The new Ambassador program is going strong and I am excited to introduce each of the participants individually over the next few weeks. They are all enthusiastic, fun, active, positive members who are asked to help promote Swap-bot in their local communities.

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Say hello to our next Ambassador, CaptainAstro! A lover of all things mail art and stamp collecting, CaptainAstro has been a member of Swap-bot for a little over a year. He is our only male Ambassador!

Ambassador Region: Paris, France

CaptainAstro’s Mail Art Website: My Mail Art World

How CaptainAstro found Swap-bot: “I found Swap-bot by reading about it on a mail art blog. I am so curious that right after reading about ‘Swap-bot,’ I googled the name immediatly and ended on the wesbsite. A few minutes later I was registring and very quickly I got involved in my first swap.”

Why he enjoys Swap-bot: “I enjoy Swap-bot because it is an easy way to be in contact with a lot of different people from all over the world (even if a majority is from US…) to exchange mail art in my case. Each swap is a challenge, whether the subject of the mail art is imposed, or because a color, a shape, or even a technique is imposed. It stimulates my imagination and therefore my creativity. The rating process is also interesting because it helps to receive feedback on what you sent. I take as much pleasure in sending a swap then receiving one! I think it is a pitty that there aren’t more people from Europe (or even from France) and also more males on swap-bot. I sometimes feel alone surrounded by women ;-)”

His favorite type of swap: “My favorite swaps are mail art exchange, of course.” Check out one of his mail art creations below…

An interesting fact about CaptainAstro: “I’m very fond of frogs! Not because I’m French. (I have never eaten frogs. Opposed to the legend, it is not so common in France to eat frogs.) I really love frogs. When I was younger I had a collection of frogs coming from different parts of the world. I had plastic frogs, wood frogs etc. After some time my collection became too large and I decided to stop and concentrated on collecting stamps picturing frogs. It gave me the opportunity to come back to an old hobby: stamp collection. Thanks to my frog stamp collection, a philatelic news paper contected me for an interview. I was proud that my collection could be mentioned in a paper that I read every month. After this publication, one reader wrote to me. He sent me a letter decorated with a frog. This was the first piece of mail art that I received. I then started to look around to find information about mail art and I quickly became hooked. Frogs have become a sort of signature in my mail art. I use them as often as I can!”

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I hope you liked our fourth Ambassador interview and introduction. If you are interested in philately, mail art, France, or frogs, contact CaptainAstro.

A mid-July link love for you! Enjoy these fun and crafty links and have a great weekend…

• These hexagon coasters are so colorful and summery! (Full sewing tutorial!)
• Wow. Fancy! Crème Brûlée Filled Strawberries.
• A little less fancy, but oh so cute… Banana Split Pudding Pops.
• Easy Bandana Wreath Tutorial.
• I know many of you love bookmark swaps… these Cutwork Embroidery Felt Bookmarks would be a unique and beautiful way to spoil you partner!
• How to make mini paper medallions.
• Sewing lesson: How to make and sew piping.
• Download this free PDF sheet of Airmail Stamps.

So many S’more recipes… so little time!

• Gooey S’mores Cookies
• S’mores Macarons
• Peanut Butter S’more Marshmallow Pops
• Peanut Butter S’mores Bars
• S’mores Bark
• And for something a little different… Mrs. Campfire Cordial

Any other good links I missed this week? Share them in the comments.

The new Ambassador program is going strong and I am excited to introduce each of the participants individually over the next few weeks. They are all enthusiastic, fun, active, positive members who are asked to help promote Swap-bot in their local communities.

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Say hello to our next Ambassador, LadyRose! A Swap-bot member since 2008, LadyRose loves classic movies and animation, and she has completed over 250 swaps!

Ambassador Region: USA, Louisiana

LadyRose online:

• Website
• Facebook
• Twitter

How LadyRose found Swap-bot: “I can’t remember. I joined back in 2008!”

Why she enjoys Swap-bot: “I love meeting new people and it’s a lot of fun!”

Her favorite type of swap: “I love postcard swaps.” LadyRose prefers swaps that are less art and craft intensive, like mail and electronic swaps.

Interesting facts about LadyRose: “I am an autograph collector and am always interested in swapping for autographs. I love New Kids on the Block and dolphins.”

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I hope you liked our third Ambassador interview and introduction. If you are interested in snail mail swaps, for things like postcards and greeting cards, or if you love celebrities or classic movies, contact LadyRose or check out her upcoming hosted swaps.

The new Ambassador program is going strong and I am excited to introduce each of the participants individually over the next few weeks. They are all enthusiastic, fun, active, positive members who are asked to help promote Swap-bot in their local communities.

