January

I am a teacher, currently a math specialist for grades 3-8. I shouldn't have preferences but I do prefer the younger ones over the middle schoolers.

Married for 28 years with two adult sons who live in different cities from each other and from us. Love using FaceTime to see them.

Some of my hobbies (besides art, of course) include - reading, cooking, baking, hiking, going to theater, the NYTimes crossword puzzle, and trying to stay fit with HIIT at my gym.

Broadway musicals are my favorites. Old and contemporary.

Also like folk and contemporary music, such as - The Decemberists, John Mayer, James Taylor, Paul Simon, Gregory Porter. I'm Long Island born and raised, and so of course I like Billy Joel. AND our son is a musician so we listen to his music ;)

In addition to music, I also listen to podcasts (This American Life, Ask Me Another, Wait Wait..., The Moth, Selected Shorts, and I listened to Serial, S-Town, Caliphate) and my new favorite, Everything is Alive. I also listen to a super nerdy yet top notch Hebrew grammar podcast.

The Book of Night Women, by Marlon James

Silver Sparrow, Tayari Jones

The Good Thief and The 12 Lives of Samuel Hawley, both by Hannah Tinti

Modern Girls, by Jennifer Brown

Lilac Girls, by Martha Hall Kelly

The Night Child, by Anna Quinn

Halsey Street, by Naima Coster

Baby Teeth, by Zoje Stage

Behind Closed Doors, by B A Paris

Jhumpa Lahiri is one of my preferred authors, and I tend to like fiction written by Indian writers. I like to read modern fiction and family sagas.
Some books that have stuck with me include -

The Paris Architect

The Pearl that Broke Its Shell

The Language of Flowers

The Night Circus

The Red Tent

The Midwife of Hope River

Orphan Train

I do not like mysteries. However, I love the series by Alexander McCall Smith called The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency. They are set in Botswana and they are gentle and beautiful and funny and make me feel as if I have visited Botswana.

And of course, all of the Harry Potter books. Especially the first.

Art journaling

Gelli printing, especially with deli paper

Mixed media

Making my own junk journals

Faces, especially odd ones

Stencils

Collage

Stamp carving

Art foamies

(I follow Julie Balzer's blog...really like her style and use of color)

(I also follow a quilting blog called Exuberant Color - her use of color is incredible)

I love all kinds of pens. I have trouble passing by pens without buying a new one but lately I have restraining myself and not buying new ones. I really do have more than enough.

And recently I have been experimenting with paper marbling. It's tricky (and can be messy) but fun when it works.

Also I have recently started making rolodex cards. I bought a rolodex card holder at a reuse shop for fifty cents and am enjoying filling it up. It holds the mini cards (I think they are about 2 inches by 4 inches.)

I love bright colors (but not neon) and really, I like all colors.

I love folk art - outsider art - primitive art

I gravitate towards modern and contemporary art.

I like the quilts and color combinations of Kaffe Fassett.

I like explosions of colors and patterns.

I am drawn to faces. I cannot really draw well but I am trying to learn how to draw faces. If they come out odd, it's fine.

I also like vintage style (though not steampunk) - old postage stamps, vintage office papers, library cards, ledgers, maps, receipts, travel tickets and other tickets.

If you are a "maker", I like receiving hand-carved stamps, your painted papers, altered tags, handmade journals, homemade washi tape, elegant or modern looking return address labels

Washi tape - I like vintage-looking washi or watercolor-y washi

Pens. (See above - but I really have too many...)

Paper ephemera - such as maps, sheet music, art-y magazines, colorful papers, old ledgers

Journals - I like to make my own junk journals

Tags - my own or others' - all kept on a big book ring, fun to flip through

Smoke smell. Please please don't send anything that smells like smoke. I am highly sensitive to it and will not be able to appreciate, or even keep, what you send.

Holiday-related items - sorry but I just don't have use for or like receiving items for Halloween, Christmas, Valentine's Day, etc....so please do not send that type of item

Steampunk style Kawai style "Cutesy" stuff

Animals - except I do like birds

Tea - I do not drink tea