WHAT DO PEOPLE SWAP?
Since most of my main passions involve the postal service...! I guess its no surprise i love to swap ! gift exchange is another hobby of mine. I love getting/making little bits for my penpals and it is lovely to recieve little gifts in the mail :)
Where as you may choose freely to send a gift to a friend /penpal with of course no obligation for them to return the gesture.... swapping is where you agree to swap certain items , in return for other items. It is usually an arrangement made between 2 swappers. I enjoy this and also surprise package swaps where nothing in particular has been requested!
I notice many swappers who collect...
> thimbles
>lapel pins
>tea towel
>postcards
>stationary
>magnets
>souvenir items
>candy
>cosmetics
>snow globes
>kawaii items
>keychains
>playing cards
>currency
>Hand-made crafts
And much more! I personally love to swap all sorts of things , and do arranged swaps and swap via swap bot.com also. I usually prefer to swap "surprise" packages though! so the gifts inside are random ....and i usually know a penpal/swapper well enough to put together a nice package.
online Sites that allow you to create your own personal profile such as swap bot and interpals is great if your looking to penpal and/or swap because you can tell potential swappers/penpals all about yourself , Including photos,hobbys,interests ect. even for non-swapping penpals its nice to read abit about someone in order to have a great first conversation and find some common ground ! I love looking at other peoples profiles fully ,reading about them ,their interests and any likes & dislikes.
WHAT DO YOU COLLECT?
Ide love to know what you collect! maybe you swap postcards? cosmetics,stationary,stickers,push pins..and so on. For me personly i go through phases , I have swapped postcards for stickers, ive got hello kitty items in return for thimbles, recieved written and stamped postcards in return for blank ones, and swapped candy from the uk for japan candy! but mostly i prefer random swaps ! surprise packages :)
SWAPPING COURTESY!
I have had many great swaps and feel lucky to know some very reliable and good swappers ! Those that actually return the swap! and return good swaps with good swaps!
and yes ive also had some bad swaps! lol .
pet peeves: people who ask you to send first and then.....
A.) dissapear from the face of the earth
B.) INSIST they didnt recieve your swap (all 3 of them!) even though you checked the address carefully AND sent signed for !
C.) Block you from online sites as soon as they get the package!!!
I rarely have these problems,but it does happen from time to time! now i insist on recieving first!
I swap with a penpal in america (well 2 actually!) , a penpal from turkey , 2 in australia, a penpal from greece and 2 in the uk. As postage has gone up here, my swaps are never as quick these days -but friends understand right? Does any one also love this hobby!? ohhhh, crazy me and my posting obbsession ! :-) hehe.
I often post pictures of swaps i send and recieve on flickr , although not as often as i used to! Its nice to look back on them , i know a few people that do this also ! PLUS its a nice way to show off personal collections , i guess some people do the same on face book . and ive known many people to have swap albums . them choosing something from yours and you choosing from theres!
what do you think about it?
All in the love of penpals,postcards and gift exchange !
Sunday 29 July 2012
The trials and tribulations of letter correspondance!!
THE TRIALS AND TRIBULATIONS OF LETTER CORRESPONDANCE!!
Penpaling has been a passion of mine for 3 years , a great hobbie as i have a natrual love of writing and a desire to make friends around the world !
There are a number of adults who penpal ,its not just for kids! I have penpals in america,turkey,greece,australia,germany,korea and here in the uk . Its so much fun and ive met some really interesting folks. Its wounderfull to meet these people and become "friends" through letters ! Even though many are very different to me and lead compleatly different lifestyles , through letters we still manage to accept those differeces and on many occasions become real "friends" .
In some respects you are more likely to open up this way , and i find it a very relaxing and educating hobby!
After 3 years of penpaling with almost 100 ladies!! i decided i could no longer keep up ...so decided to send a message to those who simply never wrote within almost a year! (yep ,thats right the ones who sit on your facebook and never reply to mail!!!)
