sultrypeacock

what I pledged

** July 2014: I am still on break from swap-bot. Life is still crazy.

** Aug-2012: I am currently taking a break from Swap Bot. Everyday life has placed some extra pressures on me lately, and I need to fill my schedule carefully. If you already know me, you can still reach me through email."

I am married to a wonderful husband (how did I get so lucky?). No children. I have an angora rabbit named "Freebie" (I got him "free to good home" and have poured money into his care and pampering ever since!) Freebie sheds his coat every couple of months, and I save it to use in my fiber arts. I spin yarn, knit, crochet, weave, and dye quite often. Felting is not my strongest technique, but I am learning. I love natural fibers and enjoy creating both Art and useful items. I quilt, embroider, create garments and costumes, soft sculpture, and beading. I am frequently lured into ATCs and have just discovered "Inchies!" I harbor a delusion that someday I will actually work on my scrapbooking pages. It never happens-- there is always something else that I'm working on instead. I create Pysanky. I am struggling to define my own cohesive style and body of work. I might not ever make a career from my art-- the concept of selling my creations is terrifying. I love to make gifts of my artwork. Process and technique are the driving force in my creative endeavors. I am captivated by pattern and detail. I would love to be able to create exquisite simplicity! but it does not seem to be in my nature. I have learned to value the techniques that I hate most-- they have the most potential to teach me. I like to break out of my comfort zones. I am overwhelmed by my own clutter. I would benefit from condensing my interests instead of pursuing so many different techniques and ideas. It will probably never happen. So I'd better learn how to be more organized! I enjoy cooking and canning-- but my kitchen is so often staging one craft or another that I hardly ever get a chance to really do it.

I collect stone orbs and other fanciful spheres. My stone orbs seem to be collecting stone eggs! (I've never actually set out to collect them myself, but they keep showing up, so... it's my best guess.) I collect peacocks and peacock-themed items of all kinds. I used to have a pair of pet peacocks and I miss them! I apparently collect spinning wheels-- I didn't really set out to do so, but I've managed to bring 7 of them home within the past year. I keep hoping that it's a phase and that they will start finding new homes soon, as I keep stubbing my toes on one or another of them! I like antiques-- particularly specialty tools and mechanical devices. If I were willing to carry a watch, I would want it to be a manually-wound spring-and-gear pocket watch. Unfortunately, the one I had years ago went through the washing machine when my housemate forgot to check pockets before doing laundry. The pocketwatch was never quite the same. I have two antique Circular Sock Machines, and one antique Lamb flatbed knitting machine. (They snuck in with the spinning wheels.) I can never find my scissors when I need them, even though I probably have more of them than I could count! (I can't be certain as they are never all in one single place to be counted) The running gag for a while, whenever I couldn't find something, was "It's probably hiding behind the scissors." I have "house gremlins." ... Things that I specifically put away where they belong sometimes end up somewhere else completely.

I have three pet goldfish, collectively named "Fish" .. as in, "good morning, Fish. How are you doing today? Oh, I see one of you is particularly hungry today!" .. I've always named my pets individually before (including prior fishes), so having a "collective pet" is something of a curiosity to me.

I participate in SwapBot for the artistic inspiration, the sense of community, and the joy of giving.

I've been away from my computer for awhile (broken harddrive, injured knee, social disasters)-- and SwapBot has changed a lot in my absence! Heart ratings were brand new last time I was active here! I am concientious about my swapping--If I need to adjust a deadline for some reason, I always ask my recipient for permission. I have always been able to get the minimal committment out on time, but sometimes a day or two will make the difference between the minimum and Fabulous. If I do get an extension on a deadline, I always add something particularly special to make up for it!

This'll do for now.. I'll add improvements later.

musicals, dance movies, some suspense... Cats, Phantom of the Opera, Across the Universe, Clue, Indiana Jones, JC Superstar, Pirates of the Carribean, Princess Bride, Andy Goldsworthy's Rivers and Tides, Serenity, Shrek 1..

Current: CSI (and spin-offs), Project Runway, Lost, Invader Zim.. ice skating competitions, Olympic events..

Alltime favorites: Twilight Zone, Monty Python's Flying Circus, Firefly..

knitting, spinning, weaving, dyeing, paper-crafts, origami, beadwork, sewing, quilting, costumery, pysanky....

I love fresh fruit--local and in-season! The first strawberries. Rainier cherries. Pears. Fuji apples. Blackberries straight off the brambles. (They grow invasively here.) Fresh Hawaiian pineapple. Shave-Ice Hawaiian style-- with a scoop of coconut icecream at the bottom of the cup. The cheese-puffs from the way-station halfway up the side of Mt. Vesuvius. The chocolate-chip gelato from the little kiosk in Berlin at 2:00am. The lemons that grew in my childhood backyard. Backyard-fresh peaches, apricots, plums. Corn-on-the-cob. creme brulee. "cow tails" candy.

favorite colors: purple, green, blue, irridescent -- think peacocks!

favorite animals: peacock, jellyfish, hedgehog, platypus, zebra, hippopotamus...

favorite authors: Tim Powers, Douglas Adams

favorite music: ecclectic.. wide range. Especially musicals, folk music, celtic, 80's, satire and humor..

peacocks, peacock-themed items, stone orbs and fanciful spheres. Books on craft techniques, especially fiber-related (knitting, lacemaking, weaving, dyeing, etc). Especially vintage out-of-print craft books.

For the Dark-Hearted swaps: Halloween is one of my favorite holidays, maybe because adults still get to play dress-up. I adore costumes-creating, wearing, admiring others' costumes... but not clowns. Don't like clowns. Clowns spook the bejeezers out of me! I like black cats. Day of the Dead. Cultural beliefs and superstitions about death and existence beyond death. Images of Death as a person or archetype. Superstitions. Fridays that fall on the 13th. Cultural traditions for warding off danger or evil or bad luck. Hurricanes and lava flows, the power of nature and natural forces. Strange creatures from the depths of the ocean. Strange creatures of any kind- platypus is strange- so is jellyfish! See-through eels and fishes, slime-mold. Quicksand. Tar-pits (except for the smell!). Piranha, poison-dart frogs, vampire bats, any bats, electric eels, sharks. shipwrecks, pirates, mummification, cryogenics. The Twilight Zone with Rod Serling. Things made from bone, antler, horn, feathers, shell, leather, etc. especially if the item is old or culturally significant or if the material has been reclaimed somehow (e.g. handcrafts made from the leather of a worn-out pair of boots). I like the idea that the creature has been given an existence beyond its lifespan through the transformation into artwork and that the death of the creature has not been wasted. I DON'T like killing the creature for the sake of the artwork! I do like the Native Peoples' tradition of utilizing every possible bit of an animal that has been killed. Since I do eat meat and I do wear leather I also value the use of bone etc. for the creation of art or of useful tools.

I might add more to this section over time.

I really don't like gore or clowns. Clowns spook the bejeezers out of me.