Surprise!!!!

After reading about how so many people wish they had participated in the charm swap last year and after viewing so many photos of last year's scrapbook retreat showcasing people prominently displaying their bracelets, I just couldn't let you guys go home without one. So I made yours for you. Surprise!

These are not part of your roomie gifts. I have other surprises planned for that. (A few I haven't even told you about yet, Rach, I swear. And I promise I won't tell you about them. I know you hate that. I promise to keep my trap shut until camp. ;-)) These are a "just because" gift from me to you.

The charms I made are for the Victorian charm swap. Your "package" comes with several things. I made each of you 20 charms - 10 filler charms and 10 "artsy" charms. I also made you a bracelet and put your charm set on it. In addition, I've included 22 6mm jump rings with each of your sets so that you don't have to do anything, buy anything or make anything. Just bring your little tools to camp and you're set to go.

A note about the bracelets: I made them long so that I knew they would fit. After the jewelry class, you will know how to open and close a jump ring/link the right way, so as not to destroy it and you can shorten it to the length you like. You may want to wait until after the class if you aren't sure how to do it, but basically, you twist open the link/ jump ring rather than prying it apart. That way it maintains its shape.

You can read up on the charm swap here, if interested. However, don't feel obligated to. Every last detail has been taken care of. I have packaged each charm on a card with your name and email address on the back - just as specified in the guidelines. I put each card in its own baggie - just as specified in the guidelines. I have also put all 9 sets (there are 10 altogether but you keep 1 and swap the other 9) that you will swap in a gallon size zip bag with your name prominently displayed on the front - just as specified in the guidelines. You don't have to lift a finger, other than handing them over to Erin.



So here are your charms:

Rachel

The gallon size zip bag with your name on the front and the 9 sets of charms you will be handing over.

The nine sets of charms.

The charm set - art charm and filler charm.

It's a tear drop-shaped locket. It opens.

Here is how it looks hanging. Sorry about the blurry photo - it was impossible to keep one hand steady with the camera while the other one held the charm.

The bracelet. I put a couple of extra charms I had left over from my design experiments on each of your bracelets. I distributed them amongst your bracelets. The metal is antique silver.

I hope you like it! :-)

Theresa

Art charm.

Filler charm.

It's a locket, too.

Claudia




This is not a locket...for once. lol. It has the same design on the front and back. I have some fairly lightweight charms. This isn't one of them. It has a nice heft to it. The bead attached to the bottom is actually a light pink and looks light pink in real life, but it photographed as being white. The filler charm is made from glass and rose quartz.




Some information:

You do not need to sign-up. I contacted Erin and she is adding your names to the charm swap list. I freaked out for a minute when I saw she had closed the sign-up. Thank goodness she is a sweetie and gave me some wiggle room so I could get you guys added. Thank you, Erin!!!

There is an after-swap charm exchange. I did not make extras for you guys, so if you would like to participate in that you'll need to go get some supplies and put together some charm sets. I think doing this will be much easier than creating the ones above because they do not need to be identical and you do not have to find 10 of each kind. We saw a lot of great sets of 5 different charms at Michael's and Joann.

Finally, there is Spencer. I could not have done this without him. There are three reasons why I am so grateful to him. 1) He earned the money. I spent it. He never said one word about the many trips I made to Michael's, Joann, Craft Warehouse or Hobby Lobby to get this done. Enough said. 2) He went with me on all those many, many trips. I think he has put in roughly 10 to 12 hours in craft stores over the last 2 weeks. I am not joking. Again, he never complained once. 3) Every time I asked, and I asked about a million times, "How does this look? What do you think?" he gave me a thoughtful, patient response and an honest opinion. So please, if you like your set at all, please know that it is due in large part to him. I would really appreciate it if you would take a minute to thank him for helping me. You can post a message on facebook or you can email him at bbachtung@yahoo.com I really cannot express enough how much he helped with this project and how lucky I feel to married to such a great man.