2012 Holiday Gift Exchange

Thanks Shannon, you are amazing, not only a wealth of facepainting information, but also have the answer to seems all things!

Ooohhhh!!!! Mail that isn't a bill is AWESOME!!!! I love exchanges and swaps!

I am so IN this year! Thanks Jody!

Me too! See you tomorrow Jody!

Martha, I'm so sorry we didn't get to have class together, it really stinks!! I thought for sure I would see you and maybe CJ. I'm sure we will have another awesome artist near us again soon, let me know if you here of any.

Yes the 9th falls on a Friday this yr guys, I totally copied and pasted last yrs rules. I need to go back and read them my self to make sure I am doing everything just right. I am assuming I should wait until the last day or the 10th rather, to make sure everyone that wants in is in and then send people their secret person? Any advice from past gift exchange headers would be great, LOL Kristal if you ran into any snags or have advice drop me a PM.

You betcha!

(Hitting post now, because I don't know how many posts I have yet... LOL)

I'm out...I'm still nursing the burns from the past two swaps. I'd rather just send random goodie packets to peeps I like. I don't know that I have much confidence given that there's a thread chocked full of one word responses solely for the purpose of qualifying for this swap, sorry folks...just tellin' like I see it.

Jayde I know what you mean especially when they don't even have a picture or their location makes me a little nervous about the swap :/ What did people give you that was bad?

ashovoxo wrote:Jayde I know what you mean especially when they don't even have a picture or their location makes me a little nervous about the swap :/ What did people give you that was bad?

Well for both swaps I recieved nothing. It wasn't a big deal the first time around but the second time around I was running the darned swap and still didn't receive my gift. Now I just don't swap unless I really know the participants and it's hard to do that if there's no picture, no location and if their cumulative posts have a word count equivalence of a paragraph I want no parts of it.
To each his own, but I'm out.

Aww that sucks I would be upset too and I definitely wouldn't want to do it as well. To spend your own hard earned money and not get anything in return sucks. I'm getting a little worried myself. I kinda liked the 100 or more posts rule. I earned all my posts. I understand it for people who rarely post but still have been here a few. But when all their posts are only the one word posts..... ehh i dont know

Lady Jayde wrote:

ashovoxo wrote:Jayde I know what you mean especially when they don't even have a picture or their location makes me a little nervous about the swap :/ What did people give you that was bad?

Well for both swaps I recieved nothing. It wasn't a big deal the first time around but the second time around I was running the darned swap and still didn't receive my gift. Now I just don't swap unless I really know the participants and it's hard to do that if there's no picture, no location and if their cumulative posts have a word count equivalence of a paragraph I want no parts of it.
To each his own, but I'm out.

I understand your reluctance Lady Jayde, but I do have to say one thing here. I rarely post much about myself and I don't post very specific about my location, except here and there to say Barb and I live close to each other. There is a reason for that. (my husband is so going to not like this.)

My husband works at a medium to high maximum security prison. He is super paranoid about the convicts surfing the web and finding out details on our life. I know it will happen especially with me having a webpage but he is still not happy about it. (Yes I do have a different last name then him)

So there you go.
LOL

Lady Jayde wrote: and if their cumulative posts have a word count equivalence of a paragraph I want no parts of it.

Oh... sorry, never even thought about it that way. As I've had good luck in swaps and would never consider NOT honouring my commitment myself I just though it was a fun way for people who were new and honestly wanted to participate to "qualify"... you should have pm'd me with a smack on the head

Wow. I'm so sad paople have gotten burned on swaps. I did learn a lot from last year's swap, though. I had mis-read the rules and thought there was a maximum figure to spend. I felt hobbled by it, as I so wanted to do more. Then I got my gift from my sweet secret Santa and realized I could have done more.
It wasn't until I read through the rules again this year that I found the line that says NO maximum.
I am totally doing this better this year.
I didn't flake, but I felt constrained by a misunderstanding.

I can't wait!

Isn't there a way of maybe getting a tracking number from both people? So that you know they both sent their gifts? :/ Idk sounds like more work but I wouldn't mind paying the 80 cents extra for someone else's peace of mind

i've never done the swap before, but i'm excited, i'm already planning a shopping trip once i find out who i have. It sucks when people get burned.

Kristal wrote:Oh hi, guys!

Let me tell you, I was a little concerned when I got an email this morning thanking me for running the swap again this year - whaaaat?! I've been insanely busy and this is only like the 3rd time I've been able to log in since April!

(And I miss y'all.)

Jody, it's all yours, lol. I was thinking about this earlier on, but if I take anything else on right now I might explode.

Do I still count as a "regular" poster?

Argh! That was me, I must've been looking at the wrong posts. Sorry about that, Kristal - I'll email Jody now.

Seriously, someone kick me upside the head. Might beat some sense into me.

Kammy x

Shannon Fennell wrote:

Lady Jayde wrote: and if their cumulative posts have a word count equivalence of a paragraph I want no parts of it.

