9/14/16:

What are you interested in from the recent BPAL and BPTP updates? (Lilith, Lunacy, etc.)
I'm really tempted by Reapers Gonna Reap. I can see myself ordering a bottle of that at some point. None of the other Lilliths were as tempting, but I'd like to at least try Baby's First Krampuslauf, Heavenly Spark, My Little Grotesque, and Texare. There were so many Unicorns that I was just overwhelmed and didn’t order decants of any of them, but I wouldn’t mind trying a little bit of any of the following: Allegory of Chastity; Crucifixion; De Vos’ Unicorn; St. Clare (this one especially); The Unicorn, Rushing….; or Unicorn and Ram. From BPTP, I was most interested in The Serpentine perfume.

Would you like hibiscus seeds?
Maybe? I live in Michigan and my backyard is fairly shady from all the trees around, so I’m not sure how well a hibiscus would do in such a climate and locale, but if you think it would work, I’d be up for trying!

Off-color needlepoint?
No, thank you. I’m really not into public displays of off-color or vulgar words or sentiments, and although I might say or think some off-color things, I wouldn’t hang them on my wall for people to see.


9/15/16

How do you feel about knitted stuff? Fancy? Plain?

Something with a Halloween theme or motif would be cool! Or something that can be used, like washcloths or such.
What types of things do you like to wear?
Are we still talking about knitted stuff here? If so, then probably fingerless gloves, I suppose. Or a Halloween scarf with a bat motif or something like that, if something like that is possible?


I'm into beer. How 'bout you? Yes!
Styles? I primarily like porters and stouts, grapefruit ales, and the occasional red ale. Also, I’m on a quest to try as many pumpkin beers as I can!
And booze? I like flavored vodkas most, but I’ll try pretty much anything.

How do you feel about caramel? It’s delicious!
Salt or no? Either way is fine.
With chocolate or without? Either way!

Would you be interested in home made food items?
- garlic dill pickles - A cautious yes, ‘cause I’m not big on garlic, but I do quite like dill pickles!
- blackberry jam - Yes! I’ve started using jams and jellies more this year, so it wouldn’t sit in my refrigerator neglected for months/years as it might have in the past. I’ve not tried blackberry yet; right now I just have wild mulberry, black cherry, red currant, and the standard Welch’s grape.
- dried honey crisp apples - I don’t eat a lot of dried fruit, but a little bit sounds good.
- applesauce (with or without red hots) - No thank you, unless you have a very small jar without the red hots (and without added sugar) that you wouldn’t mind me sharing with my bunny sister (she’s my parents’ bunny) as a treat for her. I don’t like applesauce, but she does!
- elderberry syrup (with honey and apple cider vinegar - great for immune boosting) - sounds interesting!
- honey from our bees - Oh, gosh, I LOVE bees, but I don’t eat honey. I really love the idea of honey you got from your very own bees, but I’d just end up passing it along to my dad, since he’s the only one in the family who uses honey.
- rose petal liquor (made with our own rose petals and everclear but diluted down a bit so it doesn't knock you over) - Absolutely! This sounds fantastic!
- baked goods of your choice, what do you like or dislike? - I would be thrilled to get home baked cookies! I almost never bake, so any homemade goodies would be much appreciated! I don't like nuts or raisins in my cookies, but anything else is fine. I particularly like oatmeal cookies with butterscotch chips, peanut butter cookies, and snickerdoodles, but really, any kind of home baked cookie would make my day. Other than cookies, I like pumpkin bread and corn bread. And I know they’re not exactly considered baked goods, but I love homemade fudge and homemade marshmallows!

Would you be interested in project bags/pouches? I usually make flat bottom round pouches with a pocket inside and a drawstring. Possibility of embroidery if we still have the huge commercial machine.
Sure! I love bags and pouches!

And to go along with the previous knitting question...
Are you allergic to any fiber or do you know what kind of yarn you prefer? (merino, merino cashmere, merino cashmere silk, 100% silk, 100% cashmere, merino nylon, BFL, BFL silk, etc. Or do you like acrylic?)
I’m not life-threateningly allergic to any fiber that I know of, but I’m sensitive to both bunny and cat fur and will experience the usual annoying symptoms (itchy, watery eyes; runny nose, congestion, etc.). As long as you don’t brush your long-haired cat or rabbit and then use the fur in your fiber creations, it should be fine!
Would you want a quilted pot holder?
Sure! I love quilts and quilted stuff!

