BOOK of letters && envelope goodies swap! ♥

Does anyone remember reading THE JOLLY POSTMAN growing up?! There was something so intriguing and exciting about going on the journey of The Jolly Postman and being able to open up and read little letters and surprises that he delivered.

This swap is inspired by THE JOLLY POSTMAN collection of books (as there are also The Jolly Christmas Postman and The Jolly Pocket Postman) My friends and I used to create these for eachother when we were in Jr. High as well! Our books would get up to as high as 150+ letters!

The idea here is to make your own version of The Jolly Postman book, except with a theme of crafty surprises. So basically (if you haven't ever read The Jolly Postman) The 'book' doesn't have to be a full-on-professional-bound book. You can just take pages and staple them together. It's what's inside the book that counts. Fill the envelopes in your book with items that your swap partner can open up and take out!

The sky is the limit here, and the book doesn't necessarily have to remain flat. You can stuff it with as many goodies as you like! Well, stuff the envelopes with goodies! Check out your partner's profile to get an idea of what sort of things they like, and what you might be able to stuff the envelopes on the pages with! You can decorate the pages around the envelope as much as you like, or leave it plain but make the inside envelope surprise really nice -- Whatever you decide.

Some ideas of goodies you can include in the envelope are stickers, bookmarks, stamps, magnets, fabric, candy, pen, a letter of course from you, a photo of you, beautiful papers, notecards, craft buttons, tags, WHATEVER! Some of those items may make your book pretty thick but it'll be fun opening the surprises!

Well I hope someone will sign up for this swap, even if it is just 1 person, because I know I'm going to have a really good time making my envelope notebook of goodies.

STILL CONFUSED?? :: Sorry I can't explain it better, It is a little hard to explain, hopefully after this swap we'll have some great pictures of examples :) But if you still are not understanding the concept of how this works, you basically take some 8.5 x 11 sheets of paper, or whatever size you choose, take an envelope, glue the back to side (so opening flap facing toward you!) onto a page, and then place a goody inside the envelope that your partner will be able to take out, read, keep, whatever!

RULES ::

• You have till Oct 20th to sign up + then 2.5 weeks to make your book. You can even start on your book now, even though partner's aren't assigned - but start getting together the papers, the envelopes, how you want to decorate it, write a letter, include a picture of yourself, whatever! ;) then figure out the surprises when you get your partner and are able to read their profile.

• PLEASE do not cop out and make a cheap book. Try and throw in some nice goodies, flat or not, into your envelopes! Try to put a good amount time and effort into your envelope surprise book. I know we're all busy and have lives but hopefully this will be something fun and something you'll want to do and make ;) You will be assigned just 1 swap partner, so to give you more time to put lots of effort into your book. Please also try to make it to your partner's liking, by checking their profile. Include some of your own style or likes in it as well!

• I am setting the minimum amount of pages in your book to be 5. (So if you want, 2.5 pages, fill it front + back?) Feel free to go above this or just make it a real nice 5 pages worth of goodies!

• Unfortunately, I don't think I can allow newbies into this swap. Please have a rating of 4.5 or higher! If you have a no-send, feel free to contact me! I will angel if for someone reason someone does not send. They're fun to make anyway! :)

♥ THIS SWAP IS MEANT FOR YOU TO HAVE FUN, BE CRAFTY, AND HAVE SOMETHING FOR YOU TO LOOK FORWARD TO RECEIVING! I am so excited and looking forward to making one! and of course, post any questions or feel free to contact me!** ♥

EDITS ::

10/14 - HELLO EVERYONE! PLEASE READ THE COMMENTS as there are some good points and comments written about this swap there! Please also check this description one last time before the swap starts as it will be edited as people bring up points later. I will try to note most of the edit from below :)

10/16 - I can't believe I didn't mention one of the most important things. I wasn't going to make this swap international but I think maybe a couple people have already joined so I will open it up. This swap is international. Feel free to join in!

• Just be sure to have your profile filled out!

• PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE commit to leaving your swap partner a rating! Your partner will be putting much effort into your envelope goodies book and they deserve a rating. sometimes people don't leave a rating and it's really sad because that person took time to make or put a package together for them, send it out, etc!

10/19 - one more day! / if you can, try and take photos of your book before you send it out :)

10/20 - HURRAY the day has come! I am so excited! Swap partners will be assigned later today.

oh, && ps - some shameless advertising - i'm doing a forum round robin swap, if anyone wants to join, please see the link here! we're trying to get 10 people, so far we have 6! forum round robbin

10/21 - WOW, I AM SO EXCITED THAT 24 PEOPLE WANTED TO DO THIS! I hope everyone has fun! Again, please try to take pictures of what you are sending &/or receiving so we can record them!

I am a little weary, I let a couple people stay in and they only have a couple 'recipe' swaps in their profile but I will be more clear next time. Yes, we'll definitely do this again so I hope everyone joins in! :)

Please email or message if you have any questions!