14 Jun 11:31
Did anyone ever have (or still has) Penfriends? I had loads growing up and we used to send round Friendship Books. They are little books you make yourself, any size and from any material, and you put your details on the first page. You send it onto a penfriend and they do the same and pass it on, and so on....... When you get to the last page the last person to fill it in sends it back to the first person who started it.

What I was thinking was we could do something similar on CO&K. People would sign up like with other swaps. When we get about 6, we could start. I would then need to make up a running order and post it so that everyone has someone to send their book onto and so that every book gets round to everyone. People would need to then find out the address of the person who is next in the chain. The last person just sends to the person at the start to complete the cycle.

Right, I hope that makes sense so far?.... What to put in the books - The front page would need the originators address (or it wouldn't get sent back to them). Everyone after that can choose what they put on the page - it could be a quote, something about them, their likes, their Etsy shop details, ATC, their blog, email address, etc.... The only requirement is to put your CO&K ID on your page.

The books used to get made out of things like pages of magazines, or coloured paper/wrapping paper and were usually about the size of a business card or a little bigger.

What do people think of this idea? My hope is that it will need minimum work but will mean we'll all find out a bit more about each other and be able to let more people see are Etsy shops/blogs, etc. They're also cheap to produce and send on so they can be sent around the world on a small budget.

Also the hope is that once we've got an initial 6 to start, others can join and just forward onto one person in the chain.

14 Jun 15:18
I've never made one before but i'd love to give it a go with a help guide :)

14 Jun 16:01
Same :)

14 Jun 17:37
Cool :) I'll wait till we have a few more and get going.

15 Jun 18:25
Anyone else - these aren't like regular swaps as all your making is a small book, 6 pages and about twice the size of a business card or bigger if you like. You only fill in the front cover and that has your name, address (so it can be sent back) CO&K ID and anything else you want to go on. You can decorate your cover to your hearts content :) Then you send it on to the next person on the list. When you get one in the post you go to the next blank page and put your CO&K ID and anything else you want and decorate away.
You'll always be sending on to the same person as we'll form a circle (the person at the end sends to the first person).
When you get a book that only has 1 blank page you fill it in and then send it back to the person who started it. Their address and everything should be on the front.
I used to love getting these when I was growing up. Especially if they'd gone round loads of people and crossed loads of countries.
The idea is that you get to know a bit more about each other and get to promote your sites, etc. Putting your CO&K IDs means that you can message people when you get your books back to say hi :)

17 Jun 19:17
Anyone else up for this? I'm itching to start but we need more people :) I'm such a child :D

17 Jun 22:00
i would love to be a part of this! sounds like fun. i miss having penpals. <3

18 Jun 05:36
right me too fun idea i am sooo crap at swaps but this one is cheap,easy and quick but i will have to start mine tonight or i will never finish :)

18 Jun 06:36
Welcome aboard :) Just one more and we can get started.

19 Jun 06:49
thats such a cute idea! :)

So i would love to join!
(btw Martha and me are sisters!)

19 Jun 14:07
Excellent :) Welcome aboard Ezme! We now have enough to get started \o/.
Right we can now start making our books. Everybody get yourselves 6 smallish bits of paper and attach them together to make a small book. On the front page put your name, address and CO&K ID. Now decorate the rest of this page anyway you like. You can put more stuff about yourself too if you want.

Now check out the order below. Find your name and look for the person next on the list. You will now need to make contact with that person to find out their address. You now post on the little book you have made to this person. Gradually you will start getting books posted to you (by the person before you in the list). As you get them, take the next page and write your CO&K ID and anything else you want to share about yourself.

When you get a book that only has one page left fill it in and then, rather than sending it on to the next person like you would usually do, send it to the person on the front page who started the book off.

Sorry, if I'm over explaining this but I thought I'd better be on the safe side.

Right, our order:

1. ArtyKitKat
2. Dani
3. Martha
4. Erica L
5. angellina
6. Ezme

Ezme, you will need to get my address as you will be sending onto me as there's noone after you.
If anyone wants to join later then can be added to the head of the list and send a book onto me. Just send me a message to say you want to join.
Okay, we can get started :) Let me know if you've got any questions.

22 Jun 05:47
cool im nearly done horray just got to find away of attaching the pages :)

22 Jun 06:15
cool done ! :) have put little bulldog clips around it which i will hang it by when it gets back to me! :) how exciting
can we put what country is coming from as well as CO&K id ? would be nice to see how far they travel :)

22 Jun 06:59
That's great Angellina \o/ Hows everyone else doing? I've made my little book so I'll just need to get your address Dani and I'll send it on. :)

22 Jun 10:46
I've sent my address to you in a pm :)

22 Jun 16:53
Cool :) Thanks

23 Jun 11:46
Posted mine out today

23 Jun 22:05
me too :)

24 Jun 09:46
Received from ArtyKitKat will post on to Martha tomorrow

25 Jun 06:07
oops sent mine today but might take a while from Australia ;)

25 Jun 06:44
Cool :)

26 Jun 19:40
Hows everyone else doing? You should hopefully have your initial one sent out by the beginning of next week. Then one every 3 or 4 weeks after that, until you get yours back :)

26 Jun 20:44
awww I didn't see this until too late. :( well, I want in on the next one!!! This looks like a really fun idea! I've always loved correspondence crafts! I used to make short stories and bind them into a tiny book and send them to my friends/fiance/family. Getting beautiful written things in the mail is sooo nice.

26 Jun 20:52
Dani I can add you if you want to join. Just make up a little book and let me know when you're ready to post out and I'll message you with my address.

26 Jun 21:04
mmkay. :) sankyou!