sustainability: a park filled with edible plants and orchards for anybody to eat. Why fill our parks with no-value grass shrub when it can be a green bean vine? Or a grape tomato bush? /steps off soapbox

• Lush products. Yum. I will always cry in joy to receive Big Blue, Butterball, wiccy massage bar, Sakura or Sex Bomb, Woosh, Lust, or any product with those same scent profiles. 🛁

• travel, camping, getting lost in a new city, meeting the real locals, taking public transport or riding my adorable scooter: Pico de Gallo Beep Beep Ciao Bella (yes, that’s really her full name; I call her Pico for short) 🛵

• technology. If there’s a gadget for it, I probably want it...

I gravitate toward bright colors mixed with bold black/white/gray patterns (and as of late, navy). While I don’t hate pastel, the design has to be really compelling. Think Maggie Holmes vs generic shabby chic.

Paper collections: I’m a fan of classic concepts like flora/fauna (including geo, space, etc), cool textures incl boho/feathers, travel, seasons/holidays, etc.

Recent brands that I’ve purchased and loved:

• Pink Paislee and Paige Evans (always a fan!)

• Crate Paper

• Pebbles - Jen Hadfield is always good

• My Minds Eye (I’ve never met a collection of theirs that I didn’t immediately love)

• One Canoe Two

• PinkFresh Studio - Indigo Hills 2 was gorgeous but I find I like PinkFresh about 75% of the time

• 7 Dots Studio - their recent Garden Party Collection is quite lovely if you like botanicals. It’s the only company I love who does grunge (sorry Tim!). Paint Chips has a killer palette, too. Basically anything designed by DeeDee Catron usually has my vote, including her mixed media brand Um Wow Studio.

While I’m a fan of glitter, I prefer foil or better yet, gilding. I have an unnatural obsession with sequins and enamel dots.

Jasmine, mimosa, violet, linden and orange blossum, honeysuckle, citrus and vanilla are my top picks for perfume scent profiles. I am constantly on the look out for new scents, so feel free to send me your niche samples that you don’t like, or give me a heads up if there’s something I should check out. :)