Reisegern

Important information: I'm really sorry - German mail service doesn't allow any "goods" to be put in international envelopes any more. I can only send documents in envelopes. Pieces of art (ATC, for example) are "documents". All those nice little bits and pieces, e.g. tea bags, clear stamps, ... are "goods" and need to be sent in a parcel - for 16 times the price of a letter. That's why I cannot send anything else but paper in my envelopes. Please don't be disappointed because you don't receive any extras from me any more :(

I'm in my fourties and live with my partner in a cosy village in the north of Germany, not too far away from Bremen. I work as a primary school teacher and often spend a lot of time preparing things for work, because there are always possibilities to improve work, one is never done with it. So being on swap-bot is a good opportunity to dive into something totally different of preparing something that will (hopefully) be pleasant for the receiver.

In my teenage days I was member of a snail-mail agency that matched you with other teenagers internationally to find mailing partners (unfortunately the IYS closed down a few years ago). Now swapping seems to be a great idea to get back to that idea. I'm also a Postcrosser. I love the Postcrossing project!

I like crafting with different materials, but don't have enough time to do it as much as i'd like to. It's always fun to try something new, to learn a new technique.

Also I volunteer in a printing museum workshop, where I can do letterpress printing with my own linocuts and/ or vintage wood or lead type. If you want to have a look: https://www.museumsdruckerei-hoya.de or https://www.instagram.com/museumsdruckerei_hoya/

If I don't get lost in making crafts, I also like to do some hiking or cycling, especially combined with geoaching.

You can find some more information about myself and my artwork in the links that are further up in my profile.

Postcards in my opinion are much more than a nice picture to collect. For me they are more like a little ambassador from the sender. I like postcards that tell a little about the sender - anything you'd like to share, e.g. what you just did before you wrote that card, a story from you life, something philosophical, your favourite poem or song lyrics, the reason why you chose that card, ... Many ideas, and I'm sure you have twice as many other ideas. I'm also a member at postcrossing and am often disappointed by cards that only say "hello" and don't have any content. I also love to look at postage stamps from other countries, so I'd be happy if you use nice ones.

I do not collect any special motivs on postcards. I do like to be surprised with unusual things and other surprises. If you want to know more, you can have a look at my postcrossing profile.

various paper crafts, linocutting / linoprinting, rubber stamping, rubber stamp carving, Mail Art, letterpress, crocheting, felting, watercolour painting drawing and painting with various media, pottery, ... I always like to try and learn new things!

Besides ATCs, in general I prefer to receive "useful" things.

colours: i don't like pink. shades of blue and red are wonderful, also earth shades, dark green shades.

Here is a list of various things that I'd be happy to find in my mail. There's no specific order.

ATCs, crafting ideas (also for crafting with primary school children), pottery instructions for making cute tiny clay animals or pictures of those, something inspirational that's making me curious.

I like various kinds of music. Most important that it's with real instruments and not electronically created music. I'm more into a-capella, classical, folk, jazz, also I like choir music very much.

I have to admit that I like books which are not too complicated. But I like intelligent humour. Historical Fiction is brilliant, also crime stories. I also like fantasy, and childrens books. I like reading books in english or german.

Authors I like are for example: Terry Pratchett, Ben Aaronovitch, JRR Tolkien, Ken Follett, Michael Crichton, Jasper Fforde and many more.

If you want to make a profile based ATC for me and didn't find anything so far, you might find something here: I like ATCs that are made with some effort and are carefully/ accurately made. As I display all ATCs in a folder, they should fit into standard sleeves (and shouldn't be too thick). Concerning media so far I received so many different ATCs incorporating all kinds of media, there is no favourite so far. Some of the very best ones I received were hand drawn/painted, the artists had great skills. Please do not send me ATCs incorporating blink or glitter unless the swap description requires it. I don't like chunky ATCs. I do like cards with intelligent or surprising quotes and matching designs.

Themes I might like on ATCs are: plants and trees, ocean, nature, patterns or shapes,

Sometimes I like to copy a collaborative zine that gets sent home back to me and send a copy to every contributor. But it's difficult to do, as when just copying it, usually the edges will be cropped.

But after some thinking and trying I found a workaround solution. You need a scanner that can do bigger scans than the size of your zine is, though.

That's how I worked out to do it:

• Scan the Zine as if it was a bigger size paper
• Crop the edges on the computer and save the file
• Print the Zine
• Do the same with the back if you want it printed and print it on the back of the paper in the correct way round
• Take a Craft knife and crop the edges
• Fold

That's many steps - but that's how it works to have the full zine printed. No edges missing. It's a little bit smaller than the original, though. But I don't mind that.

If I just copy it in the correct size here, I get white edges that can be cut off, too - but then some of the original edge is missing.

I don't like Hello Kitty and other Kawaii designs.

I don't like scented stuff, unless natural essential oils have been used for scenting.

I don't smoke and hate things smelling of smoke.

I don't like stickers, glitter and bling. Please do not send me ATCs incorporating stickers, bling or glitter unless the swap description requires it. I don't like chunky ATCs.

Please do not send food or tea, thanks!