The Next Swap

[dedavis]

So, I am coordinating the next swap. I have some ideas, but would like your input. I am thinking about setting it up for early April. Does that work for everybody?

For those of you who don't know, here's how it works (long-timers chime in if I get it wrong): You are matched up with a swap partner, and there will be a theme. You can't spend more than $10 on the swap box contents, which means you get to thrift, re-gift, make by hand, or whatever. Then you send the package to your partner after exchanging addresses though private messages. When your package arrives, hopefully you have a camera so you can snap a photo to post.

It's really fun to see what you sent in your partner's house. These swaps are great way to get acquainted with people all around the country. I'm always impressed with the thought and creativity that goes into the boxes.

Would you like to sign up now? Please tell me if you're in, what timeline works for you, and who you have swapped with before.

[RoseMary]

I'm in and early April sounds good to me. I have swapped with Justice, who doesn't seem to be around anymore and neither is the first person I swapped with--I'm seeing a pattern, here:o ! I've also swapped with CheapDiva and sent a swap to LisaS--and of course, received a great swap box from you. (I really enjoyed the Rose Cottage book!)

R~Mary

[Chyna]

Boy Rosemary we may need to start calling you Poison Ivy if you keep running off people. :lol:

I think April is good and I'm going to go for it this time. I've never had a partner so this could be really entertaining. ;)

[ChapterTwo]

Great job in describing the swap, Deb, and I'm in for early April!

Memmey sent me my first, wonderful swap and I, of course, sent you your swap box, Deb. ;)

Yes, RoseMary - please don't keep chasing members away. HaHa...only joking! :lol:

[Thrift Shop Romantic]

I'm in!

I've swapped with Gigi, Rubyslippers, and Mandybeth (who I don't believe stops by anymore) in the past.

And April is good timing. YAY!

[SusiesQs]

I'm in for April as well. I'll keep watching for the sign up day!

[RoseMary]

Okay, girls, I'll do my best not to run anyone else off:lol: !

[ChapterTwo]

Good thing you've got a good sense of humor, and you know we're kidding, Rose Mary! :lol:

[Memmey]

Two, Rosemary is our kind hearted good sport. She can get us back though:p :p :D

[cheapdiva]

I'm in and Deb I'll send you the list of who was partnered this time by pm. I will offer to be the official keeper of the swap lists here on out (and then pass them on to the swap planner for each swap) so we have a record.

April works for me. Personally, at some point I would like to see us do an exchange of something we have to make. There is SO much talent here and everyone is capable of making something . . . even a tin of cookies!!! Just a thought.

[Lisa S]

I'm in too! I think I've swapped with Memmy, Rosemary and Serindipity. I'm foggy today, so I could be wrong.

Stationary stuff or a favorite book would be good swaps too.

[dedavis]

Thanks for all the great ideas! And thanks to Maria, for offering to be the Official Keeper of the Swap Lists.

Let's say that March 1st is the deadline to throw your name in for this swap. Here is who I have so far:

RoseMary
Chyna
Chapter Two
Thrift Shop Romantic
SusiesQs
Cheapdiva
Lisa S.

Memmey, you in? How about Gigi or Rubyslippers or Evelyn or Ladybug? The more the merrier! All you new people, don't be shy.

[Memmey]

Why yes, yes I am....IN

[Les B]

Count me in for the swap, please. I'm a newbie and have enjoyed reading your posts. Love all the decorating and great ideas. The people here are so warm and kindhearted.We are just getting ready for another storm here. The saying here is, It's Buffalo, get over it.

Les B

[ChapterTwo]

Yup - we're in the midst of the snowstorm. My daughter's school (she's student teaching) is closed. The worst part is that my son had a flight home from CA today and he called last night to say it was cancelled, of course. Nothing ever seems to go as planned! (I guess that's what makes life ummmmmm..."interesting"! :o)

[Ladybug]

Oh me too, me too! I want to play! I can plan ahead this time so I can participate! Yea!! I have swapped with windycity (she doesn't stop by anymore, so Rosemary you're not the only one who chases posters away! :D ), SusieQ and Memmey. If I've forgotten someone, I'm very sorry!

[rubyslippers]

Hello Deb ... sign me up ...

I would be interested in hearing some ideas here from those who have participated in swaps before about what they would like to swap.

Deb already mentioned she had some ideas; what on earth could our resident gardening expert be thinking about having us swap in April? I am looking into the Crystal Ball ... could seed packets be included ... inquiring minds want to know.

In all seriousness, I love CheapDiva's idea of swapping something we have made. Also, after receiving a well loved book, I wouldn't mind sending a favorite book to someone else. I actually loved the last swap ... I just feel terrible I was pretty much the last person to get my stuff together.

Anyway, I am rambling now. Thank you Deb for your fan-tab-u-lous organization skills.

Bye!

Jenny

[WannaBHomemaker]

I'd love to be in on the swap too! Sounds like so much fun! I'm so glad I found this forum!! My thanks to Memmey for that! I happened upon the Country Living forum by accident one day and Memmey had a post that said this forum was very active, so I came to have a looksie and joined!

[RoseMary]

I'd love to be in on the swap too! Sounds like so much fun! I'm so glad I found this forum!! My thanks to Memmey for that! I happened upon the Country Living forum by accident one day and Memmey had a post that said this forum was very active, so I came to have a looksie and joined!

And we are so glad you did! Memmey is great at PR!

[jwilsie]

Count me in for the April swap! I've swapped with Gigi before. In all the craziness of life I missed out on the most recent swap, so I'm ready to jump on board again.

