third annual be my awesome valentine swap

Hi, you guys. I know it seems too early to start talking about Valentine’s Day, but it’s really not. Caryn and I have been hosting a handmade valentine swap for the past couple of years and it’s time to do it again! Yay! Who doesn’t like getting handmade crafty love in the mail?

The Deal:

1. This is NOT a CD swap. It’s for handmade valentines. In our world, handmade can mean going all out with construction paper, pipe cleaners and spray-painted macaroni, or it can mean hand-altered greeting/post cards. We’re flexible. Like bendy straws, which are also very handy craft items, by the way.

2. Sign up by Saturday, January 17. You can sign up by sending an e-mail to either Jamelah (jamelah at jamelah dot net) or Caryn (caryn dot stein at ymail dot com). We are partners in crime, so you don’t have to e-mail both of us. (Maybe say something like you’re signing up for the V-Day Swap in the subject line, just to be helpful.)

3. You will receive an e-mail from us by Saturday, January 24 telling you who’s in your group and giving you their mailing addresses.

4. No more than 4 to a group.

5. Open to every country in the world! (If, say, you don’t want to do international shipping, then you can say so in your sign-up e-mail… but really, it’s just a card. A fabulous, wonderful card, however.)

6. Mail your valentines by Saturday, February 7. This gives you plenty of time to make fabulous creations. This should also give your fabulous creations time to get to your groupies by V-Day. Except maybe if you’re mailing internationally, in which case, it’ll be, like, a President’s Day Valentine. Whee!

7. This should’ve gone up higher, next to the stuff about the valentines being handmade/hand-altered, but whatever. Hand-altered doesn’t mean that you just sign the inside of a card or the back of a postcard and call it good. Spend a little time being creative… draw hats on the people on your postcard with a Sharpie or something. I have faith that you can handle it.

8. If you don’t sign up, you’re dead to me. Yes, that is a rule.

9. Tell your friends and family! That’s a rule, too.

An additional note, wherein I lay down the law:

The first year we did this, everything was sunshine and rainbows, but last year some people were all “ooh! I’m going to do this!” and then they didn’t mail any valentines, which is not fair to anybody, so if you don’t have the time or the inclination, don’t sign up. And if you sign up and then realize that you don’t have the time or the inclination to follow through, please let either me or Caryn know, instead of letting people down. That’s kind of a dick move, really. Don’t be a dick.

Okay then. Sorry about that. Just had to be up front about the fact that people who say they are going to swap and then don’t swap are clearly annoying. But I’m sure that doesn’t apply to you, because I’m certain you are great.

You’ve got a week to sign up, so get to emailin’ me or Caryn!