Aug 31st 2009 03:00:32 pm

This week I am featuring an ATC (Artist Trading Card) swap in celebration of our current ATC tool giveaway. I chose the Robot ATC swap, hosted by Corky2828, because lately I have been having a love affair with robots. They seem to be popping up more and more in unexpected places, like in scrapbook supplies and crochet. I think they can represent all types of styles and personalities, like masculine, feminine, cute, mean, silly, etc…

For the swap you just make one Robot-themed ATC for one partner. The swap is international and open for sign up through September 7th. To join, you must have participated in at least two swaps and have over a 4.7 rating.

(The cutie robot seen here is the logo for our company, mechroboticon, llc.)

No Comments » Categories: Weekly Featured Swap

Aug 30th 2009 06:02:18 am

We have been going through a dry spell in regard to giveaways here on the Swap-bot blog, but we are back with a bang! I have an amazing set of ATC-related goodies to send to one lucky winner. The set includes the 7Gypsies Revolving ATC Holder Carousel, which comes with 20 blank ATC cards that are pre-punched to hang on the carousel, plus 20 clear ATC sleeves (to use with your existing ATCs to hang them on the carousel), 20 black tab dividers (for organizing your ATCs on the carousel), and the special ATC punch (which creates the perfect little notches used to hang cards on the carousel).

It is a really nice set of ATC tools - over $50 in value! I have been intrigued by the 7 gypsies carousel ever since I saw it online, but I recently saw one in action at a craft store and I was impressed. It is made of heavy metal and the cards actually attach to it pretty securely, but they are also easily removed and switched around. If you are not into ATCs, the carousel can be used as a mini, vertical scrapbook of sorts. You can put photos in the sleeves and decorate the cards with journaling or more photos.

Because this giveaway is slightly larger than usual, there are two ways to enter:

1. Post a comment here on the blog telling us about your favorite ATC you have made or received, and/or…
2. Post about Swap-bot (it can be about this giveaway, or about Swap-bot in general) somewhere on the web (your blog, twitter, a public forum) and link to your post in your comment.

Make sure to include your Swap-bot username and email address in your comment or your entry will not be counted. Each person can enter this giveaway drawing up to two times by making both types of comments. Please make a separate comment for each entry. The deadline for entering this giveaway is Friday, September 18th. The winner will be randomly drawn and announced on Sunday, September 20th. If you have trouble commenting on the blog, you can send me an email at rachel [at] swap-bot.com. Good luck!

UPDATE: A few of your comments got caught in our spam filter, but I think I have approved them all as of today (9/10/09) and they should be showing up below. I will continue to check through the spam comments to see if it mislabeled any legitimate comments. I don’t want anyone to miss out on this giveaway!

151 Comments » Categories: Giveaways

Aug 28th 2009 08:56:26 am

Another week, another collection of awesome craft links. Enjoy and have a nice weekend!

• I just discovered another fancy blog that features indie designers: Indie Craft Corner.
• Another lovely blog, the b-line, has a cute tutorial for making pet pouches (your dog can wear the pouch on their collar to carry baggies or keys or money).
• This is too cute to pass up!! Fantastic Toys has an amazing set of five, free, gnome-themed, paper toys. They are all downloadable PDF files and the set includes a “gnomie” paper doll, finger puppets, a mobile, and a gnome bowling set! So adorable.
• Speaking of adorable, Swap-bot member lisajhoney makes the most amazing felt food (her felt chocolates are pictured above) and she was recently featured on the Penguin & Fish blog and Craft Gossip. Awesome crafty skills! You can purchase her creations in her Etsy shop.
• Digital Photography School has eight great tips for how moms can take better photos of their kids.
• This is the most amazing graffiti I have ever seen!
• Saved the best for last: Check out the premier issue of Parasol Craft magazine. It is a downlodable PDF publication (available for $2.50) created by Yasmine of the original Parasol mag and A Print A Day. Parasol Craft is 111 pages of crafter interviews, projects, tutorials, and beautiful photography. So pretty!

2 Comments » Categories: friday link love

Aug 27th 2009 09:10:33 am

I have a fun, new website to share with you all. It is called Rollip.com and it allows you “give any digital photo the classic look and feel of a vintage or Polaroid picture.” It is a super-simple site to use (you do not have to create an account, which is a huge relief - no need to enter all of your contact info again, like on most other sites) and it offers a bunch of funky effects that you can use on your own photos. I created the two images below using two different Polaroid styles on the site.

Rollip is a really quick and easy way to jazz up your so-so digital images or give any photo a vintage feel - give it a try!

1 Comment » Categories: website review

Aug 24th 2009 08:29:17 am

There are many jewelry swaps that happen on Swap-bot, but I haven’t featured one here on the blog for a while… so this week we are featuring the Hand-Made Copper Wire Finger Ring swap hosted by auntumbreezzz. The swap is for both beginners and experienced wire ring makers.

Wire rings can be made out of many types of wire, such as copper or silver. For the swap, you can choose any type of wire and create one ring to send to your one swap partner. The ring can be of any color the sender chooses, but it must also contain a bead.

