I love this idea for a swap! Who's with me??

Mailing date: Saturday, January 28th (the next day starts Chinese New Year, so if anyone wants things before hand, we can move the deadline up)
Limit of the first 8 people
Sending 7 items

Ideas:

Chinese lanterns
lantern garlands
origami
Chinese dragons
Fortune cookies, almond cookies, moon cakes
Kanji (like maybe a mini banner or something)
Dogs (2006 is the year of the dog)
Chinese new year zodiac ...
Bendies or little dolls in traditional Chinese clothing
Flowers
Felted or clay oranges and tangerines
Tray of Togetherness (I might do these)

Swappers:
1 - mom2kbeth - fortune cookies in cool take out boxes - RECEIVED
2 - Elfmama - RECEIVED
3 - Lupineperriwink
4 - Huntersmama
5 - Livingfree - Chinese girl bendies - RECEIVED
6 - Mcmrymoon - CHinese dragons
7 - Starkl - RECEIVED
8 - Gronilot - Pagodas

Ooh I'm in!

Oh you EVIL temptress - sign me up!

me, me, me, me........ohhhh ohhh ohhhh....please me:lol:

I'm going to the library today just so i can surf with you guys....its been a long week and i miss you all:smirk:

Ok, I have noooo idea what to do but this sounds way to fun to pass. I am in!!

i'm in too!

Got everyone -- one spot left!

starkl would like the last spot. I'm on the phone with her now.

got it!

I am not in this.... but someone should make a bendy size pagoda.

I'll add you in if you want to make bendy sized pagodas!! That woul dbe awesome :)

I can't find any instructions online on how to make them .. so I am going to have pass- thanks

i'm thinking i will either do dogs or origami, but i would LOVE if someone coudl do a bendie size pagoda....anyone want to give me indeas on how and i can attempt it

Ok I changed my mind... I am taking this as a personal challenge. If the offer is still open I would like to enter and make pagoda's.

Wishy washy- no way!

Woo-hoo! Taking the personal challenge!! I will add you in :)

:monkeydan I am so happy that you are doing the pagodas.

I will do dogs :)

Can I take bendy people in traditional clothing? This one is calling to me. Tiny little Chinese hats, etc. How many are usually done in these swaps (per person I mean)? Like a male and a female I would make per person including myself?

Thanks

oh that sounds wonderful. I would love a traditionally dressed bendie couple :)

I couldn't find a pagoda pattern.. so I made this mock-up out of paper. I want to make it out of red and black felt and sew it with gold thread.

I think I need to change the shape of the door.. and have to work on the top layer.

For those who have made houses before - how do you get the felt to stand up?.. I am thinking that it will not be stiff enough.

:jaw: that is amazing!

i know the felt on its own will not be strong enough, but if you go to Joannes they have somethign called Peltex (I think) you would use a layer of it between layers of felt

hth

I made tree house fairy houses with wool felt for a swap a while back and I starched the wool for those. But I'm thinking it may not work well for what you are doing. I wanted the tree trunk part of the houses to be granrly and kind of knobby looking, like a tree trunk. It may work if you starch the wool first and then let it dry, and then sew it together ... but it may also be too hard to sew through.

When I was trying to figure out how to make my houses, someone suggested using a double layer of felt with thin cardboard in between (like a cereal box panel) to help them stand up.

I am thinking about making fortune cookies out of clay. They would not be bendy sided, they would be life sized, and you could slip a tiny piece of paper with a message inside for your child. I was thinking that you could use them to have the fairies leave messaes for your children ... do you guys think that's a cheesy idea? LOL! They would be really super easy for me to make and I don't want you all to get them and think they're lame! LMK what you think :)

I couldn't find a pagoda pattern.. so I made this mock-up out of paper. I want to make it out of red and black felt and sew it with gold thread.

I think I need to change the shape of the door.. and have to work on the top layer.

For those who have made houses before - how do you get the felt to stand up?.. I am thinking that it will not be stiff enough.


wowsie, wow, wow!!! It's Timtex that is the really stiff interfacing like in a baseball hat brim, the fabric bowls, etc but the cereal box in between 2 layers of felt sounds easy and much less expensive.

ok - i cannot believe i am volunteering for this...but i will make my challange (inspired by gronilot!) the chinese dragons - the kind you see in a parade - with the head and streamers behind it.

Wow! This is going to be awesome!!

