APR-MAY: Matryoshkelopes Round 4!

YES: They are still circula8ting! The matryoshkelopes are traveling around collecting new layers and then heading home :)

Matryoshka dolls carry a great message -- be content, and stick together! Let's create a unique matryoshka from nested, successively mailed, envelopes!

If this is the first round you are joining in, create a small envelope (requirements vary by country, United States Postal Service's minimum machinable mail size is 3.5 x 5 inches, for example) with matryoshka mail art on it. The matryoshka can be drawn, painted, printed out and glued on, etc. You can put a mini-matryoshka inside the envelope just for fun! Your receiving partner will not open the envelope, so it is up to you :) You will clearly write your return address on the back of the envelope as well as in the usual return address spot. You will also write a "1" for your first round on the back of the envelope next to your address.

If this is the second or third round for you, locate the matryoshkelope that you received in the last round and put it in a slightly larger envelope. Feel free to enclose something for the original sender. Before you seal the envelope, make sure to write the original sender's name and address on the back. (It was on the back of the envelope that you received). Then write the # Round that the ENVELOPE is in (the number written on the back of the envelope that you previously received plus one) and your Swap-Bot username on another part of the back of the envelope. Then decorate the envelope in a Matryoshka Manner and send it on to the next recipient.

Receiving partners will rate their sending partner when they receive a matryoshkelope. They will not open it, but will save it for the next round. In each round, the return address of the original sender will go on the back of the new larger envelope, and the number will be increased by one. When an envelope reaches the Round 3 recipient, it will then it be sent back to the owner in a matryoshkelope as an RAK after it is received in the round. The owner should acknowledge the RAK. The next round, the recipient should start a new matryoshkelope. In each round, other items or notes can be added inside the envelope, but they will be opened by the original sender when the envelope is finally opened, not be individual round participants. Of course, it is always possible to get your own envelope back in the next round, given the randomness of Swap-Bot partner assignments :)

Enjoy Round 4, and please let me know if there are any concerns or questions that come up. There is a Matryoshkelope thread in the ZMACS forum. New graphic is from makezine.com.