MK Newbie Swap - COMPLETED

[piratesmate]

***Updated: All elements have been returned!***

I'm starting this thread tonight so you all know what's going on. I went to the post office this morning to pick up the Priority stamps thinking I'd drop them off on the way to pick up DH after work this afternoon. I didn't count on the crabby pants postal clerk from a neighboring office being moved to the one near DH's job. This is the same one who routinely locks the doors early & is always yelling at customers for one thing or another - so I rarely (and I mean rarely use that office! )

So there he was at formerly nice office when I went into drop the envelopes off. He immediately started to complain that the envelopes were too thick..."these are for documents only"...and this was for the first couple that only had one group in them. So the bottom line is that he refused to take them the way they were, so I had to bring them home again.

I spent the evening removing everything from the individual plastic bags & using just one gallon bag per group. I think they'll be okay now...just one more delay.

Please use this thread to let me know when you finally get your things. And I'll add the link as soon as I finish uploading the photos.

ETA: All photos are now posted to a Public Photobucket Account...no password is required. http://s193.photobucket.com/albums/z244/SwapGirl/ Enjoy!
Just in case someone wants to know what the elements are:

Group: Free for All

123SA: Toontown – Topper & Photo Mats
fAnnF: Mickey Mouse – Topper & Paper Piecing
MazdaUK: Main Street USA – Topper & Tags
MichellePooh: General MK – Topper & Box ‘n Tag
Nicurn: Castle: Quote & Squares
Piratesmate: Haunted Mansion – Quote & Squares
SusieStone: WDW Railroad – Topper & Tags

Group: Lands A

fAnnF: Toontown – Paper Piecing & Borders
HappyCampers: Tomorrowland – Squares & Box ‘n Tag
MissesDisney: Main Street USA – Tags & Photo Mats
Nez: Fantasyland – Box ‘n Tag & Photo Frames
Piratesmate: Adventureland – Box ‘n Tag & File Folder
SusieStone: Frontierland – Photo Mats & Paper Piecing

Group: Lands B

Bobcat: Frontierland – Borders & Box ‘n Tag
Faerie: Adventureland – Borders & Library Pocket
HappyCampers: Liberty Square – Photo Mats & Tags
Mom2001Scrapper: Main Street USA – Topper & Photo Frames
Piratesmate: Fantasyland – Quote & Library Pocket ‘n Tag
SusieStone: ToonTown – Topper & Paper Piecing

Group: Attractions A

123SA: Jungle Cruise – Photo Mats & Box ‘n Tag
HappyCampers: Mad Tea Party – Library Pocket ‘n Tag & Paper Piecing
MichellePooh: General MK – Topper & Box ‘n Tag
Mom2001Scrapper: Main Street – USA Quote & Journal Boxes
Nez: Snow White – Quote & Squares
SusieStone: Astro Orbiter – Topper & Tags

Group: Attractions B

4ltlTinks: Mickey Mouse – Topper & Box ‘n Tag
AlexWyattMommy: Donald’s Boat – Slide Mounts & Paper Piecing
MichellePooh: Pirates – Topper & Box ‘n Tag
Mickster: General MK – Topper & Slide Mounts
Piratesmate: Castle – File Folder & Slide Mounts
StitchIsOurHero: Haunted Mansion – Quote & Squares

Group: Attractions C

AprilVaca04: Winnie the Pooh – Song Lyric & Topper? & ??
Faerie: It’s a Small World – Library Pocket ‘n Tag & Song Lyric with bonus squares
HappyCampers: Aladdin – Topper & Paper Piecing
MissesDisney: General MK – Photo Mats & Tags
Piratesmate: Swiss Family Tree House – Box ‘n Tag & Slide Mounts
SusieStone: Hall of Presidents – Topper & Photo Mats

Received by you:

123SA
4ltlTinks
AlexWyattMommy
AprilVaca04
Bobcat
Faerie
fAnnF
HappyCampers
MazdaUK
MichellePooh
Mickster
MissesDisney
Mom2001Scrapper
Nicurn
StitchIsOurHero
SusieStone DC 0306 3030 0003 4785 0484

 

[PrincessNancy96]

Ugh! That is a real jerk!
My postal people never give me grief like that..and actually will tell me when it's actually cheaper to send via regular mail rather than priority..
I'm sorry you had to deal with that..

 

[SusieStone]

I am so sorry you are having such a hard time. Have you talked to the postmaster concerning his behavior? It works here. Hope things get better for you.

 

[piratesmate]

I've said something before, but they're all pretty much like that in the other office - he's just the worst. I wouldn't be surprised that he was transferred over here for someone to keep an eye on him. I'd thanked them once for being so nice about something and they asked where I'd gone that I'd gotten grief & they said "Oh yeah - we've heard that before about them over there." You can bet I'll be telling the postmaster the next time I'm in there. He obviously wasn't there this afternoon or crabby pants would have been nicer.

So tomorrow morning I'll head to the tiny office that's only open until noon on weekdays & hope they're open. I'll go out early so I have time to try a couple different places if necessary - but they'll go even if I have to rip open the envelopes, put the stuff in boxes & pay the difference in postage! Fortunately I hadn't put the stamps on the envelopes ahead of time - I was just in a hurry or I would have.

 

[AlexWyattMommy]

Wow, what a total crabby pants.
My PO is teenie tiny, but for the most part they are pleasant enough.

Hope your journey today is short and sweet.

