apologies in advance for typos; will correct them later. Off to start the day with the kiddo.
It’s so nice to see all these ideas! I am hoping to do more swaps this year—I’ll be budgeting towards it! I love all the ideas and I’ll second the following:
- birds and bees
- tote bag (perhaps I will finally learn to sew this year and could make one…)
- basket swap (ditto above)
- 4x6 art swap (and I’d love to see even larger art ones as well—perhaps a canvas art swap?
- anime/manga swap
- Positive affirmations
- Embroidery hoops (perhaps I will try something “new” this year)
- Abstract Embroidery Hoop (ditto above)
- Admiration craft
- Make a bag
- Try something new
- I LOVED the mini pocket letter swap last year and would love to do it again. I would even love to do a full pocket letter with all 9 pockets.
It would be neat to do a 9-pocket letter where each ATC is a part of a bigger picture when all put together. - Masterboard and envelope of papers (does that just mean sending nice paper in an envelope, or making envelopes out of paper, or both?)
- I LOVED the Invite Your Partner swap last year and would love to do it again.
- One Tiny Thing
- Tic-Tac-Toe or bingo
- My favourite animal
- Pet craft
- Homemade notebook/journal—Yes please! I’ve been on a handbound-book making kick and would love to have an excuse to make more
- Retro/Vintage—yep! This reminds me of a really cool craft I saw at a library during our RV trip. I don’t have these many cassettes (actually, I don’t have any cassettes anymore), but if I did, I’d love to make something like this:
*Columbia County Main Library in Lake City, Florida
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The calendar page(s) swap sounds really interesting.
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@Silky_Bee I like the idea of a pen pal swap to just exchange letters. Having said that, if you’re OK with just sending without expectation of return, as well as the possibility of receiving, there’s always the Happy Mail Craftalong. I haven’t seen one go up for 2025 yet.
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I love the idea of a broad theme.
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Favourite (or maybe just interesting) historical figures/events
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recipe exchange—it would be fun to do in on index card and include illustrations of the recipe/food on one side and the recipe in nice cursive writing on the other
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Note card sets
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Bookmark
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Frogs
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Shark week (this would be a great one to post in the Everyday Holidays Craftalong as well
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Pringles can—I need an excuse to eat more Pringles
I would love to learn more about the following, could someone explain a bit more about them?
- abandoned art
- ink box cards
- make a friend
- assemblage (I found this website “theartstory.org/definition/assemblage” is this the type of art you mean?
- Is self-care: 1 for you, 1 for me where you make 2 of the same item, one for yourself and one for your partner? And would it be self-care related?
- Little visitor
Here are some of my suggestions:
I missed the colour swap last year (or maybe the year before?) but I really loved that idea. Your partner picks a colour and you send items in that colour. I believe it included 1 medium handmade item and extras.
I really enjoyed the Artist Trading Coin Swap last year, and I would love to see it happen more frequently—I would even be up for a monthly swap like the ATC one.
I enjoyed the book swap, too. I’d love to see more swaps related to books and reading in general.
I’d love to see a travel- related swap.
Postcards
The zine swap was really fun!
Story/writing swap: write a story or poem(s) for your partner and handwrite it in pretty cursive on nice stationary—this would be a nice one and could be sent in an envelope, so the cost would be minimal
Found objects art: make a medium item incorporating a found object (or several found objects)
Index card swap
Use your garbage swap: make something out of items that would otherwise go in the trash (e.g. unrecyclable papers, plastics, etc.)
I was inspired by @MamaRhi’s mention of the swap themed around the movie The Labyrinth. It would be fun to see Fandom-type swaps for movies. Or “cult-classic” movies swaps. Some ideas in addition to The Labyrinth: The Princess Bride, Back to the Future, Barb & Star Go to Vista del Mar (if you haven’t seen the last one on the list and you badly need a laugh, it’s the ticket. Beware raunchiness if you prefer to stay away from that, lol)
Time-travel swap, broadly interpreted (e.g. could be about actual time travel, time travel pop culture, or just a craft inspired by a different time period)
80s/90s sit-coms swaps (some examples: Seinfeld, Boy Meets World, Sister Sister, The Golden Years, Cheers, etc).
I’d like to see more flat paper swaps in general.