What do the guidelines mean to you?

[AlexWyattMommy]

The middle of an on-going swap isn't the place to discuss our differing opinions on what the guidelines mean. This is.

Taking it off line yesterday was NOT meant that everyone opinions are moot. We only wanted to be able to give one definition that can then have other ideas & thoughts to go from.

Here is the summary of what was discussed:

What I want to do is be able to say, "here is how we think it should be done, but we are always open to suggestions." and have a uniform way to do things for those that need it and openness for those who have way more creativity that I do. Hopefully we can keep as many swappers a possible and make it easier for new ones to join in.
The key is finding the balance to providing enough info for the people that like rules, but keeping it open enough for someone who wants to go off into uncharted territory; which we highly approve of. Which is why, in my flock swap, I posted a series of questions 1. Do you like it? 2. Do you think others would like it? 3. Would you use it in your books? 4. Did you try and make it special in some way? If you, can honestly answer YES that it's a Go!

What is an Embellishment?

Specialty Paper: embossed, glittered, flocked, bling is considered an embellishment We were trying to stay away from "well this costs more than that" Bazzill cardstock costs more than DCWV, but the texture is comparable - what was brought to our attention is that the speciality papers are helping to save a step. We use flocking, embossing, stickling as an embellishment - these papers are already done. Therefore they by themselves are an embellishment.What does everyone think?

Wishblade/Cricut/Ect Cuts: layered diecuts are considered 1 embellishment

Toppers: Creative Shaping is one embellishment
Letters that are welded is one embellishment
Letters that are shadowed is 1 embellishment
Letters that are welded and shadowed are 2 embellishments

Other Types of Embellishments:
Doing: Inking
Tearing
Glimmer Misting
Embossing- heat or raised
flocking
painting
stamping
stickling
stitching

Adding on:
Layered diecuts
brads
flowers
gemstones (bling)
charms
eyelets
ribbon
fiber
buttons
rub-ons
3D or matted stickers
~List complied by rlovew~

Where do we go from here??

 

[123SA]

Rather than start a new thread, I am adding my thoughts here. This statement is from me only; I am not speaking on behalf of anyone else.

As many of you know, yesterday a few of the hostesses had an informal email meeting about our existing swap guidelines. I would like all of you to know that this meeting was with the best of intentions - -to make our swaps run smoothly and remain welcoming to all. In hindsight, it should have taken place here. At the time, it seemed like it was a good idea to throw around some topics, get some some ideas organized and then come here.

We discussed some of the guidelines that seem inconsistent or seem to differ from swap to swap making things confusing for everyone. Our hope was to clear this up. AWM listed them above. In the end, these are not rules that every hostess MUST follow. THat's just not the way our group is set up. We don't make rules. Each hostess can do their own thing.

I personally would appreciate input on this. When I set up a swap as a hostess, I want to set up a swap that people want to join, where the expectations are clear, where people make items they are proud of and receive like items. I don't want to limit creativity - -I just simply can't think of every idea to name in the guidelines. I have tried to express in my sign ups that I am open to new ideas and would be willing to hear them, or add them in. I am concerned that in my quest to answer all possible scenarios in my sign up threads, I am coming across as a dictator -- my way or the highway. I don't have the words to express how far from my intentions this is.

In the interest of getting some new ideas and different points of view, I am going to limit my hostessing for a while. I do enjoy it so I can't cut it off completely. I'd really like someone else to take over the Character swap in May and the gift tag swap in Sept, not sure what else I have. Please post on the calendar thread if you are interested in hostessing these. I would like to keep the color swap in June; I will post an interest thread when we get closer and I need you to post what you like to see in that swap. I didn't intend to do the MK swap next year; I've run the past 2.

Please -- if you have the time and intend to swap here -- post your thoughts on the guidelines. It really does help when a hostess sets up her swap.

 

[missesdisney]

This is a great list. The 'embellish two ways' seems to be more recent or I just wasn't swapping for a while but I agree that sometimes some of those 'add ons' will take away from a piece and not add to it. So this list gives a lot of flexibility in planning and then places to react if a piece needs more.

 

[Mischief_Managed]

Rather than start a new thread, I am adding my thoughts here. This statement is from me only; I am not speaking on behalf of anyone else.

As many of you know, yesterday a few of the hostesses had an informal email meeting about our existing swap guidelines. I would like all of you to know that this meeting was with the best of intentions - -to make our swaps run smoothly and remain welcoming to all. In hindsight, it should have taken place here. At the time, it seemed like it was a good idea to throw around some topics, get some some ideas organized and then come here.

