Swaps

[swirlyarts]

I have been reading lots of American blogs and loads of people over there do swaps - swap supplies and finished products etc. Has anyone encountered this over here and how does it all work?
Lynsey

[Seahorse]

Theres a beady forum Im a member of and they swop quite a bit there.

[carolinemhannon]

i'm on the same beady forum as seahorse and we had a xmas present swop, which was fun

also on the lampworking forum we have bead swops where we all make beads then our names are drawn out in pairs and we do a stright swop with that person, on the same forum we have RAOGK which is a random act of glass kindness so if someone is asking about some special glass that you have or needs something urgent that you've got you can send it to them or if there not well or a bit down you can send them something, it dosen't have to be glass related

someone sent me some glass off cuts so i could try fusing before spending money, i sent out glass to someone not long ago so they could try some special reactive glass and so on and so forth

[mollymandy]

hI there i to am with another craft forum we did a swop xmas and just in the middle of one now also feb we re doing another i love it good fun and nice to get a parcel in the post just for me.

[swirlyarts]

How is it organised? I'm very interested you see and want details about how to set one up, what the 'rules' are etc etc. Any help would be gratefully received!

[mitchwolver]

Hi Guys
Swaps sound a great idea please let me know if anyone starts one
Michelle:)

[mollymandy]

Hi girls have to get back to you on this one my feet are killing me just got in from work,bus didnt turn up this morning 50mim walk in gales ans rain.All i know is you need a least a min of 5 people of course more 10 av you all pm your address to the person who sets it up she pm you with who your sending to theres a dead line date you all swap something to eachother to say 5pounds or if you have leaf over stash use that.Its fun you all get a little something in the post enclose a card who from but what do we swap? if your scrappers thats easy papers ect think about it ill join give me time ill even might be theperson to set it up if thats ok with craft forum peeps.

[mollymandy]

PS girls just poped into your profils hope you dont mind see one of you card maker one scrapper so far so good take care jackie mmm.

[the felt fairy]

Theres another forum that i'm a member of, usa based but members from all over the world. They do loads of swaps of all different kinds which are great fun. Some are supplies swaps, finished work swaps or themed swaps. I'm in one now that is called One Tiny Thing, where we have partners that we swap one tiny hand crafted item with. (no bigger than 4" x 4"). No body knows what they are getting but when it arrives a picture is posted in a forum gallery so we all see the goodies.

I've never organised one but they have their own list of 'swap rules' which i'm sure could be 'adapted' if any of you wanted to start one.

I dont want to mention the name of the forum here as it would be a bit unfair to Media lol.

[0103media]

Do you guy want a swap section ?

Could be uk only...


???

what do u think ?

[mollymandy]

Im willing uk based maybe start with a small one to see how it takes off,ideas of swaps and helpful comments now so we can help eachother along something nice to get into.

[mitchwolver]

UK only sounds great
I'd be intrested in swapping, scrapbooking papers, embellishments, ect,
Is anyone intrested in swapping stamps, i find especially with mens stamps that once i've done the men in the family and close friends that i cant really use the stamp again so would be really keen in swapping mens stamps, i have a lovely bear playing cricket which has done the rounds and is ready to be replaced, anyone intrested?
Michelle

[michelleC]

I think that would be a great idea

[mollymandy]

Me to im in lets see how many join in if its just a few it will still be fun what do you think?

[swirlyarts]

I think it's a great idea but I'm not sure how it could be run. We would have to be careful because if someone doesn't follow through with a swap then it could go wrong. If anyone has any ideas on how it could be done then I'm all ears!!

[mollymandy]

Thats what i was thinking needs to be thought trough carefully,i can only go by my other forum i with the addresses and names are posted to whoever wants to take the lead then she is the one who posts to each of us who we are sending onto if its not a big chain of us it will be simple enough ill keep you posted with my ideas and any comments and help will be great.

[mollymandy]

ps i think anyone who wants to join post there name here then maybe we can get toether and get it off the ground once we have done one who knows what we will be swapping.

[beadsbydesign]

Having seen things go wrong on these swaps etc before I would advise that participants have a decent membership time on the forum to qualify for membership. I also think that long time spun out sign ups and distant shut of dates encourage people to put things to the back of their mind or even forget. If you are busy the first time, there will be another in the future for you to join in next time.
It is not nice when things go wrong and so it should be stressed that when you sign up you are commited.
I think that as we are mixed media forum, one idea would be that a price limit would be set and that you could produce something with your particular crafting skills to send to your recipient.
I think it would be lovely to see what other people are creating.

[nattynetty]

Having seen things go wrong on these swaps etc before I would advise that participants have a decent membership time on the forum to qualify for membership.

Yep this is something us mods have had a bit of a chat about and I think we were in complete agreement as I've seen these things turn pretty nasty too on other forums. Will have to wait for Mr Media to set some groundrules before we get it up and running I think but it's a good idea to use this thread to gauge who'd be interested and get suggestions.


"I also think that long time spun out sign ups and distant shut of dates encourage people to put things to the back of their mind or even forget."

Very good point, I know what I'm like...I can remember those essays at uni that seemed an age away :p