Just wanted to post a thank you to NEE and company for updating the glossary thread. That's a huge help for all of us - new and 'old'.
Also, I want to stressssssss again that none of my concerns relate to style, experience, choice of elements, theme, race, creed etc. I am very happy to get a photo mat or journal box that is the right size, three layers of nice paper, cut straight and cleanly (if it's supposed to be a straight cut it's not ragged due to a bad blade) and has a couple of brads on it meeting the theme of the swap group.
Simple is as beautiful as complicated. Everyone has different styles so you can't compare Susie's stitching to Hope's paper piecing to someone else's flock. They are all good, just different.
And to be sure we haven't scared off any newbies.....we have had some really amazing people join our family and those people have produced fantastic work in my swaps. We were all newbies once. When I started last April I had no clue what most of this stuff was. In retrospect, I wouldn't even have called myself a scrapbooker, I was a 'slap disney pictures on disney papers-er'. That was it - fun paper, pics and some stickers. A single mat at best. This group has turned me into a scrapbooker. Now I'm no Martha Stewart (in any facet of my life) but I don't need to be. I need to produce quality loving work. Quality means to me what I said above - straight cuts, right number of layers, some kind of embellishment and the best effort I am personally able to give.
I can't remember if it's this thread or not but I think it is AWM who will back this up - my first swap was a newbie swap and I measured and cut every piece by hand cause I had a ruler and a cheap paper cutter only! I had a 4x6 photo mat that might have held a 5x7 and used up half of the 12x12 page when all done (it was huge!) and some tags that were probably big enough for a 4x6 photo!!! I had no clue what I was doing! After I got back the other swap pieces, I had the aha moment that mine were not really that great in comparison. So I got better and I learned about new things and I spent way too much time on the boards at night and this was all good! Again, I would consider myself an average swapper - I don't do many things that are WOW but I am usually happy with what I produce and hope others are too (please PM me if you ever aren't - I want to know).
I want newbies to join more swaps - I want to see how other people do things, I want to learn from all of you.
If this thread has upset anyone, please PM me as my intention was to try and level the field again so everyone is receiving a fair trade and I have reread all of the posts on this thread and I think that those responding understand that. I would have PMd particular swappers if the need were there. I am actually a very confrontational person in real life, so I can gently make suggestions if needed. It just seemed like given some recent issues and so many changes in our family and our elements (hence the updated glossary) it was time for everyone to step back and look at things.
Thanks again for listening!
Maria