The 31-Day Letter Challenge

This is a really lovely idea, I think ^.^ And thank you for taking it to the group, thank you both, girls! I could never write a regular length letter every day (sometimes one of my letters may have 30 pages altogether or more ^^), but 1 or 2 pages are no problem and it would be so lovely to have a letter to open every day ^0^

What an utterly brilliant idea! I'm in!!!!

Supplementary question - do the days of the letters have to be consecutive?

I mean, if we start now, we'd probably have more time to write lovely LOOOOONG letters because we could choose days when we're not busy and have more time to write. Our partners would still have a letter a day to read, but we needn't necessarily write one a day for 30 consecutive days.

Just a thought!

uhmmm, I don't like to start on anything before the parthers are assigned... Maybe we don't have to wait until January to assign partners?

Looks like I may have to come join this swap!! Nobody has joined mine!!!

Looks like I may have to come join this swap!! Nobody has joined mine!!! I think I'll make mine usa only!!!

Haha, come on, I guess your sign up deadline is January too, so there is plenty of time for people to sign up ^.^

@Filpot - No, you certainly don't have to wait until partners are assigned, nor do the letters have to be written in consecutive days! So feel free to start now if you like. I know I'll be making my envelopes well before the sign up date for this. :)

@WritingRoach - Do both! :D LOL Then you'll have 62 letter to open!

This is a great idea! I'm totally in. :) Letters make my days so happy, so I will have 31 amazing days!

When does the swap officially start? When is the first letter posted? Does it go Jan 5th to Feb 5th?

They should be posted together in one large envelope ^.^ It would be such a chaos to post one each day, since the postal system can be quite messy sometimes... What worked quite well a few times, was to write a small letter on several postcards and send one out each day ^.^ It worked well within Germany and my friends were pretty thrilled about that ^.^

Yes. In this swap, the letters will be bundled together and sent as one packet/package. Hence the date on each envelope. The idea is to show some modicum of self restraint and only open a letter a day from your package. Of course, I know myself so we'll see how that goes in the end. :D

When we have to write the first letter? 1st January? And every letter must have a minimum of one page (front and back)? It sounds sooo interesting:-)

I think I WILL join both :) yay!!! So excited!!!

@Bee1981 - Whenever you would like to write the first letter. Just be sure to number or date each envelope consecutively. ;)

@WritingRoach - Hooray! So glad you're in. :D

Can we send a letter a day through the mail? I would so much rather prefer to get a letter in my mailbox each day then a stack of letters just one day....

maybe me and my partners could do it this way?

Maybe it would work within the US, but lately I don't trust our postal service that much anymore, especially the freaking customs that keep letters for nothing several weeks just to look at them! Apart from that, I'd consider postage too, if the condition was to send 30 letters separately, I wouldn't have joined. @ilona Maybe you can set up a similar swap with those particular conditions? I guess I can post a letter a day for let's say a week, but longer than that I can't guarantee ^.^ Have a busy schedule lately...

@ilona - I agree with @taoiinam The potential for a letter a day to go missing is greater however, if you want to contact @WritingRoach to see if she's OK with you posting a similar but slightly modified swap of your own with this criteria, then that's fine.

For this swap, the criteria to have all items sent in one package will remain in place. Hope this helps!

Is A4 size equivalent to U.S. printer paper size? (11 inches long by 8.5 inches wide)

The thing I think of when posting one letter every day is that that way you wouldn't be guaranteed a letter a day since they don't deliver on Sundays :(

@lovetherain - Basically, yes. US Standard Letter is 8.5x11 and the closest equivalent to A4. A4 is commonly used in most other countries. It is a little longer and slightly more narrow than US Standard Letter...but essentially, one can replace the other for the purposes of this group and swap.

yep, it's not that somebody will measure with a ruler ^.^ I've heard so many people wrongly accuse long letter writers of being petty and counting the words and pages of the letters they get... This is absolutely wrong! But on swapbot, you need exact requirements, so...

I dropped out of this swap because I'd love to get a letter in my mailbox every day, and vice versa... If I got all letters in one box I would read them all in one night... I'm just like that. :)

No problem, @ilona If you would like to host a similar swap where it's a letter posted per day, feel free! You're an officer here and I encourage all officers to host as they see fit. :D

I would love to join this swap! But my rating is 1 hundredth of a point off! I had a three rating in '08! Could you make an exception for me?

Of course, @carmen You've been added. ;)

Thanks! @bombardiette I'd better get busy!

Hmmm, it still says I don't have the minumum rating. :(

Argh! @carmen try it now. Sorry!

OK, now I feel silly. I just checked my rating and it is a 4.9900. Thanks for putting up with all my shenanigans. Apparently all I needed was 1 more 5!

T0T I can't believe I really just pushed the 'drop' button, but I've been asked to continue my working schedule in February too which means I should be happy if I'll be able to write letters at all, not to mention every day... whaaaaaaaaa! I hope there will be a round two that I can join... apart from that, see you in other swaps of this lovely group ^.^

wooohooo, Iam in :-))))

I've already started writing letters. I'm putting the date I actually wrote the letters in the upper right corner on the first page of the letter too. I'm also trying to keep in mind these won't be read til march. I'm so excited for this swap!

Sorry if this is a stupid question....but what is a "ephemera".
I was wondering if a little memorabilia would be ok as a little extra in the envelope. Like lets say you went to a amusement park and you add the ticket stub from it, or a brochure of the park. Is that what a ephemera is?? If not...is it ok to add something like that? Or does it have to be something that the reader can use.

@Mikka yes, that's ephemera 'anything that is meant to be kept temporarily, not long term' so ticket stubs, fortune cookie fortunes, restaurant menus, even postcards and greeting cards could be ephemera. This is just me, but I would put a little bit of everything in my envelopes; some ephemera, some craft supplies, some profile stuff, etc. in each envelope just to make it diverse. Whoah! I'm so glad that it isn't due till mid Feb. I was half considering dropping because I only had so many letters written. For some reason I thought it was due in 2-3 weeks.

@Mikka - What @lovetherain said. :D

@lovetherain - I would never do that to you guys! Due date is still over a month away. ;)

I am so excited...lalalalala ...:-D

And partners have been assigned! Have fun, everyone! XD