Thanate: the swap info page!

The list herefollowing is an attempt at explaining my tastes and interests to those who are trying to make or acquire things they hope I might like. It may be rather complicated, particularly if I've never met you. But one's got to try, right?

First, the traditional...

*Wist: "What I wist. Wist, from wistful. I think I like the verb form better." I wist a lot of things, some of which I don't exactly want, as such. Read the comments to see why I added things! This is the sub-listing with the "want" tag. It might be more help to you, but then again, maybe not...

I have accounts on:
Craftster (some posting & tutorials, lots of swapping)
DeviantArt
Etsy
Ravelry (although thus far I've only used it for pattern brainstorming)
Den of Angels (doll forum-- they make you sign up to see gallery posts, though, so unless you're actually interested in the dolls, it may not be worth it. I haven't posted much there that isn't anywhere else.)

I've got favorites on:
Etsy
DeviantArt
where I tend to favorite things with reckless abandon. It might be safer to consider these things more in light of representing my artistic tastes than running out to make me, say, that awesome steampunked keyboard that I'd love but never use with my laptop.

I also have a sporadically updated website (home!), and you can read the stuff I have to say for myself on Livejournal, if you really want to.

Things I Like:

The list of miscellaneous things and motifs I like got so long that it has its own page. You can find it here. To sum up? I tend to like nature (particularly in realistic or elegant stylizations), folklore and mythology, and pre-20th century historical themes.

Particular themes & aesthetics:
*art noveau
*dolls and miniatures
*forest and ocean
*steampunk (brass & wood & clockwork & pseudo-Victorian coats/vests with lots of pockets...)
*reduse, reuse, recycle!!! Secondhand supplies are always ok, unless they smell like tobacco (or mothballs).

Colors & colorsets:
*Green!! (particularly forest, kelley or sage, slightly more towards blue-tone than yellow)
*green/earth tones/gold and/or copper
*cobalt/silver/black
*blue/gray
*red/maroon/and black or off-white
*gray/black or white (or all three... again, I prefer a slightly blue-toned gray to a yellow-tone one, as the latter looks greasy to me)
**note: I feel that blue goes well with silver and green goes well with gold/copper, but not the other way around. Other than that, I'm usually pretty easy to please as long as you go light on the neons and orange/mustard yellow.

Favorite materials:
**machine washable fabrics for clothing!!
*velvet, chambray, linen, soft wool, light weight floaty silk
*most quilters' cotton prints, but not branded cartoons
*fabrics with good drape
*patchwork
*small glass beads
*opal and mother of pearl, malachite, amber
*copper
*clear or color-swirled resin
*wood grain
*interesting colors & textures of yarn

Favorite Smells & Flavors:
*tea! (only not plain green tea, fruit flavors, or things with cinnamon)
*vanilla/almond/hazelnut/oatmeal
*yeah, chocolate is nice. ;)
*jasmine
*taro flavored candy & drinks. Yum!
*herb & food smells... think opening bottles on the spice rack
**in general, though, weak scents or unscented are better. I tend to get headaches from stronger smells, and that's never any fun. And I pretty much don't wear perfume at all.

Dislikes:

Motifs and things:
*most Cartoons & TV related things, band stuff, most generic pop-culture references, really
*politics
*address books (no, really, what a waste of a blank book!)
*mid 20th century retro stuff
*cutesy pet things (ie, I like cats but not persian kitten pictures)
*most kawai, chibi, that kind of thing (I like some of the elegant anime styles, but not the super cute ones)
*too much "cutesy" in general
*garden gnomes
*4- or 8- fold symmetry snowflakes (um, 6-sides, people...)
*overuse of vinyl, and heels higher than 3" (and I prefer to try on shoes before getting them, anyway)
*tobacco (it makes me sick)
*the taste of alcohol
*things with either swear words or my real name on them
*humor based on pain, cruelty, drugs, or gender roles/reverse gender roles (like the "girls are awesome/boys are dumb because..." or "subversive housewife" things) I just don't find these things funny.

