9O96O

Updated December 22 2024

Nine-oh-nine-six-oh

Rome (in Canada)

**CANADA POST STRIKE - Workers forced back

Dec 22 - https://about.usps.com/newsroom/service-alerts/international/

Canada

Temporary Service Disruption

The designated operator of Canada, Canada Post, has asked for countries to temporarily stop sending all mail to Canada. This request is being made as a result of the ongoing national strike by the Canadian Union of Postal Workers. Owing to the strike, there is no movement of mail within Canada. International items received as of Nov. 15 are being held in secure containers and have not been processed.

The PostCrossing Postal Monitor page says the same, no outgoing mail to Canada.

https://www.postcrossing.com/postal-monitor/US

I'm not getting much mail in my PO box. Just 2 pieces this week. The workers were forced back so we probably should expect slow downs until an agreement is reached.

Dec 18 - Only one swap in the PO box. That's OK, they've got a lot of backlog to work through so it may take at least a week or two to catch up. Totally understandable. Plus being forced back to work isn't going to make for enthusiastic workers.

Dec 17 - The government has forced the workers back and the service has resumed. I will be checking my postal box tomorrow and again on Sunday.

December 16 - As was expected, the government has ordered employees to return to work. Postal operations resume at 8 am on Tuesday, December 17, 2024.

• "It will take time to clear our network, so customers should expect delays in processing and delivery."

• "Some limitations will apply for the first 48 hours after our operations resume – including for pickups and drop-offs. Because of this, we will not receive or pick up new product until Thursday, December 19."

November 28 - The strike continues. I'm pro-union and hope that collective bargaining continues in good faith. So far I've dropped 3 swaps in nearby mailboxes so that I can mark them as sent, and contacted my partners to let them know.

Friday November 15 at 11am Canada Post strike message:

Canada Post strike negotiations page

Postage rates in Canada.

$1.60 for a US stamp

$2.92 for an international stamp.

Canada Post Service Alerts

Postcrossing Postal Monitor: Ongoing mail suspensions

ICC Logistics site - Mail disruptions

USPS Service Performance Dashboard

I like handmade. It's unique and personal. There's a greater feeling of community when sharing something we've made. It's a means of supporting and encouraging play, mindfulness, creativity, originality, and authenticity.

CREATIVITY IS GOOD FOR US

• Study Says Making Art Reduces Stress, Even If You Kind Of Suck At It

• "Reduction of Cortisol Levels and Participants’ Responses Following Art Making," found that 45 minutes of creative activity significantly lessens stress in the body, regardless of artistic experience or talent.

• Crafting can reduce your chances of developing mild cognitive impairment by 30% to 50% according to a 2011 study published in The Journal of Neuropsychiatry.

DECOs & COLLABORATIVE PROJECTS

About decos, deco resources, collaborative projects, homers sent and received, and more.

Deco makers are a great group of swappers! Quite often everyone sends and rates quickly. Most of the time all of the decos are sent before the swap deadline. Sometimes all of the decos are rated before the swap deadline.

You have my permission to move my decos and P&P postcards between groups and different collaborative swaps. You can even get a friend/family to fill in a section or page. The sooner they make the rounds and get home the better. 🙂

Send me homers, (it doesn't have to be for a swap). I like finishing them up and getting them back to their waiting owners. 📨📬

Homers that came back to me and homers I've mailed out (Expect spoilers.)

OTHER SITES

A list of other papercraft swapping sites

EXTRAS

No need to send extras to me, I have lots. But if you love to send extras then feel free. 🙂 Rest assured, I do not rate based on extras.

THE THINGS I SEND

I put a return address on everything I send out.

I keep a photo-log of my outgoing swap items--front, back, and at the mailbox.

It takes on average 10 business days to get to most places. However, delivery is often 4 weeks to many places in the United States.

I will resend if my swap doesn't arrive within 8 weeks (It was 4 weeks when I started SB, then 6 weeks, now 8 weeks because mail service is getting slower and slower).

📩RE-SENDS sent to:

2020 - 2023 Re-sends

2024

January 4 - @samstuff - I PMd. She said that she didn't receive Jessica P's "Important Women" deco FOB 255-070. I mailed it in October 2023. I then updated the FOB database and let Jessica P know the deco is missing. I mailed a re-send deco for Collaborative Swaps: Small Deco #351040 on January 11PM'd samsstuff to let her know. January 12 - samsstuff replied and she tells me her mail has been stolen twice during the holiday season. January 22 - I have not heard from samstuff about whether she got the re-send. I have not been rated yet. January 31 - Still no rating and no PM from samsstuff. Feb 3 - the resend arrived and got rated.

June 19 - @ArtsyKarma - her deco didn't get to me so I asked for a re-send. ArstyKarma flaked and it turns our she's had multiple profiles. She was @Tara @HeatherKM @hkm1979 (Sacramento, CA).

If you join one of my swaps here's what you should know about my hosting style:

Screening

I screen participants to minimize the risk of flakers getting in, and those who do not rate, and those who leave blank comments. I will remove participants with swapping histories that worry me. If you have any negative unresolved swapping history and want to join my swap please proactively message me to explain.

Nudge

If you haven't received a postcard around the one month mark, let me know. I will send out a nudge message.

If I have had to send more than one nudge message to a member, I may "ban" them from future swaps.

Blank comments

Please, no blank comments. When rating please comment on the item received. Example:

"Thank you for the Van Gogh sunflower postcard."

As a host, I read the comments each participant receives. I really appreciate reading a little description of the item. A description tells me the item was received and noticed.

Finished

I check to see that everyone is rated and will add a "Finished" stamp to the Discussion section when all items are sent, received, and rated.

Angel

If your partner flakes, PM me to let me know you posted the "1" and I will angel the swap.

Thank you to all who join my swaps and rate promptly and with a nice note.

Great swapping advice, tips and checklists:

Thinking of hosting a swap? Things you should consider.

Joining a swap tips

Swap-Bot Frequently Asked Questions: What are the rating criteria?

Hosts: Rating Requirements Too Low?

Giving/Getting/Reacting to a Poor Rating

When you create a swap, if you get the following error message: 'Alert: Error creating swap. Please try submitting the information again. (Code: 1)', that almost always means your title is too long.

Are you searching for newbie friendly swaps? Click on the 'Find swaps' tab, choose 'Newbie' under 'Category' and then 'Search'.

Also try contacting the host of the swaps you are interested in. Let them know you are new and asking for a private swap. Hosts aren't required to do this, but many hosts are willing to do a private swap, and you will get a rating.

While you are in the honeymoon-phase of membership, successfully completing private swaps are a great way to show you are serious and committed to swapping.

Many hosts have felt the sting of accepting a new member into a public swap before the 6-month mark only to have them disappear, leaving behind unfulfilled swaps. An example that affected me.

Helpful topics for newbies:

• Top tips for newbie profiles

• Safe Swaps for New Members

• Join the group CPG Newbies

• Check @OrigamiGrace 'Currently Hosting' list for 'Nice to Newbies' swaps

Markdown Language

• A WYSIWYG site for writing in Markdown

• Dingus wysiwyg Markdown site

• So You Wanna Trick Out Your Profile

• Formatting text on this site

• How to embed an image on Flickr into your markup text on Swap Bot

• How to put an image into a Comment section

Miscellaneous

• Printing--cheap way to make personal postcards

• Etiquette Questions > What do you write about?

Cut and paste emoticons

😄😁☺️🙂👍🤗👏📬✉️✂️🖌️🩷❤️💛🤍🧑‍🎨👩‍🎨🍁

The meaningful comments you leave are a big reward and motivator!