manders2280

I love to travel and cook and work outside in our well-shaded garden. Alas, shade means lovely spring flowers and no vegetables - I don't even have a decent patch of mint. I love the woods and mountains and the ocean. I live in Minnesota and winter is too long. My spouse is a professor and busy with research so I'm often finding adventure on my own. I don't have children :-( and dote on my nieces and nephews.

• If you haven't received my swap, please message me and I'll re-send.
• If I haven't rated you it's because I have not received the swap. I've rated all swaps received as of 18 May 2013 (though sometimes I forget to update this date).
• If the swap says you've not sent the swap or if I haven't received it, I'll send a message or two before I enter a rating that's not 5.
• I have a Google Docs spreadsheet where I track my sent, rated, expected and received swaps. It works better than a notebook because I have links to swaps and I can access it from any computer. Let me know if you'd like a peek to see how it works. I scan sent postcards too.
• I reuse packaging and packing materials like tissue paper and tiny kawaii envelopes. I use clean materials like ad cards and cereal boxes from our recycling bin to stiffen packages. I am thrilled when I receive reused packaging.

Please, please remember to write the swap name on what you're sending.

I participate in postcrossing. Chatty profiles help me choose postcards to send, especially when a swap is sender's choice.

Maps, architecture, local characters, Nouvelles Images, ethnic, markets, famous people, mountains, ocean, vintage, art are among my favorite postcards. I love receiving vintage cards found in flea markets as much as I loved finding great ones (now all sent) at the First Monday Trade Days in Canton, TX. Sorry, zazzle postcards won't get hearts from me. Most others will.

• Postcards, preferably naked, with great stamps and something written about the sender
• Artisan baskets, i.e., handwoven. My souvenir from Salamanca, Spain is a beautiful basket.
• Artisan ceramics. My mother was a ceramics engineer and I've expanded her collection.
• Butter pat dishes - tiny manufactured ceramics. Also gorgeous hand-painted sauce dishes we brought home from Japan, Korea & China. The large collection fits in a small space.
• Cookbooks, vintage and modern
• Maps
• Art playing cards, with assorted faces. I have decks showing sights we visited in China and from museums in Europe. Some are nonprofit fundraisers like the history of birth control deck.

Nick Hornby: Juliet, Naked: a novel
Carrie Vaughn: Discord's Apple
Elizabeth Moon: Kings of the North
rereading Edward R. Tufte: Visual Explanations
Allegra Goodman: The Cookbook Collector and Intuition
Rebecca Wells: The Crowning Glory of Calla Lily Ponder
Mariah Stewart: Mercy Street and Cry Mercy
Charles Finch: The September Society (Charles Lenox Mysteries)
Anne McCaffrey: The Dolphins of Pern
Patricia Briggs: Wolfsbane
J.D. Robb: Fantasy in Death
Irène Némirovsky: Suite Française
Naomi Novik: Temeraire series
Ivan Doig: Mountain Time
Jacqueline Winspear: The Mapping of Love and Death: A Maisie Dobbs Novel
Robert Silverberg: Lord Valentine's Castle
Lois McMaster Bujold: Miles Vorkosigan Adventures series
Jeanne Kalogridis: The Scarlet Contessa: A Novel of the Italian Renaissance
Jean Kwok: Girl in Translation
Sharon Shinn: Twelve Houses series
Elif Shafak: The Bastard of Istanbul
Jennifer Vanderbes: Easter Island
Tracy Chevalier: Remarkable Creatures
Diana Galbadon: Outlander series

Young Adult Favorites
Sherman Alexie: The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian
Caroline Ryrie Brink: Caddie Woodlawn (written around the corner from my home)
Suzanne Collins: The Hunger Games
Brian Jacques: Redwall, etc.
Madeleine L'Engle
C. S. Lewis: The Chronicles of Narnia
L. M. Montgomery: Anne of Green Gables, etc.
Tamora Pierce
J.K. Rowling: Harry Potter series
Megan Whalen Turner: The Thief, etc.
Markus Zusak: The Book Thief

