Beginners inchie (& ATC) swap r2 - Finished

[nilmerg]

Gallery is available: http://www.craftster.org/forum/index.php?topic=380779.0

Welcome to Round 2 of the beginners inchie swap. This time I wanted to include an ATC too, to keep us all challenged! Yumjello01 has kindly agreed to be our co-organiser again and kimchery will also be helping us out as co-organiser.

I have seen lots of amazing inchies and ATC's on these forums and I'd love to give it a shot, but I'm about as artistic as a garden spade! However, I'm thinking that with a bit of inspiration, maybe I can make a 1" square piece of paper look OK and hopefully an ATC aswell. But I'm afraid that some of the more professional inchie makers may be a bit disappointed with my efforts (although I'm sure they would be encouraging!) I'm also hoping that there are people like me out there who would love to try their hand at inchie and ATC making, and just need some inspiration to start.

For anyone who is not sure what and inchie is or how to go about making one, here is a great post on the papercraft forums by phizzychick (who makes amazing inchies!)
http://www.craftster.org/forum/index.php?topic=303188.0
And here is a bit about ACTs too: http://www.craftster.org/forum/index.php?topic=136601.0
The most important thing about an Artists Trading Card (ATC) is that the dimensions of the ATC must be 2.5"x3.5", or 64x89mm.
Check out the papercraft part of the forum for example of inchies and ATCs. http://www.craftster.org/forum/index.php?board=351.0

So I have launched this swap for people who have never before (or rarely) turned their hand to papercrafts and inchies/ATC but would love to do some experimenting. Also the bonus is that we can probably send these as letters, so international swapping won't be too costly. Plus we won't be requiring a DC for this swap, but you MUST remake and resend if your inchies don't turn up. International shipping will be a requirement in this swap, but I will do my best to group people within their country of origin to save on postage and to speed delivery!

The partnering will be a little different this time round. We will be splitting you into groups of 4, so you will have to send to the 3 other people in your group and in return they will all send to you. You will have the choice of being in 1 or 2 groups (ie you can choose to have 3 or 6 partners). This will be an inchie/atc my theme swap, and you will provide 5 themes to inspire your partner, as well as a link to your wist etc as an further example of your tastes. We will be crafting 10 inchies and 1 ATC for each partner.

If any more experienced inchie makers (or returning beginner inchie swappers from last round) are prepared to join the swap, that is great and you are more than welcome, but please remember that there is a destinct possibility that you will definitely be swapping with newbie inchie makers.


Swap name: Beginners inchie (and an ACT) swap Round 2
Craftster member who is organizing this swap: Nilmerg
Co-Organiser: YumJello01 and kimchery
Sign-up date range: from 30th April until 15th May 2011
Date to send item by: 6th June 2011
Limited to a certain number of people? (optional): No
Additional Age requirement? NO
Would you be willing to ship to an address outside your own country? YES, this is required
Will you resend any inchies that get lost in transit? YES, this is required
Swap Organizer himself/herself meets these conditions:
- Has fully read the Swap Info Guide: YES
- Has successfully completed two swaps as a participant: YES
- Is not organizing more than three swaps right now: YES
- Will recruit a organiser or give all details to a Swap Moderator if this swap has more than 25 participants: YES - YumJello01 and Kimchery
- Is at least 18 years old: YES

Swap Organizer will check each participant to make sure they meet these conditions:
- Has been a member for at least one month: YES
- Has posted at least 15 times: YES
- Has completed one swap successfully before signing up for multiple swaps at a time: YES
- Is not currently signed up for more than five swaps: YES
- Does not have any negative feedback: YES
- Participant has agreed that he/she is at least 16 years old: YES
- If within the US, understands that Delivery Confirmation number is required for this swap: NO, but must be resent if lost.
- If outside the US, understands that a mailing receipt copy is required for this swap: YES

If you want to participate, information to send to organizer (Nilmerg):
Please send your questionaires to Yumjello01 as I'm away this weekend. She will add you officially into the swap so you will see it appear in your profile, but she won't be able to add you to the list below. I'm back Sunday so will update it then and I will be just in time for grouping you guys up!  

QUESTIONNAIRE TO ANSWER:
Name of swap: Beginners inchies (& an ATC) swap – Round 2
Craftster username:
Email address:
Your real name:
Mailing address including the country:
Would you be willing to ship to an address outside your own country? YES - this is a requirement of this swap.
Confirm that are at least 16 years old or, if not, that you have moderator approval YES/NO
Confirm that you understand that you MUST PM both the organiser and your partner when you have sent and received YES/NO
Confirm that you understand that you should make regular contributions to the discussion page YES/NO
Confirm that you have read and understand the craftster swap info guide (http://www.craftster.org/swapsinfo.html) YES/NO
Confirm that although a DC is not required for this swap, you must remake and resend if your inchies go missing: YES, this is a requirement

How many groups would you like to be in? 1 or 2
(ie 3 or 6 partners, please consider this carefully and if you opt for 2 groups, make sure you have time to complete your projects before the send date.)
How would you describe your level of ability? Beginner/Moderate/experienced?
What are your favourite colours?
Can you suggest up to 5 themes you would like? (eg trees, celtic, Artists choice, food, animals, letters of the Alphabet)
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Please provide a link to your wist or Etsy or blog etc. or any other place that may provide your partner with an idea of your tastes:
Do you have any allergies or allergens that we need to know about?
Anything that you would like your partner to know?


