November 2020: I have just found out that Australia Post allows and encourages addresses to include the true First Nations names of the land you live on if it's written after the recipients' name and before the street address. I have updated my address on swapbot to include this as a reflection of my deep respect for the traditional custodians of this land. I am living on the lands of the Kulin nations Bunurong Boon Wurrung and Wurundjeri Woi Wurrung, and I grew up on beautiful Gumbaynggirr country. I am so honoured to have been able to experience welcome to country ceremonies in both places, and I acknowledge that sovereignty was never ceded. Always was, always will be Aboriginal land.

March 2020 - I am starting a year long musical theatre intensive course at University (it's for my minor in my creative writing and literature degree) and it's honestly well above my capacity considering my poor health so I will need to be far less active on swapbot until November. I will still send all swaps that I'm currently in (on time of course) but bear in mind that if you want to do a private swap I may say no even if I love your idea. It's not personal, I love all of you!

Note (January 2020) - I am affected by bushfire smoke as well as severe health issues, this makes going to the post office difficult and dangerous. There will be delays on when I can post unfortunately, as well as possible delays on mail leaving the country after it is posted.

Note: DEAR STORY SERIES if you were paired with me for that now-defunct swap series PLEASE CONTACT ME ABOUT IT. To the person I did not send to, please reply to my message where I offer to send something or work out the mess that this swap left us all in.

Hello I'm Lena 😊

I am a poet and writer and disability advocate from Melbourne, Australia.

Some of my favourite things are plants, friendship, tea, minerals/crystals/rocks, sharing poems, stationary crafts, small bookmaking/zinemaking art projects, animals (especially cats and sugar gliders and hedgehogs and ducks), cooking, tea, compassion and trying to make the world better.

I am a nonbinary disabled person and I experience chronic pain and chronic fatigue along with several other disabling illnesses (over 5 different illnesses and I'm happy to talk about it with fellow disabled people but I don't love answering extensive personal health questions if you don't have at least some understanding of what health issues are like).

my pronouns are they/them

I have a Norwegian forest cat (elderly rescue with one problem leg that he can't move) named Eli and he's very sweet but no cat treats please as he has a grain allergy and is overweight. He does love string and sturdy ribbon though if you have any to spare!! His 'birthday' (the date I adopted him, but the year he was probably born) is August 1st 2009.

UPDATE 2021 - My partner and I adopted a second cat! Her name is Nina and she is a dark tortoiseshell short hair. She's a very nervous temperament, but LOVES pats, toy mice, and anything made from fish. She was born roughly March 2020. We celebrate her 'gotcha day' November 21st.

I was born 27th July 1994 so for anyone into astrology who would like to know, that makes me a Leo sun, Pisces moon, Aquarius rising.

*** I am open to private swaps! Message me if you have an idea you'd like to swap with me.***

I cannot wait to learn about you when we share happy mail! Please include a letter about yourself and where you're from if you mail me :)

As a kid I loved writing to my penpals, and although I didn't know the term at the time, I always tried to use a happy mail format.

When I grew up and first went to university, I originally studied Fine Arts majoring in traditional printmaking and bookmaking. I love those areas with a passion. But I decided to change over to creative writing, sociology, and musical theatre.

I used to live in the rainforest here in Australia, and I've been involved in environmental activism due to my love of nature. I am also involved in LGBTQIA+ activism and disability activism, including through my work as an advocate within my university.

I got extremely into SwapBot in 2019, and have loved all my experiences here! I took time off from swapping in 2020 and early 2021 due to the covid situation as well as extremely poor health. I'm less active these days as I have a lower capacity in general and can't get nearly as much crafting done. But when I do host or join a swap I totally prioritise it and give it my all.

I am fascinated by the culinary and medicinal uses of plants, and learning about plants native to various locations. As a result I am delighted by herbal teas! I love coffee as well, but I need to monitor my caffeine intake due to adrenal fatigue (health issues).

I am mostly vegan because I am strongly dairy intolerant, and I do not enjoy meat. I am not offended by anyone elses diet, but if we are going to exchange recipes, please keep my dietary requirements in mind.

