hppyjessa

I'm a graphic designer, a free spirit, a young wife (to my best friend the 6'3'' Ecuadorean astrophysicist), a chinchilla-parakeet-fish mommy, and a reduce-reuse-recycling queen in the "Keep it Weird" capital of the USA: Austin, Texas! I love to create things, to collect things, and to broaden my horizons in any way I can!

I will listen to anything from Turkish rock music to ragtime to folk music. I am just as at home at the symphony as I am waving a lighter at a Styx concert or moshing at a Saves the Day show. Every week has a soundtrack... and there's no telling what will be on it!

I recently graduated from college and have rekindled a long love affair with the written word... After years of reading nothing but textbooks, it's good to be back. My favorite books are those that make you think; either really well-written fiction with wonderfully deep and quirky characters and unordinary concepts or situations... or non-fiction books from which I can learn something, especially on interesting or bizarre subjects. My favorite books are the Griffin and Sabine trilogy by Nick Bantock--- a MUST-read for anyone who likes mail art! :) My other favorites are Eva Luna by Isabel Allende, Caramelo by Sandra Cisneros, and the Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold. (I can't wait for the movie this December!)

I love paper crafts (like journaling, scrapbooking, decoupage) and other artistic crafts (like jewelry making, watercolors, crochet, calligraphy). I'm also a budding photographer (an occupational hazard of graphic design, hehe). I have kept a journal for the past nine years, and I love making each page a work of art with water colors, 2-dimensional oddities, and the artifacts of everyday life. And so it probably comes as no surprise to anyone but myself that I just made my first ATC and I'm hooked!

I love to make jewelry, especially from found objects or castoffs. I love making my own clothes and growing my own food (my basil is doing great this year!). I also love to make functional things, especially if it's giving old things new uses!

I pride myself on living an active life. I love to travel; in the past year alone I've been to Niagara Falls, New York City, Ecuador, Hawaii, Venice, and Albuquerque for the Balloon Fiesta. (And I don't travel for business-- pleasure all the way, baby! hehe)

I speak Spanish fluently and I love to read and write it; please write to me in Spanish if you are able. I also speak a little Russian, which has been mostly distilled into the parlour trick of writing names in Cyrillic. Let me know if you want yours. I'm also fascinated by other foreign languages; I have a second degree in Linguistics and I collect the phrase "I love you" in any language I can. I also love photography (especially underwater photography and kite photography), and doing fun outdoorsy things with my husband, like kayaking, swimming, scuba diving and biking everywhere! I also love to host parties with crazy themes, and I always design awesome invitations to go with it!

I love to cook (and I'm getting pretty good at it!), to read, to write, to visit antique stores, thrift shops and garage sales, and to try all kinds of crafty things. I love to read, especially books on unusual subjects or really good fiction. I don't watch TV. I'm a dabbler by nature and love to learn new things.

I always send on time, so please let me know if something doesn't arrive and I'll re-send! :) Also, please let me know if there is something specific you would like or not like... I always check profiles, but every now and then something comes up that you never thought to write in your profile! :) Also, I re-use envelopes and packaging and occasionally write letters or send mail on odd scraps of paper... I hope you don't mind! I'm just doing my part to save the planet!

LIKES AND COLLECTIONS -- I LOVE postcards! I collect them and hope to one day wallpaper an entire room with them! I especially love very old postcards that have already been written on, the kind you find in antique shops. Actually, I love most things you can get in an antique shop or thrift store. I also collect old books (especially foreign language books), antique bottles, and quirky oddball souvenirs from my travels... the kind of stuff you can only get from stepping outside your comfort zone into a Haitian open-air market, an Ecuadorean hole-in-the-wall textile shop, or a ratty blanket laid out on the Drag right here in Austin! I also collect (smallish) dolls from around the world; not the Madame-Alexander-type dolls, more like Russian Matryoshkas, Guatemalan Worry Dolls and African straw dolls. I am known for bright colors and my big, crazy jewelry, especially big earrings and necklaces. I am also a huge fan of Mix CDs. I am a Catholic, but I love to learn about other faiths. (In fact, I wasn't raised Catholic.) I would love symbols, stories, rituals or small objects from any faith, but if you'd like to give me something Catholic, I love Catholic ephemera, like prayer cards, medals, tiny rosaries, and especially all the beautiful Mexican versions of Catholic ephemera (Our Lady of Guadalupe, Day of the Dead, etc.). My patron saint is Saint Jude, I also love the MTA of Schoenstatt and Maria Auxiladora.

TEA, SPICES, RECIPES, ETC.-- I will try anything once, and will most likely love it, so please feel free to be as creative as you like! I love tea, and I love to cook and bake!

DISLIKES -- My only real dislike is flakers and people who don't rate! I'm open to almost anything else! :)

WISH LIST -- If you're totally stuck, here are a few ideas of things that I would LOVE to get, but I also LOVE surprises, so please don't feel like you have to even look at this list...

Postcards! Tea. Earrings. Costume jewelry; especially big or unusual. Herbs and spices. Cooking mixes. Baking mixes. Recipes of any kind. Anything local to your area. Quirky souvenirs. Ephemera in foreign languages. Books and letters in Spanish. (I would love to have a Spanish-language pen pal, if there are any takers...) Art journaling or unusual paper supplies. Milagros. Anything Salvador Dalí. Anything Ecuador. Anything Russian. How to say "I love you" in your language. Tips and tricks for the home or garden. Mix CDs – the more unusual, the better! Tidbits of inspiration; poetry, quotes, anything well-designed, anything that makes you stop and think. Anything Brian Andreas. A really cool letter opener. Address labels. Anything handmade or unique. Anything in it's second life or later ("upcycled"). Paper punches. Rubber stamps. Stationery. Beads and other jewelry making supplies. Garden adornments / seeds / plant cuttings. Anything bird or chinchilla-related. Small fishtank adornments. Small old bottles, especially with corks or in odd shapes or colors. Old books. Good books. Recommendations for books, movies or fun and cheap things to do. Bookmarks. ATCs. Old photographs. New photographs. Buttons (the pin kind, not the sewing kind.) Tiny treasures.