*throws confetti*

March 2012 marked the 10 year anniversary of sparklej.com! Can you believe it? I’ve been blah, blah, blahging for 10 years (albeit intermittently). What began as a place to whine to myself (and a few close friends who felt like wading through the whinging) about my first world problems of being a college student involved in entirely too many activities for her own good, evolved into a place where I could share crafty projects as they developed (and where I only whined a little while in grad school). During my time in roller derby (which ate up every possible aspect of my entire life, my time, and my soul – in both good ways and bad), I hardly blah blah blahgged at all.

And now here we are, gentles, in 2012, where the grass is green and there’s hardly any whining at all! We made it! Does this mean I’m an adult now? I have a 10 year old after all.

Not to be outdone by the blogaversary, April 2012 is the one year anniversary of when I said “So long, libraries and archives, and thanks for all the paper cuts!” One year of being an independent contractor in the hand made garment industry. One year of sewing as a job. One year of learning a zillion and one things about growing a business. The biggest thing I’ve learned? I have a zillion times infinity things to learn yet. It’s been an amazing journey thus far, and I’m looking forward to learning and making ALL THE THINGS!

Which brings me to the celebration portion of this birthday greeting. Seeing as how I’m a bit of a Hobbit (elevensies, anyone?) and it’s my blog’s birthday, you’re all going to get presents! YAY! From each other! Double YAY! Here’s how it’s going to go:

  1. Leave a comment on this post to join the anniversary craft swap, indicating your preferred method of communication between you and your swap partner (email, twitter, facebook, etc of your choice).
  2. I’ll pair you up with another participant and will notify the both of you.
  3. Communicate with your swap partner to figure out what sorts of things they enjoy craft-wise (I’ll post a brief survey to help guide you), or if you two would enjoy crafting within a theme, etc, and make something for them! Try to keep it to a $10 or so supplies limit.
  4. You should mail your items no later than the 9th of May.
  5. Receive a hand made something from a new friend! HOORAY!

That’s it! Happy crafting, everyone!