Last month, with the push of the April Stash Bust, I finally took the plunge and joined a Swap-Bot swap. My #1 Swap: the April Stash Bust Swap of course! It was so much fun getting a great package of goodies in the mail. Not everything in it were things I would normally pick, but that’s the inspiring part. Now I have all these fun little bits to refresh my own stash. I had a great partner and she really loaded me up:
Since then, I’ve dug around on Swap-bot. Yesterday I joined two more swaps and I am watching quite a few others.
Swap #2: Pencil/crayon rubbing art swap.
1.Look for objects that are rough, bumpy or feel interesting. 2.Hold your paper over the object. 3.Hold your crayon or pencil on its side and rub across the bumpy parts. For fun, try using different colors together.
Please have fun with this swap! Senders choice! Send your partner one rubbing, any more is optional and not required.
I really enjoy the simplicity of it. It was a fun mini adventure for sure. I had so much fun this morning that I’m going to do more to incorporate into Craft Leftovers Monthly and other projects.
Swap #3: International Zine Swap
Send any zine you like! You will have two partners. That’s 2 zines per partner. Simple!
It will be a great way to get some more zines into my collection (love it!) while spreading Craft Leftovers Monthly around a bit too!
I’m holding off on joining any more for now. I think that 2 a month is a pretty good pace for myself. I don’t want to kill the swapping joy.
I’ve hosted swaps before. Wow, Swap-bot makes it easy to host, participate, and track members. The built in rating/feedback system really keeps people accountable because “no sends” are the worst. A lot of swaps won’t let you join unless you have above 4 star rating. If you want to participate, you need to live up to your obligations.
5 Great Reasons to Join a Swap
Inspiration – It’s always fun to see how people interpret a theme, what they include in their packages, what patterns they use, and how they package it all up.
New supplies – New to you anyway, this is a great way to trade out some “old to you” supplies.
Resources – Because I write a zine, looking at other zines is a great resource for me. Swapping for them keeps my library full at a fairly low cost.
Staying accountable – It’s easy to get caught up in life. If you are swapping artist trading cards or handmade dish cloths, there will always be an influx of creativity. Deadlines can be the best inspiration.
Marketing – Let’s face it, when I joined the zine swap it’s because I know 2 completely new people will be taking a look at my zine each month, potentially posting about it on their blog or at least showing it around to their friends. When you swap and fulfill your side of the swap, it’ll get more people looking at your website, your shop, and basically you. Familiarity is key.
On top of all those reasons, I LOVE getting mail. It always makes my day!
Enter: the Craft Leftovers Swap
I think having a monthly swap would fit really well with the whole Craft Leftovers mission of using up what’s on hand.
We all have those bits that just don’t seem to be good for any project, a “crafting block” so to speak. Having a monthly swap would be a great way to get a new infusion of craft stock while unloading supplies that have been regulated to the back of the stash for far too long.
++ What do you think? Would you like to join a Craft Leftovers swap?
++ What kinds of things would you like to swap?
++ Should it be monthly, or should we do it quarterly?
++ Should there be a theme each month that goes along with the Craft Leftovers Monthly theme or just a random assortment each month?
++ How big should the package envelope be? 9×12 inches or 5×7 inches?
Let me know what you think and I can set up. Maybe the first one will have a June 30th send out date?
Happy swapping!
Kristin Roach
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Wow, Kristin!! Thank you for this awesome review of Swap-bot. I am so glad you are enjoying it. I had a great time with the April Stash Bust swap also, and I would love to join a Craft Leftovers swap. I would personally vote for a quarterly swap, but really you can do as many as you would like and people could join them monthly or just periodically and you'd get a different group of swappers each time.
Craft Leftovers is the bomb!
Aww, thanks! It was not a problem at all, especially since SwapBot is so great (you guys are so great!), it was easy to gush about it ;)
I'm leaning towards quarterly too, then it will be a little more special and not too high of a demand on everyone who is participating (and hosting). If there is over-welling demand for it we can always change to monthly. I'll map it out so we don't over lap with Nov and Dec.
I have been cutting swaps out of my creative calendar lately, but you make this sound so appealing I can't help but want to be a part of it! I think the frequency would depend on the complexity of the swap. Maybe a different due date depending on each project?
I'm glad I saw this on your Twitter!
Haha, sorry I sucked you in, but I'm so happy I changed your mind :P Hooray for twitter! I think we will start out simple, then move to some more complex swaps as we get ideas for it. I'll make sure to give a month lead time for each swap I think, that way we all have enough time to get something together.
I've never joined a swap before mostly because I haven't found any I've really liked. I'd definitely be interested in joining a craft leftovers swap though.
I'd swap yarn, paper/stationary, beads, charms, embroidery thread, plastic canvas, buttons and other crafty goodness.
I would do something on a quarterly basis but probably not every month and I like both the random and themed ideas. 5×7 would probably be the way to go for me.
Maybe we can do it kind of like that april stash bust swap where you just stuff an envelope full and delicious craft supplies that you don't need/want any more. People can choose to send a larger envelope if they wish, but the 5×7 size is a pretty good minimum size. Or before announcing the swap we can have a poll up on the blog about what people want to swap (yarn, stationary, fabric/sewing supplies, etc)…
I just discovered swap-bot a couple of months ago and I love it! I love giving things away, and I have too much stuff, so those go well together. I'd like to arrange some sort of swap where I get to give away lots of fabric, art, and books, and get digital image or music files in return. A space-saving swap… FeeBeeDee is my swap-bot name if you're interested.
i'd love to join a Craft Leftovers swap! i've been having fun swapping small inspiration packages based on colors. you could do monthly or quarterly (both sound good) swaps. or you could do a swap based on a certain material (fabric, yarn, recycled, paper, sewing, beads). or completely random swaps like the April Stash Bust are always fun! :) can't wait to see what you come up with!
Sure! of course I couldn't join until August…
I would love to do a swap! Although monthly might be a bit of a challenge for me, I could still manage it. Maybe you could do a different theme for each swap, like food/cooking one time, wardrobe changing another, etc, a bit eclectic like CL projects.
Hi I am new here to your blog/website. I love to sew along with other crafting and would really, really like to do a monthly swap with someone else that sews as well. But I must tell you I have really nice designer fabric mostly whimsical childlike-so I would like someone else that has the same type of quality to partner up with. I would also be able to trade notions etc and even patterns that I dont use etc. Please do a swap that would be so fun!
Michelle
I'd love to do this, particularly with my stash! I couldn't join in for June, but I could later in the summer!
I'd love to do this, particularly with my stash! I couldn't join in for June, but I could later in the summer!