Are You Ready For the Most Exciting Swap of the Year??

Yes, it is that time of year again and I KNOW many of you swappers have been anxiously awaiting for me to host this swap again.

Well, it's finally time for the:

Okay, I know I am going to be swamped with all you crafty people rushing to sign up for The Third Annual Brown Paper Bag Swap! I promise to do my best to keep up on the rush of people to sign up. So please be patient with me!

Brown Paper Bag Scrapbook

by Melissa



Two years ago I hosted my first swap and I was amazed at how creative people were with a simple brown paper bag. So it’s April 27 again and I am hosting The 3rd Annual Brown Paper Bag Swap. The Brown Paper Bag is such a simple item and how many of us started off as little kids crafting with brown paper bags? In school we decorated them for goodie bags, made puppets out of them, used them for our lunches, etc.... My mom made my little guy, Jace, a brown paper bag scrapbook when he was born. It was so cute and yet so simple. I love it!!




Variety of Tag
by Me - Sherry


So what I am thinking is that we (hopefully others like this idea too and join the swap!) could use a brown paper bag and create something for our partner out of it. It doesn't matter how you use the bag as long as it is somehow used in your swap. It could be added to your art piece, made into a tag, it could be the main part of the item, whatever you can come up with.





A basket and little pouch

by Angela

Swap Rules:

1. You must use a brown paper bag in your handmade swap item. You can purchase things to add to or embelish though.

2. You MUST contact your swap partner by email. You need to say "Hi", introduce yourself and then tell them a little about yourself. I am making this a rule because I have participated in a couple of swaps and have never heard from the person I am exchanging with. I think this takes away from the whole point of the swap and kind of leaves everything up in the air. Make a new friend, it doesn't mean you have to email them constantly, but be friendly.

3. Please thank your partner for the package they send to you. I hate when I swap with someone and they don't just say "thank you". I may be late on most of my swaps, but I do put a lot of work into them and I do appreciate the work that my partner puts into theirs. Everyone likes to here "thank you!"

4. There is $15.00 (+ or - a little) price limit. All Homemade is fine!!! Please don't worry about going out and purchasing things. I'm sure between tags, cards, scrapbooks, etc..... everyone can come up with enough stuff to feel satisified. Please just be comfortable with yourself and what you send.

Paperbag Toadstool

by Val

Okay, sounds simple enough, and I know it sounds so exciting that you all can't wait to get started. Am I right or am I right?

Pizza Scrapbooking Set

by Valerie



Please email me at sherryreneew@hotmail.com or leave me a comment on my blog if you would like to join the swap. I need your:

Name:
Mailing Address:
Email address:
Blog address if you have one:



I will take sign ups until May 18, 2010. The mail out date for your brown paper bag item will be June 12, 2010 (that is anniversary day the patent was granted for the machine that makes the paper bags we use now days.)

A Wall Hanging

by Me -Sherry


If your interested, here is a little history on the Brown Paper Bag as we know it now. There were other paper bags before this and other people involved in the invention of the bags. I just decided to post about the type of bags that are familiar to us now days. Square-Bottom Paper Bag w/ pleated sides On June 12, 1883 the U.S. Patent office issued #279,505 to Chas Stilwell a patent for a paper bag machine. After fighting for the Union in the Civil War, Charles Stilwell began to tinker with the idea of making a better paper bag. Paper bags already existed at this time, but they had many flaws. They had to be pasted together by hand; their V-shaped bottoms prevented them from standing on their own; and they were not easily collapsible or conveniently stackable. In the summer of 1883, Stilwell put into operation the first machine to produce paper bags. The bags had flat bottoms for standing up straight by themselves and pleated sides that made them easy to fold and stack. Dubbed the S.O.S., or Self-Opening Sack, it remains in widespread use today. With the birth of the American supermarket in the early 1930s, demand for Stilwell’s paper bags skyrocketed. Their versatility, strength, and low cost made them first a nationwide then a worldwide phenomenon.