Apr 14th 2010 06:39:34 am

I recently participated in an awesome swap hosted by called . Each participant made a flat, paper Crusher (Crusher, btw, is the little chihuahua mascot of Swap-bot that you might have seen around the site) and took photos of him at local landmarks or doing our daily activities with us.

I () took Crusher to the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City, among .

took Crusher to Etsy Labs Craft Night under the Manhattan Bridge where we hung out and made applique shirts!

Crusher went swimming in the Pacific Ocean off the Oregon coast with .

He hung out with and her cat, Ghost, in Beaverton, Oregon.

And, he visited the Palmer Depot in Alaska with . Look at those mountains!

The swap host, , took Crusher to UCLA and the Golden Gate Bridge! wow!

Crusher even made it all the way to Costa Rica with . He traveled the globe!

He helped out in the Department of Homeland Security with .

And, he even managed to help with a bit of her sewing. Crusher loves crafting!

There are so many more great images of Crusher traveling the world… You can find many of them in .

3 Comments » Categories: Swappy Goodness

Apr 13th 2010 03:55:22 am

You can tell from that I am sort of obsessed with neon colors lately. I love to include just a splash of neon in otherwise tame art projects or outfits. So… I thought it would be fun to search for neon goodies on Etsy. These are some of my favorites:

How do you feel about neon? Does its resurgence excite you or frighten you?

6 Comments » Categories: Handmade Marketplace

Apr 12th 2010 09:34:20 am

All of a sudden I have fallen back in love with neon colors! Like many of us, I remember when neon was hot in the 80s and early 90s – I had a neon green snap bracelet and cool neon pink and black sunglasses – radical!

Well, neon and other bright colors are back in style… if used in moderation, of course, and this week’s featured swap is right on trend. It is the swap hosted by .

For the swap, you simply send an envelope full of brightly colored craft and collage items to each of your three partners. You can send flat crafting supplies such as paper, stickers, ribbon, fabric scraps, etc, but ALL of the items you send must be brightly colored and or neon/fluorescent! Make sure to check out the for all of the details and requirements. The swap is international and open to experienced swappers with at least a 4.5 overall rating and serious, new Swap-bot users. Sign up before the end of April to get in on this fluorescent fun!!

No Comments » Categories: Weekly Featured Swap

Apr 12th 2010 06:56:37 am

We have a winner!! has determined the winner of the she hosted here, on the Swap-bot blog, last month. And, the winner is…

Dannielle Molesworth aka on Mar 17th, 2010:

For my Craft Month Celebration I am volunteering at a local nursing home for arts & crafts. Teaching and assiting the elderly with a craft I donated. So many do not have any visitors and they love to recieve things or make things they can keep. I felt that was a great way to celebrate craft month.

Congrats to Dannielle! She will receive a wonderful selection of items handmade by Biasbabe.

3 Comments » Categories: Giveaways

Apr 11th 2010 07:13:34 am

I have a few more links to share with you from last week… better late than never!

• Adorable, free, are available from Cathe Holden on her blog, Just Something I Made. I love the one (seen above) that holds a roll of stamps!
• on Craftzine.com.
• Anyone have an iPad already? This is one of the first craft projects I have seen for the the new gadgets: .
• I feel bad telling you about this next one, because it will not help you with this month’s Stash Busting Challenge… but it seems too cool to keep to myself: . Everyday they offer up one craft item at a super sale price.
• This one is just for laughs and because I LOVE Star Trek:

And, here are few more links to help inspire your endeavors:

• on Crafts Unleashed.
• made from paper scraps on Scoutie Girl.
• on Dollar Store Crafts.
• (and adults!) using everyday household items on Babble.
• If you need another reason to use up supplies from your craft stash, take the and make something ugly for a change! Ha!

1 Comment » Categories: friday link love

Apr 8th 2010 12:09:22 pm

So… how are you doing with the ? Have you avoided buying new supplies? Have you been using up the things you already have in your stash? I have stayed true to my pledge and have not purchased anything new, but I think I need some motivation to actually start creating. So I’ve gathered together some craft tutorial links, plus a bunch of other fun stuff related to busting your stash. Enjoy!

• Two awesome articles on the CroqZine blog: 15 Reasons

  to Bust Your Stash and 15 Ways to Bust Your Stash.

• Crafting a Green World has a great for week one of the Challenge and .
• Do you REALLY want to use up your stash? Why not participate in on Saturday! You could get a lot of projects done in 24 hours!
• . Button Fairies are sweet, little projects that you can make with buttons and paper scraps from your stash.
• There is a new who uses reclaimed materials in all of her handmade accessories.
• by Jan of Hungry Holler on the Cosa Verde blog.
• If your craft stash contains pin-back buttons that you would like to send along, come join the .
• If you’ve posted a stash bust tutorial or article on your blog, add it to the .

Check out your fellow Swap-botters who have taken the April Stash Bust Pledge and are signed up for the :

• ::
• ::
• ::
• ::
• ::
• ::
• Me! () ::
• Add your blog link in the comments if you have also taken the pledge!

1 Comment » Categories: General

Apr 7th 2010 07:13:56 am

I love buttons! Specifically one-inch, pin-back buttons that many companies and artists use to promote their work, like the Swap-bot buttons seen above. I have a huge collection!

My favorite place to order the pin-back buttons I design is I have been ordering from Busy Beaver for years for both personal designs and Swap-bot buttons. I love their quality and their awesome customer service, so I was excited when they offered to sponsor a button swap and a giveaway on the ‘bot!

