Lots of Mail #3: Cheap and Easy

I'm just finishing up #2, I've already received 4/5. This has been so much fun, I really love the quick swaps - with 5 kids it makes it a lot easier when it can be fast!!! Thanks

I am pondering something "international" -- it seems that it could be anything, depending on where you are sending it. I mean, if I get a partner in a different country, then anything I may send is "international"!

I would like to see what others are thinking about that theme.

Neat little fact I've discovered while updating the participant list in my spreadsheet... we have two participants who live in a town with the same name, on opposite coasts. And the town name is not all that common, though it is the English version of a famous European city. Would be cool coincidence if these two participants were matched up by the computer.

Sharon P.... you still pondering the "international" category? I know what's in my mind for this, but don't want to limit anyone with my suggestions since I'm the coordinator.

I did one and two, so I'm on a roll. Count me in!

I just finished #2, and i loved it once i figured it out! I got the most wonderful pkg from a lady in the UK who sent me something from each category, she deserves a 5+++ I guess i should send her a message! LOL.... the time frames are ok, and this will be so much fun, now that i am very clear as to what to do. susi

It is a fun swap. The material expectations are low, though my own expectations for folk letting senders know their envelopes have arrived are pretty high. I really hope people will post acknowledgments on this thread when they get an envelope of goodies.

I have to add another reason to post a message here when you receive packages -- some people send early, and so the 5 items kind of tend to trickle in, and since they're not all ATCs or something that you might keep all together in one place, it's easy to forget, even when you like something a lot (as in, "yeah, this is really cool; who sent me this, now?" LOL). I find it helpful when it comes time to rate my partners to be able to come back here and look at the messages I posted to refresh my memory!

It occurs to me that when we send we could help our partners out by attaching a sticky note with the category and our name and swap-bot name on it.

Of course, not everybody needs such memory aids! LOL

Regarding "international," I found a cute little mini journal at a local gift shop that has an international travel theme decor on the cover. It's small enough to fit in a purse and I think would be very useful for someone, whether traveling or not, so I've got it in my box ready to send.

But I still think it would be interesting to know what others are thinking of for that category. One of the things I enjoy about these particular swaps is the way the categories can be broadly interpreted.

I love how the categories are interpreted, too! That's what keeps me coming back. And I really love when I get a little note with the item. The folk who send notes always get a heart from me 'cause I like that personal touch. I'm make more effort to send smaller items with longer notes this time :-)

I just sent everyone in the list an email, but because it went Bcc, it may not get to everyone's inbox (Bcc often gets filtered to spam/junk).

I am going to close this swap much earlier than planned... like by Wednesday of this week. I wanted to give a heads up in case this causes any trouble for anyone. If you are not prepared to send by April 4, which is one week earlier than the original date, it would be best to dropout before Wednesday.

I am so very sorry to change dates midstream, but I must. This is a fun swap, and I hope everyone will continue, but I understand that some people have to be very careful with finances and may not be able to budget the postage with such short notice.

Again, I am very sorry for the change.

=) i'm glad you guys welcome newbies. i can't wait to swap these letters with you guys =) i'm from singapore btw =)

Question--last time we could send all five items from the same category if we chose. Is it okay to do that this time? If I can send five from the same category I'll stay in, if not, I think I'm out...thanks so much! :O)

I don't want to play category police so if you want to send from only one, that's your call :-)

LOL! Bless you PostMuse, who would want to play category police?! Last time I sent most of mine from one category, but later felt that I hadn't really followed the spirit of the swap and that I actually missed out on something because of that. I am determined to get one item from each category this time (I almost have them all ready to go), because that's the fun & challenge of it IMHO. And once I get my partners, I will try to match the item to the partner, more or less. (For example, if I send chammomile tea for soothing, I know I can't send that to Australia, so if I get an Australian partner, I'll send from a different category.)

No chamomile tea to Australia, eh? What... no one needs soothing Down Under? Or do they have some secret soothing recipe that they aren't sharing with the rest of us :-)

I know Australia has some wicked strict mail regulations. I once sent Oreo cookies because a pen-pal had requested them, and the cookies were confiscated. She did say the letter had a nice Oreo smell, so I guess all was not lost.

I have to hold back from signing up right now - though I'm sorely tempted! - I'm just committed in too many other places. What I am here to say is - here's my vote for initiating #4 in the not-too-distant future! Thanks!

