We have chosen the random winner to the PhotoJewelryMaking.com sponsored giveaway… The winner is Sugarbug ! She will be receiving a typewriter key bracelet kit and a typewriter key initial necklace kit from PhotoJewelryMaking.com. Congrats, Sugarbug!

Here is Sugarbug’s answer to the question, What is pictured in your most cherished family photograph? :

Sugarbug on 07 Dec 2008: “I have so many, but one of my favorites is of my son and me moments after he was placed on my chest.”

Thanks to everyone who entered the drawing. I loved reading all of the comments about your cherished photos. There will be another giveaway announced at the beginning of January, so check back.

xoxo

I was trying to find some good holiday links this week, but I was only moderately successful. Here is a mixture of holiday links and and non-holiday links:

• HOLIDAY: One of the best gift guides I have found – The Modish Holiday Gift Guide.
• HOLIDAY: This is adorable (and free!). Orange You Lucky has posted a wiener dog reindeer embroidery pattern.
• SEMI-HOLIDAY: Gourmet magazine has posted photos and recipes for their favorite cookies from each year since the magazine’s inception in 1941.
• NON-HOLIDAY: Living Creatively is an Australian community website dedicated to all things creative, like art, craft, design, urban living and fashion. The site publishes an online magazine of sorts and has a community section with forums.

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This week’s featured swap is for an adorable variation on Dotee Dolls: mini Dotee Dolls! The Itty Bitty Dotee Doll swap is a repeat of a previous version both hosted by adoptacritter. The swap is international with only one partner. Your dotee doll can be of any theme and color — the only requirement is that it must be tiny. The example in the photo is about 2.5 inches tall. You must have a 4.75 rating to enter. Sign up closes January 7th, and you must send by January 21st, 2009. Remember to read the full swap description before signing up.

For more information about Dotee Dolls, check out these links:

• The blog of the creator of dotee dolls: Dot’s Life and Art
• How to make a Dotee Doll video by smiles and sunshine
• Dotee Dolls on Flickr

We are solidly into December and the holidays are approaching faster than the speed of light! You probably don’t have time for any distractions, but here are some anyway:

• With the economy officially in a recession we could all use a few more ideas for how to make and/or save a little extra money. Secrets For Money is a great source of ideas, tips, and strategies “To increase your capacity for all wealth currencies: money, time, health, and love.”
• Are you a style maven? A design diva? Any combination of the two? If so, you will like StyleDiva.com — a blog all about fashion, design, style advice, and more!
• Another great blog for all of us crafty souls: The Best of DIY. It has reviews and links to all sorts of DIY projects.
• Online magazines are all the rage. Craftier is a new bi-monthly online magazine that is getting great reviews. “The goal of the writers and editors is to make the world a craftier place through tutorials, inspiration, spotlights and community involvement.” You have to use the flash application, Issuu, to view the mag, which may slow up on some computers and internet connections, but it is worth it for all the great images and tutorials. (Plus they mentioned Swap-bot on page 38 of the current issue! sweet!)
• One more reminder: Enter to win the photo jewelry giveaway from PhotoJewelryMaking.com </p> . The giveaway drawing will be held on Sunday, December 14th.</li> </ul>

From the website: “American Craft Guide is the complete resource for America’s professional handcrafters and artisans, independent artists, craft hobbyists, and those who love to buy American handcrafted goods. We bring all of these groups together to create a community that fosters learning, sharing, and promoting America’s handcrafters and artisans.”

I stumbled on this fairly new (started in July 2008) website today and was really impressed by the site’s clean layout and its goal of creating a comprehensive arts and craft resource. The site includes a collection of DIY tutorials, a community section where you can chat with other crafters, an arts and craft events calendar, a magazine (I think that is their word for blog), and soon there will be a directory of handcrafters and indie artists. It is still a new site and the community only has about 350 members, but it has the potential to be a great resource!

I am very excited to announce another great sponsored giveaway! PhotoJewelryMaking.com is an online store that sells everything you need to make your own photo jewelry. They have all sorts of amazing photo jewelry supplies that can help you make everything from bracelets and necklaces to cufflinks and rings — all with your own photos! Their jewelry has even been featured on the Today show as a great gift idea. Very cool!