We discussed some of the guidelines that seem inconsistent or seem to differ from swap to swap making things confusing for everyone. Our hope was to clear this up. AWM listed them above. In the end, these are not rules that every hostess MUST follow. THat's just not the way our group is set up. We don't make rules. Each hostess can do their own thing.

I personally would appreciate input on this. When I set up a swap as a hostess, I want to set up a swap that people want to join, where the expectations are clear, where people make items they are proud of and receive like items. I don't want to limit creativity - -I just simply can't think of every idea to name in the guidelines. I have tried to express in my sign ups that I am open to new ideas and would be willing to hear them, or add them in. I am concerned that in my quest to answer all possible scenarios in my sign up threads, I am coming across as a dictator -- my way or the highway. I don't have the words to express how far from my intentions this is.

In the interest of getting some new ideas and different points of view, I am going to limit my hostessing for a while. I do enjoy it so I can't cut it off completely. I'd really like someone else to take over the Character swap in May and the gift tag swap in Sept, not sure what else I have. Please post on the calendar thread if you are interested in hostessing these. I would like to keep the color swap in June; I will post an interest thread when we get closer and I need you to post what you like to see in that swap. I didn't intend to do the MK swap next year; I've run the past 2.

Please -- if you have the time and intend to swap here -- post your thoughts on the guidelines. It really does help when a hostess sets up her swap.

Sorry to hear that you will stop your hosting for a while. You are so fabulous at it! I never ever felt that your set ups were a dictatorship because you are always so accommodating with creativity, ideas, and such. I have greatly enjoyed all the swaps you hosted. And I was never concerned about you looking over my pieces with a fine tooth comb - although I usually do it myself before mailing them in.

But like you, I am going to take a break from swapping for a while. I said at the beginning of the year that I was going to reduce the number I was in, but that didn't last! But I think now would be an appropriate time.

In order to make this post constructive to this thread, I want to add that if hostesses are going to create/modify swapping "standards" to meet their own desires, it should clearly be stated in the sign ups or interest threads - for example, what is considered embellished and not. It will stop all confusion in the future, in some respects it will only benefit the long termers since we have been working within these standards for a while.

Thanks.
Kristy

 

[DisneyIsTerrific]

I think the above list is a great tool to use when starting to work on your pieces for a swap. Having the "general" things that are embellishments explained will be very helpful to me and, I hope everyone else. Not everything can be defined in these guidelines because we do such creative work and some of the things we create are unique. I know I love the creativity I've seen here and how we don't stick to a certain rule, but let creativity flow.

I'm new to hostessing. The Character Swap is only my 2nd time hostessing and I'll tell you, AWM, 123SA, rlovew, and all the other hostesses make it look easy. It's a lot tougher to hostess than you may think. And, it's not just making sure everyone is in their groups and all the pieces get swapped out, it's also trying to help ensure that every swapper in the swap gets like items and will be happy with what they get. This discussion on the requirements began in the character swap thread and I want to apologize if I came across as being too rigid in the rules. That wasn't my intention. I just want everyone to be happy with the items they receive back in the swap and feel they are getting like items to what they made. The above list will help me in helping out with questions on pieces made as, apparently, I was unfamiliar with what some of the things others considered an embellishment were. I feel really bad that now we have swappers possibly not wanting to swap for awhile and hostesses pulling back on hostessing as well.

I appreciate the list above being created and I hope all the swappers will look at it and let us know their thoughts and ideas.

 

[calanniebu]

Okay, I probably won’t make a lot of friends with this post but I wanted to post as this is something that I have struggled with and have thought about myself often. I don’t post or swap as often as some of you but I’m finally going to put my two cents in. To preface this, I swap mostly in Bazzill only swaps off the board as I am a matchy-matchy scrapbooker and need everything to match. I have hosted in these swaps as well as been a participant so I have been on both sides of this coin. I have participated in a handful of swaps on the DIS sticking mostly to rolodex, baby album and embellishment swaps.

I jumped in as an angel on the Weird Everyday full-page swap because it seemed simple enough and was something I thought I could use because the page would all match. I have even signed up for the Calendar full page swap for the same reason. That said, looking back, I’m not sure my pieces fit all of the requirements for the Weird Everyday swap, but it was a page I was proud of and would use in my books and I was never contacted by the host to say my pieces weren’t up to par. Some of my scrappy friends who also swap here were even “helping” me as I put them together, also agreed they looked good. I must not have been too discouraged as I did sign up for the calendar swap, but now with all of this heavy scrutiny of the elements with respect to the rules, I’m not sure I will continue to participate in any more after this mainly because the amount of required elements and embellishments is getting to be a bit much and way to over-thought. This is supposed to be fun, and it is slowly turning into a school project where things are graded for completion.