I hope someone does take over this idea, too. I won't be coordinating #4. It really isn't very much work... just keep track of the participants as they join (I do it in a spreadsheet online at Google Docs) and watch the discussion. Hosting really isn't such a big deal as long as you stay on top of the participant list and not wait until the last day to do all the checking.

I just wanted to say hello to everyone, I am a newbie and I signed up today (hope its not too late!) I cannot wait to swap with everyone here and get to know you in the future!

Welcome, creativechaos! You made a good choice for a first swap -- it's prett easy and lots of fun.

I will probably be up late tonight so I will be able to click the assign partners button as soon as it is released to me. And then the fun begins!

No worries, PostMuse. The assign partners button sometimes takes a day to appear. Don't wait up just for that!

This swap has been so much fun for me. My kids get a kick out of the weird mail I get for this one.
And it is FUN getting mail. What I love about this swap is the creative interpretaion boht on my end and the senders end. I also love that I get little bits of mail. What I hate is what Sharon P. mentioned and that is that the mail tends to trickle in and I have a harder time keeping track of who sent what. The other thing that I don't really like is that I may not receive something from every category. Last time I got 2 from orange, one from cosmic, one from sweet and one from odd/weird. But, hey, that is also part of the randomness! I love Sharon P's idea of posting a comment as soon as we receive something. That will help when it comes time to rate and also the sender will know you got it. Also, PLEASE post pictures in the gallery. These swaps seldom get pictures posted and I would LOVE to share each other's interpretations.

My ideas for the international category: a map or portion of a map, a postcard, a book page with another language on it, rubber stamping of hieroglyphics or Chinese characters, a recipe for an ethnic international dish, something from an ethnic or cultural market, a tape of "foreign" music, or postage stamps. I'd love to read other ideas and interpretations from the various categories, please share!

I gave up waiting last night, so just assigned the partners this morning. I'll be back to post some interesting stats for this swap later today. Have fun!

Ohhhh I surely do hope that someone will host # 4 this is one of my favorite swaps!

timanna, Marlene, szreader, aleph, Starwatcher, all your items are ready to go from Singapore. Will be sending them tomorrow morning, and you should get it in less than 2 weeks! :)

Wow shopinc! You are fast!!

We have 29 US states plus the District of Columbia (Washington, D.C.), and 8 other countries represented in this swap!

US states represented are;

Arizona, Arkansas, California (9!! swappers.... you crazy swapping West Coasters!), Colorado, Florida, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Massachusetts (3 swappers), Michigan (2 swappers), Minnesota (2 swappers), Missouri, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Ohio (3 swappers), Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania (2 swappers), South Carolina, Texas (3 swappers), Vermont, West Virginia, Wisconsin, and Washington, D.C.

Canada is represented by 5 swappers in Ontario and 1 in New Brunswick

United Kingdom is represented by 4 swappers in England and 1 in Scotland

Singapore is represented by 2 swappers

And the other countries represented are;

Finland, Germany, Ireland, Israel, Netherlands

I hope I've got everyone. I am so excited about this swap. Imagine... 325 pieces of mail flying all over the world from this swap alone. Who says snail mail is dead!? Not us!

Packages on the way to JuliW, sleeping traveler, FunToScrap, PostMuse, PamBartlow--hope you like! :O)

Totally cool! The computer did match up Florence OR to Florence MA. This is only my third swap with swap-bot, and I must say it is the most interesting! Thanks for the good ideas, funtoscrap. They got my mind flowing through my considerable collection of stuff to focus on just the right items for this swap. Postmuse, you are doing a great job! Thanks for hosting.

Oops, forgot to click the 'sent' button. LOVE the stats, PostMuse, I agree, you're a GREAT hostess!! :O)

Oh, an idea. When the computer makes out the list, does it put people on different spots on each list? For instance I might be listed first on Postmuse's list, second on Shopinc's, third on Always joy, etc. If so, then the next swap might say to send category 1 to first on the list, category 2 to second on the list, etc. That way everyone should get some of each category, unless it is impossible for a swapper to work only out of more than one category. I can see that some categories are easier than others, but I agree with FuntoScrap, that even though it is harder to do, the variety makes it more fun- makes the gray matter work harder-and that is a good thing!

