A Sender's Choice Christmas!

  It's that time of year!  "SENDER'S CHOICE"

WHY this particular theme?  Because we all have different interests and I didn't want to pigeon hole anyone.  The only request is that it is CHRISTMAS oriented!

The info:

Once again, We are doing a "5 for 5" handmade Christmas ornament swap.

What this means is that you will be sending me 5 handmade ornaments and receiving a variety of 5 ornaments back. You may use ANY MEDIUM you want to create these little pieces of art!

You do not have to have a blog to join.  
There is no deadline to sign up, all you have to do is get the ornaments to me in time for me to ship them to their new homes early December.  

That being said, I am going to be out of town for Thanksgiving for the first time in years so please make and ship them as soon as possible.  

To sign up, send me an email at valpowery(at)yahoo(dot)com with your name so I can put it on the sidebar.  I will send you instructions when I get your sign up email.

This will be a USA only swap due to shipping.

Please create something you would love to receive and be sure to package your ornaments in a nice, re-usable box so I can mail your new ornaments back to you in it.   Be sure to include a self addressed return label for me.  It saves me a lot of time!

Try to keep your ornaments light in weight and please take care when wrapping to make sure they are cushioned, etc.  

We want all our ornaments to arrive in pristine condition!  

All ornaments must be either in a clear treat bag or some other "holiday" type wrap with a tag from you.   It doesn't have to be fancy, but do take some time to do a good job, no throwing all the ornaments in a box with no gift tags, wrapping or tissue.  Remember, these ornaments represent hard work and all participants want to OPEN them as they would a Christmas gift.  

If ANY of your ornaments reach me broken, they will be returned to you in your return ornament variety.  That being said, if 2 break, you will get 2 of your own back along with 3 different ones for a total of 5.

*New Rule:  Many of us have become dear friends and I even have family members joining now too.  Please understand that in shuffling these ornaments around, your friend or family member may get an ornament you planned on giving them privately.   I ended up giving away my own ornaments from the swap to make sure everyone received a unique assortment.   I am no longer doing this.

May I suggest you either send in extra ornaments to keep this from happening or refrain from giving the ornaments privately until AFTER everyone receives their box.  (Some of you already do that, thank you!)

Return Shipping:  $10.00 is sufficient to cover the cost of sending ornaments back to you unless they are oversized or heavy.  In that case, please send in 2-3 dollars extra.  Again, please include a return address label already filled out.  

Ship in time for me to receive them by mid November...no later than Thanksgiving.  That way, I can get them in time to mail them out by the first week of December.  Sadly, I can't guarantee you getting an exchange box if your ornaments do not reach me in time.  (If that happens, I'll gladly return your own ornaments to you using the money you sent for shipping.)  
Shipping funds are important!  If you forget to include shipping, your ornaments can't be sent/returned until you have sent me the funds to send/return them to you.  I do accept venmo if that helps.

If you finish your ornaments early, PLEASE send them to me early so I can start organizing them.  The earlier the better!

If time gets away from you and you need to back out, no big deal, just drop me an email at 

valpowery (at) yahoo(dot) com and I'll remove you from the list.  

Invite your artsy/craftsy friends and family!  

Annual Handmade Ornament Swap

It is time for my annual Christmas ornament swap!  As always, this swap is for handcrafted ornaments. Any medium is allowed!  You don't have to be an artist to join in!  

This year the theme is "Traditional!” Think Snowmen and Santas and candy canes and such.

We are doing a "5 for 5"  swap.
What this means is that you will send me 5 of the same handmade ornament.  Then you will receive a variety of 5 ornaments back. 

Once you join, I'll send you an invite so you can post on the swap blog.
You do not have to have a blog or webpage to join.
The deadline to sign up is Oct. 28th. I am limiting participants to 20 this year.

To sign up, send me an email at valpowery(at)yahoo(dot)com with your name and blog or flickr link/info.  

This will be a USA only swap due to shipping.

The do's and don'ts: 

Please DO create something you would love to receive and be sure to package your ornaments in a nice, 

re-usable box so I can mail your new ornaments back to you in it. 

Please DO NOT send any one dimensional tags as ornaments.  If you do paper crafts, you must have layers and glitter and gorgeousness.    Tags are great and I have a few lovely ones on my own tree but they were created as gift tags, not ornaments.  I just chose to USE them as ornaments because they were so nice.

Please DO take care when wrapping to make sure the ornaments are cushioned, etc. please put each ornament in it's own baggie or cellophane wrap so it doesn't get tangled with the others in shipping.   We DO want all our ornaments to arrive in pristine condition!  

