JaguarSnail

I love trying out new crafts! I am hoping that I will discover lots of new things to do here. Already I have been introduced to minizines, beaded spiders, ATCs and whimsey jars. Awesome! More, please! ;)

Things I like to do include:

pencil sketching
ink drawings
watercolour and acrylic painting
hand-carved rubber stamps
paper cutting
cross-stitch and other embroidery
beading
making tiny felt brooches
papier-mache
button-badge making
sewing tiny things from felt and cotton
mini zines

Additionally, I do life drawing quite regularly and sometimes I have the inspiration to write a poem. I love to sing at home, sometimes badly on purpose just because it's funny. I wish I had a karaoke machine.

Music artists I like include Queen, Lana Del Ray, The Aquabats, Michael Jackson and The Magnetic Fields. To name a few.

I'm not as big a reader as I used to be but I still enjoy Terry Pratchett, Ben Elton, and JK Rowling's creative output.

My favourite film of all time is The Rocky Horror Picture show, I've seen it at least 50 times on video and been to the stage show a few times. Others include Amelie, Run Lola Run, Avatar, Fish Story and Ponyo. I was really into kung fu for a few years (I actually got quite good! Lost it all now though) and I love the films by Jackie Chan, which inspired me to begin.

I like things that are bohemian, humorous, colourful, gothic, useful, indie, natural, eco-friendly, kind, mint-smelling, Death Note related, green, blue, purple, thoughtful, irreverant, pretty, skull-themed, carefree, earthy, animal-friendly, black, hippy-ish, unusual, upcycled and cute. But not necessarily all at once :P

some of my etsy favourites

Things I would love to recieve
minizines
old maps
stickers (I use them to help seal envelopes)
old / new measuring tapes
odd buttons (especially if they're wooden or fancy)
lampwork beads
origami papers
herbal teas (not a fan of black or green) especially flavors like cinnemon, fennel and chai
Mexican Day of the Dead decorated skulls
fun cupcake cases / flags
handmade fabric bunting
funky writing paper/envelope sets
interesting fabrics
bindis

Things I wouldn't like to recieve include:
Disney
religious
coffee
leather or fur
products tested on animals

Biography
I have been drawing and making and imagining all my life and from infant school art was always the subject that brought most out of me.

I followed an art education path though college, a foundation degree and university because I couldn't see myself seriously doing anything else as my main life focus. Uni was ... not brilliant. I did Graphics & Illustration and guess what? Turns out Graphics is really no fun. I left with a huge debt and not much to show for it as the course turned out to be a 'go away and teach yourself' arrangement for the most part. I'm not bitter... /:(

While at uni I created my 'JaguarSnail' artist name to work under. I think it suits me because I always like to do a mix of things, so two very different animals scientifically combined seemed apt. Also, check out the adorable logo!

Update!
I quit my night job and got a better job at a cafe :D this still gives me time to get on with my arts and crafts. My fiancee (and partner of 13 years) was cheating on me so I had to break up with him. I now have my own flat with a lovely couple upstairs and a nice guy below me (and an idiot who plays loud music at night next to me) I have updated my address on swapbot so if you wrote down my old address please note down the new one! Also the cafe went under so I had to get a job in a callcenter. It's 40 hours a week which is more than I've been used to before so I've cut back on how many of my own crafty projects I get to do, still keeping my hand in though.