I'm trying to find that one item that meets all five categories...hee hee. So far I can only get 3 or 4 with the same item.

Starwatcher... I was as surprised as you you to see the match-up of the two Florences! The other Florence didn't get you as a partner, though. And I don't think the "bot" is smart enough to send out the partners with the person's name in subsequent slots, but it would be cool if it could! It's pretty much the luck of the post muse if you get one item from each category :-)

Another lovely coincidence in the match-up... I wished in the Swap-Bot Forum (which I go to usually with extreme trepidation) for a particular partner in this swap... a newbie who sent me a wonderful message when she joined the swap... and she is one of my partners! Hmmmm... the post muse must have been reading the forum :-)

Oh my... that would be so cool to find one item that fits all 5 categories FarStarr! You know.... another coincidence.... FarStarr is from the same small New England town where I grew up. Although, the town is not as small as it was when I lived there 30 odd years ago.

I just wanted to say YEA!!!! I am so excited to have recieved my partners, and since this is my first swap a little intimidated as well!! The international catagory is throwing me for a loop! Thanks PostMuse and Sharon for the warm welcomes and making me feel at home!

Can someone tell me where I can look up countries customs information? I've read horror stories about Australia customs and though I'm not mailing to there, I still wanted to check on my countries before I mailed the stuff. Thanks!

Love that there is so much excitement for this swap!

For international start by thinking of all the international crafts and folklore you know...origami, Ukrainian eggs, mythology, Day of the Dead, henna painted hands, batik, etc.... look around your home... there is bound to be art from another country. Let it inspire you.

The object you send does not have to be international... it has to represent international. If you find something you think represents international, but might not to the recipient, well then that is a great opportunity for you to write a note explaining why it is international to you. Notes in the packages are as much fun as the item itself!

And I've sent creativechaos some customs information for her countries. If anyone else needs help, let me know :-)

I'm sending my 5 swaps out to Melanie Noll, 1crazyquilter, eve, Karisue, and creativechaos in tomorrow's mail!! I hope you ladies like everything I sent!!

sending mails out to shopinc (fellow singaporean!),Marlene,szreader,aleph and Starwatcher tomorrow ! =) i hope you guys will like the letter in your mailboxes !

OK, I uploaded an image of my "something creative." I didn't take pics of my other items though. Still working on something soothing, all the rest will be going out in Friday's mail.

Oh, love your paper doll, Sharon, just lovely! :O)

rnwannabe, AlwaysJoy, FarStarr, AeroChik, Jenny Young-yours were mailed out today!!

Molly, Ling, Marlene, Misha, Ingrid, i sent your packages off today.

This is my first swap and I am excited!! Saline, PJammy, and lulubird6 your pieces are in the mail tonight. accidents and Jewel I'll send yours tomorrow as I found out I need a priority mail sticker.

Thanks for the comp., kiki! Four of my envies/packets went out in today's mail, and the last one will be on its way tomorrow.

The ones mailed today are on their way to: Ninety, mpontalba, baglady, and dietdew; Amity, yours is next.

Packages went out today to Sharon P, Amity, Ewie, Bunnycutie and Sittermom..Enjoy!

Mailed out stuff to craftypiggie, BagLady, beckra, little kitty, and KariSue. Stake out those mailboxes...

I mailed mine off today to rnwannabe, mrs. mc, hila, tateva and Brooke. They all passed muster at the post office. I hope they arrive safely.

I sent my envelopes out today -- and I was lucky enough to get both of the swappers from Florence (MA and OR) on my send-to list! :)

Oops! I meant to say that I sent my envelopes out to: motes, timanna, croplyn, nursy and starwatcher . . .

Double oops! That's corplyn (sorry!).

Mine are off to Melanie Noll, eve, little kitty, KariSue, and creativechaos!

KristinaO, whimsicalone, murmel, LindzSaleh, and PostMuse: envelopes were posted this morning! I do hope that you enoy my interpretation of the categories:-)

Melanie Noll, 1CrazyQuilter, Triceramolly, Eve and CreativeChaos your envelopes were mailed from Ohio today. I hope you like them!

Mrs. MC, and Sara- received purples from you today! Thank you!!

Wow! That was fast! I received some tea (purple and soothing) and some globe stickers (international and creative) from tateva. Thank you!