Colors: (actually, most are good in the right place, but you might want to be careful with:)
*blue with gold, or green with silver
*too much pink as a main color
*50s, 60s, or 70s retro colorsets (although, it's been pointed out to me that there are things I like that could be considered 1970s "earth tones" colorsets... so part of it is just the faded "retro" look)
*too much unnatural orange or orangey yellow

Flavors & Scents:
*It is well known amongst my friends & family that I dislike tomatoes and onions. I don't really see this being an issue in swapping, though...
*most real fruit-- but I love the fake candy cherry & strawberry flavors. Go figure.
*grape flavoring of any sort.
*coffee (taste-wise; as a scent it's ok)
*strong scents in general

**And also, if something is huge and I don't know where to put it (our house is small, and we have a lot of stuff already) I will probably not appreciate it properly even if it is amazingly fantastic. If it's huge and can live outside, that's probably ok.

These things I'm usually looking for:

*cool yard art-- NOT gnomes or flamingoes, but I have a fondness for oddly shaped clay mushrooms, dragonflies, & other things with a kind of natural feel. Functional birdhouses (particularly kinds with smaller holes & no perch) or something windchime-like would also be cool.
*8-1/2x11" or larger sheets of interesting scrap paper (anything from brown paper packing and old maps to printer test sheets) for recycled page journals
*handmade paper
*art yarn or interesting yarn ends (small quantities fine!)
*good quality seed beads (generally the kinds that come in tubes of a single color...) particularly opaque ones
*antique lace (stained or yard sale lots are just fine)
*small to medium-sized see-through jars or bottles to store jewlery notions and suchlike (think old spice containers or peanutbutter jars)
*embroidred patches (either hand or machine done) that match the kind of aesthetics on my wist/favorites
*cool whimsies or ephemera suitable for glueing or sewing onto other things

And these were the things I could think of that I wanted the last time I updated this list:

*medium to heavy gauge colored aluminum jewelry wire
*more sizes of wooden DPNs... so far I have sizes 0,2,4,6,8, & 10.5
*some crochet coral! size & color are completely up to you (and even if you don't crochet, you should check out this link, because the galleries are awesome!)... I am saving up to make something into a reef; sadly, my husband has vetoed the TV.
*rainbow striped or earthtone leg warmers (slouchy is nice! so is tight enough at the ankle that they don't wander off...)
*decorated push-pins or magnets (or both!)
*an ATC alphabet, or a handmade deck of cards (playing cards or tarot)
*cute felted slippers... I've been thinking of getting these but I have a front-loading washer, so felting would be harder. (non-ravelry link; it's the "french press felted slippers", which at least at the moment are also her etsy profile pic) These are also quite cute.
*a screen printed or stenciled shirt (ping me for size-- or just fabric to make something out of would be great, too) with line drawings or silhouettes of birds in flight, dandelions, or bare tree branches on it. Or other motifs you think I'd like.
*a tudor rose purse in black or gray, only with a single long strap
*genuinely unscented hand lotion (my husband keeps complaining I smell funny every time I put on lotion)
*reusable snack bags (maybe plastic lined?) for things like carrot sticks or pretzels; something that's not too girly for my husband to take to work would be great
*a weeding tote: canvas or other sturdy material bag with a round or rectangular bottom on which it will stand up on its own. I'm thinking about 18" diameter and similar height, medium sized carry straps, and no holes for things to fall out of. (I have seen such things, but can't find them on the internet-everyone wants to sell me super complex bags full of tool pockets, which I don't need.)
*a pair of knucks! (I like my half-finger gloves to have at least about a 3" cuff beyond the wrist, and to cover two finger joints, so maybe 1-1/2" fingers for the long ones?)
*a decorated altoid-style tin to keep needles or pins in (ultimately I want one of each, so something contents-related would be great!)

Really, I have no idea if this is helpful. But if you're here, then it's probably for a reason, and you probably have some way to contact me, so feel free to ask if you've got questions about anything.