Your friendly peeps here at Swap-bot HQ have gone a little crazy over an article about the ‘bot in today’s NY Daily News. We are so excited! Super-awesome reporter, Barry Paddock, contacted us a few weeks ago and interviewed us last weekend, along with NY Swap-bot users luluvision and Provadia (that is luluvision in the photo above, and the adorable dollhouse matchbox I received from cobaltgypsy makes an appearance in the photo below). He was incredibly nice and we are so thrilled that he wanted to write about Swap-bot. We love press!

[

Your friendly peeps here at Swap-bot HQ have gone a little crazy over an article about the ‘bot in today’s NY Daily News. We are so excited! Super-awesome reporter, Barry Paddock, contacted us a few weeks ago and interviewed us last weekend, along with NY Swap-bot users luluvision and Provadia (that is luluvision in the photo above, and the adorable dollhouse matchbox I received from cobaltgypsy makes an appearance in the photo below). He was incredibly nice and we are so thrilled that he wanted to write about Swap-bot. We love press!

](http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/2009/12/07/2009-12-07_site_unites_crafty_artists_who_make_everything_from_ornaments_to_stuffed_animals.html)

We have another fun giveaway for you this week thanks to Sophie, aka on Etsy.

Sopsop88 is a diverse shop with , , , , and . For the giveaway, Sophie will be sending five art prints to five lucky Swap-bot winners. Each winner will receive one art print and will get to pick the illustration of their choice from . Personally, I love this <A href=http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=32350696”>Portrait of a Girl </a>:

is currently having a Buy One Get One art sale on until Dec 12, 2009. If you purchase any of her art prints, you can get a second print of equal or lesser value for free! December 12th is also the cut-off date for holiday shipping at Sopsop88. Starting December 13 and going through January 1st, 2010, all Swap-bot members can receive a 20% discount on any ARTWORK at Sopsop88. Simply create a custom order and use the code: “Swap-bot Art.” For more info about Sopsop88 deals and sales, check out the .

To enter the giveaway, simply comment on this post by Saturday, December 19th, 2009. Include a brief note about one or more of the products on that you like. (For example: I adore this – it’s so colorful and on trend!) Also, remember to include your Swap-bot username in your comment. The winners will be sent their art print directly from SopSop88, so if you win you must be willing to release your mailing info to her. The five winners will be randomly drawn and announced on Sunday, December 20th 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!

It is December and that mean holiday links abound out there on the vast internet… I have gathered a bunch of holiday things for you to check out this week, but I’ve also included some general random goodness. Like always, if you would like to see your link featured here, send me an email (rachel at swap-bot.com).

• Those adorable snowmen above were created by Lynn at . I love all of her designs, but she recently came out with a new collection of holiday digital design elements that are amazing. The snowmen are so sweet! You can purchase her adorable design sets in her .
• I am not sure what it is about them, but I love on the Art Glitter blog.
• If you are looking for an alternative to the traditional paper chain garland, check out . A simple and beautiful holiday decoration idea!
• has hundreds of holiday decorating ideas on their website. I really like many of their .
• You can find holiday gift guides everywhere these days… but some are more helpful than others. Here are two that I think are exceptional: and .
• Support a good cause: there are still a few days left to participate in . Send a holiday card to a service member or veteran!
• This recipe in not necessarily holiday-related, but I had to share. I made these a few years ago and they were awesome. I have been searching for the recipe ever since and FINALLY found it! They are delicious!
• Finally, one just for laughs… everybody knows about Snuggies, right? You know, the blanket with sleeves in the infomercials… well, Sharon, author of the blog, has created a ! So funny!

Craft Test Dummies is written by Jenny Barnett Rohrs, a self-proclaimed craftista who also reports for Craft Critique. Craft Test Dummies is Jenny’s personal blog, started in January 2008, where she shares product reviews and info about craft projects and tools.

From the site description:

Crafting is cool, fun, challenging, and occasionally annoying. Craft Test Dummies is my forum to test out new products and techniques, check out up-and-coming craftsters, and give y’all the straight poop. It’s my goal to get you fired up about your favorite craft, turn you on to new ones, and get you chatting with each other. So buckle up!

Jenny promises to be honest and forthright about the craft products she test, plus she is really funny! If you are constantly on the search for more good crafting info, Craft Test Dummies should be on your blogroll.

For those of us in the Northern Hemisphere, winter is upon us. For many of us, that means it is getting colder! Brrr! Whether you enjoy the winter or simply tolerate it until spring, why not write about your winter experiences in your very own zine? This week’s featured swap is the hosted by .