I have decided I am going to make the fortune cookies; I started them a little while ago. I will make 2 for everyone, and will package them in a little take out box :) I will include something else related to Chinese New Year as well, probably some origami, but I am not sure what yet.

bonnie - you could make simple red envelopes. they are decorated on the front with chinese symbols. they were used to give money instead of presents. i was going to make them - until some swap spirit took over my body and typed parade dragons LOL

here is link: http://www.chinatown-online.co.uk/pages/learn/class_newyear.html
http://www.newton.mec.edu/Angier/DimSum/china__dim_sum_red_envelop.html

I think fortune cookie messages are super.. I just have to remind them not to break it open to get them.

I will look into those products or see how hard it is to sandwich some chipboard.

A Dragon.. what a great idea.. I can't wait to see it. I have to warn you I was up all night figuring out how to do that pagoda.. so expect a sleepless night! But once I "clicked" it was not too hard at all.. just had to figure the shapes!

WOW Pagodas and dragons....traditionally dressed bendies, fortune cookies and origami...WOW.
this is going to be so amazing!

you mamas are all soo talented! i can't wait to see all these wonderful items. Jaden is going to be besides herself when she sees these treasures :)
and i will remind HUnter to not eat the cookies:smirk:
i love the idea of the fairies leaving notes for the kids :)

I am just super-excited about this swap as well. I originally intended the items to be for my children, but I keep forgetting that and in my daydreams see myself setting it up, admiring all the pieces, etc. LOL.

I never had such great playthings as a child (ok, the woods were great but nothing like these creations!!)

Thanks for letting me be a part.

bonnie - you could make simple red envelopes. they are decorated on the front with chinese symbols. they were used to give money instead of presents. i was going to make them - until some swap spirit took over my body and typed parade dragons LOL

here is link: http://www.chinatown-online.co.uk/pages/learn/class_newyear.html
http://www.newton.mec.edu/Angier/DimSum/china__dim_sum_red_envelop.html

That was actually something else I was thinking of. I have a couple of envelopes here already tha I could use as a template :)

I just finished the fortune cookies and scoured the net for the chinese take out boxes.

I am just super-excited about this swap as well. I originally intended the items to be for my children, but I keep forgetting that and in my daydreams see myself setting it up, admiring all the pieces, etc. LOL.

I never had such great playthings as a child (ok, the woods were great but nothing like these creations!!)

Thanks for letting me be a part.

I am totaly excited about this one too :monkeydan

We have 3 nature tables in our house ... one for the family that Holden can play with (he's almost 2), 1 is Kenna's and is in her room (she's 5) and the last one is mine. When the pacakges come in from a swap I will put something away fro my table first if I fall in love with it before I show the items to Kenna. Bad mommy!

scoured the net for the chinese take out boxes.

I can get these to you for free if you want to decorate them-

I have a die cut machine so it just costs me for the card stock-

Here is the link... http://cgi.ebay.com/10-Chinese-Take-Out-Favor-Boxes_W0QQitemZ5533339337QQcategoryZ26385QQtcZphot oQQcmdZViewItem

It has a hershey kiss in there for size reference.. if you can use these PM me your address..

I can do in white, cream, or any color cardstock.

Thanks for the offer, but I already ordered mine! Once I finally found a place where I didn't have to buy 100 of them at one time, I ordered right away, lol!

I am totaly excited about this one too :monkeydan

We have 3 nature tables in our house ... one for the family that Holden can play with (he's almost 2), 1 is Kenna's and is in her room (she's 5) and the last one is mine. When the pacakges come in from a swap I will put something away fro my table first if I fall in love with it before I show the items to Kenna. Bad mommy!


OOOh, I am going to have to consider setting up a few more too. My children love to play with the bendies that are on there and I always hesitate but let them since they actually belong to them!! I make them for them and then borrow for the table. Guess if I set them up a "play table" they would love that! Then I might have to make extra for my own table.

I ended up setting up my own table because I was being so anal about Kenna playing with the one she and I had set up (this was before Holden was born). Everytime she moved something I wanted to put it back, lol. So I set up my own so she could have free reign over hers. Then Holden came along and started to eat everything on the table so I had to move Kenna's into her room and make a toddler friendly one in the living room for Holden to lpay with too. Now I just have to set mine back up again!

I am wanting to get started making these. What size would be best for the pagodas? The small ones (ones where you only use 1 pipe cleaner) is only 1 1/2" tall. Not sure if I can sew a mandarin collar on some silk dress on a 1 1/2" doll.

