truckermikeswife

5/08/12 -- Please forgive me if you are a partner and received a message from me saying that I may be running late on a swap. My grandmother died the morning of April 2nd and I'm still a little over whelmed right now, as well as being very, VERY ill. I do not have anyone to keep things running smooth for me, and have not been joining any new swaps as a result, even though I've missed a great many I dearly wanted to be a part of. Again, please forgive me, but I will be doing my absolute best to get things out to everyone and getting back into this, it's just been extremely hard and had I forseen it coming, I wouldn't have gotten into any of this, but all the deadlines were closed before I started getting behind.

Thank you all so very much for your understanding and I apologize again, I just can't seem to get with it yet.

6/27/12 -- I think I am going to be able to start making up the swaps I missed and if I missed any messages in the many I got in the last month and don't respond, I apologize. I'm hoping to be able to get all caught up and bad with a good rating ASAP, so let's see if I can manage it.

I'm Jen. I'm 26, I'm a mom, I'm a wife, I'm a computer and graphics geek, I own my own business, Dragonfyre Creations, and I'm craft crazy.

I love to draw, I love to write, I love to craft, I love photography and I love to cook.

I found this through my friend Cayla and thought I'd try it out because it looked like fun. I love it already!

The Loves of My Life

My Daughter:

My daughter, Lyric, is 7, born in March. She hates her name, even though I love it!, and prefers to be called "Alex", a shortened version of her middle name (which she also hates because that means she's in trouble! lol.). She's a bit of a tom-boy, but can be a girly girl too. She loves Pokemon and Batman, all the superheroes, but she also loves Barbie and dressing up and the Disney Princesses.

She's in 1st grade, on home study and a Girl Scout. She loves animals of all kinds and she loves to craft; wants me to teach her to crochet and says she wants to be an artist ("like you, Mom!") when she gets bigger. Her great-grandma was her favorite person in the world, followed by her new step-daddy who she wrestles with, watches "Family Guy" and other cartoons with, plays video games with, torments and shoots guns with (air softs right now, but to her it's cool!)

My Hubby:

My hubby, Mike, is a truck driver. He's actually my fiance, but even without the paper, which we'll be doing this September if all goes as planned, we have the marriage part covered!

He's an over the road driver, so he's not around much, but he loves it and there are perks. He's also a video game junkie and a bit of a game/Star Wars type geek.

Baby #2: We found out a week before my grandmother died that we have another baby coming. It's had me very sick and unable to function, but now meds seem to have helped at least a bit, so it makes it much nicer.

Baby's due December 3rd, and we aren't finding out sex, we're just doing everything unisex and Winnie the Pooh.

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Animals:

Love dogs, I love cats. I have a major thing for Tigers - LOVE them.

Things I Collect

• Clowns

• Gargoyles

• Teddy Bears

• Porcelain Masks

• Old Fashioned Soda Bottles

• Cookbooks

• Anything with tigers

Misc.

• Dragons - I love them

• Hearts - I like things with heart designs, especially things with double hearts as that goes with the theme for my wedding in September

• Fairies - I like dark fairies, like the ones Jessica Galbreth draws

• Musical Items - Guitars, music sheets & notes, saxophones; anything that has these elements, I like

• Oriental - I love papers and items with Oriental designs. Letters, color schemes, cherry blossom designs, prints - my favorite type of art has always been Oriental designs, it's just so peaceful and beautiful in it's simplicity

Holidays

• Halloween - I like and do up all the holidays because of my daughter and hubby (even when I don't get anything, I always jump into doing it up big for them), but Halloween is mine! Spiders, witches, vampires, skulls - all this dark stuff that I finally have an excuse to have decorating the entire house! I love it.

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Fave Colors: Blue (Sapphire/Royal Blue is my fave, but light, dark, steely, any blue except powder/baby blue works)

• Black

Beyond black & blue, I like:

• Heather grey

• Dark purples

• Dark reds

• Dark greens

Pretty much any color is doable except pink & orange.

Fave Styles:

• Steampunk - There's just something I love about it, it's a load of contradictions that blend so nicely. I prefer more industrial than Victorian though.

• Casual

• Gothic

I'm very much an accessory whore. I love loads of jewelry and sunglasses and belts and such, even though I tend to pick a fave and go minimal, solely with that.

