Catida

July 2022: I seem to have lost my interest for swapping for now. I am focusing on corresponding with my regular penfriends.

POSTAL RESTRICTIONS.

Post has been very unpredictable eversince the covid pandemic started. If you haven't received something from me, please contact me so we can come up with a solution.

ELECTRONIC SWAPS: I find e-mails much easier to handle than the private messages in Swap-bot. So feel free to use e-mail if you're to make an electronic swap with me. Just remember to include the name of the swap and your Swap-bot username :)

I'm Emilia, a woman in my thirties, christian, happily married, mother of two, owner of one cat. I live in Finland, in Northern Europe. I'm afraid I'm somewhat a serious person. I enjoy witty jokes and funny stories, but am not good at making them up. I spend way too much time on my laptop, on online forums and browsing random stuff.

Some of my interests:

• Good food. Eating out. Trying new recipes.

• Reading novels

• Playing the piano and ukulele

• Board games

• Corresponding. Aesthetic mail. Fountain pens. Brush lettering.

• Pets. Horseback riding. Observing animal behavior.

• Nature conservation, recycling, sustainable choices in everyday life.

ABOUT MY KIDS:

My daughter, age 5, and son, age 7, love to swap too! If your kid would like to swap, PM me and we can set up a private swap.

My 5-year-old likes stickers, die cuts and pictures cut out of magazines, ATCs, trinkets and shiny things (but PLEASE, nothing with clitter falling off!). Her favourite colors are green, lilac and pink. Favourite themes are Paw Patrol, dinosaurs, ponies, bunnies, cats and dogs.

The 7-year-old likes to swap ATCs or small drawings/paintings.

If you're to send me mail/letter/postcard but don't know what to write, here are some suggestions:

• Local culture and your everyday life

• Nature and animal life in your country/ home area

• Books you have read lately/ books you could recommend

• Your favourite simple recipie (preferably with no meat)

• Christian encouragement

• Your worldview

• Latest dream you had

• Your goals, small or big

ATCs (Artist Trading Cards): I love ATCs, though lately I haven't made that many. I make hand painted ATCs with watercolors, but sometimes also use other media.

ATC themes I collect:

• Hand drawn/painted cards

• Fish

• Wild animals (even reptiles, snakes and other animals that some people consider not-so-cute..)

• Cards made with interesting techniques (gelli printing, alcohol inks, acrylic pouring, clever use of recycled materials...)

• Interesting collages and other cards with some unique/quirky twist

I put a lot of time and effort in my ATCs, so if you're to trade ATCs with me, I hope you make your best effort too :)

You can see the cards I've made in the past in my blog: https://atcemilia.wordpress.com/

Feel free to suggest private swaps! Especially for hand drawn/painted ATCs.

-Swap-bot has inspired me to try other types of mail art too, f.ex. decorated envelopes, and self made bookmarks and postcards.

-I also enjoy swaps that are about writing and sharing thoughts, such as letter/postcard writing swaps, swaps about cultural exchange, and reading/ book recommendation themed swaps.

Favourites:

• Scented black tea

• Decaf teas

• Chamomile blends

• Scented green tea

Favourite scents: jasmine, mango, peach, vanilla, caramel, pastry tastes, mint, cola

-STASH I've got to taste some nice blends from this mark through previous tea swaps. Unfortunately Stash Teas are not available in Finland. I would like to try:

*White Peach Oolong

*Breakfast in Paris

*Sweet Honeydew Green Tea

*Coconut Mango Oolong

*Peach Black Tea

*Chocolate Mint Oolong

Dislikes:

• Rooibos
• Infusions (excluding chamomile)
• Licorice root
• Fennel
• Berry flavours

I read novels. I'm very bad at reading non-fiction.

Special likes:

• Historical novels (my favourite!)

• Magical realism

• Scifi

• Fantasy

• Whodunits (not too cruel, think Agatha Christie)

• Novels that focus on human relationships

Please recommend me your favourite books! :)

Dislikes:

• horror
• graphic violence
• super fluffy chiclit
• harlequin type romance novels

Anything goes really, as long as it's appropriate. I'm most interested in what you write on the back :) (See "What to write..?" above, if you need ideas.)

Some special likes:

• Artsy cards (classical art, contemporary art, also art designed for postcard purpose)

• Black&white photos

• Animals, fish or bugs pictured in artistic or realistic style (as opposite to funny cartoon style)

Favourite animals: goats, badgers, crows, cats, betta fish, gourami fish

• Cards with books/someone reading

• Cards with a teacup, or a character drinking tea

• Your handmade art!

Please don't feel you should send me extras. I'm fine with your original swap :)

Should you still want to send something, or if the swap requires "a small flat gift", here are some things I like:

• Unique pieces of paper/cardstock I can use for future artwork (f.ex. leftover pieces from your art/craft projects)

• Book pages/ magazine pages with english text.

• Sheet music

• Pages with text on tiny font

• Reward stickers and other childish stickers. I have kids, and I work with kids, so I have use for them :)

• Washi samples (love polkadots!)

• Bookmarks

• Teabags (see "Tea" above)

• Folded notecards with no greeting (these seem to be hard to find in Finland)

LOOKING FORWARD TO SWAPPING WITH YOU! :)