Please lmk what you each prefer so I can get majority rule going and make these dolls!!

Driving myself nuts over looking at traditional clothing and thinking about these dolls. I just need to make them and have fun!! I am crazy :rolleyes:

hmmm....I wonder what size pagodas zoe-anne is making???

i'm easy going with whatever works easiest for everyone :)

Leave the size of the bendies up to Zoe-Ann so that they will fit in her pagodas :) Hopefully she'll be online tonight and can tell you what size to make so you can start crafting ;)

OK, I will pm her to make sure she sees my q..

Thanks,

Yikes- I go shopping and gone for a few hours and I miss out on not one, but 2 Castle swaps!

The mock-up I made of the pagoda has 4 inch square walls and floor- but it is taller with the roof. The door is around 3 inches... but I can upsize if needed...

Went to JoAnns and got some felt... but they didn't have black- going to order it.

Any-hoo the base for pagoda is 4 inches- I would be willing to make it bigger if it would be too dificult to make bendies that small.. I can easily make it 5 or 6 inches square.

just wanted to share this thing I made earlier in the year for an order-it was a Chinese New Year thing, with the red envelopes with Kanji on them :) Just a little inspiration, as if you gals need any, I am STUNNED by the creativity and time you gals are putting into these items!!! WOW!
http://motherhues.com/cdb14130.jpg
http://motherhues.com/14bc8130.jpg

And here is the first one I did, a Chinese lantern House :) it was soo fun to make and took SO long to figure out (Ask Lorraine, rofl, I pestered her about it for about 2 months) The tassles on the bottom and in the hanger REALLY "made" the design :)
http://motherhues.com/146a22d0.jpghttp://motherhues.com/147a32c0.jpg
Ans here is the inside. I did yellow felt inner, then a layer of peltex, then a layer of orange, and then I cut slits in the outer red layer to make lanterns like you do in school ;)
The bendy has a little embroidered/fringed pillow, a spoon and a bowl for eating her breakfast :)
http://motherhues.com/1482c2c0.jpg

anyhow, just wanted to share, since it was all in the theme ;)

I remember that lantern set from last year (well, really early this year). It is so amazing!! And those bendies are super cute :)

:drop: mamaselena ..HOLY COW!!!! That is awesome!!! :drop:

:drop: mamaselena ..HOLY COW!!!! That is awesome!!! :drop:
Super-ditto!!!!

Embroidery machines must be really cool to play with!!! Not that that is what made the set but it really helps it to stand out!!!!!

Absolutely awsome!!!

:D thanks ladies!! I am all glowing warm and fuxxy right now,lol.... I needed a pick me up.. cookies are already in the oven at 7:50am ;)

you can still do kanji with hand embroidery, just takes a bit longer ;) And the lantern was done entirely by hand.

Wowser! Just beautiful!

They ended up being very simple becuase I needed to finish them up. I am hoping to make her a little brother. It will have to be that way for lack of supplies but my ds wants a boy for this swap too!!! He won't mind it being smaller!!

Do you think she needs something at the bottom of her dress? and the group picture, there is one that looks like it has a black smudge but it is a floss fuzzy I didn't see. Anyway, I am pleased with them but they are not as cute as Selena's with the Kanji on the dress! My dd LOVES these girls though and claimed hers already.... They totally match Zoe-Anne's pagodas too and I didn't even mean too!!

http://pic1.picturetrail.com/VOL1157/4051965/8859437/123565124.jpg


http://pic1.picturetrail.com/VOL1157/4051965/8859437/123565085.jpg

I love love love them, and so will Jaden:)

beautiful work mama!

Those are so awesome!! I really should have done this swap..I really should have..:vent:

Those are beautiful!

They are perfect.. and they do match perfectly!

Great job

they look fabulous!

:cloud9: Awww thanks!! You guys are so great!!

I just figured out I'm an idiot! I can't believe I just figured it out lol. I needed to get some sand for this swap and proceded to tell Scott that I made Zen gardens - for CHINESE New Years! So, pretend you're in Japan okay?

LOL Heather! The Zen gardens will be great ;)

I was just thinking we needed a Zen Garden;)

I just couldn't find the little rakes and I can't stand to make so many. But, you'll get a little garden with sand and rocks.

Kewl!! I will love that and so will my little ones who don't know the difference between China and Japan either!!

i received tracey's bendies today and they are stunning! can't wait to see everything else!

