Gnoe

This profile page was updated on November 11th 2023

My nickname "GNOE" is Dutch for gnu or wildebeest.

I'm an animal loving museum information specialist, currently not working but full-time adoring her rescue cats Kuki & Sumi, and our current elderly foster Jannie. We recently also took in my elderly aunt's senior Mopje so we now have a quartet of calicos/torties! 😻😻😻😻

I volunteer at a donkey sanctuary which makes me the happiest (and luckiest) person in the world!!! Definitely a Crazy Donkey Lady and proud of it.

Also volunteering at a small city "farm" nearby where the three Hampshire Down sheep are my faves, especially Demi, the senior mum of Debra & Vera. The animals can just live their lives here and are not being exploited.

I'm vegan, which means I employ a compassionate & eco-friendly lifestyle using no animal products whatsoever. No meat, fish, dairy, eggs, honey, gelatine (gelli plate), bee's wax etcetera, nor wool, leather, silk, wool-felt or products for either crafts or personal care tested on animals or containing animal ingredients. I find this makes me feel at peace with the world. :)

• mail art and art journalling / (trashy) junk journals
• dabbling in textile arts (visible mending, fiber mail = fabric mail art, crochet and embroidery)
• Asia (Japan and Indonesia); Japanese and Scandinavian design
• donkeys
• peacocks, kingfishers and other brightly multicoloured birds for their iridescent plumage
• gnus
• bling (I probably was a magpie in a previous life ;-)
• small and fragrant flowers like snowdrops, freesia, sweet pea, purple crocus, lavender and cherry blossom (sakura)
• museums
• reusing, recycling, repairing, repurposing and upcycling / zero waste society

Colours:

• lime green
• ultraviolet
• peacock palette
• clashing combo's of yellow, orange, pink, purple and red
• metallic colours; gold and jewel tones

I'm into cinema, books (literary fiction, J-Lit, mystery/thriller with clever female protagonist), and hiking. I used to make bentos, postcross and geocache but hardly do so these days.

Postcards or other mail (art) about anything of the above will make my day.

For tea swaps my tea of choice is green or rooibos. Preferred fruit is citrus.

JJJ: Let's Make a Junk Journal swap series

My junk journals contain genuinly reused, upcycled and found items (no trash). My style is eclectic - vintage and antique as well as modern. I have a nostalgic fondness of 1950's-1960's-1970's graphic design.

I like items that are unique. Strong colour combinations and images. Pieces of fancy papers and your own painted papers. If you're eco dyeing (paper, fabric, threads) I'd love a sample! Scraps of pretty fabrics, patches and haberdashery are very welcome. Bling and tactile things catch my eye (and breath) too.

I love cats, but only the living kind -- not planning on making a cattish journal. I mostly journal my everyday life.

For inspiration I fancy the styles of the following instagrammers: @amitybloom @roxycreationsbyrachel @cutpastesteph @mo_saddiction @ patricia.nordeen, @johannaclough and yes, @megjournals too of course.

I am not a fan of Maggie Holmes,Tim Holz, grungy or steampunk and I have no use for die cuts or scrapbook papers. Please no quotes.

Sending

My goal when sending out swaps is to put a smile on your face. I personally think swapping should be fun and make us happy; there's too much drama in the world already.

I mark my items sent after I've dropped them in the mailbox. Where I live mail is only collected on weekdays at 5pm. Naturally I mail in time for pick-up when sending out on the last day of the swap. Swap-Bot rules speak for themselves.

I reuse -clean- packaging and such as much as possible.

Receiving

If possible, I prefer to receive postcards in an envelope so I can reuse the stamps for journalling or mail art :) Love special stamps!

I have a kind of no thanks ~ I'd rather not receive list at the bottom of this page. It's there to aid you, not restrict! Of course I'll appreciate anything you send :-) I will never rate down for getting something from those lists (the thought alone is absurd to me!) If possible I will just pass along what I cannot use -- but it seems such a waste of postage and effort on your side that can be avoided.

So please don't worry about it, nor be offended?!

These are not requests, just a few things that will make me happy. I love looking at other people's wish-lists to help me pick something nice, and I hope that's the same for you.

• a letter -- I looooove reading letters!
• vintage letter paper
• postalettes
• anything DONKEY! (though not a fan of caricature/Disney)
• vintage/used library cards
• embroidery thread; variegated and shiny make my heart leap and currently low on reds, purples 'n blues
• sashiko threads
• haberdashery in general
• glass, wooden or metallic beads
• pieces of fun fabric (dying for some scraps of non-silk sari, batik and kimono fabric!)
• quality handmade postcard
• clothes/decorative patch made by you, including Teesha Moore style puffy scrap patches
• handmade pincushion or kit/easy instruction
• handmade needle book with room for threader
• sea glass
• origami paper, esp. washi, foil, chiyogami and duo (double sided)
• Cyrlillic and Hindi texts (preferabbly aged)
• anything relating to my interests described earlier on this page
• did I mention a letter? ;-)

Crazy Donkey Lady special request

If you live in the United States and are sending me snailmail, please consider using this stamp from the Heritage Breeds USA Forever set (may 2021). It will definitely earn you a heart! Although I'm pretty generous with those already so it may not really make a difference LOL. But please know you'll brighten my day and spark my soul!

Used copies are very much appreciated too! :)

To save you spending postage on items I don't enjoy/use and will only pass along -or trash in some cases- you may want to look at this list.

• sports theme (although maybe hiking and aesthetic kinds of sports like water ballet, figure skating et cetera)
• poetry
• sticky notes / page flags -- I received so many they will last me a lifetime
• girly, cutesy, children's/childish stuff (YA), kawaii, Diddle, Care Bears, Disney... you get the picture ;)
• puffy, foam, children's, reward or crap quality stickers
• alphabet stickers or rub-ons
• boring plastic clothes buttons
• touristy postcards (views) and souvenirs
• hibiscus and red / forest fruit flavoured tea
• jewelry and makeup; I hardly ever wear any
• contemporary leaflets -- I have a NO JUNK MAIL sticker on my mailbox and recycle/upcycle the things that come into my house as much as possible; so please don't add to the pile LOL

For paper crafts like journalling, collaging and postcard making I mostly use repurposed, vintage/antique originals, handmade and/or quirky items - hardly ever do I pick commercialy printed journal cards, paper packs and such or punched die cuts. I also have enough old, "ordinary" book pages in different languages. Especially pretty pages or the ones relating to my likes are of course always appreciated.

Bought/downloaded snailmail items like letter sets, postcards and notecards, labels, quality stickers et cetera are also fine.

Like most people I have a small pet peeve. I really dislike "keep calm" & other motivational quotes. These seem to have the opposite effect on me LOL

There's only one quote I like:

CATS ARE COOL BUT DONKEYS RULE

Hey, I should get myself a T-shirt saying that! :-)

It probably goes without saying but please don't send me anything edible/drinkable nor care products or makeup unless you're 100% sure it's vegan. Thank you!