This weekend was swap weekend! I spent quite a bit of time over the last few days getting ready and then swapping postcards for the Liberate Your Art postcard swap. 192 participants this year! Yay! I met my goal of increasing over last year, thanks to the help of everyone who shared about the swap.
I thought it might be interesting to the swap participants to share about the swap weekend. It all started Friday night, when I sat down to “check in” envelopes. This entailed opening them, making sure there were the right number of postcards, stamps and labels, removing any extra items (like postcards and notes for me – thanks!) and correcting any problems. I only had to write a couple of labels, and for every stamp missing someone had sent an extra, so it all worked out well. I realized when I sat down to do this that I should have been doing this all along as I received the envelopes, but hey, live and learn. I normally don’t like to show my studio as messy but here it is, mess and all, as I was checking envelopes in.
“Checking in” envelopes
After a last run to the mailbox on Saturday afternoon for the latest arrivals, I was ready to swap. Here are the envelopes, all stacked and ready to go!
Sunday morning I laid out the envelopes around the house to prep for swapping. About 25% of the participants were from outside of the US, so I made sure that every fourth envelope was an international participant. Everyone in the swap will receive at least one postcard from a participant in a different country, and at least one of your postcards will be traveling to a country other than your own. Maybe more than one! Isn’t that cool? Other than the mix of US and non-US, the sorting was completely random as I laid out envelopes. I love that part of it… Who knows who you will connect with? Who knows what those connections will bring? It’s all serendipity and delicious uncertainty.
Envelopes laid out and ready to swap
Then it was time to swap! That’s one of the quickest parts of this whole process. (If you want to learn more on the mechanics of swapping, visit this post from last year.) The longest part of the process is sticking on stamps and labels after the swapping is done. I listened to music and watched a couple of movies on Netflix while I worked. I also recruited my husband later in the day, to help me finish up after he got back from a 40 mile bike ride. What a sport, huh? I did note to myself that I should do this swap in the winter, when the weather is bad. Summer is too short in Oregon to be working inside! Watch for 2013’s swap in the rainy months. 🙂
Finally, I ended with 6 stacks of postcards, all ready to go out in different mailings over the next 3 weeks. Here is today’s stack. Which one is going to you? You will find out soon, when it arrives in your letter box!
While it takes some work, this process is truly a labor of love for me. I love seeing the art that comes through my hands. I am so in awe of the diversity of art in a group like this. Each piece is so incredibly unique, just like each of you. I am inspired by all of the beautiful postcards you created and the words you all wrote to each other. There was so much positive energy that came to me as I worked on the swap, it was overwhelming at times.
Today one of your postcards is heading to it’s final destination. Art, liberated.
You are incredible to tackle this enormous task…thank you!!
Thank YOU for participating!
Wow– it is a LABOR of love. Thank you for all your hard work. I can only imagine how exciting it must have been to have all the wonderful art sliding through your fingers. I’m already excited about next year’s exchange!
I love seeing the process! Your home must be brusting with artistic energy! You’re so very special to tackle a project such as this! Thank you for your hard work!!
Oh my GOSH! Look at you go! What an enormous task. Now, I’m really wishing I was there to help you. Kat, you are amazing for doing this. I know myself and all the participants thank you deeply from our hearts for you taking this on. Can’t wait to get my first one!!!
xo
I can’t wait for the first one! Thanks again Kat. You are amazing!
You are incredible! What a lot of work, but you are making so many people happy.
Love this post, Kat, and I so wish I could have walked along those piles of lovely postcards to have a look before you gathered them up! I’m glad you enjoy this, because it’s a gift to all of us! Jane
WOW!!!! …and thank you Kat!!
…can’t wait to see all the liberated art fall through my letter box now!!
Big thank you again for all your hard work in making this swap a success 🙂
Jan x
Kat, thank you for sharing so much of the process with us, but mostly thank you for sharing your time, effort and art-love with the world! So much love and positive energy being sent out into the world, thanks to you and the Liberate Your Art Postcard Swap Project. This has been pure joy to participate in ~ for that, and so much more, I thank you!
Looks like a wonderful time you had! Hope mine got there on time 🙂
Fantastic!! You are an absolute star for organising this great swap. Now the London 2012 Olympics are over, I’m eagerly looking forward to getting some lovely art through the mailbox to keep the post Olympic blues away. Many, many thanks for all your hard work Kat. :)))
You are awesome!!
Kat, so glad you’re willing to make this all happen! Looking forward to this mail 🙂
I would love to come help you swap! Please call me if you ever need help. I almost drove there yesterday just cuz I couldn’t stand it! Thanks for hosting and being your usual amazing self.
