Recently there has been a few conflicts regarding the copying of swap ideas and even the copying of swap descriptions word-for-word. We do not support the act of copying swap ideas or wording, however Swap-bot does not have any specific rules against it. We simply cannot police swap copying because it is just way too big of an issue. So many swaps are very similar and it is hard to know where to draw the line.

If you like a swap idea you see on Swap-bot, and you would like to host a similar one, make sure you contact the original swap’s coordinator to ask politely for permission. It is also good etiquette to give credit for the idea to the original swap host and to link back to the original swap within your swap’s description.

If you are a swap coordinator who is worried about your swaps being copied, consider applying a Creative Commons copyright to your swap. From the Creative Commons website:

Creative Commons provides free tools that let authors, scientists, artists, and educators easily mark their creative work with the freedoms they want it to carry. You can use CC to change your copyright terms from “All Rights Reserved” to “Some Rights Reserved.”

We’re a nonprofit organization. Everything we do — including the software we create — is free.

You can check out the different levels of Creative Commons licenses here.

You can even include the Creative Commons copyright image in your swap description. Because we have disabled the use of HTML, you cannot use the code provided by the CC site, but you can use this Markdown

code:

! [Creative Commons License] (http://creativecommons.org/images/public/somerights20.png)

This work is licensed under a [Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 License] (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/us/).

It will look something like this:

This work is licensed under a

Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 License.

Please realize that Creative Commons advocates sharing information and ideas. They define the spectrum of copyright possibilities between full copyright — all rights reserved — and the public domain — no rights reserved. We at Swap-bot also support this idea of collaboration and building on each other’s ideas.

We know that our users spend a lot of time and creativity coming up with their swap ideas and that many take their swaps quite seriously. However, please remember that they are just swaps created for fun and entertainment. Even if you do decide to copyright your swaps through the Creative Commons, it does not mean that there is any recourse that will be taken by the Swap-bot Administration in enforcing the copyright. It is simply a way to make others think before they take ideas.

_(For more info about including images and links in your swap descriptions, profiles, or the forums, check out this blog post and this forum post

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.)</em>

This is the first in a new series of quick posts called blog reviews. I hope to review a couple craft and swapping related blogs each week. They will be blogs with great crafting tips, info, and ideas, or just fun and inspirational content. I hope you enjoy discovering new blogs as much as I do! If you have a suggestion for a future blog review (including your own blog), email me at: rachel [at] swap-bot [dot] com.

<a href=”http://rifferaff.typepad.com/make_it/”

Make It</a> is an inspirational blog about how to “make it” as a designer and creator. The author, rifferaff, is a textile designer who sells her work in her etsy store ¡Three Amigos! ipod and is trying to make crafting her full-time business. The blog contains lots of helpful links, crafting tips, as well as information about how to start and maintain a design business. There is a large focus on textiles, but anyone interested in making things or starting a small business will find the content helpful.

This is the first time I have featured a letter swap, but I couldn’t pass up the Lonely Mailbox Swap for this week. This swap, hosted by <a href=http://www.swap-bot.com/member/?id=7973”>Chickpea</a>

, is international and open to new swappers. All users with a filled out profiles are welcome!

For this swap each participant has one partner to whom they send seven letters – one for each day of the week. Participating in Lonely Mailbox will ensure that you (and your partner) receive lots of mail!

Each day has a letter theme:

• Day 1. Basic introduction.

• Day 2. Wha <div style="display: none"> using an ipad for work </div>

  t are you passionate about?</li>

  • Day 3. What is your favorite book?
  • Day 4. Where would you most love to travel?
  • Day 5. Tell your partner about five things you’d like to accomplish.
  • Day 6. Send one envelope filled with little goodies–stickers, cards, stationery, etc. Plus, send a second envelope and write Sunday on the outside of this envelope, so that your partner knows to save it and open it on Sunday! Tell your partner about your average weekend.</ul>

  Make sure to read the entire swap description before signing up. This swap is inexpensive and easy, but it does entail a good amount of commitment since a letter must be mailed everyday for a week. What a wonderful way to find a new pen pal!

  Have fun checking your mailbox!

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Swap-bot has a nice, little write-up on Indie Crafts, a member of the Craft Gossip site. Thanks, Laura Henry!

I couldn’t pass up the I Hate Housework Swap

Banshee!!! ipod

for this week’s featured swap, because, hey, I hate housework too! The swap was created by Liz Z. and it is open for sign up through September 28th. The swap is simple: just send your one partner items to make housework more fun. Things like music, nice cleaning supplies, a list of house cleaning tips and tricks, or a reward for when the cleaning is done are all items you could include. Spend at least $5 and put everything

in a box to send to your partner. Before you know it your house will be all sparkly and clean!

(The swap is open to participants in the United States with a 4.75 rating, or higher, who have participated in a box swap before. Like always, read the full swap description

before signing up.)

• Wild Seven film

I am always on the look-out for unique swaps to feature… the Camera and Flat Shirley Swap definitely meets that criteria. The swap is hosted by funkychicken and it is a somewhat complicated two-step swap, so please read the entire swap description before signing up.

