Why go through the trouble of making something for someone youdon't know?

Tag : Artistic Tea
"When I opened the box, my first reaction was, 'What am I going todo with these?' Then I thought, 'Oh! Now I have a Halloween costume- I haven't dressed up for Halloween in years!"' says Athanas, whoreceived the costume accessories along with a box of otherocean-themed goodies as part of an online craft swap.
At a time when Web sites such as etsy.com have created a boomingmarketplace for those looking to buy or sell handmade items online,other crafters are fueling another trend: swapping their goods withstrangers.
"I love to craft and I hate keeping stuff. When I make somethingand I keep it, I tend to look at all the things I could've donebetter. So I like to give things away," Athanas says.
"And the other thing for me is, it's really cool when I stop andthink about it that stuff that I made is all over the country. ...Little old me, I sit and crotchet in front of my TV, and my stuffis all over the place."
Athanas, 27, of Salem, N.H., has completed seven swaps since Marchand has three in progress. Her favorite place to sign up isCraftster.org, where swaps range from embroidered tea towels to"pagan, wiccan or witchcraft-related" items. Most call forcompleted items, but some involve swapping fabric or craftingsupplies.
At Swap-bot.com, a site devoted exclusively to swaps, the mostpopular ones tend to involve artist trading cards - small works ofart that let participants share their artistic styles with others.At any given time, the site features 500 active swaps, and it hashosted more than 20,000 since 2005.
Swap-bot uses a computer algorithm to mix up participants andassign partners, sends out reminder e-mails to participants, andincludes a feedback system to deter "flakers" or cheaters who don'tsend their packages.
But why go through the trouble of making something for someone youdon't know?
"I think the No. 1 thing is that the lure of getting a package inthe mail is pretty strong," says Rachel Johnson, 27, of Eugene,Ore., who founded the site with her husband. "But I like to thinkit's also a way of connecting physically with someone you know onlyas a screen name. People are meeting and connecting with peoplefrom different countries and different cultures."
Jenna Zeidler, who posts links to every craft swap she can find onher blog, swapdex.blogspot.com, agrees. She sees craft swaps aspart of the larger resurgence of handmade goods.
"When you swap a handmade item, it's like you're getting arelationship with the person that made it because you madesomething for them and they made something for you," she says.
"As there's been this revival of handmade over the mass-produced, Ithink people want more of a connection with the item and with thecreator of the item."
Zeidler, 27, of Champaign, Ill., estimates she has completed 150swaps in the last seven years. Many of the early swaps wereart-focused (she remembers getting some "weird molten glasssculptures" in one swap), but the trend recently has been towardmaking functional items, such as tea towels or aprons.
Zeidler has posted links to about 400 swaps in the year since shestarted her site.
"There's a couple (of) different sites where there are lots ofswaps hosted on the same site, but there are a lot of swaps wheresomeone on their blog will just say that they're hosting an apronswap or quilt square swap, and unless you read their blog, it'sreally hard to find them," she says.
"In my normal job, I work in a corporate library for a softwarecompany, so I'm very adept at setting up alerts efficiently andresearching," Zeidler said. "So I thought, 'I'm doing all thiswork, I might as well put it out there for everybody."'
The only downside is the potential for flaking, she said, but inmost organized swaps, other participants, dubbed "angels," willfill in and send a package. Aside from two or three swaps where itwas clear her partner put little effort into the project, she hasno complaints about what she has received.
"On the whole, I have always been delighted when I get a package inthe mail," she said.