stephiedee

Hey, I'm Steph. I'm a 40-something, neurospicy lady from Florida. I live with my husband, adult daughter and our 2 spunky Chi-mixes.

Whenever possible, I like to fill my time with creative activities. It makes me happy and helps me deal with all the mental baggage. I mostly stick to mail art diddies like ATCs, zines, handmade postcards and decorated envelopes (shareable art)---but I also get down with art journaling/book-making. My medium of choice is collage+mixed media.

I've been making and sending creative mail for a long time, on various sites, from back in the Flickr ATC trading heyday to hosting my own swaps on Instagram. It's really my only form of socializing.

My creative style leans eclectic. I love making things in a scrappy, colorful, maximalist collage style. Funky, junky and not following rules is how I like it. I love quirky/offbeat characters, irreverence, personality, boldness, humor and not taking (artsy) things too seriously. I also dabble in the classy vintage styles from time to time to keep things interesting.

Well, this is what I like. It's not everything, but it's a fair amount. If you'd like a visual list, see MY PINTEREST.

Making, sending, receiving and collecting...

• ATCs, altered index cards, little art cards of all kinds.

• mail art; handmade postcards, fully decorated envelopes, naked mail.

• sticker bombed postcards, greeting cards, envelopes.

• making stickers with my Cricut; collecting stickers (esp. artist stickers) for my sticker journal.

• artbooks; glue books, art journals, zines.

• paper collage goodie stuffed envelopes (decorated or not), paper/scrap bombs (1 ounce of collage fodder), painted papers, stamped images.

• 3D assemblages, wall decor, funky little ornaments, repainted figs, altered wood blocks.

My Craft Cave:

Eye Candy/Squeal Inducers ❤️️❤️️❤️️

―collage/mixed media art with lots of texture/layers
―LOTS of colors! Bright, bold and neon, too
―altered Mona Lisa and other art muses (Lina Cavalieri, Theda Bara)
―cheeseburgers, strawberries, lemons
―tropical flora/fauna; beachy aesthetics; Springtime
―checkerboard patterns (NOT plaid)
―celestial (astronomy) art; Spacecore, sun & moon faces
―60s/70s retro aesthetics; big florals, mustard yellow, groovy hippies, boho style
―Vaporwave, 80s/90s pop culture; cartoons, New Wave, Memphis Design, Y2K
―Cyberpunk, Retro Futurism, Anime
―Raccoons, squirrels, cockatoos, alligators, frogs
―big boofy flowers; camellia, Persian buttercup, dahlia, peony
―deep sea divers (helmets only or whole suits)
―Zetti, mixed up characters, stripey legs, anthropomorphism
―lava lamps, light bulbs, neon signs, traffic lights
―old technology; TV sets, computers, cassette tapes, telephones
―symbols; peace signs, evil eyes, plus signs++++, hamsa
―Buddha/Budai (the classic one/the fat happy one)
―CLOWNS, mimes, jesters, circus performers
―fantasy creatures, cute monsters, aliens
―VW Buses/Bugs, old rusted out trucks
―mystical/occult imagery; phrenology, palmistry charts, anatomy art, skulls
―creepy, vintage, campy, Gothic Halloween.

My absolute favorite aesthetic is something I call "teenage neon daydream" - it's like, 90s teenage school folder collage, obnoxious colors, TV noise, attitude and grunge all shaken up in a big Slurpee cup. idk 😂

I would say the supplies I use are 70% misfit, upcycled things and 30% legit art/craft supplies. I like to mix together any sort of paper things I can get my hands on: office supplies, stationery, gift wrapping stuff, thrifted books/mags, catalogs, handmade papers, printables.

I used to have a HUGE supply of books and magazines for collage imagery, but I donated about 90% of the collection to a local art teacher at the end of 2023. I had to do a massive purge as the hoard was getting overwhelming and burdensome after 10+ years of collecting. Having stuff just to have stuff is not the goal anymore.

Paper supplies I can always use...
―checkerboard papers, tissue papers, washi tape
―interesting graph/grid papers
―fun, FLAT stickers
―painted papers/palette papers
―vintage yearbook portraits (esp. 70s-80s)
―city road maps (tightly concentrated road grids)
―text printed tissue paper/napkins
―collage style rubberstamp images (that cut out easily)
―found words/quotes cut from books
―the letters J, K, P & Q cut from magazines
―RED ephemera (not just pretty papers)
―any flat embellishment type things
―colorful patterned papers
―images/background patterns from magazines
―funky, interesting, weird collage imagery
―machine stitched strips of paper

Sticker Preferences ✅✅✅

random kawaii characters, doodle style, silly/cute animals, rainbows, stars, unicorns, foods with faces (I love the Fashion Angels line of sticker books, so I have nothing against kid-centric styles of stickers) +++also more adult themes, like botanicals, non silly animals, faux postage, alphas, word stickers, vinyl "laptop" stickers (in any of the "eye candy" themes listed above), "happy mail" labels. I'm not picky about where stickers come from, as long as they're sticky.

Please, NO ⚠️⚠️⚠️

plain colored scraps of paper, mass market journal supplies (Tim Holtz people, die-cut images, journal cards, planner specific stickers, sentiments), tiny cards, paint chips, lace/other non-paper supplies, washi stickers, puffy/epoxy stickers.

Themes/Styles I'm Not Into

Victorian vintage, Paris, shabby chic, patriotic, steampunk, no face people, ballerinas, bling, babies, religious, toxic positivity (positivity is great! invalidating emotions and experiences is not), 420/weed culture, coffee/tea/wine/booze, gender specific...

No offence to anyone, these just don't float my boat. I do respect all sender's choice directives however and appreciate every effort put into handmade creations.

Triggers, allergens, phobias...

• sharks. Pictures, stickers, whatever. I have a phobia and seeing a nasty ol' shark maw kinda ruins the mail.

• religious items; Christian themes, hymnal book pages, spiritual mumbo jumbo, angels.

• food/edibles/potables of any kind or scented/perfumed items. I am highly sensitive to fragrances and have ZERO interest in swapping foodstuffs (including teabags).

• true crime, serial killers, murder mysteries, gore, zombies....I'm not into ANY of that stuff.

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Thank you for coming this far and taking any of these things into consideration.