Do you have any preferred flavour of shortbread?
I’ve only ever had regular, chocolate, and brown butter flavours, so any of those are good, and I’m certainly open to trying other flavours! I bet a lemon shortbread would be good!


9/16/16

Is there anything you'd particularly like to get from the UK?
Magazine or newspaper articles about Marc Almond would be cool! I pretty much have all of his music and DVDs that are available, but any other miscellaneous thing would be lovely. He’s pretty much ignored or unknown around here, sadly. Also, Aero bars or other yummy British candy bars.

Socks/sockdreams/etc:
I love Halloween socks, especially any with bats or Hello Kitty! Crew is best, but shorter ones are fine as well.
For Sockdreams socks specifically, the bamboo cushy lounger crew or black or charcoal striped crew socks are nice, as are a lot of the critter crew or midcalf socks (love the Mr. Fox crew!). Favourite critter socks (besides Mr. Fox, of course) are the Koi Fish crew, Shark Attack midcalf, New Zealand Sleepy Sheep bed socks, Love Bunny crew, and Monsters midcalf socks. I also like the Cotton Lace anklet socks in any of the dark colors (black, brown, navy).

Anyone a nail polish fan? What colors interest you?
I do love nail polish, but I have so much already that I’m pretty much out of storage space for it, so I’m trying to refrain. That said, I do still have a few picks on my Etsy wishlist…. I love holographic and duochrome shades; I avoid creams.


9/17/16

Is there anything you would like to get from Japan?
Oh my gosh, ANYTHING! I read/watch a lot of manga and anime, so I’m kind of intrigued by most things Japanese, and there are so many super cute things from Japan! I’m especially fond of maneki neko stuff, and anything related to one of the manga or anime series I like would be super cool. I’m sure I’ve listed them all at various times in various questionnaires, but right now the ones that spring to mind are Psychic Detective Yakumo / Shinrei Tantei Yakumo, The Ancient Magus’ Bride / Mahou Tsukai no Yome, Ghost Hunt (Akuryou series & Akumu no Sumu ie), Library Wars / Toshokan Sensou, Black Butler / Kuroshitsuji, Mythical Detective Loki Ragnarok / Matantei Loki Ragnarok, Adekan, Pet Shop of Horrors, Hellsing, Demon Prince of Momochi House, and Diabolik Lovers. I’ve managed to get CDs with the theme songs from a lot of my favourite shows, but I’m still noticeably missing the character songs from Inu X Boku (I have a copy of MUCC’s song “Nirvana”, but none of the other songs featured in the show) and Cascade’s song “sexy sexy” from Ghost Stories / Gakkou no kaidan, so copies of any of those would be great (don’t need originals - downloaded and burned onto a CD is fine). I think a mix CD of your favourite Japanese pop songs or the like if you have them would be fantastic, too. Stationary, Hello Kitty, any cute stuff would be welcomed and loved. I do have a Japanese market in my area, so I’m generally set on Japanese candy and treats, but they no longer have two things I used to get - Pocky with white chocolate and a “mystery” Puccho (I think that’s what it was called) - so I’d be happy to get more of either. Oh, I would especially love a postcard or souvenir from your part of Japan - something specific to your hometown or where you’re living now or one of your favourite places would be really cool to get. Also, the last volume of the Psychic Detective Yakumo manga series apparently came out in Japan the other day (Shinrei Tantei 14 by Kaminaga Manabu), so if you happen to find a cheap copy somewhere, I’d be happy to have it. I wouldn’t be able to read a word of it and I’d have to rely solely on the pictures until the German translation comes out sometime next year or later, but still, I just barely resisted ordering it when I got an email about it from CDJapan. If the shipping charge hadn’t been more than the price of the book itself, I probably would have.