Yea... I got two packages already!!! One from Craftypiggie (its beautiful!!!) and another littlekitty (Love the stickers) Thanks so much!!! Mine are going out in the mail tomorrow!

I got a cute little Xmas tree from craftypiggie today; thanks!

Thanks, 1CrazyQuilter for the cute creative gift.

Marlene

I love this swap. I really, really do. I swore I'd take a break from Swap-Bot because of my rating anxiety, but I really, really want to do a 4th round of this swap. I have 5 categories in mind, too. Still thinking....

OH PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE host a 4th round!!! I'm new to swap-bot, but this was by far the most fun swap to participate in! I just loved thinking of what to send to my partners.
Pretty please?!? Hugs, Pam

Posted to Chy, ddmaree, Kiki, JuliW, sleeping traveler today.

I hope you like what I picked. I am being cheeky and claiming that they are all international since they are being sent from Ireland to the U.S ;)

Yes... I am going to do a 4th round :-) I have to finish writing it up and then I'll post a link in this thread.

I just got back from the post office. All my envelopes are gone. I'll post a hint where they are going in the photo gallery a bit later this afternoon :-)

Click for Round 4!

YAY!!! I rec'd the BEST 'soothing' item from anne (motes) today. She looked at my profile and saw that I like lime green and plushies and sent a little green monster filled with lavender. I just LOVE it!!! Thank you so much, Anne!! Made my day, you could even smell it through the envie! :O)

PostMuse, I am glad to see you are sticking around and hosting a 4th round of lots of mail!

I received some things creative, soothing and purple (and since I like purple, that's not a contradiction! LOL) from Mandy aka FarStarr today. Thanks! I like it all, but most especially the fish ATC -- very creative!

I got a "soothing" envelope from Baglady today; thanks!

Sent off my goodies today to timanna, corplyn (I did resist sending you the purple one!), szreader, mursy and Starwatcher....

fun swap and oh yes, I already signed up for #4!

Marlene

Thank you to motes and suefitz for my 'sillies'!! Just what I needed today after a long day at work! :D

I received my item from craftypiggie yesterday!!! Thank you so much, and I'm glad you liked the stickers creativechaos!!!

Weee! I got silly from Kiki! Love the penguin bookmark! And the school "store" is a fantastic way of teaching kids about economics. Love that. And I love the little purple beads. I am trying to incorporate beads into my ATC and these little ones will be fantastic. Thank you!

YEA!!! My packages wehnt out yesterday.... first time shipping internationally, so I hope everything works out ok. So Melanie Noll, 1CrazyQuilter, Triceramolly, shopinc and iammyy Keep your eyes on the mail.... I hope you enjoy your goodies!

fiona2277, accidents, moon_asanti, pjammy and jewel, your envies are on the way!

I got the cutest ATCs from Darlene and a nice little journal from Kris! Thanks guys!

This has been fun and easy for my first swap! Thanks Postmuse!

Mine are in the post - but I struggled with silly

I got sweet envelopes from Mereridkat and mpontalba today; thanks!

Janice, Fiona2277, Accidents, Moon_Asanti, and Jewel, your envelopes were all mailed today! I'm not sure how long the overseas envies will take, but I sure hope you get them quickly!

got an "international" package from 1CrazyQuilter <3 ! love the candy ! hehs. thank you !!

btw.i just got a call frm post office.the mails shd be on their way already.

I sent out my mail to fiona2277, accidents, PJammy, Jewel, and lulubird 6 yesterday. Hope you like your mail!

My envelopes went out today to motes, SueF, Timanna, corplyn, and nursy. what a fun swap this was! It took me quite a while to figure out some of the items to send, but really was fun to do. Szreader, I received your envelope today. Thank you so much for your thoughfulness. The note card is perfect! I plan to scan it and use it many times. And your jokes from the New Yorker. I could really relate to them. The paper you wrote the note on you will probably see in some other swap - it will be perfect for some ATC backgrounds! and the recipe - i've never made brownies from scratch - I may try these. Thanks again!

I got my mail from Special K, Darlene W, Brittercat. I got tea, some REALLY COOL lime green lace that fit my profile to a "Tee", and a bag of dark choco kisses. Awesome! Thanks everyone. Also, I got a magnet for the theme "silly", but I don't know who it's from because someone in my house threw away the envelope! =( If you sent me a magnet for the silly theme, please tell me so I can give you credit!