From the swap description:

“Winter is cold and long and the anticipation of spring can be agonizing for some of us so let’s write a zine about winter to give us an outlet for our winter thoughts and memories. It can include childhood memories, winter dreams, yummy recipes to enjoy on a cold day, wintery craft ideas, pictures of your best snowman, just reminance about why you love or hate winter and tell us about it!”

For this international swap you will have five partners. That means you will need to make at least five copies of your winter-themed zine. The sign up deadline for the swap is December 11, but you will have over a month to produce your zine. The mail deadline is january 30th, 2010.

Thank you to everyone who entered . We really appreciate everyone spreading the word about Swap-bot!

We used to generate the three big winners of this contest… and without further ado, they are (), (), and (). Here are their winning entries:

Congratulations to the winners! Their prizes will be mailed out this week and will hopefully arrive before the holiday season is over! Thanks again to everyone who participated. Stay tuned to the blog for more fun giveaways coming soon!

With December right around the corner, the USPS is gearing up for another busy holiday mailing season. The USPS has released its holiday shipping dates. Even if you are not concerned about getting your package to someone by December 25th, keep in mind that mailing and shipping times can be much longer during the holidays. If you do want a package to arrive by Christmas (especially internationally) mail it as early as possible!!

USPS Holiday Mail Deadlines:

First Class Mail: Domestic – Dec-21, International – Dec 4

Priority Mail: Domestic – Dec-21, International – Dec 4

Express Mail: Domestic – Dec-23, International – Dec 12

During the holiday season things can get hectic and busy, not to mention expensive. Participating in large and complicated swaps may not be feasible for everyone right now, but why not keep up the swapping fun in an easy and inexpensive way?

I found two simple swaps that are all about our resolutions and plans for 2010: hosted by and hosted by . Both swaps require you to write out your thoughts about next year and send them to your partner. Lexidh’s swap is and international email swap, and Candyn29’s swap is an international snail mail letter swap. Please read each swap’s full descriptions before signing up.

Also, I know these are not the only New Year-themed swaps out there. Please leave a comment with a link to any other similar swaps you find.

[  <img src="http://blog.swap-bot.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/felt.jpg" alt="felt" title="felt" width="470" height="342" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-2884" srcset="http://blog.swap-bot.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/felt-300x218.jpg 300w, http://blog.swap-bot.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/felt.jpg 470w" sizes="(max-width: 470px) 100vw, 470px" />](http://www.craftcritique.com/2009/11/book-review-kata-goldas-hand-stitched.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+CraftCritique+%28Craft+Critique%29)

For those of us in the USA, our Thanksgiving holiday is right around the corner. It is the busy holiday season already and the craft blogs are full of holiday ideas and projects. Here are a few that caught my eye:

• First, I must promote myself a little bit… I recently wrote an [

For those of us in the USA, our Thanksgiving holiday is right around the corner. It is the busy holiday season already and the craft blogs are full of holiday ideas and projects. Here are a few that caught my eye:

• First, I must promote myself a little bit… I recently wrote an_ book](http://www.craftcritique.com/2009/11/book-review-kata-goldas-hand-stitched.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+CraftCritique+%28Craft+Critique%29). I had fun working on two felt projects for the review. Above is a photo of the supplies I used to make a cute coffee mug cozy.
• Need some ideas for holiday gifts you can make yourself? Check out . It is a round-up of Holden’s forty-two different craft tutorials!
• If you want to make a funkier felt ornament, try .
• This is beautiful. (Found via on Twitter.)
• If you need a quick card to include with you holiday gifts, why not download .
• This one is just for fun… Have you been to ? It is an adorable blog all about desserts! Yum!
• For any NYC-area swappers, there are three big holiday craft fairs coming up in two weeks that I will be attending and you might want to visit them, too. They are the (Dec. 5th), the (Dec. 5th), and the (Dec. 6th).

Happy Friday the 13th! These links don’t have anything to do with the auspicious date, but they are cool just the same. Enjoy!

• I know, it is too early to start thinking about the holidays… but if you are hand-making things for the season, I don’t think it is ever too early to get started. Felt-O-Rama has a really cute and simple idea for making (seen above).
• A great gift idea or just something handy for all of the holiday travel, Skip To My Lou has a tutorial for making pretty .
• You know that I am always raving about the blog, Lately, it has featured all sorts of handmade gift ideas. My current favorite is the . Who wouldn’t love getting a bundle of those? Maybe paired with a bag of coffee… a great gift idea!
• Clever!
• And, I found this next link via of Crafty Pod on Twitter:
• Have you heard of ? It is a growing street art project that started in Australia. The participants make handmade toys and leave them in public places to be discovered and adopted by strangers. From the site description: “The Toy Society spreads the love throughout the streets of the world. Nothing to it really just a bunch of handmade toys looking for a nice home.” Sweet!