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Say hello to our next Ambassador, doulakk! A Swap-bot member since 2012, doulakk loves snail mail and crafting, and has completed over 350 swaps and has hosted more than 100! Wow.

Ambassador Region: USA, East Coast Region

Doulakk online:

• Pinterest
• Facebook
• Twitter
• Instagram

How doulakk found Swap-bot: “I found SB by searching on Google after searching for an online swapping site with reputable members.”

Why she enjoys Swap-bot: “I enjoy SB because it allows me to make art and share my collection of ephemera. I have also tried painting, stamping and gelli plates because of SB, so it helps me to open my mind to other aspects of my new found love for art, in general.”

Her favorite type of swap: “My favorite type of swap would have to be sending and receiving Envies full of Ephemera for journaling. I equally love sending ATC’s. On a side note, I love hosting tags and games and RAK’s in my group’s forum, Paper on Steroids.”

Check out these examples of doulakk’s mail art and ATC swaps:

Interesting facts about doulakk:

• “I hate stinkbugs and capture them in my craft room in a bottle of water that sits next to me. Is that mean?”
• “I am scared of canned biscuits, so I don’t buy them. Ever.”
• “The only thing that I wanted from my Grandmother’s home after she passed was her mop. HER. MOP.”
• “I am a childbirth doula and breastfeeding peer counselor and love empowering women in their roles as mothers.”
• “I am a ‘Headmistress’ for a private school. Scandalous.”
• “I have recently started crafting, that being 3 years ago, and feel extremely lucky to have found a niche in the art world.”

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I hope you liked our second Ambassador interview and introduction. I don’t know how doulakk finds time to do it all — doula, headmistress, crafter, Ambassador — but I am glad she does! Contact her if you are interested in any USA paper craft swaps.

Links, links, links! Just for you…

• What fun for an outdoor party! Giant surprise balls that guests unravel to find prizes.
• Yum. Fruit Pizza sounds like the perfect summer treat!
• This quilt (a gift from a daughter to her mom) is so fun and sweet.
• Wow! Check out this spectacular 4th of July themed party!
• Doing any grilling this weekend? These Bacon-wrapped Pineapple Mozzarella Rings look interesting and delicious.
• Love this quirky, DIY, photo-decorated planter idea.
• A cool snail mail blog: The Lost Art of Letter Writing.
• And, of course… your S’mores of the week: Salted Caramel S’mores and S’mores Pudding Pie.

Have a fun and fabulous weekend!

Hello and welcome to the weekend! Your links are a little late this week, but they are just as fun… Enjoy!

• This looks like a really nice quilt blog: Diary of a Quilter.
• These Patriotic Popsicles look really fun, healthy, and fairly easy to make for the 4th of July. Or, you could do other shapes and fruits for other summer party themes!

• Yum! I’d love some of this Sparkling Cherry Limeade right now.</li>

  • This is amazing. A succulent wall garden made entirely of FELT!
  • Another idea for your summer parties: this Jumbo Popsicle Garland is silly and festive.
  • This washi tape bicycle is so cool!
  • Mmmmmm. More desserts… Cocoa Chocolate Cheesecake Bars.
  • How to make paper gift bags from any type of paper.
  • And your two S’mores for this week: Caramel Popcorn S’mores Rice Krispie Squares and Smoked S’mores in a Jar.</ul>

  I hope you all have a fun weekend. We are still hard at work at Swap-bot HQ, but I plan to go out in the sunshine soon! xoxo

Last weekend we made some infrastructure updates and we also switched the site to the UTC time zone. You all (our users) have been SO COOL and helpful regarding the time zone change. Travis and I were extremely impressed with your willingness to roll with the change and we really appreciate all of the feedback.

And your reward? More confusion! Ugh. Sorry. We know this is a little crazy… but…

Today we switched Swap-bot back to US Pacific Time.

Swap-bot was originally created in the Pacific time zone (years ago) and in listening to your feedback and concerns about UTC time, we feel that this will be a good solution. Putting the site in Pacific Time will mean that most of the world will be AHEAD of official Swap-bot time. This will give everyone (except for those in Hawaii and Alaska) a little extra leniency and time when signing up for and sending swaps. Unfortunately, it will also mean that our international swappers will have to wait a little longer (according to their local time) to assign swap partners.

The time zone issue is tricky and confusing since each international swap is technically being coordinated simultaneously across the globe. But being in Pacific Time will mean that very, very few swappers will ever have to worry about their swap being marked late (if they send on time in their own time zone). The corner “Swap-bot Time” clock will stay, and we hope to add some info explaining why it may be different than your current time zone.

Thank you again for all of your help and patience. Please continue to keep us posted with any questions or concerns.

