If you received a card and wanted to say thanks, here's a place to do it! This way we can all check back here and not miss any posts.

You don't have to post a thanks but it's certainly nice if you do.

I meant to get this post up earlier, so it might be too late to place orders for some places or for international delivery by the holidays, but it's worth posting anyway.

In the comments of this post, you may advertise for your own handmade business (please provide relevant shipping deadlines) or for another handmade business you like to shop at. Links can go directly to personal webpages or an Etsy shop, but please refrain from posting eBay links (unless it's to an eBay shop - no auction links, please). If you're advertising for someone else, please tell us why you like their products. If you are advertising for yourself, please post a few (no larger than 640x480) photos of your products. If you see a comment advertising someone who you've previously bought from, please reply to their comment! I find that reviews from people I know hold more weight with me than random reviews. If you (personally) run a business that is non-handmade, you may promote it in the comments, however if you are recommending a business, please stick to handmade items.

Please remember that you cannot post a separate post to this community advertising your business as we are NOT a selling community. This is a one-time opportunity to do some self-promoting, and we would like it all to remain in the comments of this post.

Happy Shopping!

Periodically this month, I will post a swap post that is totally FREE to respond to, just as away to celebrate the holidays and try to keep us closer as a community.

Please share with us....

...a cookie recipe! Share with us your favourite cookie (or other baked good) recipe. If you have a good gluten free, vegan or other dietary restriction recipe, please share as well! Please note in your recipe if your temperature is in Fahrenheit or Celsius so we don't over/under cook our cookies.

Due to a lack of member participation, the December Full Moon holiday swap has been canceled on all three levels.

This is the sign-up post for the $15 Level of the December Holiday Exchange Swap.

Signing up for this swap means you will be creating a holiday gift package for your partner totaling US$15 (not including shipping). All packages must also include a holiday greeting. Please try to keep your costs exactly to $15, as we do not want anyone to feel badly if they can only afford a $15 package, but you spent 210. If you'd like to participate in a lower limit swap, the other sign-ups will be posted shortly.

We cannot guarantee in-country shipping this month, so please be willing to ship internationally.

This month, you may sign up for as many swaps as you would like, as long as your TOTAL does not exceed $30. You will need to sign up in each swap sign-up post for the amount you would like to participate in, as different moderators will be pairing up each level.

Sign-ups will continue until NOVEMBER 28 and we will do our best to have partners out by DECEMBER 1. Your ship date for this swap is DECEMBER 31, but keep in mind most of the holiday's our members celebrate will fall before then if you wanted your package to arrive in time for their holiday. Your swap box should be geared towards the upcoming holiday(s) your partner celebrates, and be a reflection of their interests. If you cannot tell what they like based on their LJ, PLEASE contact them via e-mail so you can get to know each other. Please refrain from filling your boxes with items from the Dollar Store or it's equivalent, as we want everyone to receive high quality gifts this season.

All comments are screened. If you have any questions, please add them to the swap announcement post.

LJ Name:
E-mail address:
Your name & mailing address, including country
Willing to ship international: Y/N
What winter holiday(s) do you celebrate? (please include date of holiday):
Is there any holiday you do NOT want to create a gift for?
Do you have any allergies or restricted items you cannot receive?
Is there anything else you would like your partner to know?

This is the sign-up post for the $10 Level of the December Holiday Exchange Swap.

Signing up for this swap means you will be creating a holiday gift package for your partner totaling US$10 (not including shipping). All packages must also include a holiday greeting. Please try to keep your costs exactly to $10, as we do not want anyone to feel badly if they can only afford a $10 package, but you spent $15. If you'd like to participate in a higher or lower limit swap, the other sign-ups will be posted shortly.

We cannot guarantee in-country shipping this month, so please be willing to ship internationally.

This month, you may sign up for as many swaps as you would like, as long as your TOTAL does not exceed $30. You will need to sign up in each swap sign-up post for the amount you would like to participate in, as different moderators will be pairing up each level.

Sign-ups will continue until NOVEMBER 28 and we will do our best to have partners out by DECEMBER 1. Your ship date for this swap is DECEMBER 31, but keep in mind most of the holiday's our members celebrate will fall before then if you wanted your package to arrive in time for their holiday. Your swap box should be geared towards the upcoming holiday(s) your partner celebrates, and be a reflection of their interests. If you cannot tell what they like based on their LJ, PLEASE contact them via e-mail so you can get to know each other. Please refrain from filling your boxes with items from the Dollar Store or it's equivalent, as we want everyone to receive high quality gifts this season.

