Participants collected any materials and supplies we didn't want anymore--those things we've been holding onto because we feel guilty about throwing them away, those things we've been holding onto because we think maybe someday we'll figure out a use for them, those things that we just don't like or use anymore but are still perfectly good.
My swap partner, Janet in California, and I corresponded a bit before sending off our packages. We decided to create art journal pages to swap along with our discarded supplies. And we both ended up cramming as much as possible into the USPS medium-size flat rate box.
My box hasn't reached her yet, though I expect it will be there tomorrow. Hers got to me on Saturday, and I wanted to share what I found inside:
She also included a few pieces of amazing original art. In addition to a hand-stitched book of papers, she created two original journal pages created just for me. Look at the amazing colors and layers on this one:
{"All it takes is imagination and a litte courage."}
And look at the haunting and lovely image on this larger page:
{"Count Your Blessings."}
Right away, I added some of the papers she sent to me to decorate a Writer's Notebook that I'll be using as part of a teacher workshop I'm presenting this Saturday:
{This is just a regular old black and white composition book!}
I've never participated in a swap quite like this one, where we shared our "trash" in hopes that it would be someone else's "treasure." It was a relief to get rid of some things that I just know I will never use, and it was great fun to receive a random collection of new supplies. I would definitely do something like this again!
10 comments:
It was a joy and pleasure to swap with Andria! I adore surprises, and I'm delighted that Andria enjoyed the ones I sent her!! Can't wait to receive hers. Janet
sounds like a great swap! i definitely have more stuff than i will ever use and am not even sure what specifically i even have. i will have to participate in something like this some day. :-)
sounds like a fun swap, and janet sent you some great loot, and thanks for leaving such a lovey comment for me on my blog.
Such wonderful "eye candy" and a fantastic swap, indeed! WOW!! :]
i LOVE craft swaps! I've only done them in person, though, not through the mail. how much fun would that be to open up a big present sitting on the front porch!
What a great way to stimulate your creativity with new supplies that you don't have to buy! Great idea. It looks like you received some fun things to play with plus some beautiful journal pages.
How wonderful! I especially love the old photographs you received. Beautiful pages too and I love what you did with the composition note book. Would you believe we don't have those over here? I have done one on one swaps a couple of time, but they always happened spontaneously. And of course in art trading sometimes people send extra stuff along. I'm always amazed at the kindness of internet strangers! Enjoy your new stash. I do have to smile though, because a trade like this does not really result in less stuff does it? ;-)
Thank you for your comments! It was great fun to get a big new batch of materials to sort through. And, you're right, Caatje; I'm fooling myself if I think it helped me to "cleanse"! :-) The good news is that I'm much more likely to use this new stuff than the things I sent along that had been sitting around for months or years!
I'd love to hear more about the teacher workshop - are you teaching art to teachers?
Clara: The workshop was for English/language arts teachers. I was talking about encouraging students to keep a Writer's Notebook to collect ideas for their writing projects. I advocate having teachers model the notebook by keeping one of their own, and I encourage everyone to put their "personal stamp" on the notebook to make it something that they want to spend time with!
Post a Comment