[Get Your Ex Boyfriend Back](http://howtogettheexback.webs.com/ “Get Your Ex Boyfriend Back”) This week’s featured swap is for a craft form that is entirely new to me: Skinny Cards. A “skinny” is like an Artist Trading Card except that it’s bigger – it measures 3″ by 5″. The cards can be decorated using various techniques and media – just like ATCs. (I have added skinny to the new Swap & Craft Term Glossary!) What’s the SKINNY?! is the first swap (that I know of) for skinny cards on Swap-bot. The swap, hosted by graydragon is international and it is open for sign up through the last day of March. Each participant has only one partner for whom they make one skinny card of any theme or style. You must have a 4.7 rating and a full profile to participate.

Skinny cards seem like great collectible crafts for artists who need a little more room than an ATC provides. For more information and inspiration check out the Skinny Cards Flickr group.

The Crafts Dept. is a new blog from the Martha Stewart Empire. It was just started on February 27th with intentions of being a meeting place for all of the crafters working for the many Martha Stewart media outlets, like the television show, Living magazine, and the Martha Stewart craft supplies brand. There is not much content at this point, but the contributors plan on sharing official Martha Stewart projects as well as their own personal crafty endeavors.

From the blog’s introduction: “Welcome to the Crafts Department blog. We thought a blog would be a great way to share even more about the crafts we create for Martha Stewart Living as well as what we craft on our own. We hope to provide you with a peek behind the scenes to some of our stories, our inspiration, our favorite sources, as well as some of the projects we are personally working on. Periodically crafters from our television show and from the Martha Stewart Crafts line will also post entries to let us know what is happening in their areas as well. We hope you enjoy it.”

I find some of the Martha Stewart crafters to be a little too hardcore and strict for my taste (they are always talking about how clean and organized you should keep your craft room – phooey!), but I think The Crafts Dept. will be a good resource with great photo galleries at the very least.

My goal for this blog is to share news and updates about Swap-bot, but also to provide fun and helpful crafty info! On each Tuesday I hope to share one of my swapping tips or tips and tutorials from other Swap-bot members. Today, I have an amazing assortment of sewing tutorials!

Swap-bot user, Spool Dragonquest trailer , writes a wonderful blog chronicling her crafty endeavors. She generously shares the three following free tutorials:

• Lady in the Water ipod

The Time Traveler’s Wife ipod

• Wristlet Bag Tutorial – an adorable small bag with lots of pockets.
• Placemat Bag Tutorial – a quick tote made from a single placemat.
• Placemat Expanding File Tutorial – an amazing expandable file made from four placemats.

The Black Knight full

Spap-bot user, crafty1900, sells lovely crafts on her Etsy store

and writes about her projects on her blog, Zebula Design

Scooby Doo! The Mystery Begins download

. She has two beautiful and detailed sewing tutorials to share:

• Embroidered Felt Purse Tutorial – a beautiful and detailed small bag with zipper and wristlet handle.
• Felt Zip Pouch Tutorial Wisegal release – a small pouch with applique details.

Thank you for sharing your projects, spool and crafty1900! The Swap-bot blog would love to feature additional tutorials, tips, and projects submitted by our members. Email rachel [at] swap-bot.com with your submissions.

This week has blown by and the poor Swap-bot blog has not seen as much action as I would like. Let’s try to remedy that with an awesome collection of Friday links:

• If you act fast, you could win a copy of Craft:magazine’s most recent (and final) print issue . Simply follow Craft:’s updates on Twitter before Monday, March 9th. Three winners will be randomly chosen from their Twitter followers on Monday.
• Cute knitting pattern for a “Grumpasaurus” from <a href=http://kat-knits.blogspot.com/”>kat knits</a>.
• A beautiful, fun hand-carved stamp tutorial on Geninne’s Art Blog. The blog features amazing illustrations and lovely photos. It is a new everyday read for me!
• You probably have already heard about this, but if not, Great Depression Cooking with Clara is an amazing series of videos. “In each episode Clara prepares recipes that her mother made during the Great Depression. Clara shares her stories and wisdom from the Depression as she shows you how to make simple, inexpensive and delicious meals.”
• An adorable baby food jar pincushion tutorial is available on the cute blog, <a href=http://www.craftpudding.com/”>CraftPudding</a>.
• I am going to promote my matchbox template PDF one more time because it is free and easy to use: Download it here! Happy weekend, everyone! xoxo

I love doing matchbox swaps. Altering and decorating the tiny boxes and filling them full of little treasures is always fun. Many people decorate real (pre-made cardboard) matchboxes that they purchase or collect for their matchboxes swaps. However, I prefer to make my matchboxes from scratch using heavy card stock. I find the handmade boxes easier to decorate and customize.