I think that if people are using quality paper and quality embellishments, they will look good. Triple matting something so it meets the required embellishment requirements seems like a huge waste of paper. Inking sometimes based on the shape or theme doesn’t always look good either … or it’s not your style so you don’t own a lot of stamps. I could go on but I think you get my point.

I took a look at the thread that I think sparked this discussion, and I like the simplicity of what was created. You can always add more if you want it more sparkly or inked or what have you, but you can’t always remove it once you get the items. I am a HUGE fan of including the little extras (like brads, stickers or bling) in the bag when you’re not sure if you think something else is needed as opposed to just putting them on their for the sake of hitting the requirements, but it seems that not everyone prefers that.

I keep getting interrupted at work (how dare they! They actually expect me to work when I am here!) so I’m going to post this now … but I’m sure I’ll think of a few things later to add.

 

[hopemax]

I jumped in as an angel on the Weird Everyday full-page swap because it seemed simple enough and was something I thought I could use because the page would all match. I have even signed up for the Calendar full page swap for the same reason. That said, looking back, I’m not sure my pieces fit all of the requirements for the Weird Everyday swap, but it was a page I was proud of and would use in my books and I was never contacted by the host to say my pieces weren’t up to par. Some of my scrappy friends who also swap here were even “helping” me as I put them together, also agreed they looked good. I must not have been too discouraged as I did sign up for the calendar swap, but now with all of this heavy scrutiny of the elements with respect to the rules, I’m not sure I will continue to participate in any more after this mainly because the amount of required elements and embellishments is getting to be a bit much and way to over-thought. This is supposed to be fun, and it is slowly turning into a school project where things are graded for completion.

In our discussion yesterday, this is the point I brought up. Here's exactly what I said:

As a swapper, I would much rather have a piece that is creative than one that simply would pass a checklist. What I don't want people to do is think "I have a really great idea, but I have no idea how to make it fit the requirement list, so instead of worrying that it won't, I'll just make something else that I know I can embellish two ways." Take titles for instance, when I receive titles in swaps, a lot of them are the standard 2x8, 3 pieces of paper. But then I look at the Complete Pages and people are doing all sorts of things for the titles. And I would rather have some of those than another 2x8 title. They are creative, and I think more versatile.

And also

And so I worry about the pendulum swinging to far in the other direction. If we make things to difficult for people, or make people question the quality of their pieces, than we run of the risk of people deciding they will just go swap elsewhere.

Years ago, and we've had a lot of swapper turnover since then, I remember there were problems with the quality of items sent in. Very tiny boxes and tags, two pieces of paper and not much else. So hostesses tried to modify the elements list to discourage this. But since the invention of the Cricut, this has pretty much become a non-issue, IMO. I think for the most part, people know when they are slacking. But on the flip side there are people that liketo have something more strict to follow.

The key is finding the balance to providing enough info for the people that like rules, but keeping it open enough for someone who wants to go off into uncharted territory; which we highly approve of. Which is why, in my flock swap, I posted a series of questions 1. Do you like it? 2. Do you think others would like it? 3. Would you use it in your books? 4. Did you try and make it special in some way? If you, can honestly answer YES that it's

 

[AlexWyattMommy]

it is slowly turning into a school project where things are graded for completion.

That is what we as swappers and hostess don't want. I don't want to judge or be judged.

The key is finding the balance to providing enough info for the people that like rules, but keeping it open enough for someone who wants to go off into uncharted territory; which we highly approve of. Which is why, in my flock swap, I posted a series of questions 1. Do you like it? 2. Do you think others would like it? 3. Would you use it in your books? 4. Did you try and make it special in some way? If you, can honestly answer YES that it's

I meant to quote that in the OP, but I couldn't find it again. Thanks Hope.


I have seen and heard that 2-way can be restrictive. As hostess, I want what is best for the most swappers. I took way the 2-way and I changed some of the elements (ie journal boxes) to be less restrictive. I am hoping for a positive turn out to reinforce that this is what is wanted.

