It's all about me!

Okay, this is stuff for swap partners. If you want to know my likes and dislikes, this is where you'll find them!

About me!
Well, I'm 40-ish, and I live with my partner, my German shepherd dog, Jack, and my two kitties, Keilo and Pippin. I teach Foundation, GCSE and A level Art and Design, Art History, and Functional Skills English. I have an eBay shop. I spend far too much time crafting but not as much time swapping as I'd like thanks to my demanding job *lol*

Ethical preferences: I'm an animal lover, a vegetarian/vegan (I'm practically vegan, but I occasionally slip and have ice-cream or chocolate, my two vices!) so I don't like animal products. No fur, leather, suede, or gelatine (in a lot of sweets) thank you. I'm okay with honey, silk and wool though. I'm environmentally minded and recycle, re-use and thrift alot of things. I don't mind pre-loved stuff!


My favourite colours: I love purple, green, turquoise, and most colours that are deep jewel tones! I like rainbows! I wear black a lot. I'm a brunette so I can wear strong colours but not pastels. Also I can't wear anything with a yellow tone - yellow, or yellow based brown, orange, etc.I don't do neutral colours.

Fabrics I like: I love Indian textiles, richly embellished embroidery, Oriental or Asian fabrics. I like paisley, tie-dye, retro, batik and ethnic prints. I'm not too keen on floral or gingham type stuff, or anything too twee. I'm quite a hippy-chick at heart. I like steampunk, tribal (think tribal bellydance), boho and gothic styles. I love tactile fabrics, velvets, velours, silks, satins, natural fabrics are good! 

Yarns I like: Hand-spun wool, stuff I can felt, or really interesting knobbly stuff. I love space-dyed multi-coloured yarn, yarn with sparkly bits in, mixed fibres, Indian sari silks, novelty yarns, anything except acrylic yarn, which sadly most of my stash is at the moment.


Jewellery: I like silver rather than gold-tone, but I'm allergic to nickle. I love glass beads, especially if they're lamp-work, or dichroic glass. I'm really into Steampunk and Tribal at the moment. I prefer my jewellery to make a statement - I like to wear jewellery that makes me feel like a million dollars! I don't mean that it should be expensive, but I like it to be unusual or hand-made. I don't want to wear something that everybody else might have! (I love the jewellery that Tempe and Angela wear on the show Bones. Check some of them out here: http://pinterest.com/source/bonesnecklaces.tumblr.com/ ) I love natural crystal, amethyst is my absolute favourite, but I love most crystals and wear a lot as jewellery. I have an obscene amount of crystals on my bedside table!

Sizes: I'm roughly a UK size 12 (which is about a 36" bust) and my feet are a UK size 4. I'm about 5'3", I think that's about 154cm tall! I prefer fitted t-shirts that don't sit up too high on my neck, scoop, square, sweetheart or v necklines are good! I prefer either long skirts (almost ankle length) or short (knee length) ones to wear with boots. I'm not keen on clothing that is too gathered round the waist - I'm not the tallest of people, so I just can't carry it off! A-line or wrap is good.

Scents I like: I have quite a sensitive skin and can't use or wear anything with artificial scents. I tend to use unscented hypo-allergenic products and use a lot of natural products and essential oils. I make quite a lot of the things I put on my skin, scrubs, oils, soaps and things like that and aromatherapy is my preferred first aid choice. I like patchouli, lavender, rose, geranium and vanilla oils. I love Nag Champa scents!

Crafts I do: I paint glass, knit, crochet, sew, bead and make jewellery, candles, paint, stamp, stencil, polymer clay, wet-felting, needle-felting, spinning, cp soap and silk paint. Supplies for any of these are always welcome! I spend a lot of time costuming! Also, unusual or novelty tools and items are happily accepted! For example, I have loads of knitting and crochet hooks, but if you were to make or find unusual embellished ones, I would certainly love them! I have started getting into altered book art and art journals again, so unusual ephemera and handmade paper journals would be great! I can always do with handmade cards, I never seem to have the time to make them myself. Unusual fabric or hand-spun yarn is always a safe bet too, I have a lack of decent haberdashery or yarn shops where I live. Beads are good, as are ribbons, and jewellery findings. Glass beads are a big hit with me too, I love lamp-worked beads, Indian or Italian glass beads, crystal beads or fused pendants - I have a passion for dichroic glass!


