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Swaps are BACK!


chesterfieldzoo

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In celebration of October being miniature month, swaps are back.
I will be the hub. Here are the rules.
It will be limited to 15 people. The scale will be 1/12.
Your choice on what you want to make - unless a theme is requested by anyone interested in joining.
If you post you want to join, you will have 4 weeks to finish and get the items to me. The official 'start' date will be October 4. Anyone who does not have their item done will be dropped. Extra items will be returned to the maker in the case of that.
I have pets, but the room that will be used will be clean and pet free. If you have pet allergies, please keep this in mind.
Absolutely NO calls will go to the Greenleaf offices. Anyone calling them will be dropped immediately. If you have a question, send me a private message here. I will be checking at least twice a day for messages.
Once I know what everyone is making, I will figure out a shipping price for everyone. There will be no extra charges for me or my time. I will return any extra money if it is less than I figured.
That is all I can think of at the moment.

-Deana

No, it's not a joke. This is an approved swap.

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I would love to join, how long is the average for getting things done and mailed out to you for the swap. I should be able to meet a deadline and could start creating this weekend/today? Is there a theme or anything goes? Thank you Deana and Greenleaf for allowing this and WOW what an October this will be!!

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I am thinking that there will be one week for people to see the thread and sign up. Then 4 weeks to make the items and get them to me. If someone drops out within the first week and there is a waiting list, the next person could join as long as they could meet the deadline.

I was told a theme works best, but I think it's up to the people who want to join. I think it should be anything goes.

If you are for sure, Jenny, I can mark you down. I would wait a day or so to make sure it won't switch to a theme.

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I would love to participate, but courier fees from Dubai to the USA would be between $100 and $150 :cry: and the normal post office camels would either eat the goodies or take a year to deliver them.

A question that comes to mind, though, from past swap experiences: Is there a value or size or other guide for the swap items? One person might think a little cake is great, but another might make a whole dinner table's worth of food dishes and then some of the people might feel that there wasn't enough of an equal effort from the participants.

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Deana, you may want to consider rethinking the theme suggestion. Personally, if I had a need for some particular category of items, I'd be more interested in investing time and money in swap for items I'm likely to use than to receive a box of who knows what that I may or may not ever have a use for. I'll be interested to see how many folks jump at the anything goes concept.

Some broad category ideas off the top of my precaffeine head this morning:

  • A specific room (kitchen, bath, bedroom, dining room, front porch, etc)
  • A holiday (Thanksgiving, Christmas, Fourth of July, Hanukkah, a day at the beach, etc)
  • Out-of-doors (Landscaping/outdoor items for a time of year -- spring, summer, fall, winter)
  • Hobbies (sewing, painting & drawing, miniatures, books, board games, etc)
  • A particular time period (American Colonial, English Tudor, French Provincial, Mid-century Modern, etc)

I also think some specific deadlines for each swap would be helpful for folks to decide whether or not they have the time to participate. And some folks (looking in mirror here) are better at meeting deadlines than completing open-ended projects (and a busy holiday time is hard upon us).

  • Sign up by ___
  • Finished items to hub by ___

As for price/value, I think each participant should examine his or her entries by asking

"Would I pay any amount of money to buy this item, based on craftsmanship and comparison to similar products available commercially?" If it isn't good enough to sell, it probably isn't good enough to be in a swap.

Like all artisan-quality items, each one should be signed and dated or otherwise marked to indicate who made it.

Also, people new to swaps who may wonder why one makes 15 items for 15 participants -- why do I have to make one for myself? -- should know that the hub earns one of each item in exchange for the headache of riding herd on slowpokes, sorting, repacking, mailing, etc.

One again, I commend you for volunteering and hope that you and the participants all enjoy the experience! :D

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Our previous swaps did have themes, and I think we tried to keep the price within USD$5-$10 I don't remember if our limit was 10, 12 or 15. Since we last had swaps I've slowed down to the point I wouldn't be sure I could contribute up to 15 items within a four week time period, but I'm SO glad to see that some good person has taken on the hub job! Group swaps are tons of fun (my pub features an awful lot of the swap items I received when I did play!) and a terrific way to start making your own items.

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Thanks Kathie for all the great suggestions. Tracy had said to go with a theme, but I thought I would wait to see what people wanted.

My second post states there is a week to sign up and 4 weeks to complete the items. Exact dates will be sent to each participant with my address.

As far as making one for me, that is totally up to each person - I am doing this for fun and I have the time and space.

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I am in. I think it'd be neat to get a box full of random goodies, but then again I'm in the process of building an antique store, so I can use anything in it. If the majority wind up wanting a theme, I'm fine with that too.

And good gosh, YES, I definitely think the hub more than deserves an item after all that work. Thank you so much for doing this for us, Deana!!

This will be fun. Really wish you could join, Lene! :(

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I am thinking that there will be one week for people to see the thread and sign up. Then 4 weeks to make the items and get them to me. If someone drops out within the first week and there is a waiting list, the next person could join as long as they could meet the deadline.

I was told a theme works best, but I think it's up to the people who want to join. I think it should be anything goes.

If you are for sure, Jenny, I can mark you down. I would wait a day or so to make sure it won't switch to a theme.

Yes please count me in, this will be very fun and a good break from my current project.

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I think a theme swap works best. For instance, for me, I wouldn't want any items that's holiday based. Halloween, Christmas, magic things but that's just me. I do have some Scrolls, candles, dried herbs and apothecary items though lol. It can help keep people from joint and getting items they won't use or want.

My very first swap I did on a yahoo group was a Gentlemen's swap. I was new to swaps and creating. I'd hate for a new person to not join because they are afraid to joking based off of the level of skills they have. I made cigars in an ashtray and had a pewter item they could use on a desk lol. It's what got me hooked on them. Then we had a Whats in the attic swap which had rolled rugs and old attic toys and boxes. Within a year, we had covered most of a dollhouse with extra missing things. I love signing things too. I have some cherished items from friends I met online who passed on :( Because they were signed, I know which items they made and I cherish them so much.

I'm hoping many people get to experience the fun of giving and receiving and the fun of learning new skills. Deana, I loved you before but love you even more for taking this on. :) I appreciate you sweetheart!

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WOW... Deana you are so great to do this... and big thanks to GL as well :)

I wish I had time to join... but I am under a time crunch now for my Creatin' Contest house.... I will happily join another swap it we do it again....

I hope everyone has a blast with this :)

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Holly, we are just doing this one right now. As long as it goes well and there are enough people interested, there can be more. I think every 3 months is plenty. One or two weeks to organize, a month to make the stuff and a week for it all to get delivered is almost 2 months anyway.

If anyone who says they want to participate wants to have a theme, please say so.

It could be as general as 'items for a library' or 'christmas' or 'attic items'. Maybe all of you would like yard or shed items.

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Shipping will be as cheap as I can get it. Hopefully in one of those 'everything that fits' boxes.

You don't have to spend a lot to participate. I think that the items should be $5-10 of VALUE not cost. You might spend pennies to make something valuable. Just look at it and think if YOU would pay $5-10 for it. (for example, a $1 michaels hutch could be sanded and painted and detailed and be worth $10+ and all it took was your time)

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