At the Swap-bot event on Sunday I passed out the template I created and use for making my matchboxes from scratch. It is very simple, but I thought others may be interested in using it. Here you can download a PDF version of my template. (Make sure to download the full-size document using the link below. Do not use the above .gif.) Matchboxes constructed using my template will be just slightly larger than a standard 32-count matchbox (approximately 1.5 x 2 x .5 inches). You can also print and then trace the template onto light cardboard, such as cereal box cardboard, if you prefer.

[

I love doing matchbox swaps. Altering and decorating the tiny boxes and filling them full of little treasures is always fun. Many people decorate real (pre-made cardboard) matchboxes that they purchase or collect for their matchboxes swaps. However, I prefer to make my matchboxes from scratch using heavy card stock. I find the handmade boxes easier to decorate and customize.

At the Swap-bot event on Sunday I passed out the template I created and use for making my matchboxes from scratch. It is very simple, but I thought others may be interested in using it. Here you can download a PDF version of my template. (Make sure to download the full-size document using the link below. Do not use the above .gif.) Matchboxes constructed using my template will be just slightly larger than a standard 32-count matchbox (approximately 1.5 x 2 x .5 inches). You can also print and then trace the template onto light cardboard, such as cereal box cardboard, if you prefer.

](http://blog.swap-bot.com/rachelmatchboxtemplate.pdf)

Instructions:

1. Print out template on cardstock at 100%. Do not “fit to paper size” or your matchbox will not be the correct size.
2. Cut along all black lines; score and fold along all grey lines.
3. Apply glue to the light grey areas of the inside drawer.
4. Fold the sides of the inside drawer in on themselves (they will be end up being double thick) while tucking the tabs into the folds of the shorter sides of the drawer.
5. Fold the outside wrap around the inside drawer and glue it in place.
6. Decorate your matchbox!

Your matchbox should end up looking something like this:

The Swap-bot Member Appreciation Event yesterday in Eugene was a success! There were over 20 attendees. It was a lot of fun to meet Swap-bot users in person! We all spent most of the afternoon chatting and many of the attendees swapped ATCs. A big group from the Oregon Coast Art Traders groups from Florence came, and another big group from Grant’s Pass made the long drive to Eugene for the event. Thank you to everyone who came out!

A big “thank you” to users muincat and coffeelatte for helping to organize and set up the event and to all of the generous individuals and businesses who donated door prizes.

I didn’t take as many photos as I had hoped, but you can see a few more on my flickr and some on coffeelatte’s flickr. If anyone else has photos on the web of the event, please let me know!

Crafty goodness from across the world wide web:

• Swap-bot member, msteidl, is running a contest. If you can guess where his Swap-bot avatar image is from, he’ll send you 2 mix CD’s of his choice – free – all costs handled by him. Message him via the Swap-bot message system to send him your guess.
• I like this Craft:zine tutorial for a sparkly comic book starburst.
• If you love embroidery, Sublime Stitching is lots of fun. Jenny Hart’s “Now-I-Get-It Stitching Diagrams” are super-easy to follow and now she has a version for lefties!
• Because I am constantly pulling up my low-rise jeans, I found this CraftStylish tutorial for How to Fix a Belt Loop on Jeans helpful.
• I hear that fanny packs are coming back in style (just ask Donna Karan), but don’t call them fanny packs! Rocknroar on Crafter has a good tutorial for making a hipslinger bag – not a fanny pack!
• If you live in the US state of Oregon, this Sunday is the Swap-bot Member Appreciation Event. Read more <a href=http://blog.swap-bot.com/2009/02/26/member-event-in-eugene-or-this-sunday/”>here</a>.

Have a great weekend, everyone!

A reminder for any local Pacific Northwest swappers, this weekend is the Swap-bot Member Appreciation Event!

The event will be held on Sunday, March 1st, from 12 – 3 pm at the Lamb Cottage in Skinner Butte Park (address: 101 Cheshire Ave, Eugene OR 97401 ). It is a charming location (right by the Willamette River in the park) with plenty of parking. The plan is to have balloons on the outside of the cottage so that you know where the party is at!

Most of the event will consist of meeting each other and socializing, but there are a few organized activities, too. On the (very loose) agenda for the event is a short talk by Travis & Rachel about Swap-bot with plenty of time for questions, an altered matchbox construction demo, a few announcements from local crafters and businesses, and an ATC trade facilitated by Swap-bot member coffeelatte at 2 pm. Remember to bring your ATCs if you would like to trade!

There will be snacks and beverages, plus some amazing door prizes donated by our fabulous sponsors. Check out the [

A reminder for any local Pacific Northwest swappers, this weekend is the Swap-bot Member Appreciation Event!

The event will be held on Sunday, March 1st, from 12 – 3 pm at the Lamb Cottage in Skinner Butte Park (address: 101 Cheshire Ave, Eugene OR 97401 ). It is a charming location (right by the Willamette River in the park) with plenty of parking. The plan is to have balloons on the outside of the cottage so that you know where the party is at!