Oh, Rainie, you should have! I didn’t even think to ask you, but I would have LOVED to have you here. Consider yourself asked for next year!
These photos bring us right into the process! Great!
Gosh…that’s got to be a LOT of love because that’s a heckuva lot of LABOR! Can’t wait to start receiving post cards. Thanks for doing this!
Thanks so much Kat, for sharing your process with us all. Thank you for hosting the swap!
So exciting! 🙂
This is awesome. Thanks for such a fun swap
A BIG labor of love! But, you’re bound to be so excited about having all that beautiful work take over your home for a few days! You truly are amazing for making this happen. I got sick and didn’t get to participate last year, so I’m really very excited about seeing what comes my way this year. Thank you so much for your spirit, your creativity, and caring enough to make this happen two years in a row. You’re incredible!
Oh my gosh Kat. SO much fun and SO much work! You are an absolute angel for organizing all this fantastic, beautiful art! Thank you, thank you!
Omg what an incredibly huge task. I’ve hosted swaps before so I know how hard it can be. Your efforts are so appreciated. Thank you!
Dear Kat,
I can’t wait to receive my mail from you! Thank you for making this happen, and a special thank for showing these pictures. It’s a bit like seeing wrapped Christmas presents a few days before Christmas!
What a special gift you are giving to all of us through your labor of love, Kat. Not only the opportunity to share our own art, but the anticipation and pleasure of receiving other people’s art in our mailboxes – it’s going to be the highlight of the summer!
Hi Kat, thanks for everything.
Kim,USA
thank you, thank you, thank you for sharing this with us – I love that you took photos of the process of gettting the postcards and dividing them – awesome job so HAPPY to be apart of this.
Can’t wait to start getting my postcards.
What a gift you have given us all! My first postcard arrived today! Lovely surprise in my mailbox. Thank you.
I have received my first postcard today! I had actually forgotten all about it, this was such a lovely surprise in my mailbox, really loved it, and looking forward to the other cards I will be receiving. Thanks Kat, for the swap and the work you have put into this, it is very much appreciated! 🙂
Nellies
thank you, so much, for doing this for all of us. i love the friends i have met because of you!
deb
I’ve got to read about the mechanics of swapping. That part seems overwhelming to me. This has been very fun, almost makes me want to get back into mail art again, which I did for several years. Thank you, Kat!
Well, this really is a labour of love! Looks like it is really time consuming. I hope your cat helped you too! Have a great weekend, and thanks for organising this; I am sooooooooo looking forward to my post! Valerie
What a great post about a great postcard swap! And what an enormous task you undertake! Thank you so much. I’ll look forward to the first postcard arriving through my door soon!
Soon! Soon! I also wanted to let you know which postcard of your art I chose for myself… The CAT of course! Loved it!!
WOW, Kat! Thank you so very much for all that you’ve done in making this happen. I joined not having a clue how very special it all was, and the impact it would make in my own life. I am sorry to everyone who gets my cards – I could have done so much MORE! I got my first card today, and it was such a wonderful gift that it brought tears to my eyes.
thank you kat. You have brought me joy!
Wow, that is so very wonderful to hear! Thank you so much for sharing the impact the swap has had on you.
Amazing! Can’t wait for these gifts to begin showing up in the mailbox.
Hello!
It is so interesting to see the process you go through for this swap. Thank you so much for all your hard work! I received my first postcard yesterday and what a treat it was….brought a smile to my face as soon as I saw it. I had forgotten how much fun it is to receive good old mail again (and not bills).
Thanks again,
Angela
Thanks for doing such a great job! I actually forgot all about it and then on Thursday I got my first card in the mail. I thought, ” o yeah!”. Very cool looking forward to the rest.
~peace
Dawn
Thanks for organising this Kat. This is my second swap and I’m still connected with some of the artists I met LAST year. I received my first postcard a couple of days ago and had an email from someone who’d received one of mine. I look forward to the blog hop. Thanks again. Ann
Yay! I love that you are making the connections. I’m looking forward to the blog hop too!
Oh Kat, you always made this exchange so exciting and special! Thank you for such generosity! I expect to receive mine in the mail in a month which is how long it takes to reach my island 😉 And I will surely blog about it!
From all the hounds, woof! whing! harf! bravo! and sorry for all the delays and bother!
We love you dearly!
See you next year!
Thank you so much, Kat, for organizing and coordinating this swap. What a lot of hard work, even for a labor of love. Hope you get to enjoy the last bright days before fall/winter start to show up. Hugs from Alaska, Sherry