For beginners who would like to try out this craft, here are a few links to wire ring tutorials:

• Wire Ring “Karla Kam” video tutorial
• Spiral Wire Bead Ring Tutorial on CraftBits.com
• “Across the Pond” Wire Wrapped Ring Tutorial
• Making a Wire Wrapped Ring on Instructables.com
• Wire Wrap Jewelry group on Flickr

The Hand-Made Copper Wire Finger Ring swap is only open for sign up through Monday, August 31st, so get signed up now if you want to swap these pretty and fun-to-make rings!!

No Comments » Categories: Weekly Featured Swap

Aug 21st 2009 03:19:50 pm

This is going to be a two-week version of Friday Link Love since I missed last week’s post. I have divided the links into a few categories: freebies, bookmark sites, tutorials, and just plain cool sites. I hope you find something you love!

Freebie Downloads & Printables:

• Creature Comforts always has nice free downloads, but these floral calling cards by Suzy from Hey Suzy* are especially nice.
• These black and white Designer Labels on Got Crafts? seem extremely versatile and user-friendly.
• Speaking of labels, I really love these lemonade-themed labels from Dandy Bread and Candy (seen in action in the image above).
• A darling, little greeting card free for download at The Small Object.

Crafty Bookmarking Sites:

• If you need a place to find interesting craft links and keep track of our favorite articles and places on the web, check out VoteHandmade.com. It is a place where you can submit links to anything craft-related and the users vote on which items they like most. (You can vote for Swap-bot, if you are so inclined.)
• Craftig.com is a very similar site, but with amazingly cute graphics. It is a social bookmarking site for crafters where you submit links and the most popular ones rise to the top. (You can also vote for Swap-bot on Craftig. Thanks!)

Tutorials:

• Very hip ruffle necklace tutorial on Happy Together.
• Cute and clever blue jean pocket place card idea from Chica and Jo.
• Flower gift box band tutorial on Gingham Cherry - use one instead of ribbon on your next package!
• A really pretty crocheted bracelet tutorial by Wren Handmade.
• Some tips on how to do archival framing to preserve your artwork on the Etsy Storque.

Cool Websites:

• I’m Just A Guy Who Quilts
• Blah to TADA! - a blog full of crafty recycling projects.

1 Comment » Categories: friday link love

Aug 20th 2009 01:25:55 pm

I am a little late on picking and publishing this week’s swap, but trust me, it was worth the wait! This week’s swap is the teeny tiny stuffie swap #4 hosted by Carotte. I can’t believe there have been three previous version of this swap that I missed!

For the swap, you send one miniature stuffie (”It can be sewn, felted, crocheted… if it’s small and ’soft’ it should be ok”) to one partner. The theme is open, but checking out your partner’s profile is always cool. More info from the swap description: “Note that the final stuffie is going to be quite small, so work with care and minutia, and maybe do a test run before joining the swap if you are not sure you can make it. They can use a really small amount of fabric/felt.” The swap is international, but you must have a 4.9 overall rating, or higher, to participate. Be sure to sign up before the deadline on August 29th!

For some inspiration, Carotte has some wonderful examples of super-tiny stuffies on her Flickr. (I am in love with the little rain cloud!)

1 Comment » Categories: Weekly Featured Swap

Aug 16th 2009 08:14:50 am

I apologize for the one week outage of Chat, but it has finally been fixed. During the outage I took the opportunity to move the chat server to a new host to hopefully improve performance. I have also taken additional measures to prevent this from happening again.

Sorry again for the disturbance in service,
Travis

1 Comment » Categories: General

Aug 11th 2009 03:00:02 pm

This week’s featured swap is a postcard swap with an intriguing twist. Coordinator, carol, has based her Postcard Biography Swap on the art/writing project of Michael Kimball. Kimball writes the entire life stories of individuals (strangers who contact him through his blog) on 4 x 6 postcards, in under 600 words. You can learn more about his project on his blog and by reading the NPR story about him.

For the Postcard Biography Swap you will write your own life story (in about 300 words) on postcards and send them to your three partners. From the swap description: “Please don’t just write boring details (although you can include them too), but give us a glimpse into you. What makes you tick? What’s important in your world? Who or what shaped who you are? How?”

The swap is international and open to new users, but you must sign up NOW - the sign up deadline is August 15th! I have signed up and I can’t wait to start working on my own mini life story!

2 Comments » Categories: Weekly Featured Swap

Aug 7th 2009 09:49:28 am

More links to fun, crafty, cool things I found around the internet this week:

• Easy-to-make “Indie Foxx Garland” tutorial and template from Indie Fixx.
• Instructables and Singer are hosting a Kids Craft Contest. To enter, you must create an Instructable tutorial that explains how to make a kid-friendly craft project, involves some sewing, either by hand or machine, and be made with, by, or for a kid. You must enter before September 13th, and winners will be announced at the end of September. There are many prizes, but the grand prize winner will receive a professional Singer serger.
• I like these 10 Everyday Tips to Change the World from Etsy’s The Storque.
• Handmade Romance has a ton of detailed information about how to design and create softies (aka stuffed animals and characters).
• Learn how to make your own sidewalk chalk on Mad Maggie Designs.
• The independent craft resource website, Craftbits.com, just got a make over! The site is a great place to find tons of craft projects.
• Just for laughs: theoatmeal.com (but beware, it may be a little offensive).

No Comments » Categories: friday link love