APRIL 2017: I'LL TAKE A SUMMER BREAK TILL................?. January 2021: That was a very long pause.... But now I feel like it again.

Although I was not active within swap bot I have always remained active in sending mail and collecting stamps. In the meantime I have also picked up postcrossing again.

Hello, I am Stella, born in 1950, living in the south of Holland. For every swap I take time to read my partners profile, I hope you will do the same.

I do spend a lot of time/energy to find the best possible for my swapping partner-s: my intention is always to send something personal. I do not join a lot of swaps: if I make you a nice -creative- swap, I work several hours and I can't do that every day.

If there is a problem, please contact me first. I will contact you first too if there is a problem, you and me need the opportunity to fix things. I make scans and notes of everything that goes -always in time- into the mailbox. But we cannot control everything and every postal service.

I am textile addicted: as a tailor (I did have my own studio for 25 years), I am interested in fabrics, materials, patterns, sewingmachines, buttons, needles, textile crafts etc etc, too much to mention. I started very young, as a child I sewed doll clothes and when I was a little bit older I had my first sewing lessons. I like sewing, paper-arts, embroidery, quilting, making collage, making ATC's and more. These days most of my free time I am busy with hand- and machine quilting, embroidery and collecting stamps. When my hands are busy, I am happy. I love to collect and to make miniatures. You need less materials but more skills in making small things.

In the eighties I started collecting stamps. The most important part of my stampcollection is from Japan.

JAPAN is my favorite country: my favorites are woodblockprints (ukiyo-e), kimono's, calligraphy, too much to mention. Later I started to collect the countries: FINLAND, CANADA, a little bit FRANCE from 2000 till now and different items:

From all over the world I collect:

PENGUINS.

CHICKENS AND ROOSTERS

DOLLS, CHILDRENS PLAYS AND TOYS.

TEXTILES, TEXTILEPROCESSING,TAILORING: textile-fabrics.

TULIPS

OWLS AND UPUPAS

WEIRD MAILBOXES AND COLLECTING stamps(postal theme)

UNESCO WORLD HERITAGE

STAMPS MADE OF OTHER MATERIAL THAN PAPER

II'm trying to get a stamp from all the countries of the world, which sounds easy, but it's not.

MOST IMPORTANT ABOUT STAMPS:...THEY HAVE TO BE IN PERFECT CONDITION, not damaged and properly soaked off.

WHEN I AM COORDINATING A STAMP-SWAP I ALWAYS SEND MY PARTNER SOMETHING SPECIAL EXTRA!!!!

Please do not send photocopied or printed images (unless it's necessary for the swap) and no small pieces of paper, no bookpages (I do have so much, I can start a shop). I do not like careless, sloppy or damaged mail and poorly done handmade items. Please do send your mail with care and attention. Sometimes (I think) I can see the attention for the swap in the way the swap is sent.

I do not like childish things like kawaii (allthough I love Japan), teddybears, Kitty, Disney, sweet flowers and more....or cute stickers and so on Please do not send me tea, coffee, smells, food, make-up or jewellery. I am not interested in religious items, magnets and other touristic gadgets, cities, landscapes, buildings, touristic views, no nationalistic or holiday items ( Halloween, Thanks Giving, Valentine's Day (I don't celebrate it) and please nothing glittery, bling bling in Dutch, no lurex, no rhinestones. Please no easter, no Christmas and so on items, unless I join a swap with this subject of course.

I collect items like charms and miniatures in relation with sewing. I have something special with scissors (not the big and not necessary real ones) and tape measures (I do have lots of the normal ones!), needle cards or any other vintage sewing notions/haberdashery. I prefer above all good quality, my personal style is modern-classic and I like museumsouvenirs.

Good quality quilt fabric-s-, cotton, f.i.with handwritings, text, with images about sewing and so on, or only in one color, monochromatic.

Paperdolls (2-dimensional) and dressing paperdolls. Miniatures of all kinds.

My favorite colours are red, grey, black, blue (the darker ones), lavender, powdered pink and offwhite; I prefer silver (no gold) in metal and colour. I do not like green, orange, brown and yellow.

Interesting Japan-related things.

Small boxes, all materials, must easy fit in the mailbox, can be handmade, can be vintage, can be modern and other nice miniatures.

I usually try to make a swap a kind of a present. I try to understand people's profiles so they get things they like. When I read my partners profile I mostly immediately know what I can make and/or send. I appreciate when partners read my profile. Of course I try to be fare and not everyone has the same abilities, style, likes/dislikes. For me it has to be obvious that senders put effort into what they have sent.♥ Hearts are usually given when a craft is extra special. I do not base a heart on extras like small pieces of paper or a page torned from a book, some stickers etc.