Aug 28th 2007 01:44:10 pm

I am always on the look-out for unique swaps to feature… the Camera and Flat Shirley Swap definitely meets that criteria. The swap is hosted by funkychicken and it is a somewhat complicated two-step swap, so please read the entire swap description before signing up.

Basically, each participant creates a “flat shirley” of themselves - a small paper body with a picture of themselves for its head, based loosely on the Flat Stanley books - and sends it along with a disposable camera to their partner. The flat shirley stays with the partner for a month and travels around with the person getting its photo taken in various locations. When the month is up, the partner sends back the full camera and flat shirley back to the original creator. This swap should make for some funny and surprising photos of each little “mini me”!

The swap is international, but requires a 4.7 rating or higher. There are more guidelines and detailed information on the swap’s home page. Happy swapping!

No Comments » Categories: Weekly Featured Swap

Aug 20th 2007 10:25:54 am

This week we are featuring a very unique and clever swap hosted by spoonergregory called Art from Start to Finish. This extremely creative international swap is open to experienced participants who have over a 4.5 rating. The purpose of the swap is to “find out about the process that other people go through when they make a piece of original artwork.” For the swap you create one original piece of artwork (any medium except photography or ATCs) and document the entire process. Each participant will send their one partner the following items:

• The piece of original artwork created for this swap.
• A letter explaining your creative process. This can be typed or handwritten, but must be at least two pages.
• A photograph of the materials you used.
• A photograph of your work space.
• At least three photographs of the work at various stages of completion.
• Your early sketches/photographs/ideas that you used as inspiration for the finished piece

As you can see, this is a very involved swap, but it would be absolutely fascinating to get an inside look into other artists’ creative processes and to show off your own work! Art from Start to Finish is open for sign up through the 30th of August. After that you have a full month (until October 1st) to create and document your art. Please see the swap’s info page for the complete requirements. Good luck and happy swapping!

No Comments » Categories: Weekly Featured Swap

Aug 20th 2007 10:01:53 am

Travis worked hard making a few improvements to the site this weekend. Here is what has been improved:

• There is now a “games” category for swaps. You select up to three swap categories when creating each swap, and you can search by category on the “View all swaps” page.
• The image uploading problem when editing newly created swaps should now be fixed. You should have no problem uploading .jpgs, .gifs, or .pngs to represent your swaps now.
• The account self deletion option should now be working correctly. If you choose to delete your account (permanently) you can now click on the link at the very bottom of the “Edit Profile” page and, if you are not in any open swaps, your account will automatically be deleted. Previously this option had a few bugs.

Please let us know if you notice any problems with these three improvements. Thanks!

No Comments » Categories: Bug Fixes, New Features

Aug 13th 2007 08:39:11 am

After a 2.5 month hiatus, weekly featured swaps are back! There are so many great swaps to choose from (577 open swaps right now!) it was hard to pick just one…

This week’s featured swap is the Fiber Art Photography ATC Swap hosted by fiberfool. The swap is open for signup through the end of August, and your ATCs must be mailed to your three partners by September 14th. The swap is international and open to any swapper with a 4.5 rating or higher. Each participant will send three ATCs to each of their partners. The ATCs must include a photograph of some type of fiber-related item, such as yarn, tools, or projects which are completed or in progress.

ATCs are a very popular swap item, but despite their popularity I still get many emails asking what they are. ATCs are Artist Trading Cards. They are 2.5 x 3.5 inches in size, are created by hand, and are either one-of-a-kind or in limited editions. For those of you who are new to them, here are a few links to ATC sites:

• Wikipedia article about ATCs
• ATCards Forums
• Artist Trading Cards Flickr Group

1 Comment » Categories: Weekly Featured Swap

Aug 9th 2007 09:32:32 am

Because of a few recent forum threads and many email complaints from users, I have determined it is necessary to post a bit of info about forum etiquette.

First of all, we love how active everyone is in the forums. It is wonderful when we see people answering questions and helping new users. Our policy is to NOT censor any forum posts or delete any threads. Each user is responsible for what they post to the forums… That is where things can get tricky!

Please be aware that members could be held legally responsible for damages to another member’s reputation if a court were to find that the remarks constitute libel or defamation. Under federal law - Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act - because Swap-bot does not censor feedback or investigate it for accuracy, Swap-bot is not legally responsible for the remarks that members post, even if those remarks are defamatory. However, this law does not protect the person who leaves the feedback from responsibility for it.

Basically, you are just as responsible for remarks you make in the Swap-bot forums as you are for things you say to someone’s face or print in a publication. I know that bad swappers make us super-mad and frustrated, but we all have to try our best to remain civil and kind.

One more thing: although we created a “One-on-One Trades” category in the forums, Swap-bot cannot regulate these swaps and I cannot make sure that members send their items for these swaps. We are currently working on a way to incorporate one-on-one trades and tag-type swaps into the overall Swap-bot system and rating system, but it will take us a while to get it implemented. Until then, you are participating in the forum swaps completely at your own risk without any type of recourse (i.e. the rating system) available if you don’t receive items. Because we do not regulate these types of swaps, I cannot take the forum swaps into consideration when deciding whether someone needs to have their account frozen or deleted.

There are so many awesome, kind, creative, and fabulous users on Swap-bot. Don’t let the few scammers get you down! We are trying our best to stay on top of them.

Thank you all for your help and happy swapping!

3 Comments » Categories: Announcements, General