Can anyone that hasn’t received ALL of their CDs from the music swap (who I haven’t heard from in the last two days) contact me so that I can chase them up please?
Thanks! (In other news I have stuff to blog but…. meh. I will TRY to dust the cobwebs off the camera, soon!)
…just a reminder for the people participating in the music swap…
CDs have to be posted TODAY!
Hope you’ve had fun sorting out your tunes, I’ve heard some super organised types have sent theirs already to grateful recipients, none of this last minute playlist fiddling for them!
Let me know if you’ve any issues & I’ll do my best to help; let the tunes begin…
Quick, easy, fun, that’s what this is about kids.
Compile a mixed CD; send out 3 copies to 3 different people & receive 3 different mixes from 3 different people, giving you some new music for the New Year! Music for a roadtrip, music to craft to, music to chill to, your favourites of all time… whatever you want to do, it’s up to you.
You in?
Leave a comment below if you’d like to participate AND SEND ME AN EMAIL WITH YOUR POSTAGE & BLOG DETAILS.
That is:
:: Name
:: Blog
:: Postal Address
If you comment here but don’t send me an email before the end of the sign-ups, I will not be chasing you, so that is really important if you want to participate.
Also let me know if you’d be willing to post your CDs overseas; people with active blogs only please – it’s just a smidge “safer” that way. Please don’t say you want to play if you think there is any chance at all you can’t or won’t follow through – that would not be good karma to kick off the year, would it?
Sign ups will close on the 8th, CDs to be sent out by the 20th. Quick. Easy. FUN.
Luckily I have a towering spindle of blank CDs ready to go; they seem to be just one of those things you never run out of… Do I sound a bit mean in this post? I apologise – having run a few swaps now I know it’s best to be crystal clear about the “rules” from the outset, otherwise I spend hours chasing people & trying to contact them & you know what? It’s no fun for me, so I’m trying to reduce all that stuff to an absolute minimum, I would love for you to join in, honest!
Yes, I can cross it off the “things I have to make for a swap” list, that’s true, but I can also cross it off the “things I can make to get rich selling my wares” list.
In fact, I would suggest crossing anything to do with sewing off that list too while we’re at it… mass production is just not in me.
I get SO. BORED.
And annoyed.
And distracted.
Some people (most, I wonder?) enjoy the act of sewing. They enjoy the whir of the machine & feeding the fabric under the foot, I however, do not. I sew, usually quickly & haphazardly, to get to the finished product. I sew just so I can have or give the thing I’ve made, not because I particularly enjoy stitching seams.
Am I the only one?
I said I’d make 10 bunting pieces for this swap, but after 5 I emailed Rach late last night & begged her to revise that number down to, surprise, 5. I actually made 6 pieces, but the first was an experiment that turned out badly, which probably contributed to my general bunting dismay.
After the failure I went with the idiot-proof “put a sausage on it” philosophy. Basically like “put a bird on it” but with Dachshunds. Dachshunds make everything better. I used a post-it page from the pad that my mate Jodie sent me as the basic template & cut them out of felt… also tedious.
I DO like the end result though, & wish I could make more for myself… but, really, I just can’t. If you’re in the bunting swap & you end up with a piece of my bunting you can rest assured that they are extremely limited editions. Only 5 ever made in the world.
So, if I ever am to get rich & famous from craft (stop laughing!), it’s going to be with one off pieces. Pieces of what I don’t know, but I’m sure it will come to me. One needs to get in “the zone” to enjoy what they’re doing & create something great, & that so far only happens to me when I’m doing up a piece of furniture or drawing a picture, I envy those of you you that can sew in the zone. You must rock craft markets with your productivity & get a hell of a lot done.
My brooch swap brooch arrived yesterday & I LOVE IT. I wore it all day yesterday even though I was in shlubby around the house clothes & not going anywhere. Poor brooch probably hoped it’s debut would be more exciting.
Many thanks to Jo of Luna Landing for making it for me & to Susie for hosting a wonderful swap.
A little bit of sad news regarding my own cushion swap; two participants have contacted me to say that they have not received their covers & that is very unfortunate. I don’t doubt for a moment that their partners posted their covers but they may be lost in the mail – if anybody is interested in being a swap angel & making a replacement cover for someone who missed out, let me know. Much public praise shall be heaped upon you!
