stephiedee

I'm Stephanie/Steph. Late 30s. Married. Mother to one. Introvert. Shy. Social misfit. Anxiety warden. Reformed class clown. 51% Darth Vader; 49% SpongeBob SquarePants. Nerd. Dork. Homebody. Humanist. Color lover. Paper connoisseur. Excellent cook. Less excellent housekeeper. Horrible gardener (sorry, plants!). ISTJ, Scorpio & Earth Goat...for whatever that's worth. Native Floridian. Tallahassee resident for the last 10 years.

Making things is my outlet, my therapy, my connection. I try and create something everyday. Sometimes it's just an ATC; sometimes it's a whole book or a tacky wall ornament. Mostly I like to create in a pop art, modern style, but I can do the pretty, vintage style, too. Mixing it up keeps things interesting.

My favorite medium is collage. I'm a big fan of multi-layered creative collage, full of depth and details, but I also like simple, well done paper arrangements, color studies, abstracts, visual poetry and things more on the graphic design side. I prefer using mostly upcycled, reclaimed & second-hand materials (books, magazines, office/school supplies---though I do have an acute weakness for patterned scrapbook papers). I have a dedicated craft room (the "craft cave") filled with enough supplies to last me a good 10 years, at least.

If anything here sparks your interest for a private swap (or a new, semi-regular mail pal), message me! I'm always down for a one-on-one exchange. 😊 Currently ISO people who want to trade profile inspired paper goodies + a handmade thing.

• 𝙋𝙍𝙊𝙅𝙀𝘾𝙏𝙎: handmade postcards, ATCs, artbooks, gluebooks, zines, artistamps, shrines, assemblages, repainted figurines, altered art.

• 𝘾𝙊𝙇𝙊𝙍𝙎: ALL bright & bold colors; the whole rainbow; neons; royal purple, turquoise, candy apple red, sunshine yellow. I never met a color I didn't like. Except beige. 😩

• 𝙋𝘼𝙏𝙏𝙀𝙍𝙉𝙎/𝙋𝙍𝙄𝙉𝙏𝙎: busy florals, geometric, symbols (hearts, plus signs, stars), tropical botanical, Marimekko, retro florals, visual texture.

• 𝘼𝙍𝙏 𝙎𝙏𝙔𝙇𝙀/𝘿𝙀𝙎𝙄𝙂𝙉: psychedelic, bohemian, comic book art, graffiti, Gothic, Memphis, surreal, Spanish Revival Architecture, Mid-Century modern, CSA Design, typography, 70s-80s-90s design.

• 𝘼𝙉𝙄𝙈𝘼𝙇𝙎: cockatoos, raccoons, sphynx cats, sloths, Boston Terriers, Rottweilers, Pitbulls, capybaras, alligators, ravens, emus, llamas. Really, all animals are cool. Except sharks. 😩

• 𝙉𝙀𝙍𝘿𝙀𝙍𝙔/𝙋𝙊𝙋 𝘾𝙐𝙇𝙏𝙐𝙍𝙀: MCU, spaceships, aliens, NASA, Universal Monsters, Dragon Ball, Adult Swim, memes, reaction gifs, stand-up comedy, anime, Discworld Universe, Judge Judy, 90s alt/grunge, riot grrrl, 80s cartoons, RuPaul's Drag Race.

• 𝘼𝙏𝘾 𝙏𝙃𝙀𝙈𝙀𝙎: Nick Bantock style, altered Mona Lisa, goddesses, Zetti, funky shacks, anthropomorphic animals, snarky people and animals, creepy/spooky Halloween, Day of the Dead, history memes, comic book art, sun/moon faces, inspirational (not spiritual) quotes/words, food puns.

• 𝙈𝙄𝙎𝘾 𝙄𝙈𝘼𝙂𝙀𝙍𝙔: retro TV sets, cassette tapes, deep sea divers, helmets, vintage VW Beetle/Bus, gargoyles, grotesques, Second Generation Chevrolet Chevelle (1968-72), cheeseburgers, hands, skulls, mannequins, dummies, the number 12.