 

[Faerie]

Crabby Pants needs to look at the envelopes.... no where does it say for documents only.... what a PITA!

 

[MazdaUK]

My local PO always tells me whether it will be cheaper as small packet or printed paper, on some of the clerks in the big PO behind Trafalgar Square have done as well. But last time I got one old Jobsworth who said "either its a small packet or its printed paper, it cant be both". Well, I'd lost my voice and was only going in to work so i could post the stuff or I'd have given him a piece of my mind (not that I can spare it )

 

[piratesmate]

OK - All but one has gone. I kept forgetting to post that 4ltlTinks forgot to include postage and she was at WDW so I still have hers.

Fortunately the small office was open this morning or you might never have gotten your stuff! The mob at the regular post office would have lynched me!! I was in the tiny office for 30 minutes...no line, just me!

Somehow I missed part of my message yesterday. When I stopped in the morning to get stamps there was a really long line...out the door!!...so I didn't wait. So this morning I had to buy the stamps for some, have Susie's box weighed because the clerk didn't want me to use the flat rate box as it was a lot more that way, figure out how to send MazdaUK's stuff and the DC machine wasn't working. It took her 5 minutes alone on that!

I have to run out for a few hours, but I promise to upload the photos tonight. Of course Mickster will probably have hers before she even sees the photos online. I thought about asking if she wanted to meet me over at the new ACM near her (about 30 min from me), but then I realized I have to go out this afternoon.

Oh - and I hope no one minds, but DD (16) wanted to actually do the Ride A angel slot herself. She did Snow White instead, poem/quote & squares, and was really pleased with them.

And I cheated a bit on the elements I did for the Land A Fantasyland angel slot. I was pretty much out of ideas since I'd done Fantasyland for Land B & the Castle for Ride B - but I wanted the elements to match for anyone in two of the groups or even all three. So for my box & tag I did a "weird" tag...I used the Sizzix Clipboard die. It fits the size requirement, but is a bit iffy on the double matting. I think it's really cute, so I hope it's okay with you!

And in my spot for the "Free for All" group I cheated on my Haunted Mansion squares. They're not square...but I didn't want to send 4 undersized tags, so I counted them as squares. Personally I love them, and I hope you do too! I'll let you see them in the photos when they get posted though instead of telling you.

 

[SusieStone]

Thanks for all all your hard work on this one. Glad DD could join in and help.

 

[Michellepooh]

Thanks for all of the hard work on this one, piratesmate! It's very rarely an easy thing to deal with the USPS. Thanks for not giving up on us!

 

[SusieStone]

Piratesmate

Thanks for posting pics. Everyone has done agreat job.

Ilove your idea for the squares. I think they don't have to be true squares - sometimes I do circles or flowers.....your idea was really neat!

 

[piratesmate]

Oh thanks Susie! I just loved them! I'm usually weird about following directions - especially when it's for other people, but I had a creative whim & went with it.

I think everyone is going to enjoy their pieces. This was a great swap to host! What a joy it was to open every package as it came!

 

[AlexWyattMommy]

I like your squares, they look like tombstones to me. Wish I signed up for more spots. But I always do once I see how great everything looks.

 

[piratesmate]

I like your squares, they look like tombstones to me...

Oh good! That's what they're supposed to be.


On another note...

I was just reading on the Paper Bag Album swap thread that the CM tape runner adhesive doesn't hold the Bazzill onto the bags too well. This MK swap was the first time I used all Bazzill and I'm now worried about the elements I sent! I used the CM tape runner on everything except a couple things like the flowers on the Tree House tags where I used the Xyron.

I'm curious...has anyone else had trouble with Bazzill & the CM tape runner? What do you use to get Bazzill to stick then?

 

[SusieStone]

I use Tombo or hermafix and haven'thad any problems.

I haven't used CM - have never seen any of their products or been to a party/show. Can you believe it?

Oh good! That's what they're supposed to be.


On another note...

I was just reading on the Paper Bag Album swap thread that the CM tape runner adhesive doesn't hold the Bazzill onto the bags too well. This MK swap was the first time I used all Bazzill and I'm now worried about the elements I sent! I used the CM tape runner on everything except a couple things like the flowers on the Tree House tags where I used the Xyron.

I'm curious...has anyone else had trouble with Bazzill & the CM tape runner? What do you use to get Bazzill to stick then?

 

[AlexWyattMommy]

I think the problem with the paper bags is that they bend. Once you put the items you made on a page, that won't be a problem and they should hold just fine.

I use the artz accent and those super sticky glue lines to hold my Bazzill.

 

[bobcat]

Everyone did such a wonderful job! Now I wish I was in more groups! I'm going to scraplift!

 

[piratesmate]

I use Tombo or hermafix and haven'thad any problems.

I haven't used CM - have never seen any of their products or been to a party/show. Can you believe it?

Then stay far, far away!!

Sorry - just kidding.

I like their tools, but am not too crazy about their paper...and while I really like the quality of their albums, I don't like that they're not truly 12x12 (for the paper I mean) and I'm too scattered to scrap in order, so I use top loading albums instead.

Sadly, their products aren't carried in the regular craft stores so you can't use a coupon on them either.

 

[YodasMom]

All photos are now posted. Enjoy!

Where are the pics? I'd love to see them! Can't find a link.

 

[piratesmate]

I was sending the ladies a PM with the link because I put them in Photobucket & it requires a password that let's you see everything, not just the one album. I have other things there and was trying to find a way to get around that. Any ideas on other free ways to share the photos?