freshlyblended Holiday Ornament Swap 2011

this is perfect!!! I make handmade christmas ornaments to give as gifts and for christmas party favors, so this is a blessing! I have so many miss-matched quantities of different ones...this will be so nice!! Super excited about this one! Thanks for creating it!!!

Just a note, sending by Dec 7 internationally leaves a very short window for some to get their packages by Christmas day. I've seen it take over a month to get packages from Australia to U.S....

YEAH!! I love this swap and have participated at least twice before....it is so FUN getting all those ornaments in the mail:)

I'm SO excited that it's continuing!

Do you plan on angeling any flakers? or adding a Profile?

just a suggestion for freshlyblended.... if you don't want none freshly blended members joining (ie regular swap-bot members) it needed to be set as private. (you would have then issued your members with a password to join it) and the swap-bot system would automatically assign addresses for partners when you (the host) click on 'assign partners' eliminating the need for an email of addresses being sent out.... but if you have done it this way before, you'll know the drill, so carry on :)

can they be knittered?

I would say so Rea. I have a couple of Rea's knitted ornaments. They are lovely. So cute!

Yay. I already started making mine. :)

reauk: Yes, knit ornaments are very welcome in this swap!

kittenred: This swap is open to anyone who wants to participate, however, newbies should look at the flickr groups from past years' swaps to see the level of quality and time that participants in this swap put into their ornaments.

http://www.flickr.com/groups/1530273@N20/pool/

http://www.flickr.com/groups/1278358@N23/pool/

wolfeagle: I'm not sure what angeling means, but I do encourage anyone that does not receive an ornament to contact their partner through swapbot and find out what went wrong. If it turns out to be a true flake situation, rate accordingly.

Im excited. This is my first swap. I can't wait to get started! I love crafting and now I get to share some of my goodies with 10 other people!

Hurrah! I've never done this swap, but always seeking opportunities to trade goodies with fellow craft goddesses!! :o)

I wait all year for this swap -- I'm so excited my ornaments are already done, just decorating up the envelopes for a frosty delight! Welcome everyone!

I'm really excited now that I know who I'm sending to. I participated in the freshly blended ornament swap a couple years ago and I received lovely ornaments that are still hanging on my tree! Starting making mine now, and can't wait to see what you all come up with! Have fun!

Having a hard time signing up. Please add me?

Where do I go to find my swap partners? The link lead me here, but I don't see a list.

Oh, now I see it in the upper right corner. Silly me!

Is there anyway to still join? I did it last year and loved it. This year I assumed it was off but just saw this! Would love to join!

i started making mine the day i signed up. this is such a great idea.

Can I still join. I participated last year and loved it!!!!!. Just getting over a bad cold so I finally am getting back into action.

Partners of @ABPMomma should not expect to receive. She (Melissa Russell Cooper Hutchinson of Knoxville, TN) has been on Swap-Bot under many different names and profiles and defrauded people out of over 130 swaps. She has been investigated by the U.S. Postal Service Fraud Division and has been banned by many swapping sites.

I am so pooped I missed the deadline - is there anyway we could still join? I've been on this swap in previous years with excellent feedbacks.. :)

Well I'm on ABPMomma's recipient list. :( It looks like she is now fully suspended. I was hoping to receive all 10 ornaments this year since last year I didn't receive all of them either.

Will I now be added to someone else's list?

Thanks Alisa for handling the ABPMomma situation! :)

Folks who have her as a send to partner should NOT send! Rather contact the hostess and ask for ABPMomma's partner list and send to one of them.

I like the new set-up! Sending to 10 people - but receiving from 10 completely different people! It's fun! I posted pics on flickr, but sometimes I don't like to do that because I think it's like looking at your presents before Christmas!

I can't resist having a sneak peak at flickr, telling myself its okay as I have no idea which ones will be for me as so many in the swap. Its all very exciting. RLpeeps around me wouldn't be at all interested in handmade goodies so its nice to be able to make them for people that are :D happy days.

Thank you Alisa for hosting this swap. I am loving all the ornaments I am receiving in the mail! :))

All sent! We got our first ornament the other day. My son is so excited!

Since this is my first swap, I hope I am doing it correctly. I am getting ready to post to my overseas swappers on Monday and hope the ornies get there in time for Christmas. I was delighted to find that one of my partners lives exactly where I grew up in England. It is such a small world!

Hi!

I'm 7/10 of the way finished with my lil' cuties, and was wondering if we are expected to add other goodies to the package? I've only participated in one other swap and so I'm not quite sure what people are including.

Thanks! -Ang-

Hi! I am new here. I am too late to participate?

Stagemuse7, you are not expected to include anything else with your ornament. Some people enclose a card or business card, but it certainly isn't required.

