MissBrenda

PSA: original thread by @TC

This is the time of year when returning flakers show up - often with new profiles. We always see an increase in their return in September, October, and November.

Many of them have learned to get an early start on establishing a "legitimate" profile before the big holiday package swaps get started. They join a bunch of Type 1 and 2 swaps in the fall, get some good ratings, and then go flakey on the Christmas swaps.

Hosts would be wise to carefully check new profiles, and consider limiting package swaps or high dollar gift swaps to swappers with 20 or more Type 3 ratings.

Swappers should be careful about joining Christmas swaps with no rating requirement and of course always check your host's ratings, too.

October 2019: Only one piece of mail has gone missing, so that is an improvement. Still no word from the Postmaster even though I have left him a message to contact me. Still waiting.....

17 Aug 2019: Still no word from the PO about missing mail. It is still happening. Frustrating.... Not sure if they will contact me IF and when they discover the reason why mail is going missing. Sure would be nice though.

8/2/19 : I have been having an issue with my outgoing mail going missing. I have resent several swaps and those have not arrived to their destinations either. Not sure what is happening, as I have verified with the recipients their addresses, and the addresses were correct. I have contacted the PO, and they are going to look into the issue, but who knows what that will bring. Please contact me if you have not received a swap from me, if I haven't already contacted you. I am more than happy to resend a swap due to this happening. Thank you for your understanding....

I'm in my 50's. I love receiving snail mail. Some of my favorites are ATC's, PC's, cards and zentangle!

I live in Minnesota and I dislike winter (the cold, snow and sleet) so swapping helps me fill the void of the long winter days and nights. Summers are too short, and full of bugs. lol The humidity gets to me and thankfully not too many days have high humidity.

I don't have any food allergies that I am aware of, which is great! I like Chocolate and have discovered I have a sensitivity to it. This is not an allergy. I also like to have my daily cup of coffee and a relaxing cup of herbal tea is always nice. Iced tea is wonderful, too. Especially on warm days. Who remembers the old commercial "Take the 'Nestle Plunge' " and a guy with a glass of iced tea on a hot summer day would fall backwards into a pool? I didn't like tea in those days, but I sure do now!

I have an eclectic taste of music, however I do not like rap, head-banging music or heavy metal music.

I love to listen to podcasts. Mostly true crime.

Swapping with Me: I will try to send out my items as soon as partners are selected, but if something doesn't make it to you, please let me know. Also, I sometimes put things in the mailbox at night and mark the swap sent, so it won't be Post Marked until the next day. So keep that in mind.

BEFORE rating. I want to make sure that you get the items! I want HAPPY partners. I keep a close watch on my swaps, and I usually will contact my partner before she/he contacts me concerning any possible mail mix-ups/hiccups. I will gladly re-send the swap to you. I would rather you receive two items than none at all!

PLEASE RATE UPON RECEIPT OF A SWAP....if all requirements of the swap are met, you must rate a 5. That is required of ALL swaps.

If you're going to be late in sending out a swap, I'm very understanding, so let me know. Communicate with me and we'll work something out.

If there is postage due on a swap I sent you, please let me know, and I will reimburse you.

I really love doing the Found Image swaps here on SB. Totally fun to search for items of interest.

POSTCARDS: I have collected quite a few to try to match up what possible future partners are interested in. What I would like sent to me are PC's such as something you have no use for. However, I am not interested in Ad/Free/Dirty (soiled) PC's. The PC's could be cartoon, funny, strange, "What the Heck?"-type, something you just don't know what to do with. Please don't send your PC's from another state that you don't live in. I have a ton of those.

My ABC's for swaps:

A: Aquamarine. Albus Dumbledore. Alex and Ani. A Christmas Carol.

B: Blue. Brown. Buttons. Bows. Boots. Bell- bottoms. Brothers.

C: Coffee. Charms. Chocolate. Colored pencils & pens. Cardinals. Crocheting. Clan of the Cave Bear book series. Caramels (Homemade especially!)

D: Diamonds. Dobby. Draco Malfoy. Dragons. Dragonflies. Dark Chocolate.

E: Elephants. Essential Oils. Emeralds. Envies. Edgar Allen Poe

F: Finger-less Gloves. Frankincense E.O. Flamingos. Fred Weasley. Fairies.

G: Gems. Gnomes. Green. Gold. God. Gorilla's. George Weasley. Ginny Weasley. Giraffes. Gardening.

H: Homemade PC's & Cards. Hedgehogs. Honey. Harry Potter. Hermione Granger.

I: Ice Cream. Iceman. Invisibility Cloak. Ireland.

J: Jam. J.K. Rowling.

K: Kites. Kangaroos. Kittens.

L: Lavender. Lilacs. Lemurs. Lollipops. Lipstick. Luna Lovegood. Llamas.

M: Magenta. Myrrh E.O. Mom. Minerva McGonagal. Mermaids. Maxine.

N: Note cards, new or homemade. Napkins. Never-never land. Nordic Gnomes. Niffler.

O: Owls. Orange. Orangutans.

P: Postcards: Love Vanity Fair, Master Painters (Monet, Manet, Renoir, etc, unknowns, as long as the pics are fabulous, etc.), cute and funny. B & W are good also. Harry Potter PC's. Magical Beasts PC's. Purple. Pink. Pens, .07 fine line. Podcasts. Presents. Phoenix. Peppe` Le Pew. Princesses.

Q: Quartz. Quidditch

R: Red. Rosemary. Ron Weasley. Remus Lupin. Rubeus Hagrid.

S: Stationery. Silly things. Sayings. Sloths. Sisters. Squashed Pennies/Nickels. Severas Snape. Sirius Black. Sapphires. Swapping. Swap-Bot.

T: Tea, no black or green tea, please. Tiny things. Themed Zines. Themed items. Trading cards. Themed tissue paper. Turtles. Teal. Thestrals. Toffee.

U: Unicorns. Unusual items. Ukulele.

V: Violets (the flower). Violet (the color). Violins. Velvet.

W: Washi tape. Woodland creatures. White.

X: ??

Y: Yellow. Yorkies, owned one for 14 years. She was a treasure.

Z: Zentangle. Zines.

PLEASE DON'T SEND:

Teacher/Reward Stickers. I have no need for these. Children's puffy stickers. Can't use them on envies and all my kids are grown and the grand-kids are too old for them also.

Dislike: Hello Kitty. Well, I don't dislike Hello Kitty. I just have no use for her. Mean people.

Sloppy work. If you wouldn't want to receive it, neither would I.

I like to Crochet. I have made tablecloths and many, many doilies along with stuffed toys for my kids and grandkids. I have made quite a few wrist warmers and have even sold a few. What has been particularly popular is the Harry Potter house colors and NFL team colors. It's very relaxing and fun to do!

I have also gotten in on the dishcloth swaps here on SB. I have received very nice dishcloths here. I hope mine are well received.

And ......