Crafts I would like to try: I'd love any little diy kit; for example, pattern pieces and instructions ready to sew a small project, or fibre and instructions to make a small needle-felted project; you get the idea! I just love doing stuff!

Things I would like to receive: Anything from, or based on my Pinterests, handspun hand painted yarn, beads, craft books, handmade journals, hand-knitted mittens or gloves,  hats (the more unusual, the better!), jewellery (silver tone findings and/or rock crystals/gems), hippy type clothing, woodland fairy/elf type clothing, anything Steampunk, big messenger type bags with lots of pockets (I end up having to carry lots round at school and wear out bags quickly!), hand made mugs or pottery bowls, I'd love a yarn bowl (a bowl big enough for a large ball of wool with a slot for the yarn to feed through), yoga accessories, tribal belly-dancing accessories, or anything that is your specialty! Honestly! I really love and appreciate hand crafted items, so if something is your 'thing' make me one and I'll love it! Even if you think it may not be my sort of thing, I'm open to new experiences. Anything metal/ethnic/vintage (coins, charms, medallions, chains, buttons for example) that could be incorporated into costumes. Not sure what Tribal dancers wear? Lots of examples can be found on my Pinterest board here: http://pinterest.com/samsarax/tribal-gorgeousness/

Craft Books: I love books; I have far too many, but I can always do with more! 

Other things I do: I love to read, I attend a regular yoga class, a tribal belly-dancing class, and I spin poi. I enjoy walking my dog (although it's sometimes a chore if the weather's very wet/cold) and I'm a keen geocacher, I try to take my camera and/or sketch book with me whenever I can. I like films rather than the telly, I rarely watch TV, but I quite often have a DVD on when I'm crafting, or I listen to music. I probably spend too much time on the computer, especially on Facebook and Craftster! I love my Nintendo DS and the Wii. I like live music and dancing, though my town is rather low on decent music venues. I love festivals and I can't wait for festie season to start each year! I like my garden when the weather's fine, and my partner and I have a caravan, so I look forward to getting away in it as much as possible! We used to have an old bus that we travelled in for many years, (it kind of looked like this http://www.travellerhomes.co.uk/?p=11772) but lost it in a flash flood, and it took a few years to replace it. I live as far from the sea as it's possible to in the UK (stick a pin into the centre of Britain and you'll be somewhere near where I live!), so I like to visit the coast as often as I can, time and finances permitting! There is nothing better than relaxing in front of the fire pit, looking at the stars through our telescope and listening to my partner's didge playing. My aim this year is to try and take a star trails photograph! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Star_trail

Books I read: My favourite authors are  Tolkein, Rowley, Anne MacCaffrey, Julian May, Stephen King, Clive Barker, Terry Pratchett, Neil Gaimen, Raymond Feist, Stephanie Meyer. I like Sci-fi and fantasy books. 

Films I like: Again, sci-fi and fantasy are my preference, Hobbit, LOTR, Stardust, Bladerunner, Aliens, Star Wars, Narnia, Pirates of the Caribbean, Harry Potter, Avatar, Serenity, Edward Scissorhands, Brazil; I don't mind a bit of horror, as long as it's relatively intelligent, not so much the splatter-gore stuff, think more like Donnie Darko, The Grudge and The Ring. My favourite directors, in no order of preference, are Ridley Scott, Peter Jackson, Tim Burton, and Terry Gilliam

Favourite styles: Celtic, Art Nouveau, Indian, Moroccan, Gothic-ish, Steampunk, Tribal or hippy; I like most ethnic styles! Not keen on country cutesy stuff, or minimalism - I like strong colour! I also love Amy Brown, Brian Froud, Alan Lee, John Howe, Zettiology and anything Burton-esque! My favourite artists are Mucha, Klimt, Hundertwasser, Arthur Rackham, Haeckel, Gaudi, Kandinski, Miro, Jonathon Green, Klee, Natasha Wescoat, Leonid Alfremov, Josephine Wall