[Chyna]

Speaking of which, where have you been? Wonder where Ladybug is at. I know they hibernate in the winter but that isnt' a good excuse. :()

[Memmey]

Look at all the great people joining in!!!! This gonna be funnnnnnn:D :D

[Thrift Shop Romantic]

I'm still laughing envisioning Memmey out "recruiting" on other boards and bringing nice folks back here to join in the fun. :D

[dedavis]

What fun! There are 14 of us signed up so far, and there's still a week to go before the deadline.

Be warned I have other interests besides gardening! There's still plenty of snow on the ground here, so I have to play with other things besides dirt...

[Les B]

Chapter Two,Did your son your son finally get home? Still snowing pretty good here. I check out the country living community site, very neat!:)

[afterall.designs]

I'd wondered what "swap box" was when I'd seen it mentioned in forums....Oh, this sounds like fun, please count me in!

Susan

[Ladybug]

I'm here Tanya! Life has been crazy here since the first of the year. Started a new semester at school and trying to adjust to this new schedule has been difficult...also started substitute teaching part-time to get some classroom experience. I've been fighting bronchitis for two weeks (was in bed for a full 10 days!!!) so I'm trying to get back into the swing of things.

I'll have just enough time to complete this swap before my trip. I will spending three weeks in Tuscany in May for a landscape painting course and I'm SO excited!!! Can't wait! And can't wait for this swap! It'll be great!

[ChapterTwo]

Yes, Les - thanks so much for asking, and WELCOME! - My son DID arrive into LaGuardia Airport (which is a maze) at around 3:45 pm. They were coming home from CA, as I mentioned...but got diverted to Cincinnati and then D.C, and finally into NY. I am accustomed to our own Newark Airport, here in NJ, and I hate driving on the NY highways...I can't tell you how many different roads I was on yesterday. Oy!

How much snow did you get, altogether? We had about 6 inches.

I hope you'll enjoy this forum - we have a lot of smart, supportive, funny ladies and it's really a wonderful community.

*************
April - So sorry to hear you were sick! You've got a lot on your plate and maybe you got a little run down. So you're going to be a teacher? What age group will you teach? My daughter is presently student teaching (2nd grade) and my son teaches high school computer science classes.

You are SO lucky to be going to Tuscany! Whoo Hoo! That will be amazing. Have you ever seen the movie, "Under the Tuscan Sun"? The scenery is absolutely breathtaking.

[Memmey]

Little Miss Bug:) Tuscany...oh my gosh. I want to visit Modena with all my heart to pay my respects at Maestro Pavarotti's mausoleum.
I dream of going there, will you stand in a beautiful spot and take a huge deep breath for me and think about me. Memorize what you saw and tell me about it when you get back....please

[SusiesQs]

April,

That is wonderful that you're going to Tuscany! I would love to go there one of these days. :)

As far as the swap goes, have we decided on what type or what theme it is? Is is bought or made? Just curoius...

I can't wait...always something to look forward to doing :D

[Ladybug]

I love that movie! It's one of my favorites and was even before I knew I was going on this trip! And yes, Memmey, you can bet I'll think of you and takes LOTS of pics!

[dedavis]

LANDSCAPE PAINTING in TUSCANY for 3 WEEKS!!! (Yes, I know I'm yelling!) You lucky lucky Ladybug! I want to see the paintings! I want to see pictures and hear all about it! Wow!

I haven't announced the details of the swap, but the theme will be "Fresh for Spring". Saturday, March 1st will be the last day to sign up. Look for more details around Thursday, February 28th.

[RoseMary]

Take lots and lots of pictures, Ladybug~I'm sooooo happy for you. Tuscany for three weeks!! Even if I were talented enough to paint, I don't think I could in there--as ChapterTwo says, it looks breathtaking and all I'd do is sit on a hillside and take in the view all day!

[ChapterTwo]

I don't really watch many movies, even though I just mentioned "Under the Tuscan Sun" ;) ...but another one came to mind when I thought about landscape painting in Tuscany. Did anyone see "Return to Me" with Minnie Driver and David Duchovney? I think, in this movie, she goes to Venice to paint, if my memory serves me.

It's one of my favorite movies (from 2000) - old-fashioned, with great actors like Bonnie Hunt, Carroll O' Connor, Jim Belushi, and lots of character actors who make it all seem so real. Very sweet!

[Thrift Shop Romantic]

Wow, feel better soon, LadyBug-- so you can concentrate on that great trip! I can only imagine how wonderful landscape painting in Tuscany would be.

And WHAT a landscape to work with! Zow!

[RoseMary]

ChapterTwo, Return to Me is one of our very favorite movies! Because of that movie I now own a lot of Dean Martin music. We watch it at least twice a year. It is an old fashioned sort of movie~something they don't make enough of these days. Have you seen Only You ? Bonnie Hunt is in it, too, and most of the movie is in Italy.

[WannaBHomemaker]

Ladybug - I'm so jealous! I LOVED Italy! You must take a good camera with lots of memory and batteries!!! After I got back from Italy I made a photo book on Shutterfly.com and put in all of the best photographs from my trip and it's such a great keepsake! You should look into doing that after you get back. I even entered the book in an art show at my university and got lots of compliments. "Under the Tuscan Sun" is one of my all-time favorites!! It makes me want to leave everything and move there too - lol!

[Chyna]

I saw in the Country Living mag I picked up the other day that March is Crafts month. Just thought I'd toss that out there for you. **;

[Lisa S]

Have a fun and safe trip. I can close my eyes and imagine the sun and the smells of wonderful food. Have the time of your life~!

[cheapdiva]

Oh to be anywhere for several weeks with warm air and sunshine - I am jealous! Have a fabulous trip and don't forget about us!!!

[Les B]

thank you for the welcome, RoseMary had done it earlier.Chapter Two, we have been having storm after storm. 7-8" The cold has been between 9-13 degrees. Glad to hear your son arrived safely. My friends went to Sardinia, Italy. Beautiful pictures.