In addition to penpalling , i also do postcards exchange (written & stamped) which is another popular way to communicate world wide. weather it be one off postcard exchange or a regular exchange with the person , its all fun and i have well over 200 written and stamped postcards as a result! worth thinking about ! for one its inexpensive,you dont have to write much!,and you can send and recieve from all over the world :0) I know postcrossing is a good site if you want to have a random address to send and recieve. Also "send something ,net" however this site is for random profiles , in which the sender is really doing a random act of kindness...its not essential for the reciever to send back....but many do out of courtesy. I met a wounderfull penpal through there to! and regular postcard exchanger. :0)
Swap-bot.com is a great site for swapping just about everything and anything! from letters,postcards ,handmade crafts,journels,and swaps for random gifts! You sign up and find swaps to join ...partners are automaticly chosen and you send to the person whos address your given! another person will have your address(not the person you are sending to) and in return you will recieve a swap also :0)
This site also works using "ratings" so easier to see a good swapper! worth a look ....
Facebook sites have many penpal groups , postcard exchange,e-pals,swapping and even text pals groups! these can be a wounderful source of friendship ...but ide advise not to add people to facebook without exchanging letters first. But if you insist it may be worth going into privacy settings and hiding photo albums ,email address ect untill you know them better :0) Also ALWAYS KNOW WHERE THE BLOCK FUNCTION IS!!! just in case . Its just a few suggestions , I have on the whole had little problem ,and enjoy it !
HOBBYS WITHIN HOBBYS!
In the world of penpaling and similar hobbies , i discovered fbs,lbs,decos,lyrix,slams and a few other things some exchange in order to find new pals! many of you may know about these already! :0) but for those who dont .....
** FBS -ABBRIVIATION FOR FRIENDSHIP BOOK
**LB-ABBRIVIATION FOR LABEL BAG
**DECOS-ARE SMALL BOOKLETS WHERE EACH PERSON WILL USUALLY DECORATE 1 PAGE , EITHOR IN A THEME OF THE BOOK OR THERE OWN THEME(FREETHEME)
**LYRIX-SMALL BOOKLETS WHERE THE PRIME USE IS SONGS ..LYRIX
I will attach a link with greater detail for those interested in finding out more...including abbriviations commonly used in the writers details....
generally , these are all ways to meet new people ...you would add your name ,po address,email address (whatever your comfortable with!) and add a little infomation about yoursel (yousually short and sweet! then pass it on to a pal to do the same and so on. when it rcomes to the last page the last entrant will return the book to the person who its been made for! then they have a list of new potential penpals / swappers :0) Does anyone swap these ? or maybe ive left out a few others? let me know! I swapped most of these ,but im taking alittle break now with the kids on their summer hols i havent got time ! but these often become added hobbys for some penpalers :0)
WHAT DO YOU LIKE IN A PENPAL?
well i think this is a great question! and worth asking yourself before correspondance . I personally love a common ground no matter how small! but i also love people who lead different lives ..i learn so much! Main thing to me is respect i guess , and accepting and appriciating the difference .
I used to only enjoy long letter friends...but after 3 years even i struggle to write 12 a4 pages (and wounder how i ever managed it easily! LOL) i dont mind them long or shorter these days , again personal prefrence! some have an age ,gender,religion preference. always a good thing to think about! likewise some dont care eithor way and will enjoy corresponding with pretty much everyone :0) theres no set rules , and thats what makes it great !
Im also a crafter ,cat lover,reborn collector (newest hobbie!lol) , postcard enthusiast , swapper, stationary hoarder,girlfriend and mother of 4 small kiddos :)
So the purpose of my blog ? Is EVERYTHING to do with my passion for penpaling and similar hobbies ive come to love ! and hopefully meet likeminded peeps :):)
Penpaling has been a passion of mine for 3 years , a great hobbie as i have a natrual love of writing and a desire to make friends around the world !
There are a number of adults who penpal ,its not just for kids! I have penpals in america,turkey,greece,australia,germany,korea and here in the uk . Its so much fun and ive met some really interesting folks. Its wounderfull to meet these people and become "friends" through letters ! Even though many are very different to me and lead compleatly different lifestyles , through letters we still manage to accept those differeces and on many occasions become real "friends" .
