BetsyPreston

I love mail and wanted to get more use out of my PO Box. Swaps are just the thing! My hobbies are reading, TV, movies, music, volleyball, sewing, and assorted crafty things.

If you're gonna do one special thing for me, write the name of the swap on the outside of the envelope. I pick up my mail at the post office, but don't read it until I get home. I spend the car ride anticipating the moment I get to rip it open and see what you've sent. Give me a hint!!

I like reused materials, mail art, and sewing. I love glow in the dark things, black-light and neon inks. I love seeing what you can get to go through the mail and what "enhancements" get added along the way. I definitely prefer that items FLY NAKED through the post. I love artistamps, fabric postcards, handmade/handbound books and pamphlets. I recently started letterpress printing.

I absolutely can NOT draw or paint.

Please let me know if you were entitled to a swap item from me and didn't receive it. I ALWAYS send. The only way that I know if something has gone missing is if you tell me, so help me help you!

I also try hard to rate everything that I receive. If something slips through the cracks, my apologies, and feel free to remind me.

I like to see scavenged and reused items cobbled together. Cereal box postcards are so simple and fun! But I'm also a closet magpie for shiny things, metallics, bright cheerful colors, and girly cutesy things.

I'm a techie. But I do like making things. My inspirations include Nick Bantock and Gwen Marston's Liberated Quilting. I love to "wing-it" and see what happens. Results may vary, but I believe in nothing ventured...nothing gained.

As far a swapping goes, I'm a firm believer in SENDERS CHOICE. I want to see what YOU like. It's fun to get things in a completely different style than what I might do. So let loose and show me what moves you! Tell me a story about yourself! Try something new - go out on a limb! I promise to see the upside in everything you send.

I sent @evieroz a postcard cut out of an old Grape Tang box for a NON-PROFILE postcard Letters and Writing flat mail swap. Yep - I sent a reduced, reused, and recycled chunk o' cardboard box. You might get one from me some day. But not the Grape Tang, cuz you can't buy that anymore.

I squeezed as much of a letter as possible onto the back of the card explaining how special that box was to me. It had been in my house for over 10 years. I got it in Canada on a trip with a friend who is now lost. I have not seen Grape Tang in the States since I was a kid and they had those TV commercials with the purple Tang Martians. It was delicious, and tied to special memories which I explained on the card. Unfortunately, @evieroz prefers "store bought" postcards. She was moved to include a comment with her rating: "pitiful pc".

Yikes!

That's pretty much the opposite of why I'm in swap bot. I do not consider myself to be anyone's personal shopper, scouring profiles so I can slog through 5 stores to find the special stuffed moose-head postcards you prefer. I don't believe that the only items of value are made by robots in a factory and purchased in a store. And sit down, cuz this is going to be some tough love, I'm not going to fire up the Vandercook press to make you a personalized keepsake if you signed up for a non-profile "Letters and Writing" flat mail swap.

Please share your stories and your crafts with me. Tra-la-la let's have a good time and be kind to each other! "If you can't play nice, don't play with me."

UPDATE: since posting this story, I have received PMs from others who have also received very unkind remarks from Ms. @evieroz It seems that kindness and discretion are not among her finer attributes. Someone avoided swaps and even withdrew from one in which Ms. @evieroz was participating in order to avoid further abuse. That's just a crying shame.

2011/07/05: On June 21st 2011 I sent an email to each of my three partners as specified for the swap THIS SONG IS REALLY BLOWING MY MIND. I marked the swap as "sent". My profile shows feedback the very next day from one of my partners, which proves that I did indeed send at least one swap email item.

Why on earth is there a "sent" link to click if not to help distinguish between flakers, and items lost in transit?

Today, I received a "1" rating and the following comment from my partner @AndrewLips (and the host of the swap): "This was such an easy simple swap an you still haven't sent, even TWO WEEKS later. If you bother to send ill change the rating to a 3."

My goodness. That is aggressive and hostile, does not jibe with the facts available, and is just plain inappropriate for this venue. @AndrewLips SHAME ON YOU.

So, yeah, I got a "1". @AndrewLips is a creep and there's not a thing I can do about it.

In a funny way, it's a bit of a relief. After the discourteous comment from @evieroz I read more about Swap-Bot policies. There is not a thing you can do if you get a psycho partner who refuses to give you a fair rating. I can NOT prove whether something arrived a my partner's house or inbox (spam filter, anyone? anyone?). I can only rely on their honesty and integrity. Not to mention reason and intelligence. If someone chooses to ignore the facts or acts in a vulgar manner, as a "sender" there's absolutely nothing I can do about it. Except explain the situation in my profile. And wear my "1" like a badge of honor from a losing Swap-Bot battle.

For the record, "no", I have not re-sent. It is NOT appropriate to bully your partner. I'd be more than happy to resend if @AndrewLips would apologize for his rude behavior, inform me politely that his email did not arrive, and request a resend. Until then, @AndrewLips does NOT play nice, so @AndrewLips can NOT play with me!