Wednesday, November 19, 2008

My December (Christmas) Exchange


Those of you who know me on Lampworketc and Wet Canvas, know that I truly enjoy participating in exchanges on these two forums. I am presently participating 4 exchanges, one of which is due in less than two weeks. Of course, that's the Christmas exchange!

The way most exchanges work is a hostess posts an idea and people sign up. Usually the requirements are 3-5 beads be sent in to exchange along with an envelope and postage. There is a due date. The beads must be in the hostess' hands by that date. I will mail these beads out tomorrow, since the mailman surprised me and delivered our mail quite early today.

I am sending in 3 beads for the exchange, but if you count them, there are 5. Well, the mittens will be a set. There is an extra bead for the hostess. She gets to choose which bead she would like for a hostess gift. The person sending in the beads needs to label the beads with her/his name and forum name, too. For example, my forum ID is rosebud101. I also include my real name too. Some of us include business cards. It all depends on how you choose to identify your beads. I put labels that I have made on the plastic bag I send each bead in.

Once you have sent the beads in, you wait for your return mail. I have had many bleak days brightened up by my returning beads! They are usually absolutely awesome! What we do with them our exchange beads is totally up to us. I often put them in jewelry for me. I also take them down to the studio to work with to see if I can learn a new technique or two.

I have learned so many glass related things and have improved my skills from participating in exchanges. I have met many wonderful new "friends." Of course, they are all online. I hope to meet these people in person one day. Anyway, now that this exchange is finished, I'm on to the others. I am in a heart exchange, a cat exchange, a reactive bead exchange, and a scrolled bead exchange. I warned the hostess on that last exchange that my scrolling is terrible. Anyway, I hope to improve my scroll work by participating in that exchange. There is the possibility of one other exchange, but I haven't made up my mind about it yet. We shall see. So, there are the beads for December. Tomorrow, I mail them out. I hope their new owners like them. I've learned new things, again. I'm glad I was in this exchange.

2 comments:

angelinabeadalina said...

They are all adorable beads, Mallory! I especially like the idea of the mitten set :)

rosebud101 said...

I thought they were cute. I think they'd make a great pair of earrings. Thanks, Ang.