This week’s featured swap is ATC Inspired by Your Username hosted by Arabella. I think it would be fascinating to “see” the story behind other swappers’ usernames!

The swap instructions: “Your ATC can be a literal interpretation of your username (like CupcakeLover making an ATC featuring a cupcake surrounded by hearts, for example), or more abstract if you like. Include a note to your partner explaining the connection to your username, and tell your partner a little about how you chose the name. Be sure to include the swap and username on the back of the ATC!”

You only send one Artist Trading Card to one international partner for this swap. Sign up by August 16th.

Today I am attending the BlogHer10 conference in NYC. I am sure to discover some cool new websites to share while mingling with the other bloggy peeps, but for now, here are some fun things I found on the internet this week…

• If you didn’t make it into the Despicable Me Minion Swap, why not crochet or knit your own minion like the cuties seen above?!
• If you are looking for an easy way to do something good for others, check out Swap-bot member sara0811’s website: GiveTimeOrMoney.org. Sara researches charity organizations and gives suggestions for every monetary or time commitment level.
• I must try this recipe for Root Beer Float Cupcakes over on Confessions of a Cookbook Queen. They are so adorable and I love root beer floats!
• Need a boost of positivity in your life? Who doesn’t! Check out Kind Over Matter’s round up of free positive printables. There is some adorable and inspirational stuff!
• Like many others, I am a huge Star Wars fan, so I loved all of the amazing details of this Star Wars-themed party from Parties by Shindig. (I also love these meticulous Star Wars cupcakes seen on Flickr.)
• Speaking of parties, check out some of the cool cards Martha Stewart received from her interns for her birthday last week.

Did you see anything on the web this week that I should add to the list?

If you enjoy home decor or gardening, check out Be@Home. The blog, which is updated a few times per day, has multiple contributers and covers topics such as interior design, home decor trends, home and garden maintenance, product reviews, and fun link roundups. Recent articles include one on inexpensively making your home more cozy and one on mixing modern and victorian decor. The wide variety of info shared on the blog is sure to include something you find helpful or inspiring.

The Be@Home blog is a part of the Become.com blog network that includes ten different blogs with a wide variety of shopping tips and cool finds. Become, Inc. was founded in early 2004 with a mission to help people make ideal buying decisions.

Golda, one of the Be@Home bloggers recently wrote a very excellent spotlight article about Swap-bot. I think her description of the ‘bot is even better than the ones I write! Thanks, Golda!

Three cheers for Swap-botters who get together in real life! On Sunday, kiwivandal from Vermont and FoxTwentyTen from New York met up in Burlington. They shopped at Michael’s, crafted, and took flat Crusher along for the ride!

You can view their photos from the day over in the Swap-bot Meetups Facebook group. It looks like they had a fun time… Crusher even got in on the crafting!

Owls jumped in my head this week as I was browsing Etsy looking for cute finds. Owls have been popular for a while, so there is a lot to choose from, but I have not grown tired of their cute owly faces! (The notecard set above is from one of my favorite artists, boygirlparty, on Etsy.)

What do you think? Do you love owls or are they over-played?

You may have noticed that the Swap-bot blog was pretty quiet for the last week… well, all of your faithful Swap-bot admin members (me & travisj) were on vacation. We had a great time visiting Disney World with our family, but now we are back home and back on the job!

In honor of our fun trip, I’ve chosen the Summer Vacation Postcard swap as this week’s featured swap. It is an fun, international postcard swap hosted by angkb. Simply pick up two extra postcards while you are on your summer vacation (I picked up some extra Minnie & Mickey postcards for my partners), and send one to each of your two partners once parters are assigned.

The sign up for the Summer Vacation Postcard swap is open until August 20th, so you still have plenty of time to get home from your summer travels before it starts. I can’t wait to see where everyone visited this summer!

Some more of the best of the crafty internet just for you…

• Diane Gilleland, of CraftyPod, has an informative article, Cheap and Simple Tools for Better Blog Photography, on Craftzine.com that can help improve your photography with just a few small tweaks to your process.
• This totally and completely grosses me out, but it is pretty ingenious: How to make spider silk thread – out of real spider webs!
• If you are thinking about selling your handmade wares online, but don’t know which digital marketplace to choose, check out this helpful comparison article on CraftCritique.com. (Also check out my recent review of crafting apps for the iPhone!)
• I have told you about Craft Hope before – a site dedicated to making a difference in the world through craft – and now there is a Craft Hope book. It contains 32 projects that can be created and donated to specific charities. Lovely!
• I love this recipe on Cooking with My Kid because I love Greek salads and anything miniature: Bite Sized Greek Salads. Yum!
• Upon a Fold – an online Australian stationery shop that I just discovered and fell in love with.
• On Dollar Store Crafts: make cupcake garden lights – cute!
• If you are interested in home decor, Be@Home is a great resource full of home and garden ideas.
• And, just for fun: CUPCAKE CAR!!

Happy weekend, everyone! xoxo

My intention was to dedicate this week’s Etsy picks to my brother, DrSwap, who is going to be the camp doctor at Boyscout camp next month… But when I started looking at camping-themed items on Etsy, I got distracted by all of the cute S’more stuff… I love S’mores! They may be my favorite food. And so, this week’s handmade marketplace features all S’more picks. Yum!

Who knew that so many awesome crafters were inspired by graham crackers, chocolate, and marshmallows!!

The Despicable Me Minion Swap has concluded and many amazing Minion photos were submitted. The little Minions traveled all over the world! Everyone who submitted photos of their Minion was entered in a drawing for a big prize pack – a $50 Fandango gift certificate and fun movie merchandise – and a winner has finally been selected! In fact, Universal Pictures loved this swap so much that they decided to give away a second “runner up” prize of movie merchandise, as well!

The big winner is…

Tigerlilly327 – She took her “super” Minion to San Jose, California, where he saw the city hall and the cool convention center. Don’t you love his super costume?!

The runner up winner is…

SaintUrsula – She took her dreadlocked Minion to Yellowstone National Park where he saw Old Faithful. You can see more photos of her Minion’s adventures in her Flickr set.

Congrats to the winners and thank you to everyone who participated in this fun swap. I loved seeing all of the great photos!

It has been so warm and summery here in New York. I have sunshine on my mind! Check out these pretty, yellow, sunshine picks from Etsy:

Let the sunshine in!!