All comments are screened. If you have any questions, please add them to the swap announcement post.

LJ Name:
E-mail address:
Your name & mailing address, including country
Willing to ship international: Y/N
What winter holiday(s) do you celebrate? (please include date of holiday):
Is there any holiday you do NOT want to create a gift for?
Do you have any allergies or restricted items you cannot receive?
Is there anything else you would like your partner to know?

You may have noticed that we skipped over a Full Moon. December is special, as there are TWO full moons - one at the beginning of the month, and one at the end. Usually, we would still run 2 swaps for a double full moon month, but as it's December, we decided to do something different and start our holiday swap early!

Sign-ups will begin on Sunday 22 November and run until Saturday 28 November. There will be THREE SEPARATE SIGN UP POSTS divided by price. We will do our absolute best to get partners out before the 30th, but we might not get to them until later in the week due to the Thanksgiving holiday in the US. You will then have the entire month of December to work on your special swaps, as the ship date for this swap will be 31 December!

For our holiday swap, there will be 3 "levels" you can sign up for (all amounts in USD) - a $5 level, a $10 level, and a $15 level. We will allow you to sign up for more than one swap, as long as your TOTAL does not go over $30 (so if you want, you can do 2 $15 swaps, or 3 $10, or a $15, $10, and a $5, etc.). Each swap should include a holiday greeting card and should reflect your partner's interests as well as the spirit of the holiday season.

ALL PACKAGES MUST HAVE DELIVERY CONFIRMATION when shipping domestically, and you MUST scan/take a picture of your receipt if you are shipping internationally. We will do our best to pair people in-country, but sometimes it's just not possible, so please be willing to ship internationally and make sure you check the list of restricted items for your partner's country.

If you have any questions, this is the post to ask them in!

Also: reminder that we are still looking for some new swap mods for 2010! Don't be shy!

A few of our current moderators would like to step down (or already have) by the end of 2009, and we are looking for some fresh Swap Mods! Interested parties must be a swapper in GOOD standing (not currently on the late list) and you must have good communication skills. We also would like you to commit yourself to modding at least TWO monthly swaps in 2010. As a Swap Moderator you will be in charge of running sign-ups for your month, assigning partners, posting the shipping hub, and following up with the participants. You do not need to have a swap idea in mind for your month, as we all will be contributing ideas for swaps.

The dates of the full moons for 2010 are as follows:

* January 30: Cold Moon
* February 28: Quickening Moon - Unavailable
* March 30: Storm Moon - Unavailable
* April 28: Wind Moon
* May 27: Flower Moon
* June 26: Strong Sun Moon
* July 26: Blessing Moon
* August 24: Corn Moon
* September 23: Harvest Moon
* October 23: Blood Moon - Unavailable
* November 21: Mourning Moon
* December 21: Long Nights Moon - Unavailable

sign-ups will always begin the week after the prior month's full moon, so please pick a month where you will have some time throughout the month to mod.

Please note that if we do not get more swap moderators we might have to drop down to bi-monthly swaps or even no swaps at all, as all of the current moderators are getting busier and busier with their lives.

We also are in need of a new Membership Moderator, as jenett would like to take some time off. The Membership moderator will be in charge of approving (or denying) new membership requests and will be the contact person if anyone has any questions regarding their pending or denied membership. the membership moderator will NOT be responsible for a monthly swap (as your job will be a monthly job), but if you want to sign up for a month or two, you certainly can!

If you are interested in becoming a swap mod, please respond to this post (all comments are screened) with the following:

LJ name
e-mail address
any modding experience you have
anything else you want us to know
which 2 months in 2010 you are willing to commit yourself to

Please be flexible with your months. If we receive more than one person for each month, we will need to do some shifting. Or if you have no preference to a month, please let us know how many months you would like and we will fit you into the schedule as needed.

Moderator "applications" are going to be accepted until November 30th, so you have some time to think about it and ask any questions you might have.

Hello! I got a beautifully packaged swap from freakshownia.

