I spent some time this afternoon and evening working on a few swaps that I’ll be sending out tomorrow. The origami paper swap I organized on Craftster was pretty easy, especially since only one person signed up. There was a bit more work for my very first Flickr group swap — the color-themed Swap-O-Rama group — but I had fun putting it all together.
Swap-O-Rama has a color theme every month, and then everyone can send pretty much whatever to their partner, though at least one item has to be handmade. It’s pretty open beyond that, so people send things like craft materials, decorations, beauty supplies, and other little gifts. I ended up including a little bit of all of these, and here’s a photo of it all:
For the handmade part, I started by making a mini envelope/flat card set, much like ones I’ve posted previously, but using some new metallic papers I bought recently (Stardream FUSE).
I didn’t feel like this was enough, so I made a purple and green drawstring bag next.
I thought I’d do a bit more though, so I played around with the wrapped postcard/flat card idea as well. I had some problems with the first batch, and decided to use one as a note inside the swap, but I made another set to give to my partner.
I really hope my partner likes what I chose, though I’m somewhat worried that I went a bit overboard. I have a tendency to put a lot of effort (and often money) into my swaps, mostly because I want to send something good stuff. You know, the rule of send what you’d like get. Unfortunately, my partners in group swaps don’t always reciprocate, so sometimes it’s disappointing when I get my package. Not that I am expecting something specific, but you know.
Anyway, I’ve been thinking more about doing one-one-one swaps instead of group swaps. It’s just so much more personal that way, and the effort is more often worthwhile. So…is anyone up for a crafty swap with me? 