IF YOU WANT TO PARTICIPATE, REMEMBER TO SEND YOUR INFO TO NILMERG VIA PRIVATE MESSAGE AND NOT TO REPLY WITH IT HERE.

Also, remember to read the Swap Info Guide to find other rules about participating in a swap.

Participants:
1. Nilmerg
2. Yumjello01
3. Kimchery
4. mandys_momma
5. jmiller614
6. CraftFro (welcome first time swapper)
7. MunLtStmpr
8. sorbetsurprise
9. Tynwia
10. Crafty Butterfly
11. crazyalien8
12. SarahJ2001
13. Smmarrt
14. blackabbey
15. ChristieAnn
16. mxer145
17. Think
18. teffy
19. blue_lalita
20. StarFire
21. Indie Craft
22. KaoticKrafter
23. mellermann86
24. lindyv321
25. JillHogan
26. pioneer9
27. Jaywesome
28. DerbyDarling (welcome 1st time swapper)
29. Bourgeois
30. Mrs.LindsayLoo
31. Miss Smith
32. LadyLeitzen
33. Cranbeary
34. Beautifully Frayed
35. ChameleonHound
36. Hermetus
37. Calabaza
38. Opalgryphon
39. Coconutbells

CLOSED

Groups are up Here.....http://www.craftster.org/forum/index.php?topic=379425.90
(thats page 10 of the discussion thread if the link doesn't work)
You should recieve your questionaires by PM shortly, happy stalking in the mean time.

[Nven]

I'm tempted, might do me some good and help break my craft burn-out/block.

[mandys_momma]

I'm really interested in this swap! Never done inches before but mesmerized by them.

Questions:
Is it easier to purchase the pre-made squares?
Are there certain things that I would not put on an inchie? Such as certain embellishments, etc.


ETA: Sent in my questionnaire.

[tynwia]

Oh this is so perfect for me!! I have been wanting to join an ATC swap but have never done one before. I love inchies and ATCs. Will be sending in my questionnaire in the morning

[sarahj2001]

I saw that amazing green collection today.  And thought that was so neat!  I think I may need to get started doing inchies.    I'm thinking about joining this swap...hmmm..

[CraftFro]

I'm going to stop being nervous and sign up! I just went and bought some new paints and chipboard today! Perfect.

[Calabaza]

I'm filling out my questionnaire...So nervous, but I'm with fellow beginners so I'm not terrified.

Questions:
Are there certain things that I would not put on an inchie? Such as certain embellishments, etc.

I second this question and add:
Are there any hard and fast rules to making inchies (besides the size)?
What should the backs be like?

[faeriegirl]

YES ! i am really excited about joining this one . . . will send in questionaire as soon as i have posted one of my other parcels off on monday

[kimchery]

I'm really interested in this swap! Never done inches before but mesmerized by them.

Questions:
Is it easier to purchase the pre-made squares?
Are there certain things that I would not put on an inchie? Such as certain embellishments, etc.


ETA: Sent in my questionnaire.

I'm sure everyone does it differently,... but I haven't ever used pre-punched or pre-made squares of any kind.  What I do is.... (and this is just my method, because I think it would be difficult to hold down a 1" square and try to drawn on it neatly,......but some others do find that easier) punch a 1" square with a craft punch on a small piece of cardstock and use that as a template.  If I am drawing an inchie, I will lightly draw the square using my template, and when I'm done with whatever artwork I'm putting on my inchie besides anything dimensional, I'll punch it out.  This way you have a little leyway if you need to draw above the top of the square and sacrifice some space at the bottom.  And vice versa.  I also find it useful for watercolor backgrounds because I can use that template to scope out any interesting brush/splatter patterns.  If that makes any sense! 

As far as question #2,.... I'm not so sure...  I think the sky is the limit as long as it is somewhat confined to an inch.  If you go through the previous galleries of some inchie swaps, you will see many different types of media used.

[nilmerg]

Welcome to all the swappers so far. I have added you all in and our swap is underway!

Questions:
Is it easier to purchase the pre-made squares?
I've never used precut squares. I usually draw mine on water colour paper, I don't always use watercolours, but it is a bit thicker. I imagine card stock would be ok too.Are there certain things that I would not put on an inchie? Such as certain embellishments, etc.
Pretty much anything goes. Although you might want to checkw ith your partner what they plan to do with them first - ie if you pop a huge button on it, then it won't be any good to be framed under glass.

Are there any hard and fast rules to making inchies (besides the size)?
Check out Phizzichicks info that is linked above, it is a great guide.
What should the backs be like?
I personally like to put my user name and the date - some people put the swap name or sign their RL name and location. But essentially the back in unimportant so can be left plain / undecorated, just as it comes.

Thanks for your interest and I can't wait to recieved some mroe questionaires.