Crunchysews

As my username suggests, I am crunchy. I love refashioning, recycling, using everything I can wisely; passing things on to someone else who can enjoy them when they are no longer useful to me. I'm a vegan. I try to be as kind to our Earth as I can be.

Cats are my favorite domestic animal. We have had them for years and I don't know how I could get through the day without my kitty friends at home. I miss having a hedgehog and guinea pigs. Wild animal prints are a favorite (Noah's Ark too), especially ones that feature giraffes.

I love travel. Anything with an aircraft theme will make me smile. Trains, ferries, maps, and hotels are pretty fun too. I am a Disney junkie who visits WDW frequently, though I am not a local.

I love things themed to the Apollo era of the US Space Program.

Fall is my favorite season. I love Harvest festivals, Halloween, Thanksgiving and all the colors and decor that go with it.

Yoga, meditation and nutrition have changed my life. It has been a wonderful journey.

I have an interest in personal finance, money management, investing and frugality. We recently cut the cable cord and are loving our Roku. If you have one and want to share tips on how to use it, good channels to subscribe too, etc, I am very interested!

I especially love learning about other cultures, terrains and religions - International swaps are a joy.

I have had the awesome opportunity to travel to Hawai'i for work. To be hosted by the friendliest people you'd ever want to meet, made to feel at home and supported while working very hard on a big project with lots of pressure, was a dream come true and has instilled in me a deep love for the Hawai'ian people. If my parents were younger I might have moved out there, but at their age I'm not comfortable being that far away from them.

I mostly sew, though I am by no means an expert seamstress and love to see tutorials. I also loom knit, collage and enjoy practicing the home arts.

One of my favorite things is to take a worn out item and make it into something new - think stained tablecloth becoming reusable grocery sacks.

There are very few colors I don't like - having lived through the 90's I am tired of country blue and mauve but I still love bright blue and every other pink. Yellow is my favorite color, followed closely by green, then pink, deep reds and earthy browns.

I am a big nonfiction reader, especially biography. My beautiful, wonderful, bright, handsome son passed away recently. I miss him every single minute. Grief books are loved and appreciated. I am blessed that through my local library's interlibrary loan program I always have something new to 'read' while I drive. Books on CD are so much fun! I am currently working on collecting all the Kingdom Keepers books on MP3 CD through swapping and thrifting.

Apollo 13, Pirates of the Caribbean series, Twister, Ghostbusters I & II, Independence Day, Men In Black I & II, Return to Me, War Games, documentaries, comedies, Disney animation. You will never see me watching a tear-jerker. There is enough in the world to cry about, I don't find crying to be a form of entertainment.

iCarly, Modern Family, Big Bang Theory, Scorpion, Black-ish, Dr. G Medical Examiner, I Didn't Know I Was Pregnant (can you believe there are enough women who didn't know to make an entire series? I mean, I can see maybe a special, but a SERIES?).

You were just assigned me in a food related swap and you saw that I'm a vegan. Now you're panicked about where to get 'special' food, aren't you? Just read the labels. There are lots of things that are vegan in a regular grocery store; although I frequent the health food store, you don't have to. If something non-vegan slips in I'll share it with my omnivore spouse. You'll have made two people happy.

I especially love receiving tea or kombucha related items. Right now I'm on a chai tea kick, but all teas are loved and appreciated. Green is my least favorite, but I'm always ready to try your favorite green tea because maybe it is just the one I needed to try in order to turn me into a lover of green tea too.

We are blessed to have a share at an organic farm. This will be our seventh year participating. It seems like we start counting the weeks until the new season about a month after the prior season ends. I have actually dreamed about how good beans taste when they're wonderful and organic and have just been picked by our family.

I will never flake on a swap. If you haven't received your swap from me please reach out. I put USPS Delivery Confirmation on everything I can, use FedEx if the package is big enough (comes with a tracking number); I keep shipping receipts. I have been lucky so far, no one has had a problem with my swaps but if you do, I want to do whatever I can to fix it.

I reuse packaging and totally appreciate receiving my swaps in packaging you want to reuse! It warms my green little heart. Want to wrap my gift in a takeout menu or newspaper page from your hometown? Reading it will be lots of fun for me!

Method, LightLife, Mrs. Meyers, Tidy Cat and All Free and Clear (especially the pods!) coupons brighten my day.

I love, Love, LOVE anything you make yourself!

I will enjoy just about any postcard you could send me unless it were to depict violence or exploitation of people or animals. I like cards of scenery, art, maps, tourist sites, religious, cards you make yourself, promotional cards, animals...if it makes you smile, I think it will make me smile, so please go ahead and share. A little note telling me why you thought I'd like it makes the card rock even more, in my opinion! I am always excited to receive a card you made yourself even if the swap doesn't include handmade cards.