Would you object to re-using of clean mailing materials?
Until this question came up I never even considered that someone would object to re-using mailing materials. I re-use mailing materials whenever I can, so no, I wouldn’t object at all.


9/18/16

Who here is a Raging All THINGS HARRY POTTER fan?
Not me. Never read the books, never saw the movies, never had any interest in Harry Potter whatsoever.

Do you like things with Pumpkin (or Pumpkin Spice?)
Just a few things, like pumpkin muffins or pumpkin beer. I don’t go out looking for pumpkin/pumpkin spice-flavoured everything.

9/19/16

Speaking of snarky, who's a fan of The Mincing Mockingbird?
I’ve seen cards and magnets in stores and they’re amusing, but I’m not really a fan. I’ll look, chuckle, and then move on to the next thing on the rack. I’ve never felt the need to buy or own them.

Do you decorate for Halloween all year? If not, what level of decor do you have for Halloween?
I guess I kind of have a low level Halloween vibe going all year, just because I love bats and have a lot of bat decorations around. Come October, I’ll haul out the Halloween candle holders and tablecloths and up the levels of Halloween decor. Halloween week I’ll probably put up the window clings, and Halloween night I’ll stake the outdoor tealight candle holders around out front - I have bat, owl, and pumpkin lanterns.

Indoor/outdoor Halloween decorations? What do you do, and what would you prefer to receive?
I do more indoor decorations. Outdoors I mainly just put out the aforementioned candle holders on Halloween, and I bring them back inside at the end of the night. I wouldn’t mind more outdoor decorations, but they tend to be expensive and to require more storage space, so I’ve not bothered to get any.

What's your preferred Halloween decor style: classic/traditional (skulls, pumpkins, bats), kitchsy/cute, retro, elegant/Victorian, horror/macabre?
Bats and ravens! Classic/traditional; retro; occasionally cute but not kitchsy, maybe a touch of elegant. I like seeing horror/macabre in other people’s decorations, but I prefer not to do it myself.

What's your candy preference?
Reese’s peanut butter pumpkins are my favourite Halloween treat. In general, I like Aero bars, Nut Goodies, maple sugar candy, SweeTarts, and decent chocolate bars (Ritter bars with hazelnuts or honey salt almonds, Green & Blacks white chocolate, Cadbury dairy milk or toffee bars, etc.). I love Fannie May’s dark lemon creams, dark vanilla creams, dark and milk caramels, and more - I worked at a Fannie May store between high school and college and during the holiday season my freshman year, so I will always have a fondness for their stuff.

Does anyone like fleece character hats? Like these? http://wonderlandonline.storenvy.com/collections/354444-anime-video-games/products/13089516-pusheen-like-fleece-hat Whatkinda characters would you like to see?
That Pusheen hat is adorable! For other kinds of characters, I think a bunny or a cat would be cute too! Bunny ears and cat ears - squeee! I know I’m too old to be wearing a hat like that, but I totally would anyway.

9/20/16

Authors - Jennifer Estep, Faith Hunter. Heard of them? Love them, hate them, or eh?
I’ve not heard of them, or at least not that I can recall. They’re not on my radar.

Knitted things. Specifically scarves/cowls and shawls.....grabby hands or not? Favorite colors? Are you allergic or sensitive to any textiles, ie wools, cashmere, nylon, metallic threads, mohair, alpaca? Knitted washcloths? For the kitchen or for the bath? And again, colors??
Grabby hands for a scarf with bats; knitted washcloths are good; stuff for kitchen or bath is good; knitted Halloween decorations would be cool. Bat scarf colors would probably be black and grays or browns; Halloween decoration colors would be determined by theme (orange pumpkins, for example); favourite colors for anything else would be purple, red, lime green, magenta, or combinations of purple/blue/green or red/orange/yellow, but I’d probably be good with any clear, bright colors. I shouldn’t be allergic/sensitive to any of the textiles listed above, but I’d want any animal-based textiles to be cruelty-free.

Candles or wax melts/wax tarts?
Definitely candles.

9/21/16

Do you have an Etsy wish list, and if so, what's your user name there?
Yes, my user name is chiroptera, and my wish list is linked in my sig.