My favourite teas are: Pukka brand green tea with ginseng, peppermint chamomile and lavender, and ginger, refreshing blends that contain lemony herbs with fennel and chickory. I also love dandelion and marigold, and (although I can't easily get it here,) chokeberry!

Some things I'd love, or struggle to get my hands on:

• Rubber stamps (especially small, botanical, textural, mushroom, vintage, ferns, woodland creatures, etc)
• Butterfly cut outs or butterfly paper punch
• Classic Lolita style art/paper dolls/clothing/fashion/etc.
• die cuts
• sturdy scrapbook paper
• Homemade envelopes
• Old/vintage or hand printed nudes and figure studies, artistic nudes
• distress oxides and ink/pigment pads (very very hard to come by here)
• vintage botanical drawings and botanical ephemera
• old book pages (I have a sentimentality problem and cannot rip any book myself)
• vintage style/ botanical / whimsical stamps
• unusual, rare, or strange paper no matter how plain
• Small odd or unusual vintage-styled ephemera
• Stickers of illustrated people (not characters from pop media just random people)
• chokeberry tea
• small dice, the older the better
• unusual washi tapes and japanese stationary
• washi stickers!
• Morikai style items and cottagecore
• pressed/dried flowers or plants that are native to your location (please include information or a story about why you like it / when you collected it ! DONT SEND SEEDS INTERNATIONALLY it's considered eco-terrorism)
• High quality homemade slime or ingredients, soothing 'stim' things (hygenic only) EXCEPT no microplastics, Orbeez slushie beads, fishbowl beads, plastic glitter etc as I am very conscious of pollution
• vegan hypoallergenic makeup cosmetics
• small charms and gems from jewelery, little hair clips and bows and flowers (not glittery kids style though please)
• distress inks/oxides and 3d dot paints etc

Themes and Aesthetics

I love rich colours/jewel tones and neutral earthy tones equally, although I also love pastels and inky blacks

I love greens, especially khaki, sage, and deep emerald, although every colour that a plant comes in is stunning. I wear a lot of golden yellow, brown, rusty orange, and purples. Yellow makes me happy, as does purple.

Themes I'd be caught giggling excitedly about include:

• vintage botanical,
• MORIKAI
• woodland creature vintage,
• mushrooms!,
• grungey punk photocopier-made zine style,
• cream with foliage and flowers,
• warm grey neutrals with one pop of an accent colour,
• golden yellow and brown,
• cats, hedgehogs, ducks, red squirrels, sugar gliders, possums, turtles, hognose snakes, alpacas, quokkas, owls, woodland animals, capybara, red pandas, bees (but not photos of honeycomb), small frogs (but not their eggs or tadpoles)
• black and white, grids,
• vaporwave 90s internet, pastel rainbows,
• green and mossy,
• magic and witchy,
• classic Lolita,
• crystals,
• swamp creature,
• curvy/body positive humans,
• steven universe,
• gudetama,
• raver hippie acid,
• goth
• art nouveau!!!!!!!!
• Whimsical

I enjoy thoughtful and handmade stuff even if it's not 'high quality', I really enjoy the fact that we are all people who enjoy creating at home to try to make a stranger happy, and if that's what you've done I'm going to love it.

Allergies and Dislikes

Thought i'd make this section so swappers can quickly see what to avoid sending :)

I am very sensitive to chemical skin irritation from metal alloys and cosmetic products so if you send skincare or hair care products (i have curly hair and olive white skin with gold undertones for reference and i do occasionally wear tinted products like taupe and plum shades of lip balm, as well as natural eyeshadows and eyeliners etc) please choose the all natural sulphate free 'hippie' types.

I am predominantly vegan and allergic to dairy.

Please avoid strongly gendered language or branding that addresses me as 'girl' or 'boy' as I am a genderqueer nonbinary person. I do share lived experience with women though and in the feminist context it's ok to include me in the sisterhood - I would just prefer to be called 'sibling'/'sib' or 'friend'/'fren' rather than sister or brother 😊

I am afraid of spiders and don't want images of them, but spider web cartoons are okay.

I have trypophobia which is a strong negative psychological response to certain visual images, mine is centred around the texture of natural/animal/organic holes as a repeat pattern (ant holes in leaves, close up skin pores, frog eggs, etc) so please avoid imagery reflecting these things. Thank you!!

