HouseOfHearts

• PLEASE DO NOT look at my Flickr account if you do not want to see your letter/package before it gets to your door!

Hello!

My name is Crystal and I currently live in Montreal, QC Canada with my boyfriend Paul and our 3 cats Pixel, Princess and Caramel.

I work in the artistic world if you will doing freelance work as an artistic director. I also run an online vintage shop on Etsy The House Of Hearts which is slowly being taken over with paper ephemera and other vintage goodies. My boyfriend Paul and I have a print shop for fun together on Etsy call FreakinAwesome Prints Freakin Awesome Prints. We are working on some fun postcards for the shop which we would like to have out before the New Year.

When I was younger I was big into mailart. I remember having drawers of markets, rubber stamps, scraps of paper, glitter and shoe boxes full of letters and zines. And now as an adult I realized that that this is the artistic avenue that I enjoy the most.

• If you think we would make great penpals please feel free to contact me! I am always looking for great people to connect with. I am also open for private swaps just message me!

• I like: sending & receiving cool looking mail, kittens, road trips, coffee, music, going to concerts, sewing dresses, taking photos, collecting old cameras, randomness, cutting and gluing things together, finding amazing things at thrift store, I ♥ making envies, yoga, blogging, learning about different cultures through people, recycling paper goods, typography, the color red, sitting in the sun, people watching and reading a good book just to name a few things.

• I dislike: canned mushrooms, religious mailings, natural disasters, cheap makeup, people who don't make room on the side walk for you to pass, baby items (I don't have any children, nor are any on the way!) and horror movies (I can`t sleep for a few days after them).

I love making mixed CD's!!! Mixing my love for music with my love for mail art some how creates something beautiful to me. My musical taste is all over the board since I live with a music buff. Some favorites:

• Gorillaz
• The Stars
• Bob Dylan
• Tokyo Police Club
• The Streets
• Sage Francis
• The Sounds
• Timber Timbre
• The Kooks
• She & Him
• Gwen Stafani
• The Killers
• The Hives
• Sarah Slien
• Frank Sinatra (All time fav!)
• The Donnas (All time fav!)
• NoFX (All time fav!)

• Bad Religion (All time fav!)

• I would ♥ to do a mix CD swap with you. I love to hear underground indie music from other countries. And I love to show others what Canada has to offer in the music world.

BOOKS:

• Douglas Coupland
• Agatha Christie
• George Orwell

I'm also part of an online international book club you should check it out: The Slow Readers Club

MAGAZINES:

• Bust
• Computer Arts Magazine
• Economist
• Frankie (I would love any copy you could send me!!!)
• Neet Magazine

NEWSPAPERS:

• Huffington Post
• The Guardian
• The BIG Picture from Boston Globe

Expand your mind!

• Sunshine & Rain
• Seeing a place for the first time
• Blog surfing
• Walking through art galleries
• The colors teal & yellow together
• Kind words and deeds
• The smell of the ocean
• Shooting a roll of film with one of my many cameras
• Being in nature
• My boyfriends sketch book! (really you should see it!)

• Extra Fine Pens (colors are great)
• Anything Russian, Asian or European
• Vintage/Retro Paper Goods from 60's, 70's and 80's
• Designer Toys in blind boxes (my bf & I both collect them!)
• Interesting paper from your country (like free postcards, advertisements, newspaper clippings)
• Good Quality Coffee, Teas and Hot Chocolate
• Rubber Stamps (hand carved are awesome!)
• Anything Red
• COCONUT
• Kawaii!!!
• Anything Art Nouveau
• Stationary Sets
• Stationary Pads
• Ephemera
• Family Recipes (on recipe cards!)
• 35mm film expired or new (they both give great results)
• I love old pictures (Technicolor is the best!)
• I ♥ Thoughtful SURPRISES!!!

I hate to have this section but I don't want to send something that I am not interested in. So here we go:

• Baby Items (I do not have kids!)
• Christian Items
• Make-up
• Disney Items (unless it is Alice in Wonderland)

Thanks for understanding!