hppyjessa

I'm Jessa!

I am an artsy, crunchy, world traveler. I have lived and traveled many places and I am truly in love with all of Creation. I have a soft spot for any dying art, and that includes snail mail. I am a happy Catholic. I speak Spanish and English fluently and I dabble in a few other languages. (Write to me in Spanish if you'd like!)

I just moved back to the U.S. after several years in Jerusalem, and I'm not sure that I'll ever get used to the change back. I'm also back to Swap-Bot after a long travel-related hiatus involving numerous months in numerous countries. Message me and I'll tell you all about it. :)

I believe in good stewardship and living together with the Earth, rather than attempting to conquer it. I prefer secondhand over brand new, glass or wood over plastic, locally made over Made in China. (That being said, I truly appreciate all my Swap Partners, especially if they put thought and heart into their swaps, and so I would love anything you want to send me.) I would really love to swap things you don't need anymore that I do, and vice versa; "another man's treasure" and all that. I love re-gifts. (Feel free to send gently used items, even if the swap calls for "new" items.) My favorite swaps are ones where we share things we already have; send me one notecard from your new set of eight, one teabag from your new favorite box, a pair of earrings that are really cool but aren't really your style anymore. However, I don't mind buying something new if it's perfect. I do love swapping but I don't love waste. Please just be mindful!

I'm married to my best friend, the 6'3" Ecuadorean astrophysicist, and we have two beautiful babies.

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'm your gal! :) I particularly 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.

Please let me know if something doesn't arrive and I'll re-send right away! Also, I re-use envelopes and packaging and occasionally write letters or send mail on odd scraps of paper... I'm a firm believer in upcycling! :)

Tea drinking! Traveling! Trying new things!

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

Unusual crafts, Dying arts, Iconography, Illuminated manuscripts, Scherenschnitte, Watercolor, Film photography. Gardening, Cooking, Baking. Giving old things new uses!

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.

I HAVE NO FOOD ALLERGIES OR DISLIKES. I will try anything once, and will most likely love it, so please feel free to be as creative as you like!

WISH LIST

If you're totally stuck or we're in a profile surprise swap and in need of ideas, here are a few of my favorite things, but I also LOVE surprises, so please don't feel like you have to even look at this list!

• TEA! Any flavor, especially unusual ones! (The more unusual the better.) I particularly like flavored black teas. I also love black tea from Kenya and Yunnan Gold tea from China. I also really like loose teas, just please let me know what's in it. I'd love to swap loose teas if anyone is game. :) (And anyone who sends Finnish Nordqvuist brand tea is getting an automatic heart from me!!!)
• I also love hot chocolate (including flavored varieties) and Spanish Cola Cao. And Chai Tea Lattes!
• STAMPS, used or unused, from anywhere in the world. The astrophysicist and I are collecting stamps from every single country on Earth, and we are more than halfway there! Check out our progress on our blog (click here). If you live in (or have stamps from) any country we are missing, please contact me for a private swap! We really love random grab bags or collectors' packets of stamps; we spend hours combing through them for treasures and sorting them by country! Also, I really appreciate when my partners put stamps on packages and letters instead of labels. I would love to see the stamps from your country!
• 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! Any kind, particularly ones featuring local people, objects or scenes of cultural interest, landmarks and tourist sites, religious sites, or a cool place that you can tell me a story about when you write on the card. I especially love very old postcards that have already been written on and sent way back when.
• I love JEWELRY! I am a huge fan of costume jewelry, big statement pieces (especially earrings and necklaces), anything vintage, and bright colors. The quirkier the better! My current favorites in my jewelry box include dangling caveman and dinosaur earrings, large painted watermelon slice earrings and a bracelet with a big silver octopus! I also don't mind secondhand jewelry, so if there's something you have that you're not into anymore, send it my way. :) (Some of the best finds are secondhand, and I always sterilize or change the hooks on earrings.) And jewelry handmade by you would be AWESOME as well!
• Anything having to do with Jerusalem, Israel or Palestine. Anything in Hebrew or Arabic. I miss my old home!
• If you are in Scandinavia (or near an IKEA), I would love to get anything (tea, little jars of jam, foods, lip gloss, etc.) with Nordic berry flavors: lingonberry, sea buckthorn, cloudberry, etc. I LOVE Nordic berries -- so delicious! -- and they are so difficult to find outside of Scandinavia!
• Anything organic, all-natural or healthy. Tips for natural or simple living. A peek into the way people used to live in the old days. Natural beauty products, soaps, etc.
• Anything having to do with iconography, illuminated manuscripts or medieval art -- holy cards, postcards, books and magazines, painting supplies (particularly paintbrushes made with real hair or with very, very fine points).
• I collect Dover pattern books for artists and designers; any topic, with a special focus on folk art, Middle Eastern, Latin American, and medieval designs.
• Unusual items (natural, cultural, or historical, flat or 3-dimensional, the odder the better) for my cabinet of curiosities.
• Herbs and spices from your country.
• Recipes or cookbooks of any kind. (Any language.)
• Books and letters in Spanish.
• Catholic books, prayer books and ephemera, especially kitschy or vintage. I love milagros, saint medals, religious jewelry, prayer cards and tiny rosaries. I LOVE St. Jude, St. Francis, St. Joseph, Saint Teresa of Calcutta, Our Lady of Guadalupe, anything Pope-related and anything Schoenstatt! I also love unusual depictions of Mary and Jesus (depicted in local indigenous dress, for example). I also love nativity scenes!
• The little "Santos" Homies (I mean those plastic figurines from gumball machines, haha) -- I still need San Juan Diego and Our Lady of Guadalupe!
• Anything Catholic or Christian would be great, but anything of other religions or beliefs would be great too! I would love to learn something about your culture or faith. Please feel free to share!
• Anything Salvador Dalí. My absolute favorite painting is The Hallucinogenic Toreador:

• Anything Ecuador!
• How to say "I love you" in your language.
• Tidbits of inspiration; poetry, quotes, anything well-designed, anything that makes you stop and think.
• Magazines in any language, particularly home, lifestyle, cooking, or design magazines. I don't mind if they're gently used or not current; I love them all! I would also love any cool tearsheets you feel like tucking in your package – pages you tore from a magazine because they were well designed or featured something interesting or gave you inspiration in some way. Pick one interesting article and send it to me! :)
• Anything handmade or unique.
• Anything in it's second life or later ("upcycled").
• Anything bird-related. I love birds! I have a feeder outside my back door and I love to watch them come and go! I grew up with parakeets, cockatiels, finches and a particularly feisty macaw, but I love all birds, especially songbirds and tropical birds. I saw so many amazing birds in Africa; cranes, Superb Starlings, OSTRICHES! If I had to pick one favorite bird, it would be a rosella parakeet. Such gorgeous colors!
• Anything vintage.
• Anything related to beekeeping or urban homesteading (new interests of mine): books, articles, links, etc.
• Recommendations for books, movies or fun and cheap things to do.
• Surprise me! :)

Happy swapping!