Favourite themes: Nature, cats, dragons, phoenixes, owls, dragonflies, peacocks, ohms, lotus', trees, fantasy, sci-fi, Gothic fairies, Steampunk, Tribal Bellydance, the ocean, sunsets, 


Favourite music: Diverse according to my mood. I like trancey ambient stuff that I can either dance to, or do yoga to, depending on the tempo. I like tribal or Gothic music to belly dance to. I also like dub, and rock stuff too. Bands I like at the moment are Transglobal Underground, Astralasia, Eat Static, Banco De Gaia, Beats Antique, Pentaphobe, Natasha Atlas, and Lemon Jelly. I don't really do mainstream music or pop!

My house is quite small but is overflowing with art and craft stuff! I like ethnic styles, my purple bedroom has an Indian theme, my purple living room has a Celtic theme, my bathroom is a lovely sea green with fishy art and dragonflies, and my studio is a wonderful warm sunset pink. Not usually my colour, but it faces Northwest and rarely gets any sun, though it gets the most amazing sunsets - I wanted to bring the sunsets into the room! I love my garden. It's small and at the moment my patio is taken over by a Harley Davidson (thanks to the BF), but my garden faces South and is a summertime sun trap! I love stuff for my garden, wind chimes, particularly bamboo ones, mobiles or spinning things (my house is on top of a hill, so gets a good breeze). In the summer, I spend alot of time in the garden.


I also have a craft blog here

My current Wish list

Crafted:
Jewellery
*A crystal/gemstone necklace!
*If you play with hot glass, I’d love one of your creations! Fused, dichroic, stained or lamp worked – I love glass!
*A hippy necklace or pendant (no plastic or seed beads please)
*A bracelet
*A watch piece Steampunk style pendant
*A tribal bindi

Fiber
*Any funky hat; I love hats!
*The Phoenix scarf from Charmed Knits
*A very fine hip shawl for bellydancing
*Wooden or decorated Needles or Hooks! I love these http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=7551543

Sewn
*Long ruffled pants - love these but not in this colour!!  handmadetribal+ruffle+bloomers
*Patchwork pj style pants
*Quilted or appliquéd textile art for my walls. I like colour and sparkle!
*A pretty/colourful messenger style bag with lots of pockets and a long strap so I can wear it crossways over my body. It need to be strong to take the weight of all the books and files I end up carrying round at work!

Household
*Something for my garden? I have a sort of enchanted garden theme going on – dragons (my garden is a dragon sanctuary!), mushrooms, fairies, wind chimes, wind-dancers and sun catchers – that sort of thing
*A handmade pottery mug
*Hand thrown bowls, especially a yarn bowl! This one is insanely cool! biomech-yarn-bowl this one is cute: pottery-yarn-bowl-knitting-bowl-eggplant
*A wind chime

Miscellaneous
*Anything dragon related
*Decorated storage boxes for craft supplies - mine are all in shoe boxes at the moment, functional, but not pretty on my shelves. Flat topped please so they can be stacked.
*A surprise!

Things I wouldn't like:

Edibles! I have food sensitivities
Anything made from duct tape.
Ear rings - I'm very pierced but I don't tend to wear danglies very much as they tangle in my hair. I usually wear ornate sterling silver hoops that I leave in. I like to emphasise my necklaces, bracelets or rings.
Cutesy stuff. **shudders** I'm a hippy/goth/tribal babe!
Stuffed toys -my dog or cats would nick them and that would be a waste of your time unless you're specifically making pet toys, in which case they would be loved by the minions.
Nothing in white, neutrals or pastel.
Doilies/dishcloths. I'm sorry, I just don't get the point!

PLEASE don't read this and think I'm really picky and "wanty" - it's here to give you a closer look at what makes me ME. I'm always happy to receive hand-crafted gifts :-)