Most of the event will consist of meeting each other and socializing, but there are a few organized activities, too. On the (very loose) agenda for the event is a short talk by Travis & Rachel about Swap-bot with plenty of time for questions, an altered matchbox construction demo, a few announcements from local crafters and businesses, and an ATC trade facilitated by Swap-bot member coffeelatte at 2 pm. Remember to bring your ATCs if you would like to trade!

There will be snacks and beverages, plus some amazing door prizes donated by our fabulous sponsors. Check out the](http://blog.swap-bot.com/swap-bot-member-event-door-prizes/) for more info about the prizes donated by CraftyPod, Untamed Menegerie, Art is 3 Letters , Bead Needs, Glory Bee Foods and Crafts, the Oregon Coast Art Traders group, Swap-bot users, certifiedscrapaholic and coffeelatte, and of course, Swap-bot. There are really some fantastic prizes to be won!

We hope to see you there!! xoxo

This is the first edition of a new Swap-bot blog series: Member Spotlights . Our plan is to interview and highlight a new Swap-bot member every other week. This week, we would like to introduce you to sewcrazy. Sewcrazy’s real name is Betty and she is one of the most prolific swappers on the ‘bot. At this time, she is the member with the most hearts: 842!! She has sent nearly 600 swaps and has received over 1000 ratings! Wow! Betty loves swapping ATCs, and you can see her holding one of her many ATC binders in the photo above. (As for the car behind Betty, her husband of 43 years, Bill, is a huge fan of NASCAR.)

I asked Betty a few questions about herself and her love of swapping…

How did you first get involved with Swap-bot?

I was trading ATCs on another site and Jennifer, the coordinator of ‘Somethings Fishy,’ told me about this site.

What is your favorite item to swap?

I have enjoyed swapping ATCs the most for two reasons: one, because I just love creating these little treasures of art, and two, because if and when I get flaked on (and yes, there has been a few) I am not really loosing much. Not that I consider my ATCs ‘not much’. I just feel there has to be a reason why my partners’ ATCs didn’t get to their destination. It hasn’t stopped me from continuing to swap.

Do you usually do international or more local swaps?

I do international on the ATCs only, because postage-wise it isn’t too expensive.

Describe the best (or one of the best) swap packages you have ever received?

I have received so many good swaps that I couldn’t really name one. But, I think my favorite was the comment and heart that I received from a partner to whom I sent, and she sent me a thank you surprise. She was ecstatic about a set of ATCs. It made me feel very good.

What do you like most about swapping?

The friendship and the chance to show off what I do, good or bad, people are very receptive of everything.

How much time per week do you spend working on swaps?

I couldn’t really say how much time I spend per week. Sometimes I can sit down and whip out a bunch of ATCs and other times I struggle to come up with the theme. I usually have them done ahead of time and waiting for my partners’ names. I sign up for a swap only if I can envision the ATC and have the materials to create it, without having to run to town to get something to complete it.

Is there a type of swap have you always wanted to try, but haven’t yet?

I have probably tried most swaps. Some only once, others more to try and get a feel for them. But, I always end up sticking to ATCs, I like them the most.

What are your other hobbies, besides swapping?

I am a seamstress, love to make quilts and incorporate that talent into some of my ATCs. I teach a quilt class in Othello, Washington, where I used to live. I also have just recently taken up greeting card making. And, there again, I use some of the ideas from the cards that I make, scaled down to ATC size. I love to check out yard sales and flea markets to find treasures for my ATCs.

What does your family and friends think of your swapping habit?

My family enjoys seeing what I have done, I think!!! I got my daughter hooked on making ATCs. We have a lot of fun trading through swaps and sharing ideas.

Do you have any advice for first-time swappers or new Swap-bot members?

Enjoy what you do, don’t stress yourself out on a swap. Your work is your work, period. Don’t let anyone else’s work intimidate you. But, mostly, just enjoy what you create.

Who would you like to see interviewed next for a member spotlight?

That would be Swap-bot member, dolly, and of course, my daughter, VWwoman07. She is very creative and is a lot like me. I have traded with dolly a lot and she comes up with some pretty unique ATCs, I always love to receive cards from her.

——————–

Thank you, sewcrazy , for your great responses and swapping advice!

(If there is a member that you would like to see interviewed, please let me know! Email rachel [at] swap-bot.com)

The word “cute” can mean many things – sickly sweet children’s things, good design, adorable fashion, kawaii, etc – and the daily blog, jars of cute, covers all of the definitions. The site is updated multiple times a day with cute stuff and fun design finds “By Two Crafty Girls Who Are Suckers For Cool Cute Things!” Everything from fashion to photography to housewares to toys is fair game for jars of cute. The website is a great place to find out about new designers and great gift ideas. It has only been running since June of 2008, but the amount of cute already covered seems endless!