…if you had never been to my blog or seen the yarn chair before, & you got this brooch in the mail, what would you think?
Because if you think it’s too weird, if you’d open the envelope & think “What the…?!”, I could always go back to the drawing board (& keep this, which I really, really like, for myself…!)…?
Thanks to the lovely peeps who gave me their feedback on how to run the swap, much appreciated!
The Terms:
Sign ups close next Monday, the 25th of April.
Cushion covers to be posted out no later than Monday the 23rd of May. Early posting is fine – preferable if you’re likely to forget the longer you leave it. (Please only sign up if you have every intention of following through. I know I joke that I am not a nice person… but do you really want to find out whether that’s true or not? There will be no lovely peeps missing out in my swap kids, okay?!)
We’ll be making covers to fit a standard size 16 cushion which is 16” X 16” or 40.5 X 40.5 cm; the cushion cover can be made however you like, knitted, sewn, printed… just make sure it is a quality piece that you are proud of!
This WILL be an international swap. If you cannot post overseas at all (I’m told by Cath that it costs about $8 to send a cushion cover to Europe from Australia, for example) you will need to let me know in your sign up email – if you do not specify I will assume that you are cool with posting world-wide.
To Sign up: Comment on this post AND send me an email at punkysmamma(at)rocketmail(dot)com. In that email please include;
Your name.
Your postal address.
Your blog address. (Active bloggers only please, it might seem mean but I think that is the easiest way to ensure we get genuine participants only…)
I will endeavour to send you the details of the person you are making for as soon as possible after the close of sign-ups, you will not be making for the person who is sending to you.
I will upload a post with a linky a couple of weeks into the swap; when you receive your cushion cover, please blog about it & come back to share your link & the handmade cushion goodness!
The last & most important rule – HAVE FUN! Make something awesome for someone else & look forward to receiving something special in return!
If I’ve missed something glaring or you have any questions, let me know.
***
Blog button (the best bit…!) code below & in the sidebar:
<a border="0" href="http://punkysmamma.blogspot.com/search/label/cushion%20swap%202011" target="_blank"><img src="http://i577.photobucket.com/albums/ss220/VNMaher/cushionswap200px.jpg" /></a>
(Also, I feel a bit weird in this sort of swap, contacting someone & saying “Hey, lucky you – you can make ME something!” – as it’s supposed to be all surprisey. I’m much too selfish to martyr myself though – I want me some cushion love too – so if anyone wants to volunteer to be the one to send to me it will save me that awkward email…!)
It’s been a while since my last bloggy swap – in fact, it’s been a while since I’ve even seen a swap around the blogs at all but maybe I’m just not looking in the right places?
Decided earlier that a crafty swap was about due & with some wonderful help from Clare & Tan on facebook, the perfect item was chosen. I am so blonde for not thinking of it first…
A cushion!
Or more specifically, a cushion cover which is much easier to post.
It can be patchwork, crocheted, sewn, knitted, embroidered, refashioned… the possibilities are endless (I for one would like to see a welded cushion cover….). I will doubtlessly be making Pip’s shirt back cushion again, because it’s soooooooo easy & so cute, but who knows what will be on the front?
Easy to make but so lovely to have. A special cushion cover made just for you!
Before I post an “official” sign up post, with all the rules & what not, I’d like a bit of help with said rules please!
How long would you like to make your cushion cover? A month?
Are we cool with a world-wide-swap, if someone in Kazakhstan would like a nice cushion?
Is a size 16 cushion cover good for you (40.5 x 40.5 cm/16” X 16”)? I think it’s best that we choose a standard size so there are no issues finding inserts…
Should we make it that you need a blog to play, or is that, uh… bloggist?
Would you like to be paired with someone, i.e.: they make for you & you make for them, or would you prefer who you are sending to & receiving from to be a surprise?
Your wish is my command! Let me know what you think peeps & if you think it sounds like fun I’ll get to work on the most important part of any blog swap… the button!
First of all, I want to thank everyone that left me a comment and/or sent me an email about my last post and about my mysterious pain; I really appreciate your thoughts and advice and I’m sure it has contributed to my feeling much better emotionally today, even if I still feel pretty crap physically.
