Friends with Benefits.....Swap

The big launch is finally here, my first ever swap!

What is it? you ask:-

A celebration of the wonderful friendliness, generosity, caring, fun and goodwill  to be found in the sewing blogland community!

So, a little  bit of history....

I landed in Sewing Blogland almost a year ago and, though at first it seemed full of foreign language and strange customs (linky parties, WIPs, Swaps, Wordpress, UFOs...), it didn't take long to feel right at home.

 And that was entirely due to the friendliness and generosity of the community :)

Not a day goes by when I don't come across an example of the friendliness of sewing bloggers: a caring word, encouragement, an unexpected gift, praise, advice or even a bit of cheek!

Not long ago I was searching through my stash of magazines (it seems to grow much like my fabric stash) and I was struck by how many projects featured the theme of friends.......

What a perfect idea for a swap, I thought!

So, after letting the idea tumble and turn in my head for a while,  I came up with 

Friends with Benefits!

And this is how it will work:-

Participants in this swap will be allocated a secret partner for whom they will make a friends or friendship themed gift.

Gift Guidelines

>Nothing huge!

>It must have a friendship theme: perhaps a friendship star, a lovely phrase/saying/verse,
 a  heart....

>It should be a sewn item such as be patchwork, appliqué, stitching/embroidery, quilting 

Some suggestions are - a mug rug, a pin cushion, needle case, cushion cover, a dilly bag, a wall hanging, a small purse, a pencil case, a book cover, a handkerchief....I'm sure there are many more ideas out there :)

But Wait - there's more...

 The Benefits!

(You thought I'd forgotten, didn't you?)

The benefits are a way of me saying thank you to all my Blogland friends.....

.....by having a give away for each week of the swap period:)

Every week I will post about a couple of friends from Blogland that have inspired me, 

helped me, made me laugh and shown me friendship. You get to meet them too :)

Some of these wonderful people have businesses of their own and have very generously 

donated gifts for me to give away - How cool is that! And I have a few goodies of

 my own to add to the pile. 

Everyone who has signed up for the swap is automatically in the weekly draw; anyone who comments on the FWB post each week is included too (a second chance for swappers).

Check out my side bar to see the Friends with Benefits Fairy Godmothers

OK - enough chit-chat for the moment

Who wants to play?

This is what you need to do:

1. Leave a comment at the end of this post

2. Email me a confirmation with your mailing address
kathy.aka.mum@gmail.com

(This will only go to your secret swap partner)

3. Let me know if you are happy to have an international friend

4. Keep track of the must-know dates

5. Copy the FWB Swap button to your blog with a link back to Sew-Happy House

6. Start thinking of wonderful projects :)

7. Have FUN

This is what I will do:

1. Post each Friday about FWB, including inspiration, pictures and projects, introductions to some of my favourite Blogland friends and, of course, the 

chance for a give away prize

2. Make sure everyone has a swap partner 

3. Create a FWB page here at Sew-Happy House to keep all the info in one place

4. Mail out all prizes promptly

Must-Know Dates

Confirm your participation by emailing me your mail address:

Thursday 1st March

Partner details emailed to you:

Saturday 3rd March

Gift Mail out day:

Friday 27th April

Phew - this feels like the longest post I have ever written!

I hope all this makes sense. If it doesn't, or you have questions pop then in a comment or email me. 

Next FWB post is on Friday - so I'll clarify anything then.

I'll also show you some of the wonderful projects and inspiring images I have come across on-line with a friends theme and give a sneak peak of some of the wonderful gifts that have been donated for the give away.

Have a GREAT week,

 Kathy