BeeBlume

Hello Beautiful People!

My name is Ruby.

I am new to swap-bot but I am a long time snail-mailer and maker of mail art, having maintained some of my correspondences for decades.

Please give me a chance! I don't have a flaky bone in my body and I'm so excited to swap!

I have only recently discovered the world of postcrossing and mail art exchanges online and have also become fascinated with stamps and first day cover art. I love stickers, office supplies and every kind of craft and art supply!

About me: I am an artist, gardener, beekeeper, fruit enthusiast, farmer, educator and author. I am interested in botany, biology, psychology, nature, comtemporary art, pop culture, puppetry, history.

My main art form is ceramics but I have done everything from bookmaking and silkscreening to hand-spinning yarn, sculpture, collage, mosaic, marbling, photography, soap making, and graphic design. I even ran a giant puppet theatre in my younger years. I just like making things!

I currently live on a farm in the country where I raise sheep, cows, llamas, chickens, ducks and rabbits. I have cats and dogs too. Cats are my favorite animal.

I am a passionate horticulturalist and have a mixed fruit orchard, large collections of roses and dahlias and many other flowers. I grow a large vegetable garden every year as well as medicinal plants, dye plants, succulents and orchids.

I have been self-employed my whole life and have founded and directed a couple of non profits--the aforementioned puppet theatre and a school of urban homesteading skills. Currently I prune fruit trees in the winter, shear llamas and alpacas in the spring and sell fruit, jam and other homemade goodies in the summer and fall.

My favorite modern artists are Fredriech Hundertwasser and Paul Klee.

A few movies I love are American Beauty, Magnolia, The Fifth Element, The Matrix (original), King of Hearts

Music isn't so much my thing, my brain mostly likes quiet, but I do enjoy bluegrass, gospel, world music, folk and what are now considered "oldies" (music of the 60s and 70s)

Recently read books: The Calamity Club by Kathryn Stockett; The People of the Book, Geraldine Brooks; A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara, Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese, Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver; The Rose Code by Kate Quinn

Favorite Books (fiction): Grapes of Wrath & East of Eden by Steinbeck, Snowcrash and The Diamond Age by Neal Stephenson, Children of God and The Sparrow by Mary Doria Russell; The Book of Lost Friends by Lisa Wingate; Prodigal Summer by Barbara Kingsolver, The Overstory by Richard Powers

Favorite Books (non-fiction): Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer, An Epidemic of Absence by Moises Valesquez-Manoff, The Untold Story of Milk by Ronald F Scmid, Forgotten Pollinators by Gary Nabhan

Favorite series of all times: Six Feet Under, The Good Wife, The Wire, Poldark, Sex Education, We Are Lady Parts

Collections: I collect handmade mugs out of the current contemporary ceramics scene and have about 300 now. I also collect rusty things, vintage miniature bottles, vintage keys, old scissors, miniatures, vintage sewing machines--mostly 3/4 size and working toy machines.

Other things I can't resist: Houseplants, distressed fabric, garage sales, thrift shops,

People: I am an introvert, so quality over quantity and I tend to hold on to the good ones when I can. I only have a few close people in the area I live, but maintain other friendships over time and space. I am probably on the older side for this forum--most of my friendships span 30+ years.

I am interested in the unusual, absurd, and artistic.

Besides handmade cards, which I love, I am pretty open. Nature, silly, modern and contemporary art, fantasy, animals, humor, flowers, art photography, pop culture, vintage, colorful or black and white , all great.

I am less excited about landscapes, tourist cards or art of "the masters."