The following three Swap-bot users were randomly chosen on as the winners of the . The grand prize winner will receive and one of her 8×10 art prints from her , and the two runners up will each receive an 8 x 10 art print. Congratulations to the winners!

Grand prize winner:

**Ariel (aka )

</b> on 26 Dec 2009: “I packaged and help deliver gift bags to over 200 nursing home residents. The Silver Stocking Project is a grassroots program that provides items to people in nursing homes that have no other family members or friends. It’s a great program!”

Runners up winners:

Jessica (aka ) on 29 Dec 2009: “A good thing I did this month was I saved the money from my paychecks by cutting back and eliminating some activities to buy Christmas presents for everybody, even those I knew didnt have the money to buy for me.”

Marie (aka ) on 20 Dec 2009: “This month I have been working on a very big examn project from the university. One of the girls in my project group has been very busy so I’ve helped her out a lot by doing some stuff for her and still making her take the credit. – It was important to her and she was so happy afterwards.”

This week I am featuring a unique mail art swap, but you must sign up soon! The deadline for the is this Friday, January 1st! The swap is being hosted by and she explains the requirements very well in the swap description:

Take a piece of paper (the size and color is up to you) and on one side fill it with all the things you want to rid yourself of in the new year, like emotional distresses, love problems, self esteem issues, etc, or focus on one large issue. Scrible, draw, list, collage, paint, etc. Then on the other side, write many positive things you want to acomplish in the new year. You dont need to have either of these in paragraph form, you should just write whatever comes to mind, even if its only two or three large words and a bunch of doodles! When youve done this, fold the envelope up with the negative things you want to rid yourself of in the inside,where nobody can see it, and with the positive things facing outside . Inside this envelope you can put small things that relate to what you want to get rid of, like old bills, a picture of a past lover, a photo of someone who you cannot stand, or even small objects that relate, like maybe a small wooden heart, etc.. Then seal the envelope. On the outside, make sure to write your username, because your partner will not even open the envelope!! They will rate you, then burn it to ash after reading the positive things written on the outside!! This swap is for YOUR gain. The more you believe in the power of attraction, and the more you believe that you make your own destiny, the more likely this is to work for you! Think of it as mail art, but with a purpose!

You send your 2010 envelope to just one partner by the January 7th deadline. You must have a 4.9 rating, or higher, to join the . Happy New Year!

The following five Swap-bot users were randomly chosen on as the winners of the. They will each win a free art print from . Congratulations!

#3 – tishous on 06 Dec 2009: “Fabulous giveaway! I’ve fallen in love with the ‘What a Hoot’ charm bracelet in her shop…so adorbs!”

#9 – CSNYfan on 06 Dec 2009: “I like the What a Hoot Charm Bracelet as well – super cute and I love all of the little treasures hanging off of the bracelet.”

#13 – Rossi (provadia) on 07 Dec 2009: “Ahhh! How I love the Multicolor Fiber and Polymer Clay Necklace:)”

#15 – Christine Kepler on 07 Dec 2009: “i love the Fleur de Lys necklace. It’s gorgeous. Lilspotteddog is my name. Thanks”

#20 – trisha too (T) on 07 Dec 2009: “CUTE shop–the Multicolor Fiber and Polymer Clay Necklace i probably my favorite, but the daughter looking over my shoulder likes the What a Hoot owl bracelet better!”

We have another sponsored giveaway for you this week thanks to Swap-bot user, (aka Jazmyn Douillard). Jazmyn is an artist and she sells her artwork and designs on her Etsy store, . She sells , , , and more. Jazmyn has also recently written her first novel, .

For the giveaway, Jazmyn will be sending a grand prize consisting of a copy of her and an . She will also be giving away two runners up prizes of one 8×10 print each. Each winner will get to pick the print of their choice. Personally, I love this amazingly detailed Blooming Lotus print:

For another chance to win one of Jazmyn’s wonderful prints, check out her friend, . IKettle is an online version of the Salvation Army red kettle donation program. Ingrid has and the Ikettle drawing is a part of that challenge. Jazmyn has donated an 8×10 print to her drawing, and there are a few other prizes, too!

