Still Kickin'

Hello! We know it's been quiet here at SGS but we're still around. This is the time of year that gets busy for everyone so we are working through a holiday swap. We are considering a small ornament swap this year. Two ideas:

1 - You'd be assigned a partner and between the two of you would decide on a theme (if any) and stay to a preset mail out time.

2 - We can create a theme (even a series of themes) and you and your partner would stick to that. Examples: Vintage, Snow White, Silver and Gold, etc.

Thoughts? Leave your comments here about what you'd like to see and if you'd be interested in a small ornament swap.

cheers! Rebecca

Flickr group created!

Hello Ladies!

We expect that some of you have already received your swap packages (I did--it was fabulous!) and we'd love to see what you sent and what you received! We've created a Flickr group where you can share photos of your swap packages, so we'd love to see how you interpreted our swap theme and what you made!

Hey, Hey, it's Mailing Day!

Good morning, ladies!

Today is mailing day for the Midsummer Night's Dream swap. If for any reason you are not able to get your swap package out by today, PLEASE be courteous and contact your partner ASAP!

Additionally, if there is any reason that you are not going to be able to fulfill your part of the swap, please be courteous and contact both your partner and us (sweetgoodnessswaps@hotmail.com) ASAP!

We'll post a Flickr group later this week so you can post photos of all the lovely things that you made and sent.

Inspiration: Fairy Gardens

While it might not be practical to send an actual garden through the mail, watch this cute video to find inspiration on how you could make a Fairy Garden for your swap partner!

Quotes to inspire you

Hello Swappers! We've received a few emails with partner concerns and we're working to get those all ironed out. In the mean time, here are some quotes from Shakespeare's "A Midsummer Night's Dream" that might help inspire you as you put together your swap packages:

"Since once I sat upon a promontory,
And heard a mermaid on a dolphin's back
Uttering such dulcet and harmonious breath,
That the rude sea grew civil at her song,
And certain stars shot madly from their spheres
To hear the sea-maid's music."
A Midsummer Night's Dream, 2. 1

"I know a bank where the wild thyme blows,
Where oxlips and the nodding violet grows,
Quite over-canopied with luscious woodbine,
With sweet musk-roses and with eglantine."
A Midsummer Night's Dream, 2. 1

"You spotted snakes with double tongue,
Thorny hedgehogs, be not seen;
Newts and blind-worms, do no wrong,
Come not near our fairy queen."
A Midsummer Night's Dream, 2. 2 


"So we grew together,
Like to a double cherry, seeming parted,
But yet an union in partition.
Two lovely berries moulded on one stem;
So, with two seeming bodies, but one heart."
A Midsummer Night's Dream, 3. 2

What angel wakes me from my flowery bed?
A Midsummer Night's Dream, 3. 1

Out of this wood do not desire to go.
A Midsummer Night's Dream, 3. 1

Lord, what fools these mortals be!
A Midsummer Night's Dream, 3. 2

The lunatic, the lover, and the poet
Are of imagination all compact.
A Midsummer Night's Dream, 5. 1

The lover, all as frantic,
Sees Helen's beauty in a brow of Egypt:
The poet's eye, in a fine frenzy rolling,
Doth glance from heaven to earth, from earth to heaven;
And as imagination bodies forth
The forms of things unknown, the poet's pen
Turns them to shapes, and gives to airy nothing
A local habitation and a name.
A Midsummer Night's Dream, 5. 1   

The iron tongue of midnight hath told twelve;
Lovers, to bed; 'tis almost fairy time.
A Midsummer Night's Dream, 5. 1 

If we shadows have offended,
Think but this, and all is mended,
That you have but slumbered here
While these visions did appear.
A Midsummer Night's Dream, 5. 1 

Midsummer Night's Dream Swap --week 2

Hello Sweet Swappers! We hope by now that you and your partner have exchanged emails and found out a little more about each other so that you can put together packages that you each love. If any of you have contacted your partner but have not yet heard back from her, please email us ASAP at sweetgoodnessswaps@hotmail.com so we can sort things out!

SWAP Closed!

The Midsummer Night's Dream Swap is now CLOSED.

Partner emails went out Monday evening. Please let us know if you did not receive it @ sweetgoodnessswaps@hotmail.com.

Cheers!
The Goodness Girls

Midsummer Night's Dream Swap Sign-up

Hello Swappers! Sign-ups are now open for our Midsummer Night's Dream swap! (Sorry for the delay--did you know you have to make an appointment at the Post Office to apply for a passport? Neither did we! Ugh.) For this swap we want you to envision a warm summer night with twinkling lights and soft sounds. Take your inspiration from Romantic Shakespearean style, glittering fireflies with gossamer wings, floaty gowns, laughing fairies, watercolors & wildflowers, floral garlands, green ferns, vintage instruments and poetry.

As always, Sweet Goodness Swaps require that you include one thrifted/vintage item, one handmade item and one sweet treat in your swap. Price limit is $20.00 not including shipping. You can always do more, of course. Make sure you get to know your partner. Read their blog. If they don’t have a blog, ask questions! There is a questionnaire at the end of this post that will help us partner you with someone with similar tastes and styles.

