Ari

I love to read and write, and also like cooking, baking, playing around on the computer and plain old daydreaming. A perfect day is a long afternoon with nothing in particular to do, a good book, a comfy chair, and a very large cup of tea.

If money were no object, I'd travel around the world, but most of the time I happily live the life of a cranky hermit. I'm an incurable night owl, and prefer solitude over crowds.

A note about rating: I usually rate soon after receiving a swap but if I forget, please feel free to PM me and give me a nudge!

If you don't receive a swap from me or if there's a problem, I'd appreciate a PM before rating. I'm quite reasonable, and will try to work problems out when possible. Thank you!

Swaps/Tags not received

This isn't meant to point fingers or to shame anyone, only to help me keep track of swaps and tags.

Tea Bag and Tea Bookmark swap from @embers

Quick! Send me something creative! #2 swap from @fabianab

I feel like writing about... [Penpal Tag] from @airine

I read almost anything, but especially love fantasy (Tolkien, George R.R. Martin, Terry Pratchett, Neil Gaiman), some sci-fi (Lois McMaster Bujold), historical fiction, mysteries, travel memoirs, some horror, and other interesting non-fiction.

I also love and still keep a lot of books from my childhood from authors like Laura Ingalls Wilder, L.M. Montgomery, Louisa May Alcott and Roald Dahl.

I like books with a good plot and characterization. I'm not a big fan of religious fiction/non-fiction, romances, or chick-lit, and I didn't care for the Twilight series at all.

Music: David Bowie, The Cure, My Chemical Romance, Nine Inch Nails, just about anything 80s, some classical. Not really big on rap, R&B or country.

TV: Criminal Minds, X-Files, Law & Order. I like British shows like Fool Us, Would I Lie to You?, QI, Mock the Week, Downton Abbey, Foyle's War and Midsomer Murders as well.

Movies: Lord of the Rings trilogy, Pride and Prejudice, Pan's Labyrinth, The Princess Bride, Stand By Me

There are so many things I'd love to do, but I'm not nearly as crafty as I'd like to be! That said, I enjoy cross-stitch and simple sewing projects. My most recent venture was opening up an Etsy shop called Small World Stitchery, selling hand-stitched dollhouse carpets and pillows. I've loved miniatures ever since I was a kid, and making dollhouse-sized things is a fun challenge.

Here are some examples of my work:

I'm open to custom orders or private swaps, please feel free to PM if you're interested.

This is just a general list of things that make me happy. If you want a more specific list, it's further down the page. :)

a good cup of tea and a biscuit, hot chocolate, thunderstorms, sushi, the sea, fairytales, trees, roadtrips, learning about new cultures, surprises in the mail, baking, family recipes, graveyards, stationery, gel or fountain pens, walking in the woods, cottage gardens, handmade things, bookmarks, dragons, wildflowers, windy days, owls, ravens, letters, ghost stories, Sherlock Holmes, stargazing,embroidery, mail art, botanical prints, old-fashioned typewriters, washi paper, steampunk

I collect: things with owls. skulls or ravens on them, skeleton keys, teapots and tea cups, fountain pens, souvenir tea towels

Favorite Artists/Illustrators: Edward Gorey, Edmund Dulac, J.W. Waterhouse, Kate Greenaway, Gustave Doré, Arthur Rackham. I'm very fond of the Victorian and Edwardian fairytale book illustrators.

Favorite colors: black, dark red, silver, shades of blue and green. I like dark colors rather than bright colors or neon colors. I'm not very fond of pink or pastels.

Please don't consider this a begging list! I'm just writing a few things down to help future swap partners.

• things related to my "Things I Like" section above

• little things specific to your country or region: candy, snacks, tea towels, crafts, postcards.

• Chatty letters. Handwritten is a bonus, although as someone with terrible handwriting, I completely understand if people prefer to type it.

• Tea biscuits/cookies/tea cakes. McVities plain chocolate with or without caramel, chocolate Hob Nobs, ginger, lemon, cinnamon, custard cremes, Jaffa cakes, petits four... I am addicted to little sweet nibbly things that go well with tea!

• Hazelnut Snickers bars. I cannot believe we don't get these in the States. :( If you have access to them, maybe we could arrange a private swap?

• Personalized swapcards or address labels. I didn't even think of this until I saw other people using them, but it's a great idea.

• Your handmade specialty. I love seeing what other people do, especially since I'm not very good at crafting myself. Do you take photographs? Draw? Sew, knit or crochet? Bring it on. ;D

• DMC cotton embroidery floss. I go through this stuff so fast! Especially blues, purples and dark reds as well as basic black and white.

• rubber stamping supplies like ink pads and stamps (new or used, hand-carved would also be neat!). Anything mail-related, or with sun/moon/stars, owls, teacups, bats, leaf patterns, dragons, Chinese writing, hieroglyphs...

• vellum stickers, or any neat/unusual stickers. Not so much the reward stickers or kid's stuff, but the kind you might use in scrapbooking and mail art.

• Old wall calenders with art, landscapes, garden scenes, etc. I use them to make envelopes and other things. :)

• Wool felt, any color.

• Modge Podge, glue sticks.

I won't get angry or upset if these things end up in a package, but the truth is I'll be a bit disappointed if I can't use what you sent.

• Cutesy things with lots of pink, oodles of hearts and fuzzy kittens, Disney stuff, etc. Nothing wrong with any of that, but it's really not to my taste.

• Friendship books, slams, etc. I don't do these, and it'd be a waste of postage.

• Strongly scented or perfumed items.

• Licorice

• Bath/body products

• Items of a religious nature. Just to clarify as an example, a postcard with a Renaissance "Madonna and Child" portrait is fine, but a Bible or religious tract would not be appropriate.

Note: I have a slight sensitivity to cigarette smoke. I know sometimes this can't be helped, but it's something you may want to keep in mind if you come from a smoking household.

Honestly, I'm happy with what most people send as long as they put thought and effort into it. I really appreciate it when people pay attention to likes/dislikes and try to personalize a package for me. It makes my day. :)

[Added because it might be relevant to specific swaps.]

For tea, I drink mostly black tea and blends like English or Irish breakfast, but also like chai, jasmine, oolong and green tea. I prefer not to get herbal teas or fruit teas, mostly because I already have so much that I'll never be able to finish it all! If you have a favorite, I'd enjoy trying it, though. :)

Hot chocolate is wonderful, too-- plain or flavored. I'd especially like to try anything from outside of the U.S.

I like sweets in general, especially chocolate, both milk and dark. Cadbury's Fruit and Nut bar is one of my favorites! I also love dark chocolate with hazelnuts. Toffee, caramel, almonds, strawberries or raspberries combined with chocolate is great, too.

I don't have any food allergies except a slight lactose intolerance, which I blithely ignore. :)