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Spankin' New N&N FBs - For Beginners

Launch gallery slideshow

Swap Coordinator:	colormetoni (contact)
Swap categories:	Crafts Newbie Friendship Books
Number of people in swap:	12
Location:	International
Type:	Type 3: Package or craft
Rating requirement:	4.95 (unrated swappers allowed)
Last day to signup/drop:	December 13, 2010
Date items must be sent by:	January 10, 2011
Number of swap partners:	6
Description:
How many Friendship Books do you have circulating right now? That's a rhetorical question...you can never have too many! (And if you have none...this is your chance to get started.) Welcome to **Round #2 of Spankin' New FBs. The first swap was so much fun that I decided to host another, but this round has a twist. :) This swap will emphasize the nice & neat aspect of friendship books. Perhaps you're familiar with FBs and you have a few circulating... but you've never made one of the N&N caliber. Maybe you've never entered a N&N FB swap for fear of being rated down for your first attempt at laminating. Or maybe you've never created a FB but you are interested, and you want to develop some good habits from the start. Whatever the case - NOW is your chance to get your creative groove on, and practice making some N&N FBs. FB Swappers of ALL skill levels are welcome! Participants will be creating 6 new N&N Friendship Books (1 per partner) to start circulating in the wide world of pen pals! These FB's should be small but sturdy, and should express the talent and workmanship of their creators. Good Tips for N&N Friendship Books Use quality Card Stock for the front/back covers. Avoid using staples on the front cover of your little beauties. Add personal touches, make 'em unique to you and your tastes. Don't skimp on the decor. Break out that awesome paper or your favorite stickers. "Laminate" your FBs with high quality packing tape or a layer of modge-podge to ensure their longevity during travel. Remember that the more pages books have, the longer they circulate. Most FBs have a modest 3 or 4 pages. Keep them small - you should be able to fit one or two into an envelope so they can be mailed along with letters for relatively low postage. If you need further information on FB's to get you started: About Friendship Books Wikipedia Entry on FBs Squidoo's FB Tutorial (VERY HELPFUL!) These are mostly sender's choice. FB's can be any theme, and can be made FOR someone else if the creator prefers. Just make sure your work is quality! Don't simply staple notebook paper together and slap on a sticker to call it done. Send something you are proud to have created. These are nice & neat, so your time and effort should be evident. That being said, receivers should rate a 5 if the swap arrives in a timely manner and the sender put obvious effort into their FBs. (decorated, sturdy, no staples in the front cover) Don't rate down if there is a small bubble in the lamination or some small mistakes here and there :) Remember that this is an intro swap into N&N FBs...so folks are learning. Let's make this a fun learning experience. You'll have 4 weeks after sign-up to complete your books. That's creating 2 books per week if you like to pace yourself, and then a week to post them. (You could also start making your books before partners are assigned if the creative-bug bites.) Participant Requirements:** Rated swappers with a 4.95. Newbies are welcome at host's discretion, but profiles MUST be well filled-out. (I will check before assigning partners) Please ensure that you can follow-through if you sign-up... You will have 6 partners, and this is international. If you must be late for some reason, please be polite and contact your partners. Thanks! I don't expect any flakers, but I will angel if necessary. 0:-) Questions, comments, suggestions? Please feel free to post in the discussion section, or PM me.

Discussion

Emika 12/ 4/2010 #

Nice swap, and thank you for all the details!

One question about the lamination... is it a requirement or a tip? I hate to use it, so if it's a requirement then I guess I'll wait for the next swap!

Dakini55 12/ 4/2010 #

I am with Emika...I dont like the lamination part either. I do use modge podge on some of them.....

dizzysgram 12/ 4/2010 #

I love to create these little FB's but am not interested in penpals or having the books come back to me. May I join and then send the books to my partners, allowing them to be the first entry? Please let me know. Thanks!

andannabegins 12/ 4/2010 #

Should we "start them"? As in, be the first entry, or leave them blank and unwritten in?

Which leads me to...should we personalize them ("FB for...by...") or send as is, in case our partner wants to use them at a later date / start for someone else?

colormetoni 12/ 4/2010 #

@Emika & @Dakini55 - Lamination is just a tip... :) As long as your books are sturdy, you're good to go!

@dizzysgram - I don't see why you couldn't make the books for your partners. That would be very sweet.

@andannabegins - Personalize them. :) The books you are creating are for you...or for whomever you want them to be. So go ahead and write on the inside cover "For:__ & By:_____" I think that sorta counts as starting them? hehe

hollychihuahua 12/ 5/2010 #

Are staples in the center crease ok? I'm new to FBs and not familiar with how they're normally attached. Also, is it ok to send decos in this swap?

journalboy 12/ 6/2010 #

i would love to participate! :)

colormetoni 12/ 6/2010 #

@hollychihuahua - Squidoo's tutorial shows a nice little picture of how most FBs are stapled.

Click Here for Squidoo's Tutorial

If you note the picture with the bright pink paper, you can see how most FB pages are stapled into the back cover... I think stapling along the crease is okay too.

As long as there aren't staples in the front-cover, you're in the clear.

As for Decos - I'd like to stick to FBs this round. :) Thank you for asking, though.
Maybe you could start a Decos for Beginners swap... I'm not terribly familiar with them, myself.

Emika 12/ 8/2010 #

Thanks for the answer!

Next question: is it okay to send more than one? Or should we stick to one, to not overwhelm people?

colormetoni 12/10/2010 #

@Emika - You can certainly send more than one if you'd like. :) I think most folks would be happy to receive extras to sign/admire. Great question!

joshsmama05 12/11/2010 #

I'm totally new and think this is a great idea. How big should they be and should they just fit in a normal small envelope? This should be fun!

joshsmama05 12/11/2010 #

and since I'm new (and this may be a dumb question) since I don't have any current FB's do I just send any that I receive on to one of my partners from this swap?Just want to make sure I have all of my ducks in a row :)

colormetoni 12/13/2010 #

@joshsmama05 - FBs don't have a standard size, per say. FBs are wide enough that their pages can accommodate return-address labels... After that, the size is up to you. :)
Mine are the size of ATC's - about 2 Â½ X 3 Â½ inches. I've received some that are a bit larger, and some that are squares.

Just as long as they fit in a standard envelope you're good.

And there are no dumb questions, by the way. I'm glad ya asked. After you get your partner's FBs, you'll sign them or adhere your return address labels...and then you are free to swap them as you see fit. You can mail them to your penpals, join another FB swap or ask about trading some privately on the forums.

If you have trouble moving them, just PM and I can help ya out!

joshsmama05 01/ 4/2011 #

Mine have a few bubbles in the "laminate" sorry...I'm trying!!! They're still cute, just with a few bubbles :)

joshsmama05 01/ 5/2011 #

OMG!!!!! I just realized that I forgot to write the name of the swap on the envelopes I sent out today!!!!!!! Argh! It's the super busy time of the month/year at work and I completely spaced. (since I was being naughty and getting the envelopes ready on company time) ....since this swap is relatively small hopefully you'll all know they're from me.....I'm so sorry....I'm a newbie as well and lacking sleep due to year end at work! lol please be gentle!!!

TC 05/ 1/2016 #

Melissa Olivero: @DaydreamLane / @HeartDreamsPaper

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