I'm adventurous. I've traveled quite a bit and enjoy trying new foods, exploring local markets and meeting people. I lived in France and commuted to India and loved the food in both places. I use the word elegant to describe my preferences and I like kawaii, so maybe eclectic is a better word.
+ William Morris patterns; Arts & Crafts design
+ Joseph Cornell boxes
+ Modern art like abstract expressionism & Andy Warhol
+ Day of the Dead art
+ Folk art from around the world, for my collections
+ Maps of where you're from, in English or your local language (printed on good paper please, not free ones with advertising)
+ Airplanes, robots, rockets and lighter-than-air aircraft
+ Gnomes, fairies, elves and hedgehogs
+ Kokeshi dolls from Japan
+ Polar bears, penguins, giraffes and elephants
+ Totoro
+ Furoshiki, Japanese wrapping cloths. I make these from fat quarters.
+ Nuts, except Brazil nuts
+ Need help? See my favorites on Etsy

I love kawaii
if you're new to kawaii, read kawaii 101
Hard-to-find favorites include
+ Sumikko Gurashi (Things in the Corner)

+ Chocopa Panda
+ Wanroom
Also, in no particular order
+ Faux postage
+ Washi tape
+ Food with faces
+ Girls, pandas and kawaii animals with books
+ Kawaii stationery, especially sticker flakes & letter sets
+ Maneki Neko, the Japanese lucky cat
+ Polar bears, penguins, giraffes, hedgehogs and elephants
+ Travel-themed items
+ Zakka-style kawaii, like Shinzi Katoh & Chou-fleur

+ Blind boxes - Re-Ment, Kidrobot, Tokodoki

Snacks, Treats and Other Edibles
- I am a foodie. I love cooking and baking with basic ingredients and avoid prepared foods.
- I enjoy trying new recipes as long as they don't contain Jello, onion soup mix, Cool Whip, cream of mushroom soup, crushed cookies, ... I use real whipped cream and make sauces myself.
- My favorite cookbook right now is Mark Bittman's The Food Matters Cookbook
- I'm a good cook and am often disappointed when we eat out because I could make it better at home. The result is that we rarely eat out which is probably better anyway.
- I sometimes purchase prepared foods from our local natural foods coop
- Dark, dark chocolate
- I love tea

Please do not send:
- Cell phone charms: There's no place to hang them on an iPhone.
- Christian, Easter or Xmas items: I'm Jewish. I welcome seasonal greetings.
- Coffee: coffee drinks, coffee-flavored sweets or coffee-themed items
- Disney
- Dollar store/dollar bin items
- Foam sheets because I don't do foam crafts
- Foods I cannot eat: MSG, honeydew melon, artificial sweeteners, hydrogenated fats
- Hello Kitty
- Kawaii designs with photos of real animals, food or people
- Kawaii Goth, Kuromi, skulls and ghosts: they are not Day of the Dead art.
- Magnets (our refrigerator is stainless steel)
- Seeds (I grow ferns and their allies)
- Socks: few fit my long, skinny feet
- Tacky (exception for over-the-top tacky)
- X-rated items
- zazzle postcards (no hearts, sorry)

@babycakes76 flaked CHRISTMAS COOKIE RECIPE SWAP!
@craftitout flaked U.S. PC
@sapphireminiatures flaked Decoden Cabochons swap #2
Angel[s] in Disguise
@lilmissthrifty ~ @tiggerkitn25 ~ @VAGrammy66 ~ @bluehairedmary ~ @Mossycoat ~ @BetsyPreston ~ @ndnchick ~ @cookingschool ~ @cathleya
Flakers
@erikawithak ~ @Treksek ~ Swap Coordinator @Green01989 ~ @KamilPet ~ @cchuago25 ~ @filmqueen3
Long Overdue Ratings
Partially suspended @LunaEtLesEtoiles 2013 PC Swap #10
Partially suspended @gusmom2000 > MZA: 3 Postcards and a Letter - February
@Melraek > NEW, unused, unopened, pristine Sticker Sack!
@Mandii79 > Share the Smash Book/Junk Journal Fun #6
@groundhoggirl > Serial PC Swappers - Week #61
@Charli1212 > State Map Cards
@wenwen680531 > lighthouse postcard swap
Partially suspended @brickles > Museum Art PC
@StrictlyRudeGirl > PC of a Building Quick Swap
@CatMom6 > PC Q #6
Deleted account @teemnis > Secret Santa (International)
Partially suspended @Chobbits > Serial PC Swappers - Week #45
@SannyBunny > Christmas Postcard Swap
Fully suspended @VanillaBabe for Kawaii Letterset Swap #7 - edited
No flakers & no non-raters January - March, May - June, August - September 2012! No flakers January - March 2013!!!