The Fourth Annual Brown Paper Bag Swap is a little late in starting this year, but it is that time again for some fun and creativity using Brown Paper Bags. Sign ups are only until Friday so sign up quick. I may not be able to get back to you for a couple of days to confirm, but I will get back to you.
Swap Rules:
1. You must use a brown paper bag in your handmade swap item. You can purchase things to add to or embellish 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 satisfied. Please just be comfortable with yourself and what you send.
5. PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE FOLLOW THROUGH WITH THE SWAP IF YOU SIGN UP. IF YOU CAN'T FOR SOME REASON LET ME KNOW ASAP AND I WILL ANGEL THE PACKAGE. PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE FOLLOW THROUGH THOUGH IF YOU SIGN UP!!
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 20, 2011. The mail out date for your brown paper bag item will be June 20, 2011.
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.