 

[123SA]

Okay, I probably won’t make a lot of friends with this post but I wanted to post as this is something that I have struggled with and have thought about myself often. I don’t post or swap as often as some of you but I’m finally going to put my two cents in. To preface this, I swap mostly in Bazzill only swaps off the board as I am a matchy-matchy scrapbooker and need everything to match. I have hosted in these swaps as well as been a participant so I have been on both sides of this coin. I have participated in a handful of swaps on the DIS sticking mostly to rolodex, baby album and embellishment swaps.

I jumped in as an angel on the Weird Everyday full-page swap because it seemed simple enough and was something I thought I could use because the page would all match. I have even signed up for the Calendar full page swap for the same reason. That said, looking back, I’m not sure my pieces fit all of the requirements for the Weird Everyday swap, but it was a page I was proud of and would use in my books and I was never contacted by the host to say my pieces weren’t up to par. Some of my scrappy friends who also swap here were even “helping” me as I put them together, also agreed they looked good. I must not have been too discouraged as I did sign up for the calendar swap, but now with all of this heavy scrutiny of the elements with respect to the rules, I’m not sure I will continue to participate in any more after this mainly because the amount of required elements and embellishments is getting to be a bit much and way to over-thought. This is supposed to be fun, and it is slowly turning into a school project where things are graded for completion.

I think that if people are using quality paper and quality embellishments, they will look good. Triple matting something so it meets the required embellishment requirements seems like a huge waste of paper. Inking sometimes based on the shape or theme doesn’t always look good either … or it’s not your style so you don’t own a lot of stamps. I could go on but I think you get my point.

I took a look at the thread that I think sparked this discussion, and I like the simplicity of what was created. You can always add more if you want it more sparkly or inked or what have you, but you can’t always remove it once you get the items. I am a HUGE fan of including the little extras (like brads, stickers or bling) in the bag when you’re not sure if you think something else is needed as opposed to just putting them on their for the sake of hitting the requirements, but it seems that not everyone prefers that.

I keep getting interrupted at work (how dare they! They actually expect me to work when I am here!) so I’m going to post this now … but I’m sure I’ll think of a few things later to add.

Thanks for responding. This is the kind of info I am looking for. Your post isn't unfriendly at all.

Speaking for myself, as a hostess, I do not examine pieces. If I notice that you are missing a whole element -- like you did one photomat instead of 2, I would tell you. If the pieces were obviously unacceptable -- it got destroyed in the mail, red juice was spilled on it etc I would tell you. For new swappers, I may look at it to see if it seems like you understand the expectations. Other than that,unless you specifically ask me, I don't look at your pieces to judge them. I want you and others to feel comfortable about that.

I don't want this to feel like school and I am willing to make whatever changes are necessary to my swaps to ensure that you don't feel this way.

I had no idea that so many really disliked the 2 way embellishing. I will be sure to continue to post interest threads before I start a swap and specifically ask about 1 or 2 way embellishing.

I agree with Hope's statements above.

 

[BernardandMissBianca]

I don't mind that y'all took it offline to hash out the details before presenting it to the group. That works for me and keeps people less confused.



Ignore the man behind the curtain.......Incomplete thought........ I have to get the kids, be back soon.

 

[rlovew]

As someone in on the discussion yesterday as well as a long time hostess- I have never looked at elements to check them over and make sure they are okay- I have checked to see that the right number of elements are there. I too would rather have creativity than rigid guidelines. At the same time we can all tell the difference between things that are thrown together without much care and something made that someone would be proud to use. I know that in my first swap I didn't even know what an embellishment was- I had barely started anything with scrapbooing- I didn't even know the difference in quality of paper at the time. I made 2 elements in that swap- 1 I have used and feel that I could still hand in today and be proud of- the other sits in the bottom of a drawer- I wouldn't use it and would be embarrassed to hand it in. I was never contacted by anyone concerning the quality of that item although the items I got back from the swap were superior to it- it gave me a goal to get better and some example to go by.

I did say yesterday that I would work on getting a thread together showing examples of these embellishments and explaining (or linking to an explaination) of how to do them. I know when I started I didn't know how to do many of these things- I didn't even know what many of the words meant.

Again I think turning in pieces to the best of your ability and doing what makes them look good should result in a happy swap for everyone involved.