Love:

• Dangly Earrings - Hoops, beaded are cool, love metal ones that jingle with movement.

• Hemp Bracelets - I make these and love them, the simpler, the better.

• Rings - Small, understated, silver and sapphire.

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Rock, Classic Rock, Hard Rock, Metal, Pop, Christian, Country, Some Rap. Pretty much anything that sounds good.

Fave artists include Skillet, Times of Grace, Reba, Melissa Etheridge, Jennifer Knapp, Newsboys, Arvil, Kelly Clarkson, Pink, Paramore, Tom Petty, loads.

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I love Edgar Allan Poe. I have his complete works.

• The Dresden Files by Jim Butcher - An awesome wizardry/fable series about a Chicago wizard and his magical escapades.

• Anne Rice novels.

Stephen King, Dean Koontz. Tamora Pierce.

I like fantasy, mystery, horror, poetry, some romance.

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Renaissance Man, Independence Day, Demolition Man, The Fisher King, Guys & Dolls, At War With the Army, Blade 1 & Trinity, The Resident Evil movies, My Best Friend's Wedding, Rhinestone Cowboy, the Pirates of the Caribbean movies.

I like all movies, except stupid comedy.

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I love all kinds of crafts. Makes things crazy since I have to fit it all into a short period of time.

• Crochet - I've crocheted off and on since I was 6, I love it.

• Art - Being a graphics geek, computer graphics are awesome, but hand drawing is also way fun for me.

• Scrapbooking

• Ceramics

• Crayon & Candle Making

• Jewelry Making

• Sewing

• Wreath Making

• Bow Making

All my crafts have multiple outlets, so what seems like very little turns into a lot. I'm also starting to get into Zentangling, just because I can and the effects are cool.

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I guess this could be called the wishlist, but whatever you call it, this is the kind of stuff I hope to be able to get swapping.

• Anything truck driving related

• Private Swap partner for ATC Zentangled Upper & Lower case A's - Would love to end up with a complete set

• Crochet Patterns

• Easy beginner crochet patterns for Kid's items - My daughter wants me to teach her to crochet, and the easier & simpler the pattern, the better!

• Video game Character Geeky Items - Mario ATC's, drawings, crochet amigurumi, etc

• Star Wars Geek Items - Same as the video games. Both hubby and baby are hooked!

• Zentangle Swaps - I'm starting to get into tangling, so I thought it'd be cool to do some kind of a tangling swap

• Anything with dragons or tigers

• Letter Swaps

• Recipe Swaps

• Nature ATC Swap

• Holiday Swaps

• Email Swaps

• Private Swaps

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I'm new, (plus I work three jobs!) so right now I'm a little limited. I'd love to do as much regional (USA/Canada) swapping as possible, postage and customs regs and all that.

• ATC's.

• Inchies.

• Zentangling.

• Crochet (Granny Squares, hats, stuffed animals/amigurumi, etc.)

• Bookmarks.

• Recipes.

• Jewelry - Bracelets, earrings, beaded, etc.

• Would love to do some kind of swap that had to do with truck driving.

• Private Swaps.

As far as all this, I'm the handmade type not the store bought type, so if there is a choice, be warned, that's what you'll be looking at. : - D

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I send my swaps out as quick as I can. Some swaps are done before partners are even assigned, some aren't, but all are sent out before the deadline. No swap is marked "Sent" until after I have actually physically placed it in the mail.

I rate the same day I receive a swap in the mail, so no messing around waiting with me.

I try to send extras whenever I can, so filled out profiles help monstrously. If you aren't happy with your swap, I will replace it, no question. I am more than enjoying this and really want to keep it going on a good basis.

Notable Mentions

Thank you to everyone I have had the pleasure of swapping with, but most especially to all of the following. You have made my swap experience absolutely awesome! I'm sure this list will grow by the time I'm through.

• @BleedingBlack - Private Swap : You put me onto the place and gave me a chance at increasing my rating with a private swap. Thank you, Caye!

• @LauraM540 - MMMATC Swap : My first swap partner that I received anything from and it more than met my expectations! Thank you, Laura!

• @unicorn25 - Private Swap : You sent me an awesome package! Thank you, Natalie!

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