Wednesday, November 28, 2007

Swaps - Inchies

***Updated December 9***
I've discovered that Swap-Bot is not for me. Of the three swaps I entered all were a bust. Including missed deadlines, very little thought and/or effort put into the swaps or partners just not sending items at all.

Recently, I found a site on the web for swaps of all types. The site is Swap-bot, I looked around a bit at the various swaps and the site in general and signed up last week. Then promptly entered 3 swaps.

The site has a rating system for each swap and in order to participate in many of the swaps a member needs a minimum rating. As a new member, I searched for "newbie" swaps to begin to get ratings. All participants are rated by their swap partners based on meeting deadlines as well as swap criteria, it seems like a system that could work - we'll see how I feel about it after these 3 swaps have been completed.

One of the swaps I entered is an 'inchie' swap. I had not heard of 'inchies' before, the definition is as follows: "an inchie is a square (1" x 1") of paper, cardboard, canvas, fabric, or just about any surface for you to draw, paint, decorate, bead, quilt, or anything else you can think of - to trade and collect". It sounded fun and not terribly complicated or time consuming to execute. I decided I'd use beads - big surprise, I know.

Anyway... here are my 'inchies'. The beaded area is about an inch and I left an edge in case the recipient wants to incorporate the pieces into something else.


This is a vintage black glass flower cab with the tiniest hole in the center that was not meant to have a needle pushed through it, but I made it work!


Next up is this really cool 2 hole copper colored bead with calla lillies. It is surrounded by copper colored and light blue beads.


Here we have a vintage (German?) glass 2-holed bead.


This is a dainty little abalone button, lots of color packed into that little button.


Last, but not least is a little paw print bead made by Earthenwood Studios.

Fun, huh?

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

I love your inchies! I've done inch square drawings, but I think I'll have to do some beaded ones now.

Phyl said...

Grace, the new swap group will LOVE your swaps; most of the "inchies" being done are just quickly-made of fabric scraps/charms/a button maybe/rubber-stamped papers....NOT nearly as expensive and NOT nearly as time- intensive as these beaded beauties you have made!
Wow! I'll trade fully beaded inchies w/you any time (after New Year's).There's also now a "twinchie" swap:one inch tall and two inches wide!
Thanks for the swap link; I'm gonna check it out!

artandtea said...

Hi Grace,

I took part in an "inchie" swap at a polymer clay retreat last summer. It was so much fun!

Your beaded "inchies" are simply exquisite.

-Karen

Padparadscha said...

These are exquisite indeed, I can't find another word :o)

GraceBeading said...

Hi All,

Glad you like the inchies, I grew more fond of them each time I looked at them, now they are winging their way to their new home.

Phyl, I like the idea of a swap of inchies - maybe I'll see about hosting one here from my blog after the new year.

I'll put up a poll and see what kind of result I get and go from there.

Thanks again for the comments!

KV said...

These are so cool, Grace! I am constantly amazed at all the neat things you find to become involved with. I am sure this will become a most interesting adventure.

Kathy V in NM

GraceBeading said...

Thanks Kathy... we'll see how it goes, I tend to become quickly disillusioned with swaps at times, mostly due to missed deadlines seems that there are always some that make the comittment, yet don't follow through for whatever reason. I'm really hoping all goes well.

Gawd, I sound like such an old fogey!

Leaves of Grass

This is what you shall do: Love the earth and sun and the animals, despise riches, give alms to every one that asks, stand up for the stupid and crazy, devote your income and labor to others, hate tyrants, argue not concerning God, have patience and indulgence toward the people, take off your hat to nothing known or unknown or to any man or number of men, go freely with powerful uneducated persons and with the young and with the mothers of families, read these leaves in the open air every season of every year of your life, re-examine all you have been told at school or church or in any book, dismiss whatever insults your own soul, and your very flesh shall be a great poem and have the richest fluency not only in its words but in the silent lines of its lips and face and between the lashes of your eyes and in every motion and joint of your body - Walt Whitman