Partners will be assigned as soon as the limit of 40 participants is reached, and you will have your assignment by Monday, July 19. Mail out date will be Monday, August 9. That will give everyone a chance to handle their swap responsibilities before the real hustle and bustle of the end of summer and beginning of back to school time.  Plus, we want you to receive your Midsummer goodies in, well, SUMMER!

In order to participate in this swap, you must have swapped with Sweet Goodness Swaps before. Please, if you commit to a swap, follow through. If you cannot mail on time, please let your partner know as well as the Goodness Girls. If, for some reason, you cannot follow through on your commitment, please email the Goodness Girls as soon as possible so that other arrangements can be made for your partner.

***Sorry, only open to USA and Canada at this time. (we love our international friends, but shipping costs can be very prohibitive.)*** 

To sign up: Please send an email to: sweetgoodnessswaps@hotmail.com with the following information:

Name:
Address:
City:
State:
Zip:
Blog address or website:
Are you willing to ship to Canada?


You MUST send all of this information in your email in order to be accepted in this swap. An “I’m IN” email isn’t enough.

What are you waiting for? Sign up NOW! It's going to be fun!

The swappers have spoken: the winner!

Thank you all for voting in our poll to choose the next Sweet Goodness Swap theme! And the winner is....

A Mid-Summer Night's Dream, submitted by Aimee Suzanne!

Sign-ups for this swap will begin on Monday, July 12. See you then!

Vote For the Next Swap NOW!

Thank you for all the wonderful suggestions for our next Sweet Goodness Swap!  We have looked over all the submissions and narrowed it down to three.  (Some of the other ideas were so good that you just might see them later on in the future).

Here are the choices:

1.  Midsummer's Night Dream Swap submitted by Aimee-Suzanne:

Think: Romantic Shakespearean style, glittering fireflies with gossamer wings, floaty gowns, watercolors & wildflowers, floral garlands, green ferns, vintage instruments and Poetry.

2.  Vintage Drive-In Movie Swap submitted by Paula:

Think: hot vintage cars, singing hot dogs, popcorn, coca-cola, poodle skirts, big hair and Grease. Fun old movie's up through the 70's and even 80's watched under a sky full of stars.

3.  Fruit Crate Label/Fruit Swap submitted by Cakegirl:

Think:  Linens with fruit, berry baskets, anything related to fruits or vegetables.

We felt that all three of these themes fit the summertime theme well.  There is plenty of room for creativity in these swaps too!

Vote for your favorite swap through July 1st. 

Vote for your favorite SWAP Idea! This will be the next SGS swap!
	Vintage Drive-In Movie
	Mid-Summer's Night Dream
	Fruit Crate Labels
pollcode.com free polls

Winning swap will be announced shortly thereafter and signups will begin.


VOTE NOW! 

New Swap Contest!!!!!

Hello ladies! Are you up for a challenge? We are looking for ideas for our next swap! Have you ever had a good idea for a swap? Something you wanted to swap or make or share?????

Well, here's your chance. Submit your idea or ideas for a possible swap. The Goodness Girls will narrow the ideas down and take all the comments into consideration before we chose a winner.  The winner will win a PRIZE!***

This idea will be the NEXT SWAP for Sweet Goodness Girls.  So, your idea should be an idea that most everyone can accommodate.  The theme can be anything at all - anything!  Just make it fun, fun, fun with lots of different options for everyone.  Don't forget - we like a vintage thrifted sort of theme, so put on your thinking caps!

****What will you win???????  A PRIZE!  (We're still working on that one - but it will be a good prize.  Goodness Girls Honor!)

Leave a comment on this blog or on our Facebook page with your idea.

We can't wait to see them!

***Ideas accepted through June 20th.

Flickr Pool for Vintage Cowgirl Swap

Swappers . . . . please post your swap package photos in the group pool:

http://www.flickr.com/groups/vintagecowgirlswap/

Have a safe and happy long weekend!

~ The Goodness Girls

Let Goodness Reign

Cowgirl Swap Mail Out Time! Round'em Up!

Howdy Cowgirl Swappers! The mail out date for your swaps was YESTERDAY! Sorry we couldn't get this post up sooner, technical difficulties here at the house of Sweet Goodness.



Please remember that if you are going to be late in sending out your swap for ANY reason, contact your partner and copy sweetgoodness@hotmail.com. If you have any questions regarding this swap or anything else about SGS please drop us a line!

COMING SOON: Summer Swap Theme Contest

We are giving you the chance to see your swap dreams come true. Stay tuned for a contest to dream up the next swap here at SGS. We'll be picking our favorites and putting them to a vote. The winner will receive a lovely prize!

Vintage Cowgirl Swap Coming to a Close!

Hello swappers! This is the last week to finish up your Vintage Cowgirl swap packages and get them in the mail by Monday May 24th. If for ANY reason you will be late in sending out your package please contact your partner and copy us at sweetgoodnessswaps.hotmail.com. Let's make this a 100% perfect swap!