Tokyo Milk? Yea or Nay?
My only experience with Tokyo Milk was buying some of their lip balms, and those were a definite Nay, so I haven’t been motivated to try anything else by them.

Would you like notebooks or journals? Utilitarian or fancy? Lined or blank? Tell me of your stationery lustings.
Honestly, I really don’t use journals or notebooks on a regular basis. I have a few cheap glittery purse-sized notebooks to make lists in or jot things down, plus some notebooks that a friend made for me that I use because she made them, but that’s it for the ones that get used. Besides those, I have hoards of notebooks and journals sitting around untouched, so it’s probably best not to add any more. That said, any notebooks or stationery pertaining to favourite anime/manga would be greeted with great glee and delight.

If you are ok with knitted things, what colors do you like?
Black, purple, red, bright lime green, magenta. I like bright, clean colors, not muddled/dusty colors. I’m fine with neons, too. I tend to stay away from yellows and navy blue, and far far away from beige.

If striping, what two (or more) colors together?
Black and red; black and lime green; black and magenta; or purple/blue/green or red/orange/yellow.

If you want yarn, what colors do you want?
I don’t do any crafts with yarn, so have no need of it.


Are you interested in fabric? Again, what colors, what themes, etc.
I do like fabrics, particularly Halloween patterns, but I don’t really do anything with them, so it would be better to get something that you’ve made with the fabric than just pieces of fabric for me to try to use (because I probably never will). I do have a weakness for some Japanese fabrics with rabbits or lucky cats or fish (I know I have some on my Etsy wishlist), as well as the aforementioned Halloween patterns (especially bats!), so even though it might be years, if ever, before I actually get around to using them, I wouldn’t say no to something like that.

What are your tea and/or coffee preferences? Loose leaf / whole bean or bagged / ground? Do you have a favorite type? Flavor? Retailer?
I don’t drink coffee at all. Tea is fine, either loose leaf or bagged. I like cinnamon teas, mint teas, and the occasional Earl Grey (including the different flavors like lavender or cream) the most, but I’ll drink other flavors too. I’m not a big fan of rooibos, though. Even more than tea, I like hot chocolate. Regular flavor, cinnamon, orange, mint, white, butterscotch - I enjoy all of those and more when it comes to hot chocolate.

If you could receive one handmade item - everything from knitted or crocheted gloves and scarves to sewn bags to fanart or original art, what would you prefer?
Probably a sewn bag made with a cool fabric, or those fantastic dragon scale gloves. If you’re a crocheter who can make amigurumi, a creepy cute or just plain cute amigurumi figure would be just the best thing ever!

What are your favorite fandoms, if any?

I’m not hugely into any fandoms any more, but I still like to occasionally pick up stuff related to Mystery Science Theater 3000 (Joel era), Supernatural (with focus on Dean), and various anime (Black Butler has some cool merchandise - either Sebastian or Grell, and never ever Sebastian/Ciel! For other anime/manga I follow, see the answer above about things from Japan). I also have a small but growing collection of lucky cat / maneki neko stuff.



Skincare- do you use a particular routine? What products would you absolutely not use?
Mornings I use Bella Lucce’s pink grapefruit foaming cleanser and their multifruit regenerative face cream. Nights I use Villainess’s Slick or Bella Lucce’s sesame-rice facial cleansing oil to remove makeup, and occasionally Bunny Butt Apothecary’s Complexion Zen cream (now somewhat reformulated and called Of Buns and Zen, I guess). If I don’t need to take off makeup or am just feeling lazy, I use Trader Joe’s tea tree oil cleansing pads followed by a splash of cold water. I don’t follow these routines a lot of the time; most mornings I don’t do anything, and the cleanser/cream routine is only for when I’m getting ready to go somewhere and putting on makeup. I don’t give much thought to skincare unless I’m having a problem with really dry skin or breakouts or something. For products I’d absolutely not use, I’m trying to go all cruelty-free, so anything not cruelty-free I’d try to avoid.

Bath/shower products?
Mostly bar soap. I have a ton of shower gels and bath oils, but I don’t use them all that often. After baths or showers, I like using dusting powder. And if you know of any good clove or cinnamon scented shampoos and conditioners made without a lot of chemicals and junk, I'd love a recommendation!

