Sweet Goodness Swaps: November 2007

Thursday, November 29, 2007

Are you Ready for the Holidays?

December 1st is Saturday which leaves only 25 days until Christmas! Can you believe it? Time sure does fly. I'm am so not prepared. Ugh.

Anyway, by the time all the November "Swags & Tags" packages should be out and everyone should be thinking about their December package. Lucy created a Flickr pool to share all your November swap goodies. You can find it here. Don't forget to post your photos there, we all want to see the goods!

December swap packages should be sent out by December 15th.

DECEMBER SISTER SWAP DETAILS

Please send your sister, by 12/15/07, a Sweet Holiday Goodness package!

So what should you send?

Please include a few recipes for your sister to treat her friends and family. Put your recipes on recipe cards and include them in a hand made "bag" of some sort. Suggestions: fabric bag, decorated gift bag or brown paper bag. Also include something to encourage her to make one of your yummy dishes, a whisk, a spice, measuring spoons, you name it! Please also send a hand made or purchased/thrifted small gift of your choice. By this time you should know your sister pretty well and will know if she will enjoy some scented lotion or a vintage kitchen tool or a thrifted apron. Just a little something to say Happy Holidays! Try to limit your spending to between $5 and $8 per package if you are asked to supply something you cannot make from your stash.

If you have any issues with your swaps please let us know! Leave a comment or visit us!

Rebecca
Lucy

hugs!
R

Tuesday, November 13, 2007

November Swap Challenge!

The Blessing of Friends

"Each friend represents a world in us, a world possibly not born until they arrive, and it is only by this meeting that a new world is born."

--Anais Nin

(A little hint about my project...which is not finished, and may not work out according to plans...ahem....but it's coming along :)

Is November already almost halfway through?? Ummmm where did these last couple of weeks go? Where did October go for goodness sake?? I feel like Sleep Walking Not So Beauty lately, with my life on fast forward. I'm not prepared, I'm not ready, I'm standing here wondering how I'll get everything done....but done I will do, done I do well, at the last minute (normally) but oh how I wish I was one of you...who is so well prepared for everything, who has the decorations out and ready, the crafts for the holidays in full swing, shopping under her belt, cards all signed and addressed, the gravy made ahead, the lists more than half crossed off---how I wish I was more like you who has their life under control and ready to rock and roll at every waking minute. That is you, right?? :)

Well, without further ado--please check your email for a reminder of our upcoming swaps and some important links! I'm sure most of you probably have your packages just about complete and heading out to the post office already. Or, maybe you are more like me and finishing up (or ahem...just getting started) and will be sending out closer to actual ship date. Either way, please communicate with your partner and let her know when your items are shipped--and I know I don't need to remind you, but our "legal" advisors say we must disclose this--don't forget to send a "Thank You" to your partner when your package is received!!!

We had a lot of great feedback and tons of responses to our last survey, so we thought we would do another "get to know you" post. Here's this month question/story we would like you to share on your blog (for all of us nosey Sisters) or via email to your sister. Please do this BEFORE Thanksgiving and LEAVE A COMMENT here if you choose to blog it, so we can visit your post!

What is it we ask?

Please share one of your favorite quotes (thank your Breanna for the question poised to Rebecca for our inspiration for this post), and tell us how it relates to a favorite Thanksgiving (or holiday) story of yours.

Hmmmm.....I could say "Everything Happens For a Reason" and tell you about the Thanksgiving my refrigerator went south.....that was a fun year!! NOT!

Or--maybe I should tell you about.....well....I'll save that story for my post ;)

We can't wait to hear what you have to share with us!

PARTICIPATION GUIDELINES

Participation Selection:

We like to have as many participants in our swaps as possible. However, we usually limit each swap to the first 50 sign ups as it becomes very difficult to deal with the amount of email and follow up if the number is larger. Plus a smaller group gives us an opportunity to give more personalized assistance when needed.

For most swaps we allow in any one who would like to join. Some swaps in the past have been limited to those who have successfully swapped with us before or those who are recommended by our previous swappers or known friends.

Those people who have signed up for swaps and HAVE NOT completed them are not invited back. There are some exceptions to this rule, such as the person contacting both us and their partner with their extenuating circumstances or someone dropping out early and our ability to fill their spot in time. We understand that things come up and don't hold this against people but we do tend to not reinvite those who in the past haven't even bothered to contact their partners or send any packages.

Screening Process:

We have started using a questionnaire that needs to be filled out in order to sign up for the swap. This helps us to not only get to know our swappers but to match up partners with similar interests.

We keep a list of those who have swapped with us in the past and use this to try to insure no one gets the same partner they have had in the past to add variety to the swaps.

Other than this we take everyone into consideration and ASSUME they will send a complete and quality swap. We want to give everyone a chance to join in and have fun.

Swapping always involves a bit of risk though all of our swaps have a very high success rate and we have a wonderful core of returning swappers. We do our best to solve all swap issues and assist where needed. We also would like to remind everyone that we do for fun as we enjoy swapping with our creative folks out there and coming up with fun and new swap themes.

We encourage your feedback and thoughts. As we change our swap mailbox with each swap your general comments and feedback can be sent to goodnessshop@gmail.com.

PLEASE READ

Please be sure that when joining a swap that you read the directions thoroughly. Not only do we post them on the site but we also send emails containing swap specifics. While we are all for creative license there are some rules that should be followed including the number of items to be included (more is welcome but try to stay within the budget posted) and the types of items to be included. We will always have at least one hand made item in our swaps. That is the essence of Sweet Goodness!

Thank you and we hope you understand that we do this to insure that everyone has a positive swap experience.

~ Rebecca, Lucy, Heidi, Leigh Ann & Shara