spam i am?

for the last few weeks, i've been "taking care of business." swap business that is! for those of you participating in the swappity swap, ALL of the emails have be sent (& hopefully, they have ALL been delivered, & received). i've felt a bit like santa claus... making my list, checking it twice, hoping everyone will play nice. we have a gadzillion people participating this year in the swap. okay, okay - not a gadzillion, but over 500. i've lost count, there are so many emails going back and forth. if you haven't gotten your email yet, please, please, please contact me! (accordingtokelly@gmail.com) i've been having all kinds of crazy email issues, it wouldn't surprise me one bit, if the gmail monster ate a few emails along the way! with over 500 swappers, i've been sending out a ton of emails (as you can imagine). part-way through my email campaign, gmail decided i was a spammer. (what? little 'ole me? never!) in an effort to protect the world from my spamming ways, gmail started limiting the number of emails i could send out in a 24 hour period. which, really delayed many of our swappers receiving their partners information. for that i am so sorry! if i could, i'd send each of you a personal apology - i hate being late, for anything. but there are just way too many of you, so this "blog" apology will have to do! because i was late in getting out all the "particulars", i don't want you to feel rushed. so, i'm going to be extending the swap deadline... please have your swap packages sent by friday, august 14th. hopefully, this will give you enough time to gather your goodies & become the best of besties with your swap partner. oh, & if you are wondering what to send, or looking for a little inspiration, check out last year's flickr pool here. & once you receive your package, be sure to post photos here, for everyone to enjoy!

now that the swap business is slowly wrapping up, at least my end of it (now, it's all up to you folks!), i'm going to be taking a few day off - a blog vacay of sorts. lately, there has been all kinds of drama in my life (technological, personal & everything in between), & i just need a bit of a breather. but don't worry, i'll be back soon. hopefully, completely refreshed, totally inspired, & ready to tackle to world. so check back soon, & check back often. soon, i'll be back "on my feet," rearing to go!

be back soon...

are you ready to get your swap on?

okay ladies... i'm hard at work on the swap. actually, to tell you the truth, all the hard work is done. what i NEED to do is email everyone their partners. so don't worry if you haven't received your partners' info, you're not the only one. & i promise (crosss my heart & hope to die, stick a needle in my), i'm not ignoring you. so, if you've sent me an email, please don't hate me if i haven't responded. it's not that i don't love you, because i do! i really, really do! the problem has to do with my email account. under normal circumstances i LOVE my
email system. but, because there are sooo many swap participants (i think we are in the 400s this year! holy cow!), i'm sending alot of emails. gmail seems to think i'm a spammer. so, i can only send out a few emails at a time, otherwise everything i send starts bouncing back, & then they lock my account. & when i say lock my account, i mean i can log in, i can receive email (i think), but i can't send any email for 24 - 72 hours. i've already had that happens once, thus far, so i'm trying to avoid getting locked out again. so, with that being said. i promise, your partners' info is on it's way. in fact an email with YOUR name is sitting, at this very moment, in my drafts, just waiting to be sent. i'll probably extend the deadline by a week or so, to make up for this lost time, but that's a discussion for another day. today i'm just concentrating on getting out all the emails & fantasizing about my hubby's birthday cake that i can't eat (all the sugar, flour & dairy... this diet really kind of sucks). so please, i ask of you, i beg of you, just be patient a little while longer. sooner than later you'll be getting your swappity swap on!

original image via HERE.

pardon the interruption...

so i'm busy as a bee, putting together all the swap partners (we have about 300 participants! holy cow!) anyway, as i was saying, i've been playing match maker, when a thought occurred to me. in the past, i've always "paired" up partners, so you swap back & forth, with one another. i've always enjoyed this, because you get to know one person really well. but, i was thinking it could be kinda fun to do a more "random" type of swap... person a gives to person b, person b gives to person c. does that make sense? this way you get to know two people... the person you give to & the person who gives to you. so what do YOU think? any preference? i'm not sold on either idea & seeing that this is YOUR swap, i thought i'd put the ball in your court. (love that tennis humor? speaking of which did anyone catch the men's wimbledon final? it was AMAZING!) anyway, make your preference known.... vote on your preferred swapping method.

drumroll please...

shout it from the roof tops, tell your friends, invite your neighbors, send an email, post it on your blog. anything & everything that will get the word out. i want EVERYONE in the world knows about the third annual favorite things swap. i hope you are as excited as i am! here are all the particulars...

it's really quite simple: as a participant, you will be asked to choose at least three objects (i don't think anyone would mind if you decide to send more) that are some of YOUR favorite things to send to your partner... maybe it's an apron you made, your new favorite book, or that favorite flavor of lip gloss. be creative & most importantly have fun with it! objects can be new or vintage, bought or handmade... just remember, it is best to send something the you'd be pleased & excited to receive yourself.

ready to join the fun? please e-mail your particulars to accordingtokelly@gmail.com. sign-ups will be open until friday, july 3rd... so get your friends involved! upon receiving your "rsvp" i will send out a confirmation email, if you don't hear from me, email me again, sometime emails can get lost & i don't want anyone left out in the cold! so here's what i need from you:

• your name.
• mailing address.
• email address.
• website / blog
(must be involved with at least one of these).
• a little something about yourself.
• please indicate if you are willing to ship internationally.
swap partners will be emailed to you shortly after the sign-up deadline. the delivery date for this swap is Friday, July 31st... please have it postmarked by then.

once you receive your package, be sure to post photos here, for everyone to enjoy! if you have any questions/ comments, just drop me a line at: accordingtokelly@gmail.com

i'm so excited! i can't wait. i hope you are too!