Basically, each participant creates a “flat shirley” of themselves – a small paper body with a picture of themselves for its head, based loosely on the <a h

ref=http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0060097914/susanreynolar-20″>Flat Stanley books</a> – and sends it along with a disposable camera to their partner. The flat shirley stays with the partner for a month and travels around with the person getting its photo taken in various locations. When the month is up, the partner sends back the full camera and flat shirley back to the original creator. This swap should make for some funny and surprising photos of each little “mini me”!

The swap is international, but requires a 4.7 rating or higher. There are more guidelines and detailed information on the swap’s home page

. Happy swapping!

This week we are featuring a very unique and clever swap hosted by spoonergregory Banshee!!! psp called Art from Start to Finish. This extremely creative international swap is open to experienced participants who have over a 4.5 rating. The purpose of the swap is to “find out about the process that other people go through when they make a piece of original artwork.” For the swap you create one original piece of artwork (any medium except photography or ATCs) and document the entire process. Each participant will send their one partner the following items:

• The piece of original artwork created for this swap.</a>

  • A letter explaining your creative process. This can be t <div style="display: none"> relationship advice </div>

    yped or handwritten, but must be at least two pages.</li>

    • A photograph of the materials you used.
    • A photograph of your work space.
    • At least three photographs of the work at various stages of completion.
    • Your early sketches/photographs/ideas that you used as inspiration for the finished piece</ul>

    As you can see, this is a very involved swap, but it would be absolutely fascinating to get an inside look into other artists’ creative processes and to show off your own work! Art from Start to Finish is open for sign up through the 30th of August. After that you have a full month (until October 1st) to create and document your art. Please see the swap’s info page for the complete requirements. Good luck and happy swapping!

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Travis worked hard making a few improvements to the site this weekend. Here is what has been improved:

• There is now a “games” category for swaps. You select up to three swap categories when creating each swap, and you can search by category on the “View all swaps” page.
• The image uploading problem when editing newly created swaps should now be fixed. You should have no problem uploading .jpgs, .gifs, or .pngs to represent your swaps now.
• The account self deletion option should now be working correctly. If you choose to delete your account (permanently) you can now click on the link at the very bottom of the “Edit Profile” page and, if you are not in any open swaps, your account will automatically be deleted. Previously this option had a few bugs.

Please let us know if you notice any problems with these three improvements. Thanks!

After a 2.5 month hiatus, weekly featured swaps are back! There are so many great swaps to choose from (577 open swaps right now!) it was hard to pick just one…

This week’s featured swap is the Fiber Art Photography ATC Swap hosted by <a href=http://www.swap-bot.com/member/?id=9056”>fiberfool</a>. The swap is open for signup through the end of August, and your ATCs must be mailed to your three partners by September 14th. The swap is international and open to any swapper with a 4.5 rating or higher. Each participant will send three ATCs to each of their partners. <img class=”alignright” src=&#

039;http://swap-bot.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2007/08/443583760_419d30166b_m.jpg’ alt=’443583760_419d30166b_m.jpg’ />The ATCs must include a photograph of some type of fiber-related item, such as yarn, tools, or projects which are completed or in progress.

ATCs are a very popular swap item, but despite their popularity I still get many emails asking what they are. ATCs are Artist Trading Cards. They are 2.5 x 3.5 inches in size, are created by hand, and are either one-of-a-kind or in limited editions. For those of you who are new to them, here are a few links to ATC sites:

• Wikipedia article about ATCs
• ATCards Forums
• Artist Trading Cards Flickr Group

Because of a few recent forum threads and many email complaints from users, I have determined it is necessary to post a bit of info about forum etiquette.

First of all, we love how active everyone is in the forums. It is wonderful when we see people answering questions and helping new users. Our policy is to NOT censor any forum posts or delete any threads. Each user is responsible for what they post to the forums… That is where things can get tricky!

Please be aware that members could be held legally responsible for damages to another member’s reputation if a court were to find that the remarks constitute libel or defamation. Under federal law – Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act – because Swap-bot does not censor feedback or investigate it for accuracy, Swap-bot is not legally responsible for the remarks that members post, even if those remarks are defamatory. However, this law does not protect the person who leaves the feedback from responsibility for it.

Basically, you are just as responsible for remarks you make in the Swap-bot forums as you are for things you say to so

meone’s face or print in a publication. I know that bad swappers make us super-mad and frustrated, but we all have to try our best to remain civil and kind.

One more thing: although we created a “One-on-One Trades” category in the forums, Swap-bot cannot regulate these swaps and I cannot make sure that members send their items for these swaps. We are currently working on a way to incorporate one-on-one trades and tag-type swaps into the overall Swap-bot system and rating system, but it will take us a while to get it implemented. Until then, you are participating in the forum swaps completely at your own risk without any type of recourse (i.e. the rating system) available if you don’t receive items. Because we do not regulate these types of swaps, I cannot take the forum swaps into consideration when deciding whether someone needs to have their account frozen or deleted.

There are so many awesome, kind, creative, and fabulous users on Swap-bot. Don’t let the few scammers get you down! We are trying our best to stay on top of them.

Thank you all for your help and happy swapping!

• Speed dvdrip