Brainstorming Swap Ideas

I miss Crafty Detective, tho I don’t know if we really have enough people to run a good round of it. Possibly another round of the Secret Santa Wishlist Swap would fill a similar niche.

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What is crafty detective?

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Everyone gets a Secret partner, whom you “stalk” to create a package; you don’t know who is sending to you until the package arrives. Which means you need two organizers to pair up different groups so that the organizers don’t know who they’re receiving from either, and any questions either go in the thread with fingers crossed that one’s partner answers, or get sent via the organizer. It also works best when people have a good online wishlist presence.

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Lately I tend to prefer swaps for flat things like ATCs, bookmarks, etc due to shipping costs.

The non-paper/cardboard ATC & positive affirmation swaps last year were fun!

I always like seeing the IYP swaps, but I’m too chicken to ask someone to swap. :laughing:

Secret Santa wishlist sounds like fun - I did Secret Santa in July on the old site & enjoyed it!

Some ideas from the old site (I have copies of the swap info / questionnaires for some of these if they’re wanted):
-happy mail
-Fukubukuro lucky bag
-use the good stuff
-mini 12 days of christmas
-common ground
-giant multi-themed swap
-christmas stocking
-color in a box

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There’s been several mentions of flat envelope swaps.

We’ve done a few:
ATCs and ATCoins
inchies
Pocketletters (depends on the PL)
bookmarks
sending seasonal cards with a note
4x6 art
felt badges (depends on the badge)
Zines
etc

what are some other ideas for flat swaps because other than the ink box card swap I want to do I am drawing a blank on any new ideas

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Maybe paper dolls? “Paper” being a relative term; dolls of any medium in the flat paper doll style would work.

What about “color in an envelope” as a flat(ter) version of color in a box? (CiaB example here)

I think MistressJennie’s Scrappy Mail Fabric Swap is designed to be flat-mailable.

I feel like I had one more idea for this, but I’ve forgotten it…

ETA: …pretty sure it was prayer/friendship flags! Those are typically pretty flat, or can be designed to be, right?

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@LindyBlues - what do you mean by an index card swap?

I would love to get any ideas for new swaps that we haven’t done before. I have noticed we get a lot more interest in newer ideas. We can still do our favorites, but I know I would love to sprinkle in some new ones.

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Packing up all the Christmas stuff last week had me thinking of a Reusable Gift Wrap Swap. Folks make things like drawstring gift bags, Furoshiki wraps, reusable “ribbon” out of scrap yarn or cloth, etc. But we could also add in an Upcycled option, espeically for our paper crafty folk. Using things like kraft paper gift bags that annoyingly have brand names and such on them, and covering the logos/altering them with paint, stamping, washi tape, etc to give them a second life.

So I guess I’m officially adding Reusable & Upcycled Gift Wrap Swap to the list.

Yes!

Yes, it is. I’d be happy to host another round if folks would like. Maybe February?

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YES! February would work for me, but I would join whenever you did it. It was such an inspiration last year.

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Yes! Fingers crossed, I plan to open this up sometime next week - soon in any case. You guys can start asking people now of course :grinning:

And just a suggestion, if it works for you, please consider inviting someone you haven’t swapped with before, or one of our newer members.

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I am definitely up for that one!!

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Art on a an 3"x5" index card, like this: Index-Card-a-Day 2024 (lots of pics [but not all 61])

Crafty detective sounds like a really fun idea!

I would also love to see more swaps for flat things; it keeps costs down, especially for us mailing to different countries. But I’m also open to bigger swaps :heart:

@jellybean was the Christmas stocking to make a stocking and then put something into it?

I had to look up “fukubukuro” but I like the idea of a surprise bag.

What does “common ground” entail?

I also like the idea of paper dolls for a flat paper swap. The “colour in an envelope” sounds really fun as well!

Here are some more ideas for flat envelope swaps:

  • Handmade stationary (OK to fold to put in a standard-size envelope)
  • Handmade envelopes (would need to go inside a larger envelope)
  • Handmade greeting cards that are blank for sending to others
  • Poems (handwritten or typed)
  • Stories (handwritten or typed)
  • “Dress-up” dolls or other “playtime” paper-based things
  • Stickers! You can make some to send and include commercial ones as extras if wished. They could be made by hand, printed and cut out, or made with a cricut)
  • Pockets
  • Maps
  • Scavenger hunts. What about sending a nice handwritten/illustrated scavenger hunt for 10 different things for your partner to find where they live? The exchange could end there, or you could send back the completed hunt to each other.
  • Draw something for your partner to colour
  • Photograph prints!
  • “Surprise single-stamp envelope” - make whatever will fit in an envelope to reach the maxium amount of weight allowed for a single stamp. I did this with @gozer for the “Invite Your Partner Swap” and it was a lot of fun.
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To me, the fukubukuro sounds a lot like the Grab Bag swap.

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Love a Scavenger Hunt Swap, that sounds fun.

What about a swap based on a craft item that we all have? For example, a Creative Crayon Swap where you have to use a crayon in your craft as creatively as possible. Or another random object like a Spoon or Red Solo cup. Just something where we start with the same item and try to think outside the box and be as creative as we can.
Or we could list out 5 random items and you have to use 2 or 3 in your swap item.
For example: a paperclip, toothpick, paper plate, chop sticks, and a thumb tack. You just pick two and get creative.

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These all sound like great fun! Would the crayon one mean that you had to include the crayon in what you send, or that you would use the crayon to decorate the craft, and not necessarily send it?

You would use it to create it.

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I don’t know if I asked the right question… I mean like would the art be incorporating a physical crayon? For example, you make a little doll where the body of the doll is a crayon, and maybe the arms and legs are paper clips or something? Or would it be a picture drawn with a crayon?

If we do the latter, it could be included as part of the flat envelope swap list. So maybe both ideas could work :slight_smile:

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I started thinking about some of the past site challenges I’ve enjoyed participating in, like Talk Scrappy to Me and the Inspired-Along challenge. the craftalong-inspired one that I’ll link after I look it up becase the link function wouldn’t find it for me :roll_eyes:.

Those concepts (and presumably other challenges) might translate well into swaps. They aren’t inherently flat, but that parameter could be baked into the swap requirements.

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Stocking swap: make/decorate a 12-16" tall stocking & fill it with goodies (at least 50% crafted)

Fukubukuro: make/find a bag and fill it with craft supplies, candies/snacks, and crafted items

common ground: find something you have in common with your partner & craft things relating to the thing you have in common

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In the abandoned art swap I participated in you made several (if I remember correctly it was 4) small art/crafts and sent them to your partner. They got to keep one and abandoned the rest. You had to take a picture of where you abandoned them and post in the thread.

(My mother was in the hospital for a couple of days, so I abandoned one under a bench outside when I visited her. I was so stupidly excited when I checked before I left and it was gone :rofl:)

There is a book called The Art Abandonment Project, and a Facebook group as well as an art abandonment thread on Reddit…and some other articles and things if you search abandoned art. :smile:

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