Swap-Bot Group

Ok. I finally got the Swap-Bot group set up. I think I caught everyone who sent me a message on Swap-bot and sent back an invite for the group. If I missed you please let me know.

You can also find the group by finding my profile and locating my groups on the sidebar (right hand side). Or clicking the link provided here. The group is called Pen-Thief Followers.

If you are not on Swap-Bot yet, you will need to join. The process takes a few minutes, but really isn't that involved. Remember when creating your username that you will not be able to change it. You also want to provide an accurate email address and physical address. That is pretty much all that is needed for the account setup.

Then you will have access to the swaps and groups. As a newbie, you will only be able to join 5 swaps initially (I think). Remember to add a nice profile. Tell people a little about yourself, or about the things you like. This makes it easier for your swap partners to send you things you like.

I will be setting up the first swap for the group shortly. It will be a simple, postcard swap. You will have one partner and I will give some time between joining and sending.

If you have any questions please do not hesitate to ask me through the comments or through email. =)

Hope everyone is having a nice day.

Covered Bridge Capital of Ohio

After mentioning it a few times and finally putting it on the calendar Brad and I took an adventure to see the covered bridges of Ashtabula County. Ashtabula County is in Northeast Ohio and is home to 18 covered bridges, including the United States longest (613ft long) and the shortest (18ft long).

I saw a place on TV that I decided we should eat. And so...

We did! This diner was really quaint and everything was fresh and homemade.

We sat down and while waiting for our food to come we plotted out the trip we would take. Doing the whole tour of 18 would mean driving around 160 miles. And we definitely did not have time for that. So we skipped 10 of them, but the ones we were going to see were beautiful.

Then our food came! Look at that burger! It is called the wimpy burger and weighs approx. 1lb before adding any of the toppings. (I got cheese on mine)

Of course I started strong eating that first section in what seemed like a few minutes.

Then upon finishing my second wedge, I realized there was no way I would finish the whole thing. This half pictured above is still currently in my fridge. =)

This was by far my favorite picture of the bridges that I took. This was the second one we stopped at and by far one of the more rickety ones we saw. But all in all it was still neat.

This is a shot of the inside of the one pictured above. I decided to just share one of the bridges because well...these pics turned out the best!

I kept trying to frame things through the sides of the bridges. I think this was the best shot that I took like that.

I also kept taking Brad's picture, though silhouetted. I like this one. =)

All in all it was a great day. I spent time with Brad, without the nagging of cell phones or internet (we had no service for most of the trip). We decided that perhaps next year we will make the trip to see the other covered bridges in Ashtabula. So perhaps in the spring you will see another post similar to this. =)

**To anyone interested in the Swap-bot group. I will be creating it sometime in the next few days and then posting the information here. So keep an eye out! If you sent me a message on SB I will be sure to message you and let you know that I have created it.**

Have a great rest of your weekend!!

Swap-Bot

How many of you are on Swap-bot??

Swap-bot is a website that allows you to join or create swaps of all types. There are tons of swaps for people with limited funds which makes it nice for those on fixed incomes, or those of us who already spend a TON in stamps each month.

I have been a member now for over a year and have participated in 95 swaps thus far. I primarily do postcard and the occasional stationery swaps. And mostly I have not been disappointed by the items I have gotten back. Now, with that said there are the occasional "flakers" (a term for someone who doesn't send out their swaps). I have been flaked on once that I can recall, but a lot of the time someone with "Angel" the swap (someone who sends out additional items to someone who has been flaked on).

Why am I explaining all of this? Well, I had an idea to host a few swaps for my blog followers only. I thought it would be nice to get some of the lovely people I write to in contact with some of the others. This way, I would know the people who were in the swap and there would be less flaking (I would hope). But in the off chance someone did flake..I would be more than happy to angel it. We could start out with something simple..say a postcard swap?

Does this sound interesting to anyone else? If so, leave me a comment or email me. I would be happy to create a group on Swap-bot for followers only.

Oh also, swapbot is completely free. But be advised it does require you to log an address. Though the only people who would be getting it would be your swap partner. =)

If you are already on SB and want to be my friend..just click the link on the right side of the blog, OR click here.

New Postcard Project

Ok, so I was going to post this tomorrow (mainly to maintain the one post a day schedule) but I was too jazzed about this to wait. I love to read the news! That said, sometimes I stumble onto some really interesting articles. I usually search for things I normally wouldn't see in my local newspaper or featured on my local news station.

Today while I was at work..I was browsing the news when I came across this article. It's basically an article talking about Portsmouth, NH searching for their next Poet Laureate. Now, unless you are fortunate enough to live in Portsmouth, you are not eligible to participate. (Don't fret...I'm not eligible either.) But this article got the cogs in my brain turning.

As you may know, from reading a previous post, I am a member of Swap-bot, an online community of artists who share their art by..swapping it. I have created my own swaps at times when I thought I had a killer idea and I may have to do that now too.

In the article mentioned above the most recent Poet Laureate from Portsmouth wrote small poems on the backsides of cards and sent them to artists to design the cover. Most likely the artist created something relevant to the poem on the reverse side. From looking at the postcards you can tell there were some pretty neat designs created as well as wonderful poems.

I love the idea of making mail art collaborative and thus I am debating about making this swap. I am curious to see what kinds of ideas people come up with. After all, what is art if its not for sharing? And what better way to share it than the post?