BPTP products? Pre-owned okay?
Pre-owned BPTP stuff is always ok. I have samples or full sizes of most of the hair glosses and bath oils I wanted to try, I’m only looking for one atmosphere spray right now (on my BPAL wishlist), and the two Dragon nail polishes I wanted are on their way to me thanks to Etsy. I’d still like to get the Pumpkin Spice Everything nail polish, and to try The Serpentine perfume, but I think other than that I’m mostly set. Of course, that could all change when the Weenies show up!

Essential oils and aromatherapy oils- yay, or nay?
No, thanks. I have a lot already, and I almost never use them.
Favorite animal?
Bats, bunnies, mice, and gerbils are my most favourite. I also love squirrels (including flying squirrels), raccoons, rats, foxes, opossums, and most other small mammals. Bird-wise, I like owls and ravens. I also love bees.

Twilight Alchemy Lab oils?
I think I’m mostly set for now, but I wouldn’t mind trying Bastet’s Laughter, White Light, or Peace if you have a spare imp of one of these sitting around.

9/22/16

Would you like some hair falls? I can make a single (ponytail) or double (for pigtails). Short, long, types of yarns, ribbons? Extra things (buttons, beads, wire wraps? Colors/color combinations? Stuff to avoid?
No, thank you, they’re not really my style.

9/23/16

Would you be interested in Kings Game by Lisa Millraney?
Sure! I don’t have a kindle, but I have Amazon’s free reader downloaded on my laptop, so if it will work with that, it should be fine.

Would you like any brown paper bags of "seconds" from Seattle Chocolates?
I would never say no to chocolate!

Elements & Artifacts has a fall/halloween collection up - Anything catch your eye?
The Halloween Batty, Vampire Queen, Spectre, Apparition, sugar skulls, and Vortex necklaces all caught my eye, but I wouldn’t expect my Witch to spend so much money!

And speaking of shops from BPAL folks, any favorites in the stores on the SW Stalking and Services Spreadsheet?
Oh, gosh, so many beautiful things in those stores! Still, from the spreadsheet, though they’re not in the stores, the offerings that most appealed are homemade fudge, an astrology birth chart, and the postcards that people are offering to send. I love getting a surprise postcard or note in the mail!


9/24/16

The second part of the Haus of Gloi update is live tomorrow (the 25th)- is there anything you're interested in?
I didn’t see any scents that particularly appealed to me, so I guess not. ETA: Ok, I was only looking at Part I the first time I answered. I just took a look at Part II, and the Maple Sugar lip balm sounds good. I'd also be interested in trying the Blood Orange Marshmallow, either a sample vial of the perfume or the whipped soap.

I'm going to the NY Renaissance Faire tomorrow- anything you'd like me to look for?
Nothing in particular, but I always love new bar soaps if there are any such vendors there. Or if you see some little thing that you think I might like, I’m sure I would.

New Question: Do you celebrate Mabon? Would you like "witchy" or pagan decorations and objects? For example, pentacle wall hangings, mabon poppets, corn dollies, ritual candles, etc?
Not really. It’s one of those things where I feel like I should because I like the idea, but honestly, I can’t muster up the commitment to follow any spiritual path, including witchcraft or paganism. I might use a ritual candle if it came with instructions, I suppose.

Anyone hankering for Craftsy classes? Through tomorrow all classes are $20 or under.
Hmmm, not really “hankering”, but the 40 Techniques Every Stamper Should Know class might be useful, or one of the vegetable gardening ones. Oh, one of the basic woodturning classes might be good - I own a lathe, but haven't ever used it, and I haven't used one at all since junior high, which was a very long time ago. I keep meaning to take an in-person class, but it might also be nice to have an online one I can access whenever I want.