If you love buttons, too, join the ! It is a really fun and easy swap – simply send three cool, pin-back buttons to your swap partner and receive three buttons in return. It is a great way to share and diversify your button collection! The swap is international and open to new users.

In honor of Earth Day, Busy Beaver Button Co. wants to give away a gift certificate for 100 free, custom, to one lucky Swap-bot member! The 100% recycled paper buttons are a brand new product at Busy Beaver in honor of the earth. The winner will be able to send their own design to Busy Beaver to be printed on the buttons. What a great way to promote an Etsy shop or website, or just create something fun!

To enter the giveaway, simply comment below with your answer to the question: What would you get printed on your custom buttons? Make sure to include your Swap-bot username in the comment. The giveaway will be open for entry through Earth Day, April 22nd, and then one winner will be randomly drawn and announced on the 23rd. Good luck!

93 Comments » Categories: Giveaways

Apr 6th 2010 06:35:52 am

Swap-bot loves ! There is just so much inspiration to be found by browsing through beautiful hand-crafted creations! So, as a new feature, I will be posting some of my favorite Etsy finds each week here, on the Swap-bot blog. The picks will probably follow a theme each time, and I would love to hear your suggestions of sellers or items that you think should be included.

This week, check out all of these snail mail themed items:

Perfect for Swap-bot!!

10 Comments » Categories: Handmade Marketplace

Apr 5th 2010 07:17:52 am

The featured swap this week is my very own . I may be moving into the territory of over-kill when it comes to promoting this swap, but I am really excited about the sentiment behind the . Plus, this stash busting swap is extremely easy and such a great way to reduce the amount of lovely, but neglected craft items hanging around our craft rooms. Why not give your unused supplies a new shot at life by sending them to your swap partner? And, in return you will receive an envelope full of inspiring and new-to-you supplies from your partner — It’s win-win! Reduce your stash and freshen up your stash all in one fun !

The is international and open to new and experienced members alike. Sign up closes on Earth Day, April 22nd. Each participant will then send a 6 x 9 inch, or larger, envelope full of craft supplies – like pretty paper scraps, fabric, yarn, ribbon, stickers, felt, embellishments, etc – to their one swap partner by the end of the month. Easy peasy!

The is a joint project being hosted by a bunch of crafty website (including Swap-bot!) in honor of Earth Day. You can take the April Stash Bust pledge to not buy any new craft supplies this month and instead create projects from items you already have on hand. The intention of the project is to get us all thinking about what we buy and how we use it, or don’t use it, while reducing the crafty clutter that we all seem to accumulate! For more info, check out . There is even a you can enter to win an awesome prize pack!

No Comments » Categories: Weekly Featured Swap

Apr 2nd 2010 12:24:02 pm

I am pumped!! There is so much happening in April that I want to share with you… I think this is the largest “Friday Link Love” post ever! Have fun.

LAST MINUTE EASTER & SPRING IDEAS

• If you need adorable Easter cards or gift tags, you must check out ! Lynn (Jinjerup’s designer) has created eight different Easter stationery and design sets – like the cutie-pie chick seen above – that you can purchase from her (for less than the cost of a store-bought card, I might add) and download immediately. I really can’t get over how cute all of her designs are! Plus, she has a free available on the Jinjerup blog. Love it!
• Country Living has over a dozen on their website.
• There’s a on Bloesem Kids’ Craft Projects blog.
• Download a on I Still Love You. Fill it with a few treats and you’ve got a cute little Easter basket.
• This link has definitely been making the round, but it is too cute to pass up: !
• I want to make these super-simple, but sooo cute on PoppyTalk.
• This idea is a little odd, but totally ingenious! on Dabbled. The whole tutorial is there showing you how to bake actual tiny cakes inside real, empty egg shells!
• And on Foodwhirl (Dabbled’s sister food site), check out the . Lots of ideas there!
• Speaking of cupcakes, Skip To My Lou has a very pretty .
• And one last Easter/spring treat idea… on Cake Journal.

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APRIL STASH BUST!!

• Take the to reduce your craft supply stash this month. Then, enter the April Stash Bust Craft Contest (by submitting a photo of a craft made entirely from items in your stash to the ) to win !
• Check out the April Craft Bust themed on Cosa Verde. makes cool crafts out of old bike tires and parts.
• Give new life to your neglected craft supply stash and join the
• There are some great submitted by readers over on Dollar Store Crafts.

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GENERAL CRAFTINESS

• Early bird registration is now open for the . The conference, which is focused on educating and promoting members of the handmade movement, will be held in Portland, Oregon this year, June 16-18th.
• is a blog with lots of great information for anyone wanting to run a small craft business.
• is a brand new index of resources for crafters, artists and indie business owners. I am still in the process of checking it out, but it looks cool, so far.
• This link has also been making the rounds, but it is a really inspirational blog for anyone interested in graphic design or typography: .
• The newest issue of Scrapbook and Cards Today magazine just came out. It is a digital publication that is free to download and full of great paper craft ideas. (Thanks to Swap-bot user, for sharing the link!)
• Who knew?!
• April is National Letter Writing Month! If you need inspiration to start sending snail mail, check out these great mail-themed blogs: (this blog was just started by !), , , and .

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So… that is all I’ve got! whew! Any links that I missed? Please share them in the comments below. Have a lovely weekend whether you are celebrating a holiday, like Easter or Passover, or just enjoying Spring!

5 Comments » Categories: friday link love