I discovered yesterday that hanging out with Le Punk in the play/craft room, playing podcast upon podcast and slowly, very slowly, cutting out patterns and fabric, agreed with me. I actually forgot about the pain for a while and sort of zoned out… bliss! A bit more of the same today and I have finished my swap gift – it certainly brought the sun out here today and I am stupidly happy with how it turned out considering my situation right now, my swapee will be lucky if it makes it to the mail…
I can show it to you now because it’s intended recipient has no idea who she is, but I certainly hope she likes it! I am just going make or round up a couple more spring-type things to go with it and I will send it off – a little parcel of sunshine to herald the coming of long-awaited Spring.
For the peeps playing along with my swap, here is a little flickr group to upload your outgoing goodies and your incoming sunshine, so we can all “ooooh!” and “aaahhhh!”.
For those of you joining in with the Here Comes The Sun! Craft Swap, I thought I’d share some inspiration & springtime goodness!
I think I might assign partners on Monday, so if you’re procrastinating, you’ve still got a couple of days to decide.
It’s set to be a rainy, miserable weekend here, so I need all the fake brightness I can muster…
Some wonderful “Spring” tutorials;
Bags, ‘spring chickens’ & more via Sew! Mama! Sew!
‘Buttercup’ bag pattern, free from Made by Rae
Tattered flower embellishments from Sew 4 Home
Crochet flower necklace from Creative Yarn
Tonnes of Spring craft ideas from Country Living
Summer tweets mobile (we’ll just ignore the ‘summer’ part…) from The Red Thread
Petal Pillow via V and Co.
Crafter’s apron from The Magic Bean
Heaps of ideas from good ol’ Martha
Sunshine in fabric form;
Proper inspiration, via;
I’m itching to get started myself, but I have to wait, I ordered some special fabric online & it is sure to take it’s time arriving. Hope I’ve helped a little in the inspirations stakes, have fun dreaming of the sun!
So, we had a few days of sun here which, truly, has ruined me for the rest of winter. It is raining & pouring here today & I don’t like it, not one bit. Instead of cleaning up… or getting dressed… I have been sitting around trying to muster the energy to… do… something.
Just as the brief taste of spring had me energized & happy, this backwards slide into dismal winter has me sighing & hurumphing. I want something to look forward to, or something to occupy my mind until the sun’s warm rays see fit to favour us again…
I propose, a craft swap!
Theme: ‘Here Comes The Sun’; this could mean whatever you want it to – it could be a craft which incorporates an image of the sun, captures the spirit of spring or that will be handy to use in spring…
Craft: Whatever tickles your fancy. Whatever floats your boat. Whatever puts a smile on your dial… I do believe you get the picture. Something to herald the coming of spring for your swapee.
Time Limit: To be posted out September 1st – the first day of spring – woohoo!!!
Sign ups: From NOW. Leave me a comment here with your email – hopefully at least one of you wants to play so that I can make a little sumpin sumpin – and I shall assign partners… soonish… if there is more than two of us that is! Feel free to spread the sunshine, the word, the love….
**Signups closed**
Don’t tell Nikki that I’m blogging this, will you?! She is all sweet & humble & nice & did NOT (she emphasised that) want anything in return for sending myself & another lucky winner copies of Mixtape she was giving away on her blog. She did NOT want us to feel obliged to blog about it.
But.
I can’t help it.
I blog about everything exciting (& lots of stuff that isn’t…)! I got loads of awesome mail today & Nikki’s parcel was the first to arrive, with unexpected goodies to boot (to blatantly steal from one of her recent posts ‘Just Because’).
Thank you Nikki (…don’t hurt me!).
Rocket arrived – so much for waiting for Punk’s birthday… she has come to realise that sometimes one of the millions of parcels that keep arriving here has something in it for her, so she cannot be distracted when it comes time to open the mail. Girl & Elephant spy each other across the kitchen table. Girl demands Elephant. Elephant & Girl hug. A firm friendship is born. He is super gorgeous Jodie – I love his cute elephant toes!
I also got my Crafty Mamas November swap parcel (it’s still November… isn’t it…?!) from Mandy, it was a Christmas decoration swap & she spoiled me with a festive table runner featuring ‘that fat guy that breaks & enters’, BEAUTIFUL lacy baubles & another super special golden ornament, as well as a massive box of chocolate…!
I can’t promise that’s the end of my gloating about the goodies my postie is sick of bringing me, but I promise I’ll give it a rest for a while… I actually have some crafty stuff to share tomorrow!
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