• 𝙈𝙐𝙎𝙄𝘾/𝙏𝙑: I'm stuck in the 80s/90s when it comes to music. I ♥ heavy metal, riot grrrl, new wave, rap, punk, grunge & even a little country from the 80s/90s. As for TV, I watch way too much, but right now I'm addicted to Pitbulls & Parolees, any vet show, Judge Judy/Hot Bench, The Good Place, RuPaul's Drag Race, What We Do in the Shadows and At Home with Amy Sedaris.

• 𝘾𝙊𝙇𝙇𝙀𝘾𝙏𝙄𝙊𝙉𝙎: classic Star Wars with a focus on Darth Vader, skulls (calaveras and just. skulls o_O), Buddha, Budai, Maneki Neko, CLOWNS (yes, clowns; silly, scary, creepy, cute clowns).

I'm highly visual so if you want to SEE what I like, you can check out my Pinterest boards: Characters • Art • "Aesthetic" • Misc.

Some of my collections on display in my craft cave.

• Mail supplies: plain envelopes, well made handmade envelopes, hand-painted/inked envelopes, note cards (4x6 and larger), shipping labels and flat baggies (cello or paper).

• FUN, flat, colorful stickers for decorating envelopes and postcards; especially Lisa Frank, weird/silly kawaii, Trader Joe's freebie stickers, hippie, animals, SOME teacher reward stickers ("YOU'RE AWESOME!" and general affirmations like that, stars, etc), "Fashion Angels" stickers (emojis, cute animals, positivity, teen stuff). Not interested in anything preschool level, mushy/lovey-dovey or planner specific (days of the week, chores, appointments, etc).

• authentic vintage yearbook portraits, from about the 40s-60s. I have a 1977 university yearbook if you'd like to exchange a page or 2 for your older yearbook pages...lots of big hair, big glasses and mutton chops.

• creative paper materials for collage; graph papers, paint palette papers, typewritten pages, photocopies, modern ephemera, flat textural elements (die-cuts, drywall tape, sequin waste), colorful maps, patterned tissue paper, images of diverse people, visual texture images, images from modern cultural/art/lifestyle mags (Bust, Juxtapoz, Paper, ARTNews, Thrasher, Surfer, AFAR).

• a cure for my husband's snoring; spell, potion, old housewives remedy, karate move...

My actual wishlists:
Amazon
Etsy

• Images, postcards or any other items featuring SHARKS. I have a phobia (seriously).

• Religious materials, scriptures, angels, Christian iconography, etc. I'm atheist and have no interest in these things. TBH I don't have a lot of interest in atheist things either.

• Edibles, scented things, tea bags, drink mixes, makeup, face masks, etc. I'm a life-long allergy sufferer and have uber sensitive skin. I don't randomly try new things.

• On the crafty supply front: I'm not a big fan of Tim Holtz or other "celebrity crafters" and their product lines; theme dislikes: steampunk, zombies, Disney fairy tales, wedding, baby, Paris, Victorian.

• I don't have a problem with the human body in any shape or state of dress, but I get seriously bothered by random "floating" genitalia (male or female). I don't know why...they're as annoying as the random mustache trend.

99.9% of my outgoing mail goes in my mailbox at the end of my driveway. Our post person runs anywhere between 10AM (!!) and 7PM (!!), so if I don't rate that day after receiving, I will the following morning. I keep a spreadsheet and stay pretty organized....so I will follow up when a reasonable amount of time has passed without any notification of my swap being received by you. I'm an old hat at this stuff.

I a̲l̲w̲a̲ys̲ rate swaps received and a̲l̲w̲a̲ys̲ acknowledge tags/RAKs/etc received. If I haven't done so in a timely manner for something you sent me, it's probably lost...or taking the slow boat. I may be awkward AF, but I'm grateful to all who share their time and creativity and want them to know it.

I'm easy going when it comes to handing out hearts and would really love to see your honest efforts more than anything. Please don't feel that you need to send me random extras with a swap. There are plenty of bits and pieces here to entertain me. Also, it's pretty clear when someone sends you extra stuff to finagle a heart vs. when someone sends you a pretty specific thing that's relevant to you out of the kindness of their heart. Kindness is always appreciated.

Stuff that's typically taboo here, doesn't bother me...in fact, I really like most of it. Snakes, bugs, occult, dark humor, nudity, profanity, random weirdness, adult themes...bring it.

✌