Here are the rules for both the hostesses and participants in BC swaps and Exchanges. Many of us have discussed this in great detail and we are in agreement that these rules will insure that no one gets left out.

Hostess

1. There must be two. One who is in charge and a co-hostess who will take over if the hostess cannot fulfill the requirements. If you are fairly new to the forum your co-hostess must be a regular contributor that has been part of the forum for at least six months.

2. Each hostess will have the name, phone number, mailing address, and email address for all participants in the swap.

3. The hostess will be responsible for seeing that everyone has the mailing information necessary to send the packages out.

4. The hostess will contact everyone in the swap a week or so prior to the exchange to make sure everyone is still in line and on time with their project.

5. Should someone not receive their package in a timely manner the hostess will be responsible for getting in touch with the swapper that sent that package to find out the status of said package.

6. The site owner (Kim Noblin) must be notified about all new swaps before they officially begin. She can be reached at noblin@alaweb.com.


Participants

1. You must provide your name, phone number, email address, and mailing address to the hostess who will then share that info with the co-host. If you don't feel at ease about sharing your phone number you must have it listed in your private forum profile. (This can be done in your "Personal Zone" area.) The phone number will only be viewable by the site owner (Kim Noblin). In the event that you choose not to disclose your phone number to the swap hostess, you must let the hostess know that your number is in your private profile. The swap hostess will then contact the site owner to verify that the phone number is in place. If a problem arises and contact must be made by phone, the swap hostess will contact the site owner and she will take it from there.

2. You must post regularly between the time you sign up and mail out your package to assure everyone that you are still part of the forum.

3. If life gets in the way of your participation you must inform the hostess immediately. If you don't contact the hostess and don't participate in the swap you will be banned from future swaps.

4. You must post a picture of your package contents as soon as possible after it arrives. If you are unable to do that you must let everyone know when you sign up so the person sending to you can take a pic of the items before they are sent.

5. You must take into consideration the time needed for the package to arrive at its destination. If you draw a name of someone who resides outside of the U.S. you should mail your package at least 2 weeks prior to the given mail out date. This will, of course, also apply to those members who live outside the U.S. (The only exception to this rule is when a quilt is being passed around to one person at a time)

6. You must stick to the requirements of the swap. If it says one fat quarter, one recipe, and one home made item that is all that can be included in your package. If you wish to send something more than that to anyone please do it separately from the swap package, keep it between you and the recipient.

Ok, I think that about covers everything. If anyone has something that needs to be added please let me know and I will amend the rules.

Texas, if you would please staple this to the top of the swap forum so it can be easily accessed we would all be most grateful.

Connie/Nawma

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Kim,

Connie and whoever else did the rules I like them you covered everything but didn't over kill
Lynda

Perfect, Connie!

Milica

I agree with the rules! And I'm glad you mentioned about posting pictures. I'm not sure if DA Bell has her photo programs working yet - at the time I sent her pkg. she wasn't able to post pictures. I understand the problem, but it is still rather disappointing to not have a picture posted. (Dont get me wrong, DA - I understand and am not picking on you! Just wish I hadn't accidentally deleted the picture I took! )

Also, please don't think I was ignoring those of you involved in the PM's today. For some reason I can receive the PMs but when I try to answer them, my messages don't go through. I've changed my email address to my old yahoo account - maybe that one will work better.

Nola

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Nola,

About the pictures.. would it be possible for some of us to assist those who have trouble getting the file size small enough to be below the maximum but still big enough to view? It's a shame when pictures are posted so tiny we can't see all the hard work people put into their wonderful gifts. I'm no expert when it comes to pictures but I'd be happy to help resize something if anyone needs it. I think pictures should be around 320 X 320 pixels in size to show up well. Anyone have any suggestions how to ensure we can see all the pictures?

Amen - on sizing the pictures. My eyes are aging and I can't see the little stuff much anymore! I use Paint and use the resize tool. I use 72 pixels with a 4X5 size and that is usually about 41KB

Jacquie

Jacquie..is that the pixel resolution and not size?

I use Microsoft Picture It Express and simply "save for E-mail...small web size". Usually gives about a 320 X 320 pixel size and 30-40 kb file size.

Help! I have no idea what to do.
Could you please tell me a good source for learning how to post pictures? I have a digital camera, but I have never sent pictures. I am so excited to do this swap.
Thanks...

Vicki, What kind of camera do you have?
Some come with CD's for that purpose.
How do you download your pics to your computer from your camera? Do you put them in folders, or save as My pics?

If you do not have a digital camera, you can always have your partner swapper take the pictures at both ends of the swap and post them. Or if you cannot resize, perhaps we can have the co-host or host responsible for the posting of the pictures. That way they will all be the correct size.

On one of my computers I can size by pixels, cm, or resolution. On the other computer (laptop) I can't do anything, or I haven't figured how. I usually use pixels. and yes, I believe on this website the size has to be below 50K, and mine are usually 35-40.