hppyjessa

I'm Jessa, an American girl living in Jerusalem! Read more about me and my adventures on my blog, Shalom Sweet Home (click below):

I'm a graphic designer, writer, artist, crafter, and cook, world traveler, and young wife to my best friend, the 6'3" Ecuadorean astrophysicist! [NOTE: The astrophysicist just joined Swap-Bot! Go stop by and say hi to my @rodiboy :) ] Here we are in our matching Converse.

I love private 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! 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!

Tea drinking! Traveling! Trying new things!

Iconography! Paper crafts! Watercolor! Crochet! Photography! Gardening! Cooking! Baking! Giving old things new uses!

I speak Spanish fluently and I love to read and write it; please feel free to 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 currently learning Hebrew and can give that a shot as well. :) I'm also fascinated by other foreign languages and other alphabets; I collect the phrase "I love you" in any language I can.

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 also collect old / antique / vintage hardback books with lovely covers.

Please let me know if something doesn't arrive and I'll re-send! 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! :)

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, 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!

• 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!
• TEA! Any flavor, especially unusual ones! I also like loose teas, so feel free to toss a single serving into a bag or a filter for me. Just please let me know what it is and what is in it! :) (And anyone who sends Finnish Nordqvuist brand tea is getting an automatic heart from me!!!)
• When it's cold, I also love hot chocolate (including flavored varieties) and Spanish Cola Cao.
• STEREOVIEWER CARDS! A common and cheap find in antique or junk shops--They look like a postcard with two of the same photo side by side. 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!
• American candy (chocolate!), fruit snacks, tea, drink mixes... anything American really. (Pepperidge Farm Milano cookies!!!) Tastes are quite different here in Jerusalem, and I love a little taste of home!
• Mini hand sanitizers from Bath and Body Works!
• If you are in Scandinavia, I would love to get anything (tea, little jars of jam, foods, and cosmetics like lip gloss) 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!
• For Finnish friends: Fazer candies and Nordqvist teas are favorites of mine that are hard to find and I would love to get in the mail. And my sister loves the Moomin characters, so anything Moomin is wonderful too!
• Anything having to do with iconography-- Icon holy cards, books, painting supplies.
• Postcards! (I especially love very old postcards that have already been written on and sent way back when.)
• Small and unusual items (natural, cultural, or historical, flat or 3-dimensional, the odder the better) for my cabinet of curiosities.
• Washi tape and stickers. I love bright colors and elegant designs over cutesy ones, but really, anything goes and I love everything!
• Stationery sets and notecards.
• Tribal / global fabrics and home decor, especially in red, turquoise and other bright colors. I especially love anything from Morocco, India, Turkey, or Latin America.
• 16mm films (1930s-1960s-ish, silent) for a projector I repaired!
• Old hardback books, especially in foreign (non-English) languages or having to do with science, travel or music.
• Herbs and spices from your country.
• Recipes or cookbooks of any kind. (Any language.)
• Yarn for crocheting, especially unusual colors and textures!
• Anything local to your area. Quirky souvenirs.
• Ephemera in foreign languages.
• Books and letters in Spanish.
• Catholic books, prayer books and ephemera, especially kitschy. I love milagros, saint medals and tiny rosaries. I LOVE St. Jude, St. Francis, St. Joseph, Mary Help of Christians and anything Schoenstatt!
• The little "Santos" Homies (I mean the plastic figurines from gumball machines, haha) -- I still need San Juan Diego and Our Lady of Guadalupe!
• Anything Catholic or Christian is welcome in our home, and so is anything of other religions or beliefs! I love to learn about cultures and beliefs the world over!
• Anything Salvador Dalí. My absolute favorite painting is The Hallucinogenic Toreador:

• Anything Ecuador.
• Anything Spanish, Russian or Hebrew.
• How to say "I love you" in your language.
• My name in foreign alphabets.
• Anything for the home, kitchen or garden.
• Mix CDs, playlists or music recommendations – the more unusual, the better!
• Tidbits of inspiration; poetry, quotes, anything well-designed, anything that makes you stop and think.
• Magazines in English or Spanish, particularly home, cooking or design magazines. I don't mind if they're not current; I love them all!
• Anything Brian Andreas, or, if you are an artist, anything in his style...

• Anything handmade or unique.
• Anything in it's second life or later ("upcycled").
• Anything bird-related.
• Anything vintage.
• Small old bottles, especially with corks or in odd shapes or colors.
• Recommendations for books, movies or fun and cheap things to do.
• Old photographs. New photographs.
• Buttons (the pinback kind, not the sewing kind.)
• Surprise me! :)

Happy swapping!