Ship date is saturday!!

i received tracey's bendies today and they are stunning! can't wait to see everything else!

Ship date is saturday!!

thanks Bonnie!! I was going to pm you to ask. I always forget to get delivery confirmation or whatever it is to be able to track the package if it gets lost.

I just can't wait to get all the STUFF from this swap. My dd keeps asking LOL.

Did everyone get a chance to mail yesterday? We can't wait to see everything!

Right now the Chinese bendy dolls are sleeping in the cave that Kris made, lol! The lantern is hanging over Kenna's table and the wall hanging is hanging over Holden's table. We were busy this weekend setting up the 2 train tables in the living room, one for each kid, again, in the hopes that Holden will not eat Kenna's bendies and destroy her table if he has one of his own. So far so good! Kenna is in full Chinese New Year mode. Every activity we do (whether it has to do with China or not) she narrates with the following ... "And now we are doing a traiditonal Chinese x, y or z" , and "I am wearing my traiditonal CHinese clothes" , and "This is my mom, she is doing traditional Chinese cleaning", and on and on, :lol: She has been doing this all weekend!

:lol: McKenna sounds like a riot! Traditional Chinese cleaning, that's really cute!

what a cutie....:lol: you are keeping her forever right?:smirk:

i am getting the kids dad to mail tuesday

I mailed on Friday. I am on pins and needles (I guess you can call it acupuncture- lol) waiting!

Zoe-Ann, you are just getting traditional Chinese acupuncture :lol:

I will let you know when the package gets here.

Kris - I think I will keep her forever :cloud9: She drives me nuts sometimes but she is so darn cute! The things she comes up with are hysterical!

Zoe-Ann, you are just getting traditional Chinese acupuncture :lol:

I will let you know when the package gets here.

Kris - I think I will keep her forever :cloud9: She drives me nuts sometimes but she is so darn cute! The things she comes up with are hysterical!

jaden and i haev already discussed it. her and HUnter are going to live next door, well fi they really decide they need to spread their wings, my mom lives 9 doors down, so they can move their:lol:

but ofcourse i have already told them that i want to keep them at home forever;)

My brother used to have this grand plan for his life (when he was 4-5; he's 19 now). He was going to marry our cat (yes, the cat) and live in our house 9my parents' house) and let my mom and day live in the basement.

Kenna always comes up with these odd things to worry about, like when she has babies she will have to still live with me because otherwise she will not know where things are (things meaning places that she wants to take her kids, places I take them to now), so I guess she'll be with me forever. I can live with that!

My brother used to have this grand plan for his life (when he was 4-5; he's 19 now). He was going to marry our cat (yes, the cat) and live in our house 9my parents' house) and let my mom and day live in the basement.

Kenna always comes up with these odd things to worry about, like when she has babies she will have to still live with me because otherwise she will not know where things are (things meaning places that she wants to take her kids, places I take them to now), so I guess she'll be with me forever. I can live with that!


how cute is that, JAdens big worry abotu havign babies is what if they bite her when nursing:lol: her brother thinks its the funniest thing in the wholw world to chop down every now and agian:shake:

my brotehr used to say when he was little, if he coudlnt marry my mom, he'd marry a house....let me tell ya he married one heck of a house:smirk:

ROFLMAO!

Kenna's big worry today was that she didn't want to have babies because it was going to hurt a lot because her the hole in her vagina is too small and a baby is too big, lol. So I ended up having a long talk with her abotu natural childbirth (which I had with Holden) and epidurals (which I had with her). She decided to go with the epidural, lol! Because, you know, a girl's got to be prepared (at 5!)

that is too funny, I had an epidural with Jaden too, adn a natural birth with HUnter unfortuntaly it was at the hospital:sob:

but jaden has already told me she is havign her babies at home because that is just were babies shoudl be born! (shes 6) so its good to know they are thinkign about it:lol:

and you;ve got lots of time ti teach her all aout hypnobirthing (which i strongly recommend):smirk:

ok - i am sooooooo sorry it is taking me so long to finish these....but i am so happy with how they are turning out! i found a pic of a dragon face and cut out all the features with different origami papers and scrapbooking faces. that took me forever - with only being able to do 1 or 2 features a nite with ds's new NON-sleeping pattern!

now - i just want to get some asian fabric for the tail (was gonna use it differently before but with how cool the faces turned out - it needs something more elaborate) and modge podge to cover and seal the whole face. (could i just use thinned glue instead of modge podge? i want to sorta seal all the pieces of paper) so - i'll be done very soon............

also have the tiny animals patterns cut out and ready to stitch and stuff - that won't take long.

good news is that i am ahead in the other swaps!!

so - ets is monday..........is that okay???