Mothercrafter, yes, I'm sorry, its too late. Apologies!

Fellow swappers, please remember to RATE your partners when you receive ornaments! It's an important part of the swap; your rating lets the community know whether or not a swapper is reliable and trustworthy.

Wow, 69 people need to go to the PO today! Yikes.

Left it to the last minute, but they'll get there!

shipped mine today (12-7) phewwwww! didn't mark as sent until after midnight but they went out this morning. One of the ornaments I received is a dead ringer for one in a set of felt ornaments from Target. If she copied it, ok no problem. If you bought and shipped, I'm going to assume your life went bananas but I'm still disappointed :( Probably my last swap. Had a flake last year who promised us all cool tote bags in January since she didn't ship... still waiting.

Half of my partners have not sent as of today. I expected to get flaked on by one or two people, but five sending late - or not at all - is just too much. This will probably be my last year in this swap. :(

I agree with@kittenred above, this needs to be an invite only or password protected private swap for the freshlyblended folks, and a Swapbot version with MUCH stricter requirements and dedicated hosting. The percentage of late sends and potential flakage on this one is crazy! I understand the amount of work a swap of this size would take for a seasoned Swapbotter, so no wonder it's iffy. Seems a lot worse than the last one I participated in thru the 'bot in 2009 though, I only had one flaker and 2 late sends. We'll see how this one turns out. so far I have rec'd one ornament that fell apart in the envie. :O(

I'm not sure the password would help; several of the people who have not sent appear to be personal friends of the host. :(

Geez. Calm down, TC! Just because someone didn't come back to this site to click "sent" doesn't mean they are flaking on you. Honestly, give people a break! Wait to see what you get before you start getting upset.

I decided to opt out this year after participating in the 5 years before.. wasn't so thrilled with the quality of some of thae ornaments sent by swapbot participants in 2009 and also preferred making ornaments for the same swappers who sent lovelies to me. also participated in an actual craft fair this year so no time to swap. hope this 2d time with swapbot works out better for those who really put their time and artistry into this ornament swap!

I just got an adorable ornament from Andrea (Smandrea). Its the coolest felt ViewMaster in red just like one I got as a kid! I'm so excited :) Thank You Soooooo Much!

Hi TC, Just an FYI... I sent my ornaments on the morning of the 7th and have the receipt to prove it. I didn't realize til later that night (at 12:08 am) that I forgot to mark as sent. Now it shows that I shipped a day late :( I wonder if my rating will be poopy now? Anyway TC is not on my send to list but people who are new to swapbot, like me, may not even realize they are supposed to mark as sent.

I checked a dozen of the non-sent users who had ratings, and 8 of them have been rated for this swap already, just didn't know to mark sent, as Kimberj suggested. So of the current 29 no-sends, at least 8 HAVE sent. The odds are going up for less flakage!

Also, I received the cutest, sweetly wrapped cupcake ornie today from @Peaches91011 a newbie to the 'bot and a great partner, so some good new swappers are coming from this! :O)

(Yes I have a life, just curious how this swap will play out in the end.)

When all is said and done, I have two extra ornaments that I would be happy to "angel" to two participants that got flaked on. Just send me a message and I'll be happy to send them off to good homes.

Heidistitches, thank you so much for your offer to angel, that is really nice of you. I hope anyone who feels the need takes you up on your generosity instead of posting negatively about the swap. People like you are what makes this swap special.

To anyone freaking out, ditto to what bkennedy77 wrote - just because a partner has not marked their ornaments as "sent" yet does not mean they are flaking out on you. If you are concerned, you have everything you need to send them a kindly written inquiry.

And to TC, yes, many of my friends are participating in this swap. In fact, many of them have been doing this swap for longer than I have. I can personally guarantee you that the swappers who happen to be friends with me are the least likely people to flake, and if you are lucky enough to receive an ornament from them, it will probably be one of your favorites. Most, of these people are professional designers whose day day job is to craft and probably designed the stickers, paper, embellishments, etc that many of you use all the time. It's a good thing, trust me.

Lastly, thanks so much to everyone who has volunteered to angel and/or been flexible with a few last minute partner changes. We had one person banned and one person drop out, so I have spent a lot of time reassigning so that everyone still has ten people to send to and ten people to receive to. I wish you all the best for a happy holiday and look forward to seeing the rest of the photos posted in the flickr group. For those wondering, there is no personal gain to me for hosting this swap other than the enjoyment of being a participant, it is one of my favorite holiday traditions and I would have missed it if it didn't happen this year. I wish you all the best and hope this swap has brought you and your partners some holiday cheer! As always, please feel free to email me with any concerns, questions, comments. etc.