I sent out my letters on 4/04 to Kristina O., whimsicalone, murmel, PostMuse, and PamBartlow. :) They should be arriving soon! :)

sent out my surprises to brittercat, darlene_w, kristina o, ellen & LindzSaleh...hope you like them (LindzSaleh & Ellen, they should arrive very soon since they are just coming from Toronto)

Wow Thanks Kiki! I received a silly bookmark and some beautiful purple beads which are exactly what I needed for a pair of earrings that I'm working on today. Thanks a bunch!

Got another swap today! Thanks beckra I love the stamps, they are sooo pretty! Funny thing is the three swaps I have recieved so far, everyone has sent me the international catagory.... I love it!

Received a nifty little envelope from Amity today...thank you!

just a heads up that if a package is coming from Canada there might be a little delay becauase Canada Post is n holiday tomorrow & Monday too

more mail fun! I got the cutest purple kitty card with quotes from chanel...I LOVE kitty-chan and the Mencken quote! thanks!

saline, thanks for the adorable magic towels and hair clips. can't wait for my girls to see them, they're gonna love them! thanks!

I recd BEAUTIFUL purple paper from Alwaysjoy today. Thank you!

yay! I also recieved from Ellen and Chanel. Thank you everyone! I got all of my swaps. =)

Thanks, Marlene -- I got the swap yesterday. The veggie scrubbie is fun (silly!) and I love the bookmark. My favorite part of the package, though, was the envelope decoration. :) Thanks!!

I got instructions for a great creative project (a ladybug cake) from DietDew today. Many thanks!

I received something silly from Beckra, as well as another silly mail from mpontalba!!! Thanks for the jokes, ladies! I found the little ditty about Ringo Star to be especially entertaining, Beckra!!!

Thanks to DietDew for the odd international story! It came today.

Kellie, your "international" package of Twinings (English) tea and Nonni's (Italian) biscotti arrived today, just as I was sitting down with a friend who had brought over her knitting so I could show her how to turn the heel on a sock -- what perfect timing! Of course we had tea and biscotti together!

I just received my first package from iammyy! Thanks for putting so much effort into the swap, even though it's a little hard to find something uncommon because Singapore's so small. Thanks a lot :)

Back from my little trip to find three more envelope for this swap.

Very international Peruvian beverage with purple corn and packaged in purple from FunToScrap. I haven't made it up yet, but as soon as Spring makes a return I plan to enjoy it while sitting outdoors in the sunshine.

Soothing articles/recipes from the oh so appropriately named magazine "Body and Soul" sent by JuliW. My favorite line from the article...."if it doesn't celebrate who you are and what you love, or doesn't serve a utilitarian purpose, it's clutter." Yup... good spring cleaning advice.

And from PamBarlow, a package containing something from every category! Love all the Japanese stuff. I used to be able to read and write a bit of hiragana and katakana, but never got more than 50 or so kanji under my belt.

Many thanks to all of you!

I received from Brooke today- sooo cool a purple measuring tape wrapped in soothing soft yarn/ribbon!!

I recieved from PostMuse today. thank you! The card is adorable and I am going to start the cross stitch tonight.Hubby took the tea as soon as he saw it.I think I will get some next time I am in Trader Joes. Thank you again. Michele

Kristina O , I recieved your envelope today. Thank you so much. The gel pen is great for my scrapbooking and I really needed some address labels . How did you know lol. Thanks again, Michele

I recd an INTERNATIONAL postcard of Charles Dicken's highly CREATIVE works from Jenny. Thank you!

I've lucked out--so far I've received 3 things (from szreader, timarra, and Sandra; from Florence to Florence!) and they're all soothing! Really good because I'm about to start a brand-new job on Thursday and I'm a little nervous! Thanks, folks!! :)

Funtoscrap - I received your soothing tea in today's mail! Thanks so much! I just LOVE mint tea!!!!

I received something soothing from Ewie today -- a nice calendar photo of a scene in Florence (I assume Italy) and an image of a Picasso drawing, with a note explaining that she finds these images soothing. And so they are!

