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crafthavenRevision: July 16, 2010
First Event
I'm expecting to finish my planning sometime in the winter. Since my ideas about location and setup currently involve being outside (thus, warm weather), that means the first swap event will probably not be able to happen until Spring 2011. I'm thinking April, with a hope for good weather.
Allergens and Cleanliness
A few people have put forth the possibility of bedbugs, fleas, or other unpleasantries being in donations. My suggestion is to ask that fabric donations be washed before donating, and to strongly suggest that anyone who takes a fabric swap wash it when they get home. What do you think? Is this realistic? I know not all fabrics are washable, and that not everyone will do it, but do you think this will address the issue? I certainly plan to wash any fabrics that I'll be storing long-term between swaps that come from people I don't know personally.
I originally envisioned that fabric donations would have to come from a pet-hair-free, smoke-free home, but I have been talked around to a more buyer-beware system--we'll warn that not all donations are allergy-friendly. The wash-before-bringing may also help this issue somewhat.
ETA about Allergens and Toxic Items:
ysabetwordsmith has brought up some great points about dealing with allergens and other potentially dangerous materials in the comments. Also, I'll be doing some research about what craft materials may cause allergic reactions, but if you have any to chime in, please do!
ysabetwordsmith mentioned:
-Wool
-Some synthetic dyes/paints
Membership
Still thinking about membership benefits, but I do have a membership database mostly developed. Membership cards will be for each person to decorate themselves--I want to use those fake credit cards you get in junk mail, with a barcoded sticker on the back for ID purposes. Only rule in decorating is barcode sticker must be readable and undamaged. Maybe should paint them white first? Or leave them as-is? Not sure.
Possible benefit: storing voucher "credit" between swaps in the database, instead of making members hold on to their actual vouchers (see below for discussion of the voucher system).
Vouchers
On recommendation from Maria, who had some great ideas, I think I'm going to reverse my former position on using bag sizes to control give/take, and switch to an equal-exchange, voucher-based system. The values below are not set in stone, just some rough suggestions from Maria--these can definitely be adjusted based on input from everyone. Quoted from Maria's email:
--Fabric: Large, full pieces are good. But smaller, irregular scraps are also useful, particularly by quilters or doll crafters. I recommend getting a small scale that can weigh in ounces up to several pounds. I do have a mailing scale that goes up to 5 lbs, so that may work out...
*Irregular fabric scraps: 1 voucher per ½ pound. (These can then all be thrown in a “scrap bin,” which people can pick through to assemble their own ½ pound piles.
*Full yardage lengths of fabric: 1 voucher per yard (pieces less than a yard should be combined into weighed scraps.)
*High-quality or unusual fabrics (I’m thinking things like silk/wool, velvet, beaded/sequined/embroidered fabric, top-end upholstery fabrics): 1 or more additional vouchers per piece. This would be at the organizer’s discretion. I’m thinking the amount would depend on both quality and quantity. IE, a yard or two of something nice, but not particularly over-the top would get 1, for a total of 2 vouchers to be used on other items. but if there were say, 6 yards of it, you might give it an additional 2 (Thinking in terms of applying the bonus amount for every 3 yards . . . ) A single yard of very nice, heavily beaded and embroidered silk might also earn 2 or 3 bonus vouchers for quality. Scraps of these types of fabrics would earn 2 vouchers per ½ pound. (You may also want to keep these in separate bins from the “regular” scraps.)
*Yardage will be rounded up or down to the nearest yard. (1 ¼ = 1 yd, 2 ½ =3 yd, etc.)
*Weight will be rounded up or down to the nearest ½ pound.
--Yarn:
*One small ball/skein of plain acrylic yarn: 1 voucher
*One large skein of plain acrylic yarn OR one skein of natural fiber/decorative yarn: 2 vouchers.
*One large skein of natural fiber or decorative yarn: 3 vouchers.
--Tools:
Definitely a good idea. There are so many types of tools though, you’d probably want to sit down with a whole list of the most common to determine individual voucher values.
--Beads: My best recommendation is to do it by weight. Get a small food scale or something, and assign vouchers based on weight. (ie, 2 oz equals one “item,” regardless of size or quantity of the beads that make up those 2 ounces.)
