AlisonSwaps

Greetings!

In the 1990s, I discovered penpaling and swaps (mainly Friendship Books, Slams, Label Bags and Sticker Sacks). It's been quite a while since I've done swaps and penpaling. I recently unearthed my vault of stickers/stationary and remembered how much fun it was to send and receive stuff in the mail. So.. I'm diving back into the world of fun written/craftable/swappable things.

I absolutely adore getting mail (post cards, letters, greeting cards, envelopes stuffed with goodies, RAKs, themed swaps, etc)! I also love to surprise others through snail mail. :) To me, the written word is such a beautiful thing and I truly do cherish the opportunity to send out each swap whether it be a letter, notecard, RAK envie, thank you note, package, etc.

I live in the Boston area with my husband and two daughters.

[ General Interests ]:

• Playing the ukulele (I play weekly in a band and go to a monthly jam session that features a bunch of other instruments. My latest obsession is learning to play Blues music on my uke.)
• Experimenting in my garden and watching things sprout (particularly flowers)
• Rescuing orphaned plants and seed saving
• Running/hiking
• Rocket Dog flip flops
• Hanging out at the beach/collecting seashells and beach glass
• Antique hunting (particuarly for cool 80s toys and other kitschy things)
• Anything Simpsons-themed (Homer and Krusty the Clown are my faves!)
• Drinking coffee
• The color magenta
• Thrifting (rummage sales, estate sales, garage sales and hunting for treasure at Savers)
• Collecting goofy/quirky t-shirts (especially vintage ones)
• Floral and botanical things, rose- and violet-scented things
• Scratch and sniff stickers, stationary and washi tape
• Kawaii anything (Sanrio, SanX, Daiso, etc)
• Finding unusual postcards (including vintage)
• Vintage Hallmark stationary
• Camping (both cabin and tent)
• Swapping tea packets (love foreign and exotic teas!)
• Finding eclectic coffee houses
• Cooking stuff over a fire in cast iron pots
• Collecting iron-on patches
• Peeping at old buildings and architecture
• Maps (I am fascinated by them and often incorporate them when I’m creating mail art)
• Sakura GellyRoll pens and watercolors (I just bought the travel case of 24 watercolors and am trying to teach myself how to paint)
• Pens! Micron, Le Pen.. I just love them!
• Traveling/spontaneous day trips
• Planning trips to DisneyWorld (I usually go every year with my sister to run one of the the races during the Disney Princess Half Marathon weekend)
• Halloween (hands down my favorite holiday since I was little)
• Blank postcards (I use them for PostCrossing)
• Doing Random Acts of Kindness (RAKs) through the mail
• ... and lots of other low-fi stuff..

[ Crafting interests ]:

• Spreading Modge Podge on things
• Creating tiny tradeable crafts for my daughter's Girl Scout troop (SWAPs, for those of you familiar with them)
• Doodling and capturing funny quotes my family says in my SmashBook
• Hand-drawing and inking my own stickers on Avery labels
• Mail Art
• Upcycling scraps of paper into something fantastic (particularly handmade postcards and envelopes)
• Making beaded jewelry
• Sewing stuff on my machine without a pattern (I’m a rebel.. ha.)
• Slapping stickers onto things (cheap stickers, fancy stickers, large vinyl ones, stickers in a foreign language, teensy ones, glittery stickers, alphabet letters, cartoon-y stickers, kawaii stickers, vintage-looking ones.. I just love stickers in general!)

“ In this era of instantaneous communication, a letter is a rare and wondrous item.”