etsymatchboxes

Whew. What a wonderful time I had last night! Hosting was such a great experience. All of the matchboxes seen above were created by the attendees of the event. They were all so sweet and creative! Swap-bot loves forever!

craftnightgroup

There were about 30-40 attendees at the in-person event at the Etsy Labs and about 50 people watching the Virtual Labs video tutorial. Thank you to everyone – especially Swap-bot members – who came and watched. Lisa (Swap-bot username ) came to the in-person event early and helped set up, and I know I saw at least one Swap-botter (thanks, !) and my mom in the Virtual Labs! Were any other ‘botters there that I missed?

mejulie

In addition to the Swap-bot peeps, I met a ton of new people at the Craft Night, like , , Colette, Rachel, Elaine, and so many more. I wish I had taken more time to remember everyone’s names and ask them more about themselves. Alas, I was caught up in trying to explain the matchbox procedure clearly and pushing treats and Swap-bot swag on everyone! I hope they forgive me. Above is a photo of me and , the super-cool organizer of Etsy Craft Nights. She does a great job and she really made the night go smoothly. Travis and our friend, , also came by at the end of the evening and helped me close up shop. Everyone was so helpful, friendly, and supportive. It was a great night.

etsycrafters

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If you want to know more about the event, some of the attendees have already posted about it , , and . You can also watch the full video of the Virtual Labs tutorial – it is about 15 minutes long. (I didn’t think it was going to be available after the fact, so I am excited.) You can see my photos from the event . That is me and Lisa below…

melisa

And, I know I have linked to these a million times, but if you want to make a few Matchbox Valentines like the ones we made last night you can use my free and . Have fun crafting!