Wednesday, December 10, 2008

Anatomy of a swap & Give-aways!


I've had the pleasure to be involved in two swaps this week. I made 24 of these cute little gift bags (see below - they measure just 4" x 8") in the past few days.

1. I wanted to share with you what exactly a swap is.

2. I wanted to give away a "Christmas is Love" gift bag filled with papercrafting goodies to one lucky reader. (and there just might be some of Steve's famous fudge in it!) Just leave a comment!

3. I want to give EVERYBODY this "Christmas is love" digital image FREE! I designed this for WCMD (World Card Making Day) last year. Just email me and I'll send it to you.

Besides my treasured card group I've been participating in for over 10 years (love ya gals!), I also host PC Pro swaps for Papercrafts Magazine on their website every few months.

This month I hosted a Christmas packaging swap and finally got around (my aching tooth) to swap it all out. Here are a few pictures of how I do this.

First, I patiently wait for all the packages to arrive. 12 participants (I'm one of them). Once they all in-house, I start by making piles of each package; the BEST part is getting to see what everyone made! I Check for return labels, ziplock bags (for protection), extra postage and the little goodies I often get as a hostess (cute little tea bag gift, gum, chocolate and other little scrapbooking gifts...yes, I really SCORED this time).



Carefully, counting more than once, I make sure each person gets one of each, re-package everything, weigh and make sure there is enough postage. Sound easy? Yup, it really is! Would love to have you join any of our many, many swaps we post at the Papercrafts website. A big THANK YOU to everyone who participated...you should be getting your packages by the end of the week.

So, this was my choice for both of my swaps. The challenge with swapping is finding a cute idea without being bogged down with too many steps or time consuming techniques. Digital images are perfect for swaps...let the printer do the work! Add simple embellishments (jingle bells) or texture (Pop pieces up & glitter and Glossy accents to the heart).


What is it about making many of something that makes me smile. I feel SO productive!

I looking forward to the 'productivity' ending though and the 'relaxing' to begin...yeah, like Dec. 25th after dinner, as usual!

12 comments:

just me....lynn said...

Love the design!!

Bonnie said...

Well, these are amazing! I think swaps are wonderful, although I have never participated in one. I think that a lot of people don't do it because of self confidence issues LOL! Okay I'll 'fess up - My brain says it wouldn't be good enough, although my heart says it would. Silly, I know....

Anonymous said...

Cute bags. The swaps sound like a lot of fun.

shortandsweet said...

Looks like lots of cool stuff! Heard why you weren't at Heather's party...hope you feel better quick. Hope the chocolates work out for you.

Sue said...

What cute bags !!! I am soooooo addicted to swaps...

Pene said...

Thanks for sharing your bag. I can't wait to see what everyone made too! Thanks for hosting.
Pene

Christie said...

I hope you are feeling better!

mspiggy7 said...

Love your reindeer bag & can't wait to get one when my swap arrives in the mail. Swaps are sooo much fun & also addicting.. Happy Holidays - Marlene(amarleneackley@yahoo.com)

Patricia said...

I love the reindeer! How cute and how fortunate for those in your swap. thanks for the download as well.

Anonymous said...

Very cute projects. I think that Christmas will be past before I even have an opportunity to work on any projects. (sigh). I have everything laid out, just a matter if I can get to it or not. Life keeps gettin' in the way.

Anonymous said...

It was so much fun being in your swap...but I am sorry that I didn't know I should ( or could) send something to the hostess for holding the swap. You were my second swap and I had not heard of doing that. I apologize and I really feel bad right about now! :(
SANDEE

Jennifer Hansen said...

I hope you have a Merry Christmas!

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