Rebecca

 

[Arizona Rita]

Speaking as someone who was brand new to swapping, I knew nothing and I still want someone to hold my hand. I appreciate the fact that you all took the time to have the discussion that you had.
I have had the piece that I think was sub-par (Italy) and other things were Ive looked at it and went I made that? But I have had great teachers and those teachers have let me go off in left field and as long as it has met the requirements its been accepted (Africa topper!).
I personally do want to lose anyone of you. Now if you dont want to hostess because your tired, need a break, etc, thats understandable but if its because your afraid your going to hurt someone because they think your being judgemental, Please rethink!
I dont even want to go to other swapping sites, Ive heard stories and thats enough for me.
So let me just thank all of you for your time, efforts and talents for running this site and each one of you know that I appreciate all of you!

 

[aroyer]

'Nother new swapper here. I like the list of what is considered an embellishment. I don't consider myself to be a new scrapper, I've been doing it for 6 years now. However, I found myself wondering if I truly knew what an embellishment was. I did feel comfortable enough to ask, and I sent a few emails to the hostess making sure I was on the right track. I am one of those people that does like some sort of guideline, but appreciates that creativity, above all, is what seems to be what most are looking for. After figuring that out, I could relax somewhat. I am still pretty stressed out when it comes to my swaps. I feel like I am completely rambling and I am not sure I made my point at all... (now y'all know how my DH feels on a normal basis!!! )

 

[New England Eeyore]

Thank you for opening up the dialogue.

I agree with much of what's been posted above. I subscribe to the "Hope" school of thought - are you proud of the item, etc. I think the more rules there are, the less enjoyable the process becomes. I have never been a fan of the "embellished two ways" requirement. In my own personal items, it has meant I threw some brads or ribbon on there just to satisfy the requirements when it wasn't something I would have wanted to do design-wise. I ink almost everything because it's an easy way to meet a "requirement" but 99% of the time I'm just inking for the sake of inking, not because I like how it looks that way.

On the other side of that, I am a big fan of the SCAL cuts, and often spend a bit of time designing on that end of the process. Before the post at the top of this thread talking about welding and shadowing, none of that used to be included in the standard "embellishing is..." definition at the top of most swap threads. I always thought it was crazy that a strip of ribbon counted, but my welded title did not, so to be honest, I did it anyway. I went with the "better to ask forgiveness than permission" theory in those instances.

In terms of what I receive back in swaps - I'm never going to complain if I get something back that is simple but well-made. I can always add to it if needed. But when I get something that's overly done and busy, there's nothing I can do to tone that down and it's harder to make those items work in an album.

I respect individual hostesses' rights to set up whatever guidelines they want in their swaps. I will choose to join or not join based on what I think I can come up with for the swap that meets the criteria. In all honesty, I have been thinking lately that I would dramatically cut back on my swapping. The increase in the rules and requirements were just making it not fun anymore. If there is a more relaxed interpretations of the guidelines, I definitely would enjoy those swaps more.

Just my two cents.

 

[JohnsonsLoveDisney]

AWM, I love the list.

All of the hostess have been great with looking over my work and letting me know what else i needed to do. I understand that the rules were set up to make sure everyone got a minimum quality back.

Sometimes it is very hard to embellish something 2 ways with out "messing" the piece up. I have had some great ideas for pieces but cannot come up with a way to add 2 embellishments to it. besides paper and stickles. But I am "a simple is better type" and I think that if you get a piece that I made and you add to it great! I am just happy that you used something I made.

I have been on both sides, as a hostess and a swapper and been in swaps that are a free for all. When 99% of the time you get great stuff in return. but there is always that 1% that you know didnt put any effort in. And its sad that those people get your nice things in return and you get something totally unusable.

I dont think that the hostess want to judge anyones work. and most wont. I dont when I am the hostess. as long as it looks good and effort is put in. Although I did refuse to swap out someone stuff one time. because there was no effort whatsoever. Just a bunch of random stuff in a bag.

I like the "rules" so that everyone is on the same page. I just dont like being forced to add something to meet a rule, when it doesnt look right.

Just my 2cents. I also want to say thanks for all of the hard work on your parts to ensure that everyone has a great swapping experience and gets great stuff in return!

 

[AlexWyattMommy]

Thanks, but I can't take credit for the listing. Rebecca - rlovew - did all the work. I just copied and pasted.


I like hearing the different opinions. And I would like to also thank you all for being so respectful to everyone. I love that about our little corner.

 

[123SA]

Thank you for opening up the dialogue.

I agree with much of what's been posted above. I subscribe to the "Hope" school of thought - are you proud of the item, etc. I think the more rules there are, the less enjoyable the process becomes. I have never been a fan of the "embellished two ways" requirement. In my own personal items, it has meant I threw some brads or ribbon on there just to satisfy the requirements when it wasn't something I would have wanted to do design-wise. I ink almost everything because it's an easy way to meet a "requirement" but 99% of the time I'm just inking for the sake of inking, not because I like how it looks that way.