And yes, I realize packaging will throw off the weight a little . . . I say tough shit if anyone complains. It’s not meant to be a perfect system. Sometimes you’ll walk out ahead, sometimes you won’t. It’s the nature of this type of trading. Anyway:
*2 ounces of beads, charms, fastenings, or other findings: 1 voucher
*2 ounces of semi-precious, gem quality, or fine metal (gold, sterling silver, etc) items as described above: 2 vouchers.
*1 spool of non-metal beading thread: 1 voucher
*1 spool of beading wire: 2 vouchers.
*Additional vouchers may be awarded for unique or high-quality items at the organizer’s discretion. Or for bringing in mostly un-opened items, since they’re easier to keep organized. You’ll definitely want to have a good way to keep some things sorted. Maybe also have an “unsorted” bin that costs slightly less per ounce to go through? (EX: You can get 3 or 4 oz of “unsorted” beads for 1 voucher, since you’re having the hassle of having to sort yourself, or pick through for something specific. A little bit more in your favor if you brought in unsorteds as well, but that’s why I came up with the idea of awarding extra vouchers for bringing in stuff in packages—you come out way ahead if you bring packaged stuff and leave with unsorted . . . not sure if it’s entirely fair, but still working on it.)
--Craft/Fashion Trim:
* ¼ pound assorted trim: 1 voucher
* ¼ pound high-qualitiy trim (beaded fringe, rhinestone, etc.) 2 vouchers
*Full spools of trim: 1-? vouchers, depending on quantity and quality.
I'm also thinking about what vouchers should look like. I want it to be something that people can keep between events if they don't use them all. I want to make them easy to mass-produce, but I also want to make sure they're not easy to copy. I thought about stamping them, although making my own stamp would not be easy and I don't want to shell out money for a custom stamp. Using glue-gun faux wax seals might not be too bad, since I can make my own sealing stamp.
First Event
I'm expecting to finish my planning sometime in the winter. Since my ideas about location and setup currently involve being outside (thus, warm weather), that means the first swap event will probably not be able to happen until Spring 2011. I'm thinking April, with a hope for good weather.
Allergens and Cleanliness
A few people have put forth the possibility of bedbugs, fleas, or other unpleasantries being in donations. My suggestion is to ask that fabric donations be washed before donating, and to strongly suggest that anyone who takes a fabric swap wash it when they get home. What do you think? Is this realistic? I know not all fabrics are washable, and that not everyone will do it, but do you think this will address the issue? I certainly plan to wash any fabrics that I'll be storing long-term between swaps that come from people I don't know personally.
I originally envisioned that fabric donations would have to come from a pet-hair-free, smoke-free home, but I have been talked around to a more buyer-beware system--we'll warn that not all donations are allergy-friendly. The wash-before-bringing may also help this issue somewhat.
ETA about Allergens and Toxic Items:
ysabetwordsmith has brought up some great points about dealing with allergens and other potentially dangerous materials in the comments. Also, I'll be doing some research about what craft materials may cause allergic reactions, but if you have any to chime in, please do!ysabetwordsmith mentioned:-Wool
-Some synthetic dyes/paints
Membership
Still thinking about membership benefits, but I do have a membership database mostly developed. Membership cards will be for each person to decorate themselves--I want to use those fake credit cards you get in junk mail, with a barcoded sticker on the back for ID purposes. Only rule in decorating is barcode sticker must be readable and undamaged. Maybe should paint them white first? Or leave them as-is? Not sure.
Possible benefit: storing voucher "credit" between swaps in the database, instead of making members hold on to their actual vouchers (see below for discussion of the voucher system).
Vouchers
On recommendation from Maria, who had some great ideas, I think I'm going to reverse my former position on using bag sizes to control give/take, and switch to an equal-exchange, voucher-based system. The values below are not set in stone, just some rough suggestions from Maria--these can definitely be adjusted based on input from everyone. Quoted from Maria's email:
--Fabric: Large, full pieces are good. But smaller, irregular scraps are also useful, particularly by quilters or doll crafters. I recommend getting a small scale that can weigh in ounces up to several pounds. I do have a mailing scale that goes up to 5 lbs, so that may work out...
*Irregular fabric scraps: 1 voucher per ½ pound. (These can then all be thrown in a “scrap bin,” which people can pick through to assemble their own ½ pound piles.
*Full yardage lengths of fabric: 1 voucher per yard (pieces less than a yard should be combined into weighed scraps.)