To enter the Swap-bot blog giveaway, simply comment on this post by Wednesday, December 30th, 2009. Include a brief note about one good deed you have done this month. Also, remember to include your Swap-bot username in your comment. The winners will be sent their art print directly from Jazmyn, so if you win you must be willing to release your mailing info to her. The three winners will be randomly drawn and announced on Thursday, December 31st 2009. Like always, if you have trouble commenting on the blog, you can send me an email with your entry to rachel [at] swap-bot.com. Good luck!

I know that not everyone celebrates the same holidays, but it seems that no matter what you have planned for this time of year, we are all busy! December has been a whirlwind! I have a few crafty links for you this week, but feel free to add lots more in the comments section…

• If you are still looking for gift ideas, has been doing a full gift guide series this month and has some amazing suggestions.
• I know that I share link to very often, but I just can’t help it. The pretty blog has been featuring some amazing free printables this season, like these , these , and this .
• Ez, the author of Creature Comforts, also has a cute store called . On the Nice Package blog today is a . Very pretty, and very easy!
• Speaking of free printables, have you checked out ? It is the blog of a professional toy designer and it features tons of super-cute free downloads.
• More downloadable designs: The Martha Stewart Christmas Workshop has a . Matchbox crafters may be especially interested because there are also free matchbox wrap downloads available. (Thanks to Swap-bot user, for submitting this link.)
• A little more Swap-bot press, Craft Test Dummies (the blog I ) published a . Love it!
• has some big news! They are hosting a Handmade Pavilion at the in January. If you are a crafter and would like to sell and show off you crafts at the Supershow, get more info about the booth opportunities .

It is so awesome when Swap-bot users get together in real life. Recently six members from the met up in the UK for an afternoon tea. Here is a recap of the fun event written by Swap-bot user, :

_We had a lovely time at our British Birds Afternoon Tea Party in Bedford on Saturday, 5th December! There were six swap-botters plus six kiddies, and we each brought along some crafting bits – plus cakes and sandwiches, of course! At the start of the afternoon we each drew a name out of a hat and then set about crafting a “Secret Santa” gift for that person. There’s a photo of us

</i> [seen above] all on my flickr showing off our lovely gifts – from left to right the swap-botters are: , , , , (me!) and (who happens to be my mum!) We’re already planning the next meet!

It sounds like it was a great event! If anyone else plans a get-together with other Swap-botters, please let me know (rachel[at]swap-bot.com). I would love to feature the event here on the blog.

A Swap-bot Spotlight was published on the AOL Holidash blog today! Thank you to the reporter, Erin Loechner, and to Swap-bot user, Felicia Luera, for the awesome quote! Press is always great because it means more crafty peeps will find out about the fun of Swap-bot!

Hey All,

I wanted to write a quick post explaining what happened here on the blog today. At some point during the day the company where we host our blog was hacked and all the customer passwords were stolen. The person who stole the passwords then logged in to many accounts and put files all over the place saying that the site was hacked. The problem still isn’t resolved and I am not getting very much information from our host, but if you would like to read more about the problem check out . I have pieced this blog back together the best I can tonight. The only thing that is really missing is the custom Swap-bot theme. Rachel and I will work on getting this back tomorrow.

I want to make sure that it is very clear that the site that was hacked was only the blog. Swap-bot, itself, is hosted on completely different servers in a completely different datacenter with a completely different company. The hacker that broke into the blog only had access to our blog posts, comments (which are all public already) and files. Personal data, such as your address and partners, was not compromised at all. This is very important and I want to make sure it is clear, so I will state it again. Your personal Swap-bot data was not compromised at all.

Now that the blog is back, make sure to sign up for the latest giveaway!

Thanks,

Travis

There are just over two weeks until 2010 is upon us! Can you believe it?! Let’s embrace the swift passage of time and celebrate the new year with a fun Japanese tradition. This week’s featured swap is for the traditional Japanese New Year postcards called Nengajo. The is being hosted by . (The swap was inspired by a hosted by , which has already closed for sign up.) For the international 2010 Nengajo swap, each participant must send one New Year-themed postcard to each of their three partners. Postcards are an important part of the New Year celebrations in Japan. From the swap description:

On January 1 in Japan, postmen deliver stacks of specially postmarked, beautiful postcards with greetings for the new year. They are called ‘nengajo’ in Japanese and families spend lots of creative energy to make or purchase postcards that reflect their style. Japan Post even sells preprinted nengajo with special lottery stamps!

You can read more about the . The is open for sign up through December 20th.