In some respects you are more likely to open up this way , and i find it a very relaxing and educating hobby!
After 3 years of penpaling with almost 100 ladies!! i decided i could no longer keep up ...so decided to send a message to those who simply never wrote within almost a year! (yep ,thats right the ones who sit on your facebook and never reply to mail!!!)
In addition to penpalling , i also do postcards exchange (written & stamped) which is another popular way to communicate world wide. weather it be one off postcard exchange or a regular exchange with the person , its all fun and i have well over 200 written and stamped postcards as a result! worth thinking about ! for one its inexpensive,you dont have to write much!,and you can send and recieve from all over the world :0) I know postcrossing is a good site if you want to have a random address to send and recieve. Also "send something ,net" however this site is for random profiles , in which the sender is really doing a random act of kindness...its not essential for the reciever to send back....but many do out of courtesy. I met a wounderfull penpal through there to! and regular postcard exchanger. :0)
Swap-bot.com is a great site for swapping just about everything and anything! from letters,postcards ,handmade crafts,journels,and swaps for random gifts! You sign up and find swaps to join ...partners are automaticly chosen and you send to the person whos address your given! another person will have your address(not the person you are sending to) and in return you will recieve a swap also :0)
This site also works using "ratings" so easier to see a good swapper! worth a look ....
Facebook sites have many penpal groups , postcard exchange,e-pals,swapping and even text pals groups! these can be a wounderful source of friendship ...but ide advise not to add people to facebook without exchanging letters first. But if you insist it may be worth going into privacy settings and hiding photo albums ,email address ect untill you know them better :0) Also ALWAYS KNOW WHERE THE BLOCK FUNCTION IS!!! just in case . Its just a few suggestions , I have on the whole had little problem ,and enjoy it !
HOBBYS WITHIN HOBBYS!
In the world of penpaling and similar hobbies , i discovered fbs,lbs,decos,lyrix,slams and a few other things some exchange in order to find new pals! many of you may know about these already! :0) but for those who dont .....
** FBS -ABBRIVIATION FOR FRIENDSHIP BOOK
**LB-ABBRIVIATION FOR LABEL BAG
**DECOS-ARE SMALL BOOKLETS WHERE EACH PERSON WILL USUALLY DECORATE 1 PAGE , EITHOR IN A THEME OF THE BOOK OR THERE OWN THEME(FREETHEME)
**LYRIX-SMALL BOOKLETS WHERE THE PRIME USE IS SONGS ..LYRIX
I will attach a link with greater detail for those interested in finding out more...including abbriviations commonly used in the writers details....
generally , these are all ways to meet new people ...you would add your name ,po address,email address (whatever your comfortable with!) and add a little infomation about yoursel (yousually short and sweet! then pass it on to a pal to do the same and so on. when it rcomes to the last page the last entrant will return the book to the person who its been made for! then they have a list of new potential penpals / swappers :0) Does anyone swap these ? or maybe ive left out a few others? let me know! I swapped most of these ,but im taking alittle break now with the kids on their summer hols i havent got time ! but these often become added hobbys for some penpalers :0)
WHAT DO YOU LIKE IN A PENPAL?
well i think this is a great question! and worth asking yourself before correspondance . I personally love a common ground no matter how small! but i also love people who lead different lives ..i learn so much! Main thing to me is respect i guess , and accepting and appriciating the difference .
I used to only enjoy long letter friends...but after 3 years even i struggle to write 12 a4 pages (and wounder how i ever managed it easily! LOL) i dont mind them long or shorter these days , again personal prefrence! some have an age ,gender,religion preference. always a good thing to think about! likewise some dont care eithor way and will enjoy corresponding with pretty much everyone :0) theres no set rules , and thats what makes it great !
Im also a crafter ,cat lover,reborn collector (newest hobbie!lol) , postcard enthusiast , swapper, stationary hoarder,girlfriend and mother of 4 small kiddos :)
So the purpose of my blog ? Is EVERYTHING to do with my passion for penpaling and similar hobbies ive come to love ! and hopefully meet likeminded peeps :):)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)