I rec'd a great 'soothing' envie from ddmaree today! A bookmark of the 'Oregon Coast' which I love, I collect bookmarks (although I didn't mention this in my profile), a 'calming teabag' and a 'zen' teabag, one of which I'm about to enjoy right now. Thank you! :O)

Today I recd international collage goodies from Aerochick-Awesome!

I also recd an envelope that the nasty post office demolished in the machines (the first time I've had this happen.) Rnwannabe, what was silly??...certainly not the Post Office!

Thanks Tamanna for the purple butterfly, she made it in great shape, I put it on my ivy plant. Thanks SZreader for the purple postcard and the funny, and I will make the brownies this weekend for my grandson and me to share. Thanks Marlene for the Guatamalean worry dolls, they are so cute, and you can't get much more international than that. I got nine packages from swap-bot today!

Thanks Starwatcher, for the Chinese cook book, we love Chinese food at our house, and the article was interesting, and extra thanks for the Star Trek postcard.

I sent out reminders this morning to those who are still marked "not sent" on the participant list. It could be they just haven't gotten back to click the sent button, but I asked them to please keep in touch with me and their partners if they have in fact not sent their items.

I received some beautiful purple lace and the coolest little pouch(it is housing my measuring tape)and a lovely note from Motes.

Today I received "silly" cooking frog stickers from Alice in Tx. Thank you _ I am rather fond of frogs:)

I think these swaps are my favourite on Swap-Bot.

Sleeping traveler - thank you so much for the "creative" card kit! I just LOVE it! It was so wonderfully thoughtful of you to read my profile - AND - match this swap just for me! You're awesome! Thank you so much!!! Lots of hugs, Pam

ddmaree - Thanks so much for the "creative" mailboxes notecard! It's such a pretty photo - and I can use any help that I can get in the creativity inspiration dept - so I'm sure that the tea will help there:-))

Thanks so much! Hugs,Pam

I haven't received anything at all yet... seems a bit odd, but maybe my partners are all overseas....Or maybe tomorrow they will all come at once. I hope people have received what I sent out.

Today I rec'd an AWESOME purple hand-knit flower from Soar. She died the wool to make the flower with Kool Aid from another swap (International). She included some felt leaves so I could be 'creative' and add them to the flower she made if I want. So, purple, creative and Int'l! :O)

Also rec'd two foamie picture frames (that also have adhesive on the back to stick them) from suefitz. How cool and 'creative' of you! Have lots of uses for these! Always need places to put pix of my little one!! :O)

Thank you so much!!!!!

Sara... I messaged you with a bit of info on your partners :-)

Kiki... those foam frames.... they also make way cool stamps. Heat them with a heat gun, press heated foam on some textured item, like rope (it leaves a reverse impression), ink the foam and you have a way cool stamp. And then you can re-heat the foam to make the impression go away, wash off the ink, and put the frame back to hug your loved one's adorable mug :-)

I received something soothing from Aerochik today -- a vanilla fragrance sachet. Thanks, Aerochik!

Wow, PostMuse, I will try that with the foamies! I have a heat gun, too, from my card making days. The versitility of foamies, who knew?? :O)

Well, I've just messaged nursy as I was one of the lucky five to have her as a partner. I'll let you know if I receive a response! :O)

I see Nursy was one of my partners too...

Yeah.... I've got emails out to nursy.

JuliW Your envie arrived today! Thanks for the soothing magazine clippings!

Got two today!

Thanks to Molly for the tea...so sooooothing!

Thanks to shopinc for the Interenational papers....

Hi all, envelopes are gone. sorry for delay. Working on call as a nurse leaves me with unexpected night shifts which leaves me in bed a lot. I'll try to be more on the ball next time. But for those that I've sent, I hope you enjoy, and if you get a red envelope without a return name, it's from me....I realized I forgot to put my name on them a couple days after they were in the mail. oops!

Thanks for letting us know what is happening, nursy! I'll look forward to receiving your envie! :O)

One of the participants in this swap has deleted her profile. If anyone does receive from aleph, please let me know. You will not be able to rate her, but I would like to know if she followed through with sending before deleting her account.

Oooh! I got the coolest pin from Ellen for the International category. Very cool! Thanks! That's all my swaps coming in to me, but no one has gotten any of mine. 3 of mine were overseas, so I guess I have to wait for those but still... :(

I guess that's why they rated Chicago's PO as one of the worst in the nation. Pooh!