Would you be interested in any of the following: jigsaw puzzles; puzzle books (like word searches or crossword puzzles or suduko); coloring books; card games; board games? Feel free to elaborate on preferences for any of the above!
I like jigsaw puzzles (just nothing super difficult like 1000 piece puzzles that are 50% sky or something like that, and I tend to like puzzles with cute animals or birds more than puzzles that are just scenery), word searches, and mazes. I do like card games and board games, but I really don't have any one to play them with, and there aren't too many games out there for just one person. I do have dinner with my parents once a week and we play board games then, but my mom's memory is not what it should be, so we're restricted to playing really simple non-strategic games (stuff like Sorry! or Trouble or Chutes & Ladders, basically). I've been thinking about trying to add Uno or Yahtzee to the repertoire, so if you have a gently used set of either of those that you're looking to get rid of, I'd be happy to get it!

9/25

I'm a honey afficionado (I really love honey) and our renn Faire has a local honey booth we go to every year and our trip is coming up. Anything from http://www.beefolks.com/default.aspsuit your fancy in particular (honey or otherwise since they have other products?)
I love beeswax candles! Any type is good; ordinary shapes (votive, taper, etc.) will be happily used and cute or pretty molded shapes will be displayed and never ever burned. (Well, I might burn a pumpkin shaped shaped candle or something, but if it's a cute animal shape, I couldn't bear to light it and watch it melt away.) The black cherry lip balm sounds good, as does the chocolate mint one. I feel a little guilty straying from the honey and beeswax angle, but they do also have bath bombs and soap listed on their site, and the sensual vanilla bath bomb and most of the soaps (especially the bay rum and Eastern spice) sound lovely. I get my beeswax blocks for thread conditioning from a local beekeeper who has a booth at one of the local farmers markets, so I'm already set on that end.

Any other renn Faire goodies in general? I have a friend who is a wood carver there and they make adorable geeky pins amount other things and Harry Potter wands? Here are the artisans there: http://www.rennfest....ation/artisans
I like carved wood items a lot, so if your friend happens to make pins featuring something cute and non-fandom-specific like owls or dragons or something, that'd be great! The same goes for small carved Halloween or Xmas or just general decorative ornaments. In general, I like candles and soap and small art prints and polished stones and gems. I took a look at some of the artisans listed, but a lot of the stuff I liked was rather expensive, so not worth mentioning. I'm sure I've seen the Fantasy Jewelry stuff somewhere before - the bat flock ear cuff looks really familiar and right up my alley (except for the price), especially since you don't need to have pierced ears to wear it. It's nice to be reminded of it - maybe I'll have to mention it to my parents for my birthday! And since other people mentioned it, I had to check out Dancing Pig Pottery, and I can see why people like their stuff! I especially liked the arabesque and celtic vine designs. I think that's one of the really fun parts of Switch Witch - being introduced to all the cool stuff out there that I didn't know about until someone mentioned it or posted a link that led me to it!

Weenies: I just jumped on a decant circle to get the ones I wanted to try, so I should be all set for now.

Pepper powders: No, thank you.

Erotica or BDSM: Well, I guess a certain percentage of the oodles of fanfiction that I read could be considered erotica, so I guess I'm fine with it. I've been dabbling in yaoi manga lately also, although it's kind of difficult to find ones that are good in terms of consent issues. As for BDSM, it's not really my cup of tea.

Character or fandom inspired Sculpey stuff: Sure, if you have any ideas for something that you think would be good, I'm open to it!

10/16/16

Ginger, or Spearmint flavor?
I like both! Spearmint is my favourite mint flavour, and I like ginger a lot too!

10/18/16

ThinkGeek is having a big Halloween sale. Anything catch your eye?
Giant Zombie Flamingos! The Embroidered Bats Table Topper is cool, as are the Embroidered Skeleton Dance Table Topper and the Mantel Runner. I also like the Build-On Brick Mug.

10/19/16

Do you subscribe to any boxes? What kinds of things do you like from them?
I don’t. I used to get Birchbox (my cousin got me a gift subscription), but I didn’t find it interesting enough to re-up. For the kinds of things that are in Birchbox - makeup and the like - I’d rather just get things I like rather than get random samples that weren’t really tailored to me at all.

Any makeup/body/skin type stuff you'd like to get samples of?
I’m pretty well set on makeup samples, especially loose eye shadow. I guess maybe scented body powders and non-BPAL indie perfumes would be most interesting to me.