Friday the 13th! Ooo! Spooky. Don’t get into too much trouble today! Check out these fun links instead…

• Wow! I think this fabric scrap twine is amazing!
• So cute! (But they look quite time-intensive.) Teeny Tiny Flower Pot Cakes.
• I guess it is the season for flowers… and I love this Handmade Felt Flowers Tutorial.
• This re-fashioned dart board in interesting and would make a cool Father’s Day gift. I love the glitter darts!
• Speaking of Father’s Day, this is what your dad really wants.
• Are all the USA peeps already gearing up for the 4th of July? This Red, White, and Blue Pinterest board has a ton of great ideas.
• And for any type of summer party, these Mini Ice Cream Cakes look fun and really easy!
• Is everyone pumped up for the World Cup?! (I’m semi-interested. ha!) Why not try out one of these Brazilian desserts to celebrate the World Cup host nation?!
• And of course, a couple S’mores to round out your week: Roasted Berry S’mores and <a href”http://www.thegunnysack.com/2014/06/smores-homemade-ice-cream-recipe.html#_a5y_p=1814772”>Homemade S’mores Ice Cream</a>.

Have a super-fun weekend. (We at Swap-bot HQ are going to keep working through some of the site bugs and try to make a decision about how to proceed with the time zone situation.)

When we first announced the Swap-bot Ambassador program, we weren’t sure how much interest there would be… but we definitely received more applications than we anticipated! Thank you so much to everyone who applied. It is so thrilling and heart-warming to know that we have so many enthusiastic Swap-bot users!

I wish we could have accepted all of the Ambassador applicants, but since the program is just starting, we had to keep the list manageable. We based our selections on each applicants’s swap history, the age of their Swap-bot account (it had to be at least a year old), rating history, their region need, and their written application.

I am so excited to introduce our very first class of Swap-bot Ambassadors!

INTERNATIONAL AMBASSADORS:

mariadastrouxas – Portugal

CaptainAstro – France

Aankee – Germany

MissThundercat – The Netherlands

dodothefairy – Italy

mag – Singapore

dolcxvita – India & Southeast Asia

seraphina – Taiwan

BeeMGee – Australia

Toupti – Québec, Canada

thebragal – Ontario, Canada

USA AMBASSADORS:

doulakk – East Coast Region

chelle523 – Midwest Region

moonlightlaura – Southern Region

KateKintail – Washington DC Area

LadyRose – Louisiana

HeideC – Cincinnati, Ohio

susieq11 – Columbus, Ohio

ColoradoKate – Colorado

Lanie – Florida

marymary914 – Michigan

Rocktopus – Houston, Texas

grandmaroro – Central Texas

TheWhiteSquirrel – North Dakota

LauraAust – Iowa

queenelisheba – Southern California

dyp – Missouri

hollycm6 – Virginia

grimmlynn – Alabama

twobluecrows – Connecticut

Congrats to all of our new Ambassadors!!

Starting tonight, you will see this graphic at the top of each Ambassador’s profile page:

Swap-bot Ambassadors are responsible for spreading the word about Swap-bot, distributing Swap-bot swag, and being engaged, friendly, helpful members of the community. In the coming months, we will be introducing each Ambassador individually on the blog. Look for the first introductions starting next week.

Missed the Ambassador application deadline? Didn’t get selected this time around? Never fear, we hope to keep expanding the Ambassador program and will be calling for new applications in the future. Stay tuned!

Over the weekend we were hard at work making a few improvements to Swap-bot’s hosting infrastructure. With the improvements, we made a few small, but important changes.

First, we decided to move to UTC (Coordinated Universal Time, also know as Greenwich Mean Time) as the official time zone of Swap-bot. Prior to this change, we used EST and EDT, but since we are a community with members all over the world, we needed to use a time zone that all of us could more easily understand. UTC does not spring forward or fall back, it is constant. With this change, we added an official Swap-bot HQ clock to the upper right corner of the page. If you are ever unsure of the time in Swap-bot land, look no further.

Most of us are a few hours removed from the UTC time zone, which will require some pre-planning and thoughtfulness when swapping. Swap sign ups will still close at midnight on the sign up deadline, but it will now be midnight in the UTC time zone. The same time difference will be true when we are marking swaps as sent. The time difference is not ideal, but using the international mean time is more equitable for everyone on Swap-bot until we can come up with a more sophisticated solution.

Second, we temporarily removed Chat. It was not heavily used or very useful. We have plans to bring it back better and more engaging than ever in the coming months.

We are going to continue to make small tweaks to the site (and have some big ones planned), so if you see anything not working like you would expect, either leave a comment in the Help Discussion Forums or contact us through the admin contact form.

Thank you for you help and patience as we work to improve Swap-bot!