pianoheart

I am on swap-bot to make friends and have fun. Here is a little about me:

I love piano, ukulele, and stringed musical instruments from different cultures., I am interested in making soap, artistic bookbinding and making/restoring ukulele. I make lei using seeds, nuts and flowers from Hawaiian plants and trees.

I welcome pen pals from the Hawaiian Islands who want to share friendship. I currently have tons of mainstream writing stationery, so no need to send more to me, unless you have written a pen pal letter to me on it. Email pen pals are also nice. I am more interested in forming friendships than accumulating stuff. I would like to find some like-minded people.

I love to cook. I experiment with adapting recipes for use with local Hawaiian ingredients. I grow many kinds of tropical fruit and like to use them in recipes. I cook mostly vegetables, fruit and whole grains. I don't cook with dairy, eggs or meat. I have too many vegetarian cookbooks, so no need to send more to me.

My husband collects retired license plates from all over the world. They don't need to be old, just no longer on a vehicle. If you would like to add to his collection, please send me a message to see if he already has a plate from your area.

I'm more about giving than receiving, so if you are sending to me in a flat rate box swap, you have the option of sending an electronic amazon gift code to save time and postage - envelope or small box 15, medium box 25, large box 35. Amazon codes count as profile-related, so if we are partners in a value-specific swap, you can send a code and save the postage of mailing a package. Hearts for these options because I use amazon.com to buy my books and e-books for school.

Some favorites:

• Ocean - I love exploring the beach. Please do not send sunscreen - some of them have chemicals that are banned in Hawai'i because they kill the reef.
• Earth - I love being outside, hiking to waterfalls and great views, planting native trees.
• exercise: walking, hiking, mountain biking, kite flying
• thin, durable bookmarks - I use them in my cookbooks, so ones that can be wiped clean are great.
• natural, plant-based essential oil soap
• big tree forests
• pen pals
• musical instruments
• For shopping and physical gift cards (not electronic), my favorite store is Lowes Home Improvement.

• I collect antique, old, and unusual switch plate covers and electrical wall plug covers (not plastic ones). If you would like to send one, please tell me about the type it is to see if I have a wall plug that it will fit on.

  A agriculture, Anthony of Padua, additional ounce stamps

  B

  C cacti and carnivorous plant seeds

  D dog treats

  E Earth, essential oil soap bars, exfoliator, electric vehicles

  F forests, fruit trees, face scrub, forever stamps, friends, flash drives

  G gift cards, global forever stamps

  H Hawai'i friends

  I

  J

  K kites

  L long-sleeved cotton t-shirts

  M musical instruments, magnesium bath salts, marbles, milagros

  N

  O Ocean, oatmeal soap, o-furo

  P piano, pen pals

  Q quartz crystal balls

  R rosemary, rain

  S sundials, stretch tubes (for exercise), solar power, sumi-e, seeds to grow herbs succulents, and cacti (not expired)

  T trees, thumb drives

  U ukulele, unused USA potage stamps, USB drives

  V

  W worry dolls, white whippets

  X xylophone, X-acto knives

  Y

  Z zori

  Things I Use:

  • packets of viable (not outdated) seeds to grow herbs, cacti and succulents. I can use actual seeds, but not so much things with plant designs on them. It's too hot here for most vegetable and flower seeds. I'm always looking for swapping pen pals in warm climates to exchange seeds. Please do not send packets of wildflower seeds - these can be invasive in Hawai'i.

  • art supplies: No big craft stores here, so I love to receive tools and materials, like wood glue, classic X-acto knives and blades, any Dremel tool attachments, small drill bits, wood and stone carving tools, double-sided tape, wide packing tape, white-out tape

    • For flat swaps, I like: unused USA postage stamps, seed packets, milagros

• For papercrafts, I like artists' pens with colored ink.

• Things for the puppy: dog treats

• Things for the plants and farm: sharp hand-pruners (Corona or similar), outdoor digital thermometer, solar powered anything.

• Sealed, unused packages of natural skin care samples/products, like exfoliator, face scrubs, face wash, moisturizer, essential oil perfume, magnesium bath salts, essential oil soap bars

  Things I Don't Need So Much:

  • fabric, stuffed toys, knick-knacks

  • skin sensitivities - parabens, preservatives, propylene glycol, sodium lauryl sulfate (common in liquid soap). Unfortunately, I cannot use products that are used, unsealed, or do not list ingredients. Please do not send sunscreen.

• There are some papercraft things I don't use. I don't make scrapbooks, junk journals or greeting cards, so please do not send glitter, stamped images, embellishments from a craft store, journal cards/project life/prompts, things cut from magazines, book pages, post-it notes, ephemera, feathers, blank recipe cards, used postage stamps, coloring pages/cards/books, scrap paper.

• Please don't send food or drink (this includes tea bags), unless it is for a cooking swap, because some foods tend to melt, get weird in the tropical heat or the gecko living in my mailbox gets to them first.

• Please don't send makeup or nail polish - I don't wear them. I prefer natural skin care products - see above.

• Please don't send things that smell of cigarette smoke or cigarette smoke with perfume/dryer sheet smell added to it. Thank you for understanding.

• It is difficult to remove plastic on an island. watch this to learn more