A summer swap contest will be announced soon. We'll be asking for your swap ideas and then we'll put them to a vote. The winner will see their swap become reality and win a prize! Stay tuned here or on the Facebook fan page for more details.

Cheers!
The Goodness Girls

Swapper Found!

Thank you, we have our additional swapper. By this time everyone should have received their partner information email. If you signed up and have NOT received an email please email us ASAP!

Giddy up!

Vintage Cowgirl Swapper Needed!

Hey ya'll! We've ended up with an odd number and need one more swapper for the Vintage Cowgirl Swap! Drop us a line at sweetgoodnessswaps@hotmail.com if you are interested. First come, first served.

Thanks!

The Goodness Girls

SWAP Closed!

The Vintage Cowgirl Swap is closed.

We will contact those that signed up in the next day to confirm your placement in the swap. Partner emails will then be sent out next week.

For those of you who missed the fun there will be a summer swap.

Y'all come back, ya hear!

New Swap! Calling All Vintage Cowgirls!

Howdy y'all! Welcome to our half-pint sized spring swap.

In honor of Goodness Girl Leigh Ann's recent move to Texas we are going with.....

VINTAGE COWGIRL

Think gingham, calico, and bandanna. Turquoise. Belt buckles and boots (the bigger the better!) Stars. Chuckwagons and cast iron. Pioneer Women.

It might be a little bit country kitsch or a little bit hokey western but we know you are up to the challenge of the thrift. The images we've seen of vintage cowgirls on the web are amazing for crafting a handmade item.

We're fixin' to have fun with this one and know you will, too!

Rules:

1. 
   
   Challenge: you must use a vintage cowgirl image in your swap package. Get creative! Find images on Google and Flickr by searching words like vintage cowgirl or cowgirl pin-ups.
   
   
2. 
   
   As always have a thrifted item, handmade item, and throw some sweet goodness in there, too! Packages should be valued at $15 not including shipping.
   
   
3. 
   
   Newbies accepted. This swap will accept newbies so they can get experience swapping for the big no-newbie swap this summer.

Sign ups:

1. 
   
   Sign up right away by sending your name, email, and web info (if you have it) to sweetgoodnessswaps@hotmail.com . We are closing it at 20 people. This is a small swap.
   
   
2. 
   
   Once the swap closes we will work on partnering up and have them to you sometime on Friday, April 30th and Saturday, May 1st.
   
   
3. 
   
   We are random number generating the pairs this time. It will be luck of the draw!

Mail out date: MONDAY, MAY 24th

Let's have some fun the month of May and then get it out before Memorial Day and the lazy days of summer.

Yeehaw!

New Swap Coming Soon!

Hello SGS swappers! A new swap will be announced soon so please stay tuned! More details to come after the Easter holiday.

Also, for our Facebook fans, please visit the Discussion Board to see the latest addition - a one on one swap board. This is a place to post ideas for one on one swaps and meet new crafty people. You can post your swap idea and ask those who are interested to send you a message. Once you have a participant you can post a note on the board that your swap is full. Well let me put it in the wonderful words of Swap Mistress Shara:

"Here is an area for people to meet and do one on one swaps. If you are looking to do a certain type of swap - feel free to post what you are looking to swap. If anyone is interested, they can contact you about it. So, be sure to leave your email address or blog address so they can contact you. Once you make contact with each other, it is up to the two of you to agree to a theme, price limit (if needed) and mail out time.

*Disclaimer* These swaps will not be considered part of Sweet Goodness Swaps or the Goodness Girls. If you make an arrangement to swap with someone, make sure you are comfortable with them before you agree to swap. SGS will not be held accountable or responsible for any swaps in this area. However, once you complete a swap, we would love to hear how it turned out!

Don't forget - Be Good and Be Sweet to each other! *And have fun!*"

The New & Improved SGS

Hello!

We are hard at work here at Sweet Goodness Swaps trying to find ways to improve the quality of your swap experiences. Super smarty pant swap mistress, Shara, suggested we get a Facebook page. So please visit us here! Become our fan and join us for discussions, swap photos and tutorials. We are also now on Twitter - find us by searching SGSwaps or clicking here. Remember you can also join our email list by clicking on the link on the side bar.

We're taking it to the next level. We are also always looking for swap ideas. Our next swap will be announced after Easter. It will be limited to those who have swapped with us in the past OR those who come recommended by our previous swappers. We will be opening swaps to new comers (who do not know any of our previous swappers) in the future when we set up a better screening process. Unfortunately we had too many flakers in the holiday swap.

But please! Join us over at FB and join the Swap Revolution. Always be sweet to each other.

~RR

Swap Drama - Observations

Hello Sweet Goodness Swappers! It's been a long time since I've posted here as the other Goodness Girls have been keeping up the site. Our last swap, Sparkling Winter White, has brought some things to our attention that need to be addressed. Recently we heard that some swappers thought we chose our participants poorly. This is the first time we've heard this complaint. Out of our 50 participants we had 44 successful swaps and 6 with issues. 4 of these 6 we hope will be resolved soon.

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.

Thank you for continuing to swap with us. Spring swap details coming soon!

Fondly ~ Rebecca www.thriftygoodness.blogspot.com