Bears, Bears, and more Bears

Hello there crafty bloggers!

Well, I've decided to engage in a few swaps to fill up gaps of time around here. Swap-bot.com is a fun place and for the most part, I had a fun first year with them but went on hiatus. So, I went back so that I could enjoy some of the "simpler" fun to be had in swapping.

(images left to right: Pollycraft Monday, Beccy's Place and Pollycraft Monday)

I love bears. So I joined the ATC Bear swap and sent my package to my partner yesterday. She's located in Lithuania, so I think it's safe to post this.

I am entering these ATC's into the following challenges:

**Papertake Weekly** - Anything Goes
**Gingerloft Challenge** - Furry Friends
**I Did it Creations** - Punches or Dies - (butterfly punch)
**Incy Wincy Designs ** - Spring is in the Air - (bear holding flower pot w/grass & butterfly)
**The Crazy Challenge** - Spring Themed - (bear holding flower pot w/grass & butterfly)
**Lollipop Crafts** - Think Spring - (bear holding flower pot w/grass & butterfly)
**Riley and Co** - Brown + - all three bears are brown

One of the nice things you can do on Swap-bot.com is to look at your partner's profile and fulfill his/her "wish list" and so these are extra goodies I added to the package. I hope she likes it.

Happy Crafting! :~)

Swaps

Hello lovely bloggers!

Tell me, do you swap? It seems to be the latest craze. I've mentioned before that I swap (Swap-Bot and Life on the Scrap Beach). So I wanted to share with you my Pringles Can Swap. First, let me show you what my FANTASTIC partner, Tiffany, sent me - you won't believe what you can get inside a Pringles can once those delicious chips are gone. Check it out:

Can you believe all of this was there - including the altered mini notebook with my name!? Look at the felt flowers, the snail die-cut, the travel die-cuts and more die-cuts she cut from her Cricut. Not to mention Pop Rocks - how fun was that candy growing up? I ate that Laffy Taffy immediately! You can tell she looked at my profile and fashioned the package just for me. Aren't those letters going to be perfect? The brown polka buttoned thing that looks like ribbon is an altered tape measure - how cool is that! Needless to say, I was ecstatic! She even added a super delicious bread pudding recipe that my husband is gonna love! Thanks again Tiffany!

So here's what I sent my partner, Jamie, who has received hers and loved it (gave me a 5 w/a heart rating - the top you can receive).

I started with this can - yummy!

It had to be decorated, so I added some pretty designer paper (Best of K&Company stack), added flowers and butterflies (Fred, She Said) that I sprinkled all over with Diamond Dust.

I made some ATC's specific to her profile and added some things according to what she said she liked. I think if I had been more resourceful in placing these items like Tiffany did mine, I could have fit more. This was a really fun swap! The best thing was that the post office will ship the can (I had to tape it so the fun stuff on the outside didn't get damaged).

Thanks for stopping by! Have a fun day!

Swapping

Good morning lovely crafters!

So, while I do have a busy schedule, I try to have some fun crafting. I found a nice little place to do all sorts of swaps - Swap-Bot. I actually found it through Craft Critique and it became a second home. You join in on swaps, send whatever it is to your partner(s) and once they receive it, they rate you. As in a lot of things, it isn't perfect and you might not get something but you do get to rate the person as low as possible. Sometimes the swaps are "angeled" and all is not lost.

I joined in on a "matchbox" swap recently. Although there was a template available, I had a hard time sizing it to the fullest through the pdf file, so I had to make my own. Through much trial and error, I managed to make it work.

My partner's profile mentioned that she liked the color blue and that's my favorite color, so I was able to make something she liked.

I used this matchbox for my template and it worked out quite well.

I kept it simple - added a flower I received in a RAK from a lovely friend. Isn't that the cutest brad? I won that from Robin J's birthday blog candy. :-)

Though we can make the matchbox to our liking, part of the swap is to fill it with things based on your partner's profile. I did that and believe it or not, it all fits (except the candles - I had to wrap them in bubble wrap for safety).

I hope you have a fun day today! :-)