Do Not Send/ I'm Not Into:

• Commercialism (promotion of commercial enterprise.The exception is vintage advertisements from the 19th and early 20th centuries)
• STRONG SMELLS - if you smoke, please don't send fabrics or soft things that have absorbed the smell - the exception being perfume samples if you think I'll like them and they are NOT leaking or opened
• Reward stickers
• Anything to do with hunting or guns
• Hate or nastiness
• Right wing politics or dogwhistles
• Letters about your traumas with no Content Warning!! Please friends, I do want to know what you want to share about your lives including struggles and difficulties, but I have PTSD and anxiety so PLEASE warn me if you're going to share something upsetting
• Horror or gore
• Loose glitter or anything messy/ hard to clean up
• Other microplastics or items it is difficult to contain that contribute to ocean pollution etc
• If you send broken jewelry, please stick to charms, crystals, and the type of beads that can be used to decorate flatmail. If you send broken jewelry that isn't just useful parts I will pass it on to someone who likes that. But I love vintage semi-precious stone charms and pendants! If you send in-tact jewelry, no earrings or children's jewelry please.
• Any kind of cultural appropriation including use of AAVE by non black people or craft supplies featuring AAVE terms or dream catchers and etc (but I'd love patterns or information regarding your own culture!!)
• Ableism
• Sexism
• Queerphobia including transphobia, acephobia, or biphobia
• Racism of any kind or xenophobia
• Fatphobia or fitness/'thinspo', excercise, or diet themes
• sexualized or flirtatious messages (images of nude figures totally okay/welcomed in artistic or sentimental contexts)

• your part of the world (climate, culture, environment, plants, etc.)
• your spirituality or self care rituals
• your religion if you can discuss it in a way that avoids any nastiness toward other religions or groups of people (including LGBTQIA+ people)
• your favourite thing to learn about
• what you love about your job/degree/hometown/spouse
• fun things you do with your kids/family
• gardening
• your pets
• your journal!
• your favourite youtubers and Netflix shows
• your best recipes
• your experience of living with disability/mental illness and how you found community
• your home and how you decorate it and how you feel about it
• your memories
• what your favourite songs mean to you
• the first time you tried/discovered the tea or item you send to me
• why you love swapbot
• your penpals
• Your experiences with alternative culture/fashion/subculture especially if you're into jfashion, lolita, punk, goth, grunge

Favourite Artists (this section is a work in progress):

Fine Arts:

• Cat Rabbit (felt and textile artist)

Writers:

• Shaun Tan
• Dorothy Porter
• Shirley Jackson
• William Bronk
• Lorine Niedecker

Tattoo:

• Celeste Lai (limbforest, NYC)
• Georgia Swale (I have one tattoo by her)
• deadbirdflying (Melbourne)

Postage from Australia can take a long time, or be surprisingly quick, depending on the relationship between the Australian Postal Service, the Postal Services in your country, and the services in any countries the letter must travel through on the way.

Please keep that in mind and contact me if there are any issues.

I mark sent when I post, regardless of whether i give it to the post office (immediate stamping) or pop it in the post box (i do not control the date stamp in that case) but I do keep photo records of all outgoing mail.

Also, because Australia 'gets the day first' by timezone, often the date here is two days later than it is in America and parts of Europe, so bear in mind that I have two days less than most people to prepare the swaps since partners are assigned to me on a later date than for most participants in international swaps yet I still need to post before the end date arrives for me, so for swaps with a particularly short turn over (less than 5 days between partners assigned and postal date) please be mindful that it may be necessary for me to post one day late by date, but that it will be posted at the same time as international swappers. If this is the case I will not message you to apologize for the date stamp, as I hope you understand how the international time zones affect the situation.

If we think it's not going to arrive at all, of COURSE I will make a replacement for you, I want you to enjoy the happy mail!

I understand the anxiety of not knowing if your swap partner has received/enjoyed the mail you worked so hard on, so I am okay with you messaging me to check what's going on if I haven't rated yet in a timeframe you expect me to have recieved your mail, but please be understanding if I have not yet received your mail.

Thanks for reading! Can't wait to swap with you.