AmyMarie

2022 April: Due to family health & circumstances, I will be reducing my swapping time and therefore participating in fewer swaps for the foreseeable future.

My first name is AmyMarie (all one word with NO spaces, 2nd M is capitalized).
Preferred pronouns: she/her.

I'd appreciate actual stamps on mail (preferred real stamps and not machine generated postage).

Please no religious items.

I am very sensitive to several scents including tobacco smoke and perfumes. Please keep anything you are sending me away from perfumes and other artificially scented things.

I am allergic to several foods. Please do NOT send foods or beverages (including tea).

I collect playing cards from decks with backs different from the typical Bicycle brand blue or red backs. (Including playing cards with different pips or different design / color on the front / face side of the cards.) I have MANY partial decks (~50) of playing cards and duplicate cards from swaps. I am open to private swaps for playing cards.

• creative, have many artistic interests, and enjoy doing a variety of mixed media & paper crafts

• life-long learner, love to read, explore, travel, and try new things

• being in nature and near water (lakes, oceans, waterfalls, rivers, etc) refreshes me and my soul

• married, no kids, several nieces & nephews

• have one cat and appreciate all animals (supports zoos & programs that focus on conservation, rehabilitation, education, and sustainability)

• enjoy spending time with family & friends, playing board & card games, exploring National Parks & collecting NP cancellation stamps, earning Quest Scout points & badges, browsing through antique stores, and hanging out in libraries & bookstores.

I collect the following items:

• Playing cards: It's fun to see the different designs and special packs, especially those that have images or decorated fronts (different colored or design face cards, fun pips on the number cards, pictures or images on the number cards, etc). I like all suits & cards and tend to prefer A of spades, all 5's, all Queens, and unique Jokers. I am willing to do private swaps for playing cards.

• Security envelope patterns & colors (the inside pattern of an envelope that protects the contents from being viewed through the envelope)

• postcards [see Postcards section below]

• Airmail and other mail/envelopes and stickers, including from other countries (outside the USA) and in all languages

• Vintage ephemera including travel tickets (bus, train, etc), paper forms, letters & envelopes & postcards, languages other than English, playing cards, labels, stamps (ration stamps, grocery store stamps, tax stamps, postage stamps, etc), old passports & identification papers, maps, cookbook pages, library cards & pockets

I enjoy paper crafts and using mixed media art supplies. The items I use and make shift over time. I have made handbound books, homemade paper, artistamps (faux postage), mailart, handmade envelopes & postcards, collages, zines, ATCs, altered books, altered playing cards, pocket letters, and hand-carved rubber stamps.

In the past I have done scrapbooking and art journaling. I am still doing a form of fauxbonichi / junk (ephemera from my day) journaling.

Please do NOT send me random bits of paper!

I would love to receive Japanese Gotochi (shaped) postcards.

I also love to get Maxicards! They are maximized postcards = postcard picture, postage stamp, and cancellation mark all on same side and all depict the same item / image! I'd even enjoy a postcard that has a postage stamp similar to or matching the postcard image.

I prefer postcards sent naked (not in envelope) with postage stamps (not metered postage) and something written on the back - even just a short message.

Store bought postcards: waterfalls, mailboxes, post offices, mail / postal theme, letter writing / fountain pens / writing desk / correspondence theme, PostCrossing, libraries / books / reading theme, doorways, windows, maps, National Parks, State Parks, landmarks, historical sites & people, UNESCO sites, earthworks, lakes, oceans, lighthouses, skylines / scenes / images of your town / city / country, images of regional traditions / culture, nature scenery, Harry Potter, Doctor Who, Star Wars, wild animals (not domesticated cats & dogs), also check out my likes section below for postcard ideas

Please no coloring postcards (postcards that are meant for the recipient to color it in like a coloring book page).

traveling themes, maps, foreign coins, travel tickets and tokens (bus, subway, etc.), passports & passports stamps,

waterfalls, oceans, lakes, rivers, lighthouses, autumn, trees, nature, dragonflies, owls, tigers, cheetahs, rhinos, koalas, polar bears, penguins, butterflies, (animals), sunsets and sunrises, mountains,

mail art, mailboxes, postage stamps (NOT religious ones or US flags), postal / mail / airmail themes, fountain pens & ink, typewriters, books,

antique & vintage items and ephemera, small / miniature items, different textures, unique designs,

book themes, hand-bound books / book arts, paper engineering, earth tones including terra cotta and rust-ish reds, shades of purple and mauve (pinkish, blue-ish purple), most shades of green, rubber stamps, embossing powders, {not fond of neon colors}

connecting with people, other perspectives and cultures, ancient civilizations, hanging out with family & friends, playing board & card games, interesting playing cards,

celestial / astronomy especially moon / lunar / galaxies, NASA / space travel, science fiction, Doctor Who (favorite is 10th with 11th as close second, River Song, TARDIS), the world of Harry Potter

I love to read. I like mystery, sci-fi, and general fiction. I do read non-fiction on a variety of topics and enjoy a well-written book and learning new things.

We cut the cable TV cord and now stream most of our visual entertainment. Some shows I enjoy are Resident Alien, Zoey's Extraordinary Playlist, Young Sheldon, NCIS, Star Trek Discovery, Doctor Who, Amazing Race, The Blacklist, Ghosts, Lucifer. I enjoy British shows like Taskmaster, Would I Lie To You?, QI, and the Big Fat Quiz of the Year. Also I enjoy comedians such as Jim Gaffigan, Sarah Millican, Tig Notaro, Paula Poundstone, Hannah Gadsby, Trevor Noah, Gabriel Iglesias, James Acaster, Greg Davies, David Mitchell, and Alan Davies.

For movies, I do like sci-fi, adventure, comedies, action, mystery, Independent films, and some of the older / b&w films. (I avoid horror films including psychological thrillers.)

Fandoms - DiscWorld - Harry Potter (but not J.K. Rowling) - Doctor Who - Firefly - Marvel movies - Star Wars - The Mandalorian - Star Trek {TNG, Voyager, Enterprise, Discovery} - Sherlock Holmes

cigarette/cigar/pipe smoke (I am allergic)

overly glittered items (some bling / shiny is nice but when it leaves a trail of glitter on anything it touches, it gets annoying)

Christian-based religious items (plenty of that available around here).

Random bits of paper, teachers' stickers, puffy stickers

Passports & cancellations / stamps for National Parks, historic sites, state parks, lighthouses, nature preserves, etc. So fun to visit, see, learn, and fill a passport.

I am a member of QuestScouts.squarespace.com and enjoy learning & doing new things while earning badges. (Scouting for Adults).