PhotoJewelryMaking.com has provided Swap-bot with a fabulous combo jewelry kit for us to give away to one lucky contest winner. The winner will receive a typewriter key bracelet kit and a typewriter key initial necklace kit (both seen in the image above). The kits contain everything you need to create the two pieces of jewelry, including the silver-plated necklace and bracelet, typewriter key circle frames, the photo re-size and typewriter key generator software cd, and the clear coat liquid finisher for a permanent and protective clear coating over the photos. Each photo charm can contain a photo or a simulated typewriter letter. You create the jewelry exactly how you want!

Would you like to win this great photo jewelry combo kit from PhotoJewelryMaking.com? Simply answer the following question in the comments section of this post.

What is pictured in your most cherished family photograph?

We will randomly draw one lucky winner on Sunday, December 14th, and the prize will be sent out on Monday the 15th — the winner MAY even get their package in time to create some last minute holiday gifts! Each person can only enter once. You must have a Swap-bot account in good standing (not suspended) with a valid mailing address to enter. You must include your Swap-bot username somewhere in your comment. You must comment on, or before, Saturday, December 13th, to be entered in the drawing. If you have trouble commenting on the blog, you can send me an email at rachel [at] swap-bot.com. Good luck!

This week’s featured swap is New Year’s Resolution Inchies hosted by cmcedwards. Inchies are tiny (1 inch by 1 inch) artworks. They are a little like artist trading cards and they can be made out of fabric or paper. You can create your inchies using collage, painting, drawing, or any other medium or technique you enjoy! For more info about making inchies you could read this website , check out Inchie Arts, LLC , or view all of the lovely images from the inchies Flickr group.

The New Year’s Resolution Inchies swap calls for some creative art making: “Each person will have two partners. For each of those partners you will create four inchies. These inchies will express your resolutions and wishes for 2009. You may choose to write the resolution in words, use a picture, draw, create a symbol or any other way to express your resolutions in the 1″ x 1″ space.”

The sign up deadline for this international swap is December 14th, and you must have your inchies sent by December 20th. New users are welcome with a filled out profile. If you are interested in this creative swap, start thinking about and planning your inchies now so that you can complete them within the quick turn-around time! Click here to sign up!

We have chosen the random winner to the Get Eurofied! sponsored giveaway… The winner is salfra! She will be receiving one of the grand opening European art and craft sample boxes from Get Eurofied! Congrats, salfra.

Here is salfra’s answer to the question, What is your favorite type of item to purchase from independent artists or crafters?:

Sally Francis (salfra) on 25 Nov 2008: “I love to purchased altered journals from other ar

tists! I get soooooo inspired from what they do, learn new techniques, get to own an original piece of art work, and have a new “pretty” to look at and play with!”

Thanks to everyone who entered the drawing. I loved reading all of the comments about independent arts and crafts. There will be another giveaway announced very soon, so check back. Also, the rest of the December Get Eurofied sample boxes go on sale today. There are a limited number, so act fast if you are interested!

xoxo

I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving and didn’t eat too much turkey. Are you all hitting the shops today for the sales? If you’re staying home like me, here are some fun links to keep you occupied:

• If you live in a cold climate, check out this ice wreath tutorial from Resurrection Fern. The ice wreaths are so beautiful and they do not seem very difficult to make.
• Design Sponge has a great gift wrapping round-up of creative ideas for wrapping holiday packages.
• ¿Usted habla español? Then you must take a look at the We Love Crafts online magazine. The two current issues of the magazine are mostly written in Spanish, but they contain lots of great images and inspiration that non-spanish speakers will also enjoy.
• This is a little pricey, but it is a very cute idea: paper gingerbread house kit from Paper Source.
• Do you love buying handmade? Would you like to learn more about independent European artists and designers? You should check out The Ultimate Handmade European Sampler Box… Get Eurofied! From the Get Eurofied site: “Get Eurofied is a box filled with samples from independent crafters. It gives you the opportunity to see, try and use some great items handcrafted from the heart of Europe!” (Get Eurofied! is also sponsoring our current giveaway. Sign up now — the contest closes on Sunday!)

Exciting press coverage today: Swap-bot was mentioned on Mashable.com as one of the top five websites for Secret Santa gift exchanges. Very sweet! Mashable is a popular tech blog that covers internet news and up and coming websites.