Hello! My name is Joanne and I live in California. My top craft-related hobbies are: card-making, photoshop, digital scrapbooking. I love making cards and I have tons of materials and tools for card-making. My favorite techniques are stamping, die-cutting, coloring, and dry embossing. I also love all kinds of stationery and pretty craft items.

In swaps, I am looking forward to exchange of ideas, inspiration and good will and not simply exchange of materials. It is the thought of sharing which makes swaps unique, otherwise why not just go out and buy your own stuff? After experiencing two years of closed doors due to the pandemic, I want to explore a new way of connecting with people. I am hoping that swap-bot could provide that link through sharing art, paper craft, stationery, and creative writing.

I try to decorate every postcard/card and make it special for the recipient. I hope each piece of mail can brighten someone's day. "Anything worth doing is worth doing well." Right?

Favorite Crafts

Beyond doubt, card-making is my top favorite craft activity. I like to make relatively clean designs delivering positive messages. My favorite techniques are stamping, coloring, and die-cutting, as I don't really know how to draw. I am still having lots of fun nonetheless. Haa! I am open to exploring new techniques which are not so complicated or messy. My techniques, styles and interest are constantly evolving:
1) 2003: Joined Stampin' Up.
2) 2004: Quitted Stampin' Up.
3) 2004: Designed and sold my own stamps.
4) 2005: Created sample cards for my line of stamps (confession: it was not fun).
5) 2006: Frugal style: focused on grab-bag rubber stamps.
6) 2012: Quitted selling stamps; started selling wall decals.
7) 2014: "The Decal Rush": design, make, sell, and ship like crazy.
8) 2018: Quitted selling decals; focused on the real fun = cardmaking.
9) 2019: Wonderful discovery of Copic markers.
10) 2020: Discovered Aliexpress and splurging ever since.
11) 2021: Pop-up card frenzy.
12) 2022: Swap-bot & Postcrossing fever. Sent over 400 pieces of mail in 5 months.
13) Present: Die-cut mania, including creating my own designs.
One thing is certain: I am having more and more fun 🤩

Favorite Activities

Other than paper crafts and scrapbooking, I also enjoy playing the piano, biking, hiking, swimming, puzzles & legos.

Favorite TV

PBS and NBC news. (yes, seriously!😉)

Favorite Movies

I rarely watch movies. I'd rather be making cards and playing the piano ;-)

Favorite Books

I don't really have a favorite book, but some books which I have been reading recently are: Discrete Math, Physics by Giancoli, Calculus, and Big Ideas Geometry (yes, my kids are in high school ). I enjoy intellectual challenges as well as catching up with my kids so that I can participate more in their lives.😊

Favorite Music

I enjoy classical music and certain kinds of contemporary music. I practice piano every day! I enjoy Sonatas and compositions by Chopin except the really hard ones like Heroic Polonaise... which is hopeless to me 🤣

My son and I also like music arranged by Patrik Pietschmann but these can be rather hard to play because the arrangements are so rich and flavorful (sometimes requiring all ten fingers and I don't have large hands). My favorite pianist is Lang Lang - his passion displayed during each performance is overpowering.

Favorite Foods

Corn flakes, ramen, egg tarts, eggettes

Other Favorites

I like positive, witty quotes and short poems. You might be seeing some of these on my postcards. I particularly like Winnie the Pooh quotes about friendship. I still like Disney Art although I have outgrown Disney Theme Parks.

About Swapping

Likes

Handmade cards (written)
Handmade envies
Disney Art
Studio Ghibli Art
Harry Potter
Foxes, bunnies, elephants
Write something to me in German (beginner level, LOL)

Dislikes

Please don't send me tea bags, edible items, note papers or coloring pages.

Preferences

I prefer to receive greeting cards or notecards written inside rather than sent blank.

It is perfectly OK to send handmade postcards in clear sleeves (even if the swap states "naked and no plastic sleeves"). In fact, it is my preferred option of sending and receiving handmade postcards as these tend to get smeared and ruined easily in the mail.

Even if the swap states store-bought only and no handmade, I always welcome handmade/homemade and will not rate you down because it is handmade. On the contrary, it will be very much appreciated 😊

No Swap Name?

I rarely forget to write the swap name but if you ever receive a swap from me with no swap name, please contact me and I will be able to find the swap name for you quickly. I keep a spreadsheet of all swaps sent as well as pictures of what I sent. Sorry for any confusion caused in advance.

My Pledge

I am serious about every swap that I join and I will never intend to flake. I put solid effort in each piece of mail and I also want to send them out fast. I create everything ahead of schedule and I typically send out stuff right after swap partners are assigned. I plan to be 100% on target with no exceptions. No emergencies can stop me from sending out items on time unless I am so sick that I cannot even print an address label, apply postage and walk 15 steps to drop off the item. 😂

I mark "send" on the day that I drop off the items in the mail collection box, so the day marked "sent" is the day that the item is sent.

If you have not received something from me in a swap, someone (me or the post office or both) must have screwed up. Please contact me and I will be happy to resend it. If I have not received something from a partner, I also promise to contact him/her first before leaving a rating. Let's give each other a chance to make things right!

First written: March 30th, 2022.
Last updated: Oct 13th, 2022.