Please DO double/triple check your ornaments before shipping to me.  I had several 6-8 that needed fixing or replacing.  Some I replaced with ornaments that were actually sent to me as a gift.  I had to make more ornaments to replace the others with.  

Please DO NOT join if you are unable to commit to making something you would enjoy receiving in return.  

Shipping: Please send in $10.00 to cover the cost of sending ornaments back to you.  This will also cover tracking.   Please include a return address label already filled out.

Ship in time for me to receive them by Thanksgiving.  That way, I can get them in time to organize, repackage and mail them out by the first week of December.  

Sadly, I can't guarantee you getting an exchange box if your ornaments do not reach me in time.  (If that happens, I'll gladly return your own ornaments to you using the money you sent for shipping.)  
Shipping funds are important!  If you forget to include shipping, your ornaments can't be sent/returned until you have sent me the funds to send/return them to you.

If you finish your ornaments early, feel free to send them to me early so I can start organizing them.

If time gets away from you and you need to back out, no big deal, just drop me an email and I'll remove you from the list.  

Also, don't forget to grab the badge to put on your own blog to spread the word!

Annual Ornament Swap!!!

It is time for my annual Christmas ornament swap!  As always, this swap is for handcrafted ornaments. Any medium is allowed!  You don't have to be an artist to join in!  

This year the theme is "HolidayToadstools." That means that somehow, somewhere, there needs to be a toadstool/mushroom incorporated into your ornaments.

We are doing a "5 for 5"  swap.
What this means is that you will send me 5 of the same handmade ornament.  Then you will receive a variety of 5 ornaments back. 

Once you join, I'll send you an invite so you can post on the swap blog.
You do not have to have a blog or webpage to join.
The deadline to sign up is Oct. 28th. I am limiting participants to 20 this year.

To sign up, send me an email at valpowery(at)yahoo(dot)com with your name and blog or flickr link/info.  

This will be a USA only swap due to shipping.

The do's and don'ts: 

Please DO create something you would love to receive and be sure to package your ornaments in a nice, 

re-usable box so I can mail your new ornaments back to you in it. 

Please DO NOT send any one dimensional tags as ornaments.  If you do paper crafts, you must have layers and glitter and gorgeousness.    Tags are great and I have a few lovely ones on my own tree but they were created as gift tags, not ornaments.  I just chose to USE them as ornaments because they were so nice.

Please DO take care when wrapping to make sure the ornaments are cushioned, etc. please put each ornament in it's own baggie or cellophane wrap so it doesn't get tangled with the others in shipping.   We DO want all our ornaments to arrive in pristine condition!  

Please DO double/triple check your ornaments before shipping to me.  I had several 6-8 that needed fixing or replacing.  Some I replaced with ornaments that were actually sent to me as a gift.  I had to make more ornaments to replace the others with.  

Please DO NOT join if you are unable to commit to making something you would enjoy receiving in return.  

Shipping: Please send in $10.00 to cover the cost of sending ornaments back to you.  This will also cover tracking.   Please include a return address label already filled out.

Ship in time for me to receive them by Thanksgiving.  That way, I can get them in time to organize, repackage and mail them out by the first week of December.  

Sadly, I can't guarantee you getting an exchange box if your ornaments do not reach me in time.  (If that happens, I'll gladly return your own ornaments to you using the money you sent for shipping.)  
Shipping funds are important!  If you forget to include shipping, your ornaments can't be sent/returned until you have sent me the funds to send/return them to you.

If you finish your ornaments early, feel free to send them to me early so I can start organizing them.

If time gets away from you and you need to back out, no big deal, just drop me an email and I'll remove you from the list.  

Also, don't forget to grab the badge to put on your own blog to spread the word!

November's challenge, little tree.....

I had a busy Fall and just got around to doing some catch up blog posts!

Here is my challenge for November.   I made this little tree for my kitchen...isn't it cute?  I found the tree, broken at at store and bought it for 2 bucks.  I fixed the broken light and then painted this urn I had in the garage....jammed the little tree in and wala!

So, that is obviously NOT my kitchen, right?  Kaela wanted my 4 foot tree so I let her have it and I took this one to work.....it is actually the perfect size.

So far, I've managed to do ALL the challenges this year......

Here dey come......

The ornaments are trickling in and they are AMAZING!!!!!  I cannot wait to see what everyone made!!!!

Ornament swap is OPEN!

pop by my regular blog for the lowdown!

Gee I hope she likes vintage!

Well nothing like waiting till the last minute! (I once red jane eyre in 2 days for a book report, somebody out there knows what I'm talkin' about!) Had the ornament done Wednesday but ya know! So here's what I put together, I hope she likes it!