Craft Swap - Very Dangerous!!!

We are so lucky to have a lot of crafting friends who like to get together and do card swaps, workshops, parties, demonstrations, or whatever fun thing comes up. Our friend Helen is usually the ring-leader, and recently she came up with the idea to host a craft swap. Oh my!

Being as smart as she is, she announced it 3-4 months in advance so we all had plenty of time to set things we no longer needed aside. I thought I was doing pretty good with my two boxes of stuff, but when I got there I was absolutely amazed. 

 

 She had 8-10 banquet tables that were jam packed full of crafting goodness.

The tables were all organized by type of supplies. Wood stamps, clear stamps, cutting tools, general craft supplies, fabric, paper, stickers/rub-ons, tins, etc.

 We all received numbers in the order we arrived.

 Everyone had a chance to browse through the supplies, and then according to your number, we all got to individually pick out one item.

 I picked a Creative Memories double hexie punch (above). I've seen the circle and square ones before, but had no idea they made a hexagon set!

 On the next round we got to individually go through and pick three things.

Then there were a couple rounds where you had one minute to stuff whatever you wanted in your  bag. Sounds easy, but it's definitely harder than it seems. You get a little paralyzed! 

 Finally at the end, we all went through and leisurely picked among the remaining items.

 

The dangerous element to this whole event is that you seem to come home with more than you brought. Because how can you pass on cool number stamps?! Or a binder full of Quick Cuts dies? An assortment of Prima flowers? A mini album kit? Vintage lace and ribbons? Or a set a mini pie tins from your friend's grandma?

Right?!

Your nicely purged work-space doesn't stay organized for long! 

The other surprising thing is how much you missed. People would come out of the garage with the coolest treasures that didn't even register with me when I was looking.

 

Amazingly, there was not one item that remained. We invited a lady who worked with disabled folks, and she was going to find a use for whatever was left. 

What a fun time we all had!

Thanks, Helen, for a wonderful afternoon! And Rene too, I know a LOT of the goodies came out of your craft wing : )

ETA: Here's a photo of all the goodies that came home with me ...

 
From left to right, in a kinda clockwise order:

spools of ribbon, 2 stamp sets (travel, calendar), black cat lace, Christmas beading ornament kit, large acrylic blocks, double hexagon punch, Prima flowers, album of Quick Cuts dies, yellow moire ribbon, belt buckles, red Teresa Collins mini albums, huge box of alpha stamps, bag of ribbon, make your own album kit, 7 gypsies vintage tags, several stamp sets & individual stamps, typewriter rub-ons, yellow centers for flowers, mini pinecone bunch, white daisies just waiting to be colored, vintage jello mold tins, circle punch, gold hoops, metal-rimed tags, bendable thin rubber ribbon, large bag of buttons, leather straps, cool set of large alphas on blocks, round felt/fabric pieces, several sets of clear stamps (calendar, alpha, numeric, designs, etc.) square chipboard, 4 different laces. Oh, and about 30 old Paper Crafts magazines and special issues still in my trunk.   

 Thanks for looking!
- Kelly