Bonnie.. here is tracking number for the pagodas 0305 2710 0001 7420 0813 I cannot believe it is taking so long to get there. I mailed it on Jan 27.

I cant wait to see those dragons.. they sound so cool!

Lorena, I can NOT wait to see yoru dragons, they sounds soo cool:cuc:

DOnt' stress my stuff is mailing from Canada (long story) so you've got a couple days;)

Zoe=Anne, you have a die cut machine??? oh goodness... the possibilities!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! can you make a treasure box? ;)

can I just say I love everything in this swap??!!

Zoe=Anne, you have a die cut machine??? oh goodness... the possibilities!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! can you make a treasure box? ;)

can I just say I love everything in this swap??!!

I do have a die cut machine.. (well actually it is at my partners house across town).. and I could easily do the treasure boxes.. "if" I had that die.. lol. It is the largest die machine- can cut 14 x 17 inch pieces.. and does fabric easily. http://www.accucut.com/GrandeMARK_brRoller_Die_Cutting_System-p181c135-path1,135.html?

There is a treasure chest die.. but it is made for paper.. with tabs and slots... http://www.accucut.com/Treasure_Chest_3D-p3487c112-path0.html?

I have a great guy that makes my custom dies.. if you have something that you make frequently (dies are around $40-$80) I would be happy to do trades. This guy's custom dies are actually cheaper than buying premade ones. So if you have a pattern that you are sick of cutting- I can get an estimate.

I have considered making bendy clothing ones.. but really.. how many am I making? But if there was interest, it could be done.

Or even.. if you want pillow boxes or other little boxes with your Motherhues logos on them to package things.

pming you

Monday is fine for the shipping. I can't wait to se the dragons and the pagoda ... I really hope that the pagodas get here soon! I am getting worried!

i snuck out of work today and bought some beautiful asian red brocade. i think i'll have time to work on it tonite afterall (of course survivor starts tonite...the only tv show i watch)...providing ds cooperates!

off topic: but did you know that if you put any tape on a flat rate priority envelope it negates the flat rate? i swear each post office makes its own rules!

Bonnie.. here is tracking number for the pagodas 0305 2710 0001 7420 0813 I cannot believe it is taking so long to get there. I mailed it on Jan 27.

I cant wait to see those dragons.. they sound so cool!

I keep freaking out about these pagodas! I am so worried that something happened to them!! But I just checked the tracking number and it says they are enroute <<Your item was processed and left our SPRINGFIELD, MA 01152 facility on February 03, 2006. Information, if available, is updated every evening. Please check again later. >>

Maybe today? Springfield is not far from here, only an hour, lol! I'll let you know if they get here today!

I am stressing too- a lot of work went into them. But at least they moved.. they were at a California address for several days (why it went the wrong direction- maybe a sorting facility?)... I can't wait to see what you think of them.

Um...crap. I forgot to mail this stuff because Bonnie forgot to take it home when she was here and I just found it downstairs. I'll mail it Monday and it should be quick since we are in the same tiny state.

I can't wait to see all these goodies!!!!! :cloud9:

Heather - I didn't even realize you were finished with that one when I was there or I would have taken them. Sorry! They will get here quickly though; CT isn't that big, lol!

Zoe-Ann -- still no pagodas today. Why they were in MA and don't know either. If they wer ein CA frist, then why go to MA, which is farther away than CT? I don't get hte PO sometimes. If I print out postage from paypal, and then go to check the tracking number, it always says that it was processed in their Springfield, MA office until it has been delivered, then I will get the message that it was delivered.

They were in the same bag with Stacey's swap stuff but you had your hands full lol.

Hey what is the status of the pagodas, dragons and zen gardens? Is that all that is left to complete this swap?

Thanks for the update!!

Dragons and pagodas have been here for ever. Still waiting on Heather's zen gardens and Kris' dogs (? - I think that's what she made!). Both said they are shipping asap.

Dragons and pagodas have been here for ever. Still waiting on Heather's zen gardens and Kris' dogs (? - I think that's what she made!). Both said they are shipping asap.


Great, thanks. My brain gets all out of whack when I try to remember what I am waiting on to complete things ;). I am a bit on the anal side that way. Weird because I am normally such a relaxed person.