hppyjessa

I'm Jessa!

I am an artsy, crunchy, world traveler. I traveled to 30 countries before my 30th birthday! I have also lived in 12 different cities. I love being a wife, a mom and a Catholic. I am a graphic designer and a writer. I have a soft spot for any dying art, and that includes snail mail. I speak Spanish and English fluently and I dabble in a few other languages.

I started swapping on the now-defunct "getcrafty" swap community in 2005. I joined Swap-Bot in 2009 and now I can't believe I have been here so long!

My favorite thing about swapping is learning new things and having new experiences without leaving home. I love receiving things that are particular to your place (or another place that is special to you). Share something new with me!

I love private swaps, especially package swaps and tea swaps. I also love package swaps where we don't necessarily swap the same thing, but different items or collections of items of equivalent value. Message me if you're interested!

NEWBIES! I love private one-on-one swapping with newbies to help you get your ratings up. We were all there once! Let me know if you're interested and what you would like to swap and I'll set it up.

• TEA! Any flavor, especially unusual ones! (The more unusual the better.) I prefer black teas -- green tea is not my favorite. I particularly like flavored black teas! I also love black tea from Kenya and Yunnan Gold tea from China. (And anyone who sends Finnish Nordqvuist brand tea is getting an automatic heart from me!!!)

• STAMPS, used or unused, from anywhere in the world. We are collecting stamps from every single country on Earth, and we are more than halfway there!

• STEREOVIEWER CARDS! A common and cheap find in antique or junk shops--They look kind of like a stiff oblong postcard with two of the same photo side by side (as seen below). If you still don't know what I'm talking about, check out the Wikipedia page (click here). Basically, it's 3D technology that's over 100 years old and I'm amazed by it!

• POSTCARDS! Particularly ones featuring places of historical or cultural interest, or everyday people, or a cool place that you can tell me a story about when you write on the card. I especially love vintage linen-textured postcards or very old postcards that have already been written on and sent by someone else way back when.

(Note: I do NOT like Zazzle or Touchnote cards, etc. Most of them seem like cheap knockoffs at best and theft of someone's work at worst. If the Swap allows them, that's fine, but I much prefer ANYTHING else if you have it.)

• I love TO READ! My favorite books are those that make you think; either really well-written fiction with wonderfully deep and quirky characters and extraordinary concepts or situations... or non-fiction books from which I can learn something, especially on interesting or bizarre subjects.

• Anything that reminds me that there is a bigger world out there.

• Unusual crafts, Dying arts, Iconography, Illuminated manuscripts, Scherenschnitte, Watercolor, Film photography.

More things I love, in no particular order: Birds! All kinds of birds, especially parakeets, hoopoes, hummingbirds, or any unusual or brightly colored ones. • Adventures • Great stories • Local wildlife and handicrafts • The Holy Land / Jerusalem / Israel / Palestine • Latin America • Space • Honey bees • Crazy earrings • Maps and globes • Catholic Saints • The Pope • Old churches and missions • Dragons • Knights • Greek Mythology • Salvador Dalí • Giving old things new uses! • Paper with interesting textures • Washi tape

Happy swapping!