On the other side of that, I am a big fan of the SCAL cuts, and often spend a bit of time designing on that end of the process. Before the post at the top of this thread talking about welding and shadowing, none of that used to be included in the standard "embellishing is..." definition at the top of most swap threads. I always thought it was crazy that a strip of ribbon counted, but my welded title did not, so to be honest, I did it anyway. I went with the "better to ask forgiveness than permission" theory in those instances.

In terms of what I receive back in swaps - I'm never going to complain if I get something back that is simple but well-made. I can always add to it if needed. But when I get something that's overly done and busy, there's nothing I can do to tone that down and it's harder to make those items work in an album.

I respect individual hostesses' rights to set up whatever guidelines they want in their swaps. I will choose to join or not join based on what I think I can come up with for the swap that meets the criteria. In all honesty, I have been thinking lately that I would dramatically cut back on my swapping. The increase in the rules and requirements were just making it not fun anymore. If there is a more relaxed interpretations of the guidelines, I definitely would enjoy those swaps more.

Just my two cents.

Since I want you to join any swap I hostess in the future, can I pester you for clarification? One thing I can do is drop the 2 way embellishing, and stick with one. But what other restrictions do I need to work on? In the MK swap, I did step away from the 8x2 topper to include other things and I would like to continue that. Do you mean you would like to see all or some of the defintions dropped -- like just say 2 photomats = one element and the swapper can choose to make whatever size, and number of layers?

Let me make this clear -- there is no animosity here whatsoever -- I think reading a person's tone over the computer is hard at times -- here is my tone -- I want to make this work. I want you and the rest of group to be happy swappers. I want to hostess the kind of swaps you want to join and have fun doing so. I am sincerely looking for your opinion and anyone else that wants to chime in. I have only swapped here on this board, so frankly, I really don't know other ways of doing things, but I am completely open to hearing it and making some changes.

Thanks to you and to the others who have taken the time to respond here today.

 

[New England Eeyore]

Since I want you to join any swap I hostess in the future, can I pester you for clarification? One thing I can do is drop the 2 way embellishing, and stick with one. But what other restrictions do I need to work on? In the MK swap, I did step away from the 8x2 topper to include other things and I would like to continue that. Do you mean you would like to see all or some of the defintions dropped -- like just say 2 photomats = one element and the swapper can choose to make whatever size, and number of layers?

No, I don't mean all definitions dropped. I think size and layers are, as always, at the hostesses' discretion. While I personally don't feel strongly about a minimum size or number of layers, I can respect that there are people that do and I can live with those requirements. I think my frustrations mainly come from the embellishment requirements. And I am a tad concerned that the effort to further define what an embellishment is will muddle things even more. Perhaps instead of aiming for a definition, the list could be seen as a list of suggestions for embellishing.

 

[123SA]

. And I am a tad concerned that the effort to further define what an embellishment is will muddle things even more. Perhaps instead of aiming for a definition, the list could be seen as a list of suggestions for embellishing.

I think this right here clearly states the root to one of our problems -- I mean my lists to be suggestions, not choose from this list only. So I definitely need to make that more clear.
In addition, someone mentioned not making certain things because they didn't fit with in any of our established guidelines -- again, this is not what I want to do.

 

[Mom-to-2-Princesses]

Hi all! I'm another newbie, I've done the Jar of Whimsey, the Flock Swap and am currently working on Characters.

I want to say that being new, I have printed the requirements and read every stickey there was at the top of the page. I also read every tutorial there was. I am kind-of anal that way!

I was watching the swap threads for three months before I jumped in.

I don't think I would have joined EXCEPT for the fact that I really felt like I knew what the minimum requirements were. I loved that there was so much detail in the opening message.

I also loved that there was a discussion thread before the signups occur. It seems everyone here wants to make each swap work from having such open discussion before and during the swaps.

I also noticed that everyone was so positive about what was shown out there. And I only noticed advice when it was asked for. Which personally I loved. The castle Sizzix thread is fascinating to me since the poster asked for advice and got TONS of great ideas. Even this thread was the result of the scrapper asking if her elements met the requirements, which then started the whole discussion going.

I think you are all doing a great job talking this out and again I am happy with all of you -- thanks for all the hard work the hostesses and the participants do to make this all work!