*High-quality or unusual fabrics (I’m thinking things like silk/wool, velvet, beaded/sequined/embroidered fabric, top-end upholstery fabrics): 1 or more additional vouchers per piece. This would be at the organizer’s discretion. I’m thinking the amount would depend on both quality and quantity. IE, a yard or two of something nice, but not particularly over-the top would get 1, for a total of 2 vouchers to be used on other items. but if there were say, 6 yards of it, you might give it an additional 2 (Thinking in terms of applying the bonus amount for every 3 yards . . . ) A single yard of very nice, heavily beaded and embroidered silk might also earn 2 or 3 bonus vouchers for quality. Scraps of these types of fabrics would earn 2 vouchers per ½ pound. (You may also want to keep these in separate bins from the “regular” scraps.)
*Yardage will be rounded up or down to the nearest yard. (1 ¼ = 1 yd, 2 ½ =3 yd, etc.)
*Weight will be rounded up or down to the nearest ½ pound.
--Yarn:
*One small ball/skein of plain acrylic yarn: 1 voucher
*One large skein of plain acrylic yarn OR one skein of natural fiber/decorative yarn: 2 vouchers.
*One large skein of natural fiber or decorative yarn: 3 vouchers.
--Tools:
Definitely a good idea. There are so many types of tools though, you’d probably want to sit down with a whole list of the most common to determine individual voucher values.
--Beads: My best recommendation is to do it by weight. Get a small food scale or something, and assign vouchers based on weight. (ie, 2 oz equals one “item,” regardless of size or quantity of the beads that make up those 2 ounces.)
And yes, I realize packaging will throw off the weight a little . . . I say tough shit if anyone complains. It’s not meant to be a perfect system. Sometimes you’ll walk out ahead, sometimes you won’t. It’s the nature of this type of trading. Anyway:
*2 ounces of beads, charms, fastenings, or other findings: 1 voucher
*2 ounces of semi-precious, gem quality, or fine metal (gold, sterling silver, etc) items as described above: 2 vouchers.
*1 spool of non-metal beading thread: 1 voucher
*1 spool of beading wire: 2 vouchers.
*Additional vouchers may be awarded for unique or high-quality items at the organizer’s discretion. Or for bringing in mostly un-opened items, since they’re easier to keep organized. You’ll definitely want to have a good way to keep some things sorted. Maybe also have an “unsorted” bin that costs slightly less per ounce to go through? (EX: You can get 3 or 4 oz of “unsorted” beads for 1 voucher, since you’re having the hassle of having to sort yourself, or pick through for something specific. A little bit more in your favor if you brought in unsorteds as well, but that’s why I came up with the idea of awarding extra vouchers for bringing in stuff in packages—you come out way ahead if you bring packaged stuff and leave with unsorted . . . not sure if it’s entirely fair, but still working on it.)
--Craft/Fashion Trim:
* ¼ pound assorted trim: 1 voucher
* ¼ pound high-qualitiy trim (beaded fringe, rhinestone, etc.) 2 vouchers
*Full spools of trim: 1-? vouchers, depending on quantity and quality.
I'm also thinking about what vouchers should look like. I want it to be something that people can keep between events if they don't use them all. I want to make them easy to mass-produce, but I also want to make sure they're not easy to copy. I thought about stamping them, although making my own stamp would not be easy and I don't want to shell out money for a custom stamp. Using glue-gun faux wax seals might not be too bad, since I can make my own sealing stamp.
Good point!
Date: 2010-07-20 05:31 am (UTC)When people volunteer, ask them what-all they're good at that seems relevant to this project. Include a list of all the crafts they're familiar enough to price supplies into very rough categories. (If I were local, I'd be able to process materials for a lot more crafts than I can actually make. That's not terribly rare.) Then you can try to arrange the work schedule on swap days to cover the main categories.
What are the main categories? Ask people what they would like to donate, and what they would like to pick up. Watch for clusters. You'll probably see something like Textiles (fabric, yarns, etc.), Jewelry (beads, findings, etc.), Scrapbooking (paper, pens, templates), Tools (punches, rulers, pliers, etc.) and so forth. You might want to make a separate category for Big Items (sewing machines, pottery wheels, lampwork torches, etc.) and consider a voucher auction or raffle or something for those to keep people from dueling over them. Anyhow, base your categories on how the stuff you get seems to group itself, and try to track people's fluency with those categories.