Alisa (alisa.bobzien@gmail.com)

We will admit to posting a day late due to insane international postage costs (over $10 each). We had to take home the ornaments, unwrap them all, cut them back so that they weren't so thick and repackage. This took us an extra day. All our recipients were international (we are in Australia) so hopefully anyone who is a bit cranky pants at us for sending late will be understanding. The rest is up to Australia Post now. I also only just marked them as sent (sorry!) As yet - we have only received one Ornament from a fellow Australian swapper but we are patient and know they will come. Thanks for letting us participate. It was stressful but super fun! Merry Christmas, xx

Okay... must eat my words and cut negativity out of my life. I only have one ornament yet to arrive and the rest have been adorable, amazing, and beautifully crafted! I am so tickled that I participated! A giant THANK YOU and MERRY CHRISTMAS to everyone that shipped to me :)

Got my last two ornaments and I am one lucky chick, no flakers and they were all very cool :) Thanks to everyone who sent me one. Now... come on people, lets be posting pictures of what you sent!!! I'm dying to see what other people made. I'll be posting a photo of what I received probably later this week.

I have a quick question... well kinda a comment, ha ha! I have one ornament sent from Alabama...no name, just an address. At this time I haven't heard from everyone but I really would like to rate this person as soon as possible. Do you think you might be able to help me out? Thank you so very much!

And just to let you know I have really enjoyed this ornament swap and am already looking to next year.

Thank You to Peacwytch for the lovely compliment!! This is my first time doing an ornament swap and was so worried that ornies would be late or damaged. I've never sent packages in the mail before! Happy they made it in one piece! Lol

I have so far received 6 ornies and love them to bits! I have yet to pick up a tree to hang them but I've been so busy making ornies for my family and friends here that I haven't had a chance!! And I'm coming up with ideas for next year's swap! So excited!!

I too checked the sent list and 2 of my senders to me are from The United Kingdom and neither of them has marked sent and one is a newbie and the other is a seasoned swap bot swapper...sooo hopefully it's on it's way...

Thank you to alisabob for hosting this swap! I've enjoyed it very much and am looking forward to next year's!!

I've been involved in this swap for 5 years, and if my suspicions are correct this year I've encountered my first flaker. I'm still yet to receive 3 ornaments - two I expect are in the mail (from seasoned swappers), but one from UK who is a newbie who still (as at 21 Dec) has no feedback from other recipients for this swap. Everyone admires the variety of handmade ornaments that predominate my Christmas tree and I figure 1 flaker out of 50 ornaments is pretty good odds and I'll be back next year if the swap is run again.

Anyone interested in a Valentine ornament swap? If so, send me a message, and if there are enough of us, I'll host one from my blog. This will guarantee that you will send and receive from the same group. I participated in one back in 2009 and it was lots of fun.

I just looked back at 2009 Valentine swap and it was tamaradesigns that hosted!!

Hi there!

Sent a message to Becaroo (UK) and no response (never received an ornament). Is anyone else in the same boat? Sounds like tamaradesigns might have had the same experience as well?

I'd be up for a Valentine ornament swap!

-Ang

Hi stagemuse7. Yes, I was referring to Becaroo. I sent her a message before Christmas but got no reply. It's a shame flakers spoil these swaps for people who are genuinely interested in taking part.

There is a thread here that was started to help find angels for a certain swapper, who was in this swap but if you were flaked in this swap by anyone else, you may be able to find an angel there.

Re: the above comment by @astark2009 regarding flaker @Treksek - angels will send ornaments only to those who rate @Treksek a 1 for not sending. It's important to get those ratings done.

I just received my last and final ornament form the UK. Better late then flaked on! Lol. I loved everything I have received and I really enjoyed this swap and am excited for the next one. ^_^

Sooo...I sent all my ornies out but not all my partners have rated me. I have sent messages to the 3 partners thru swap-bot and have not heard anything. I know the holidays have just ended and they may be out of town so I'm going to give them another week before sending them another email. Wondering will that affect my rating if I'm not rated for 3 out of the 10? This is my first swap and am curious on how this is handled. I have offered to remake and send new ornies if for some reason they got lost in the mail. But as I mentioned before I have not gotten a response from @Anniebhandmade @Sparklepantsgirl and @wellstl3 Please let me know what I should do or needs to be done. Thanks!

UPDATE FOR 2012: The ornament swap is on hiatus this year, you can read about it on the freshlyblended blog: http://freshlyblendedblog.com/

FURTHER UPDATE FOR 2012 - Based on demand stated in the flickr 2011 ornie disscussion board, I've created a private swap on swap-bot. I made it private for quality control.

More details here: http://www.flickr.com/groups/ornamentswap2011/discuss/72157631747721558/

Sign up closes 12 November and the mail out deadline is 1 December.

Kind regards Tamara