I got a nice pig patch from Timanna today- thank you.

I'm still zero in five. I was hoping the mail would bring something today, but nothing. Did anybody have me as a partner and send something they think I should have gotten already? If so, please email me.

iammyy...thanks for your cute package and the little goodies in every category!

Marlene

Hi there,I know that two of my parcels have reached their destination as I have received feedback on them, I have received one of mine and put the rest down to international post

I have just read through all the comments and it has only just struck me that I would not receive one from each category! I struggled with silly and international and in the end for international I sent a breast cancer key ring which I figured was an international symbol. I really enjoyed the challenge of thinking up small things to send and have signed up for the next one, am plotting already!

creativechaos,thanks for your wonderful set of postcards ! i love them (cuz i do collect them.hehs)

Iammyy, great little envelope I received today! Very clever, finding something for every category! I especially liked the Chinese poker playing card. Thanks again!

Another participant's profile is deleted. If anyone receives from Emma in Scotland (accidents), please let me know.

(little kitty)(KariSue)(eve)(creativechaos)(Melanie Noll)

just want to thank you for the great packages.

:O)

I got some maps from SueFitz today - of San Francisco and the USA and a leaflet about her town. Thanks - I love maps and so does my husband.

So far I have received 4/5 - international, purple, silly and & creative! Thanks for 4 great packages Motes, SueFitz, Taminna and Corplyn.

JuliW - did you receive from me. I think all my other envelopes reached their destinations....

I have received 2 so far! 1 from iammyy, one from creativechaos. Can't wait for the rest to arrive! :)

FYI - Here's how the swap came in for me.

Two purple - paper and a handmade beaded key ring Two International - Japanese stickers and flag stickers Soothing - Lip gloss

Me again, after I posted I looked back at the comments and now I think I should have been a bit more detailed:

I recieved....

Lovely purple paper from Lindz ( a fellow Canadian) A cool handmade purple beaded diva keyring from Michelle in 'California International flag stickers from Murmel in Germany Whimsical one sent me some lovley "soothing" strawberry sherbet lip balm (another Canadian) Kristina O sent along 6 sheets of cute Japanese stickers for the International category!

How cool is that?!

got a lovely ATC from Molly today,thank you !! =)

another one ! a lovely journal from eve =) i love it !

I finally got my first one, today! Thank you Janice. It made me laugh and I think definitely fit the silly category.

Thank you to my partners for this exchange. :) I received some yummy tea and 3 beads from Soar. The package was soothing (tea) and also international since it came from Ireland. Thank you Soar! :) From Barbara B. (sleeping traveler) I received some Mark mini-lip glosses, beads, buttons and some old pictures. The lip gloss was something "soothing'' and the rest were extras. Thank you!! :) From Deanne (ddmaree), I received some lovely "international'' teas to try. Thank you!! :) From Kathleen "Kiki'' I received a "silly'' bookworm bookmark and some purple beads. Thank you! And from Chy, I received a cute llama postcard from Peru...both "silly'' and "international'' Thank you!!! :)

This was a fun exchange!! :)

Well, this swap was a real bomb for me. I only got one item, and from the date on it, it was mailed after the deadline. This was such a fun swap the first time I did it and I was really disappointed. For anyone who organizes this kind of swap again: Please keep up high standards for participants. Also, watch for people who may be overextended. Some of my partners are signed up for a lot of swaps and had a lot of 1's. But they swap so much that there ratings weren't all that low. Call me fussy, but I think if you sign up for tons of swaps you should do all of them, not just the ones that are convenient for you. I am also a bit leery of newbies who are signed up for tons of swaps.

So it goes.... up until now I guess I had been pretty lucky.

I got 2 postcards from Nursy today. I have received 5/5 and got something form each category except soothing!

Hi all! Sorry if I'm just now rating some of you, I really appreciated this swap. Postmuse, thanks for organizing, I love the postcard from Hell and am sending a couple things your way.

For anyone still reading this thread. I do keep very high standards in all the swaps I coordinate. I think most would be amazed at how detailed my database is. I watch ratings like a hawk, and check in on each of my swaps daily and update my database. No one has ever participated who has a low rating when the partners are matched. People who are genuine scammers, and there are very, very few of them, are smart enough to know how to play the system. There are bad people, but there are far more good people.