Oh... sorry, never even thought about it that way. As I've had good luck in swaps and would never consider NOT honouring my commitment myself I just though it was a fun way for people who were new and honestly wanted to participate to "qualify"... you should have pm'd me with a smack on the head

I've been offline all weekend with all of the delayed Halloween paintings. And uh... smacking you on the head would've been just as intelligent as say...trying to french kiss a tiger...I aint going there. I only saw it today and it bugged me to see 17 pages of primarily one word posts...I mean...can I get a sentence?

ashovoxo wrote:Isn't there a way of maybe getting a tracking number from both people? So that you know they both sent their gifts? :/ Idk sounds like more work but I wouldn't mind paying the 80 cents extra for someone else's peace of mind

Yeah, you can do the tracking number and what not, but there's still no way to make someone honour the agreement and send the package in the first place.

Right, copied and pasted the same information to Jody - sorry for the confusion, Kristal!

I'd love to join in. It means I'll get at least one FP-related gift this year, and that I get the fun of extra FP-shopping for someone else. Win-win!

Kammy x

Lady Jayde wrote:

ashovoxo wrote:Isn't there a way of maybe getting a tracking number from both people? So that you know they both sent their gifts? :/ Idk sounds like more work but I wouldn't mind paying the 80 cents extra for someone else's peace of mind

Yeah, you can do the tracking number and what not, but there's still no way to make someone honour the agreement and send the package in the first place.

I guess it's a way to make sure people couldn't use the "It was posted but never got there" excuse if they DID plan on being dishonest. I'd rather not send with a tracking number as international postage is already very expensive and it'd cut into the gift itself as I have limited funds, but if someone insisted upon it then of course I'd agree.

Kammy x

billiebcc wrote:

Lady Jayde wrote:

ashovoxo wrote:Jayde I know what you mean especially when they don't even have a picture or their location makes me a little nervous about the swap :/ What did people give you that was bad?

Well for both swaps I recieved nothing. It wasn't a big deal the first time around but the second time around I was running the darned swap and still didn't receive my gift. Now I just don't swap unless I really know the participants and it's hard to do that if there's no picture, no location and if their cumulative posts have a word count equivalence of a paragraph I want no parts of it.
To each his own, but I'm out.

I understand your reluctance Lady Jayde, but I do have to say one thing here. I rarely post much about myself and I don't post very specific about my location, except here and there to say Barb and I live close to each other. There is a reason for that. (my husband is so going to not like this.)

My husband works at a medium to high maximum security prison. He is super paranoid about the convicts surfing the web and finding out details on our life. I know it will happen especially with me having a webpage but he is still not happy about it. (Yes I do have a different last name then him)

So there you go.
LOL

Billie,
You would be the least of anyone's worries because you have been a contributor to lots of the conversations here. The safety of yourself and your family are always first and foremost, so never be sorry for that, ever. Unfortunately there are always going to be takers out there and there are some who only choose to 'participate' when there's a chance to get goodies and then they fall right back off the radar after the swap is over. Not participating is a preference of mine given my person experience. Everyone is different and I'm not discouraging the swap in any way, shape or form. I'm a magnet for takers, so I just don't participate anymore...but again, that's just me.

This sounds like so much fun, and I'm honest myself, but these posts scared me off from doing it!

Lady Jayde, I'm sorry you've been burned in the past. It's so disappointing to watch the mail for some goodies, only to get bills lol!

I am one of the ones participating in the other thread and can understand how that might make some uncomfortable - I'm sorry that is the case for you and some others. If bowing out makes some of you fell more comfortable in participating - I'm happy to do so. Swaps are fun (when you don't get burned, and I've been burned too) and I would hate for a veteran of the board to miss out because they are uncomfortable with my participation. There's always next year for me

rthling wrote:Wow. I'm so sad paople have gotten burned on swaps. I did learn a lot from last year's swap, though. I had mis-read the rules and thought there was a maximum figure to spend. I felt hobbled by it, as I so wanted to do more. Then I got my gift from my sweet secret Santa and realized I could have done more.
It wasn't until I read through the rules again this year that I found the line that says NO maximum.
I am totally doing this better this year.
I didn't flake, but I felt constrained by a misunderstanding.

I can't wait!

Diane : I am smarter than you!! I misunderstood the rules too and I PM my secret friend asking her for the things I wanted!!! I was so embarrass when she told me it was the opposite way and I have to give her a gift.

kingsmeadmama - Christina wrote:Lady Jayde, I'm sorry you've been burned in the past. It's so disappointing to watch the mail for some goodies, only to get bills lol!

I am one of the ones participating in the other thread and can understand how that might make some uncomfortable - I'm sorry that is the case for you and some others. If bowing out makes some of you fell more comfortable in participating - I'm happy to do so. Swaps are fun (when you don't get burned, and I've been burned too) and I would hate for a veteran of the board to miss out because they are uncomfortable with my participation. There's always next year for me

Christina,
If you bow out, I'll send my Uncle Guido to your house...he's not a nice person to serve as a lawn ornament, trust me. Don't worry about me, this veteran gave up the whole swap thing earlier this year and the participation levels for this swap will do little to change that fact. Like I said, I'm a magnet for those of lesser scruples. I do hope you enjoy your gifties and I hope that my post isn't serving to discourage others for participating.

Now...do I need to call Uncle Guido?