Hi, you guys. I know it seems too early to start talking about Valentine’s Day but I was just in a store yesterday and they had all kinds of Valentine’s Day decorations, and you know, stores are really the best gauge of when to start celebrating holidays. Or something. Anyway, as it’s time to start talking about Valentine’s Day, guess what? It’s time for the 4th Annual Be My Awesome Valentine Swap. I know!
What? Well, Caryn and I have been hosting a handmade valentine swap for the past three years and it’s time to do it again! Yay! Pictured above are the valentines I made last year. They were awesome. I don’t know what I’ll make this year — I’ll just see how the spirit moves me, as it were, but the point is that over the past few years, the swap has been so much fun. It’s fun to make stuff to send, and it’s fun to get handmade crafty awesomeness in the mail. I’ve gotten all kinds of things — barrettes, soap, an ornament, a tote bag, temporary tattoos and a glittery Darth Vader — the list goes on and on.
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 23. You can sign up by sending an e-mail to either Jamelah (jamelah dot earle at gmail dot com — please note the change in address, and also note that if I had your info before, I no longer have it, because my old email doesn’t exist anymore) 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 Monday, January 25 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 Monday, February 8. 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:
For the past couple of years, people have signed up and then not sent out anything, which is super lame. One year, a person seemed to have all of the “I’m going to sign up but not mail any valentines” people in their group, so they mailed stuff out and got, I think, one in return, and that’s not how it works. It’s a swap, which means exchange, which means if you’re not interested or you’re not able to send anything to anyone else, don’t sign up.
I don’t want to be mean or anything, I’m just saying, don’t be a dick. I’m sure you’re not a dick. I just have to mention it so everything is all rainbows and unicorns. I’m sure you understand.
Anyway, yay! Let’s get to swappin’! Send out those sign up emails soon, and if you have any questions, let me or Caryn know. Hurrah!
For more info, or to discuss things with fellow swappers or to show off what you made: http://www.flickr.com/groups/lit-fuse/
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