It included:

Halloween plastic rings, to be used as cat toys
Pretty ribbon
catnip
A scary-looking bat pez dispenser and pez to fill it
And two kids books about bats. I've been reading them aloud as bedtime stories to my partner. Cause we're odd like that.

Pictures behind the cut.

( Read more... )

Thank you!

Sorry for the delay! Rachel's box was waiting on my desk when I got home on Thursday and I took pictures as soon as I could, but completely forgot to upload them! >.<

Here's the full swap in all it's glory...

A hay tube for the Guinea pigs, and some popcorn, too; a handmade catnip toy for Bunny, our cat, and some cat crunchies; and a beautiful goldfish pendant and a silly poodle postcard! ^-^

( Close ups below the cut! )

I received my swap from bunnykissd today!!



( Photos )

Also, I'll be getting my car back tomorrow so my swap will be shipped on Wednesday.

Please post here with your "swap shipped" information for the Pet / Spirit animal swap

Info needed:
date and method of shipment
delivery confirmation and/or tracking number

If you are shipping internationally or can't get a tracking number, please hold onto your receipt in case a dispute arises. We recommend scanning or taking a picture of your receipt so you don't have to hold on to a small piece of paper.

Please comment here with any info pertaining to the shipment of your package.
This post is also for asking your partner for any package related questions: "Did you receive your swap yet?" or "I still haven't received anything." or "I got it, loved it, and will post later!" are examples of the types of things which need to be posted here. This saves the community page from a lot of unnecessary clutter.


The shipping deadline for this swap to avoid penalties is Monday, November 2nd

Since I'm leaving for some R&R in less than 8 hours (omg I need to sleeeeep!) and will be incommunicado until at *least* next Thursday (no intrarwebz for a week! oh noes!), I got my package out today and thought I'd post my info, but there's no shipping hub yet... So I hope this is ok. (Not sure what tags to use either... sorry...)

My DC# is 0306 2400 0001 6112 4844. I hope you like it; my kitty & I made it together! ^-^

(Oh, and no worries for the person sending to me, our son is staying home to take care of the pets and he'll get the mail in case your package arrives before we return... ^-^ )

Just a little reminder for the participants of this month Pet / Animal spirit that the shipping date is next monday, November 2nd.

Woot...sorry, I've been so busy these past couple of weeks. Finding out about my friend, teachers trying to overload me with tons and tons of assignments...chasing 5-9years around... yeap yeap uber busy!

I received morrigane's swap! I love it. I am so late posting it...

She sent me a magazine, a divination book, beautiful tarot cards, candy....(i did a have a marshmallow pumpkin but well lets say he met his demise early....*silent moment*), cute little pumpkin candles! I can't wait until halloween to light them.....and a beautiful fairy.....My husband really likes her......and it all is laid out on a beautiful halloween cloth that was handmade.. :)

so ( Lookies! )

Pet / Spirit animal

 

November is a time to give thanks.  Why not give thanks to the special animals in our lives?  In this swap you will have the chance to tailor a swap around your  partner’s pet and/or her spirit or totem animal.  These animals bring joy and guidance to our lives and we do not always have the time to thank them for the love they give us.  Now is the time!

 

Sounds like fun?

Since I am late posting this, I will post the shiping hub right away.

 

Swap Sign-Ups: October 13 to 15
Pairings: October 15th
Shipping deadline is Monday, November, 2nd.

Thank you radiantwterror! I received your swap today!

( Swap Goodies )

Thank you hyper_faerie I received your swap yesterday! I just love it!
( Click me to see swap goodies )

Please post here with your "swap shipped" information for the Halloween / Samhain swap

Info needed:
date and method of shipment
delivery confirmation and/or tracking number

If you are shipping internationally or can't get a tracking number, please hold onto your receipt in case a dispute arises. We recommend scanning or taking a picture of your receipt so you don't have to hold on to a small piece of paper.

Please comment here with any info pertaining to the shipment of your package.
This post is also for asking your partner for any package related questions: "Did you receive your swap yet?" or "I still haven't received anything." or "I got it, loved it, and will post later!" are examples of the types of things which need to be posted here. This saves the community page from a lot of unnecessary clutter.


The shipping deadline for this swap to avoid penalties is Saturday, October 3rd