Interview with Beth of Wee Pereas

Beth is a fantastic crafter of kid's items! And she swaps them and sells them too! Visit her at her blog, Wee Pereas, and give her a howdy-hey! Check out her shop and flickr too for more great crafts!

SwapDex: Tell us a bit about you.

Beth: I live in the midwest, in southern wisconsin. I have two sons. That is what drives me and they inspire me to make new fun crafts and childrens items. I am a part time student (in culinary arts) and a stay at home mom. I love to sew, embroider and I just signed up for my first doll quilt swap, so I will be learning to quilt!

SD: How long have you been swapping? How did you first learn about swapping, and what made you decide to start? Do you remember your first one?

B: Oh, I remember my first one. I started swapping last fall. I signed up for a childrens book swap around my sons birthday, figuring it would be something fun to get in the mail for his bday. It was an international swap, and I was partnered with somebody from Australia. She sent my package out and it somehow ended up in France! She got it mailed back to her, then sent it to me. I got it about 1 month after my son's birthday, but he still loved it ,and didnt know any different. I learned about swapping from other blogs, particually my aunt's, www.chickenfoot.typepad.com she is always invloved in some sort of swap or another and she turned me onto it!

SD: What is your range of swapping? Do you stick to swaps hosted by people you know or are you likely to swap with anyone, anytime?

B: I have been doing a lot of fabric swaps or childrens swaps. I love to swap with people i dont know, it is fun to look through their blog or profile and try to find out little things about them to send it their swap package. I recently sent out a fq swap where we were just given a partners address! It was very hard to go through my stash and figure out what somebody would like, in the end I just sent soemthing I loved and hoped they would too.

SD: Do you swap with any organized groups like yahoo groups, flickr, groups on swap-bot, other message boards, etc? Why or why not?

B: I mostly do blog swaps. If a blog I read is hosting a swap and I am intersted I usually sign up. About a month or so ago I signed up for a few flickr swap groups, and I love it. It is nice to see what other people recive also, and what they make with what you sent them. I just opened up an account on swap-bot. There is so many fun looking swaps on there I figured I had to start, I am just a 'newbie' still though.

SD: What's your favorite swap you've ever been in or hosted?

B: I really love doing childrens swaps. It is so fun to receive a package for your child, and how much they appreciate and love everything. It is exctiting to get to know the mom and kid better and try to include things for both of them. I hosted my first swap, Be My Valentine Children's Swap, and it was a lot of fun organizing and seeing what people sent out.

SD: What do you do to make your packages special?

B: I always include a handwritten note. If it isn't a small swap (like a fq mini swap) I include something handmade. I like sending felt food or softies.
Do you have a good story about hosting or participating in a swap?
(Swap gone bad? Surprise package that REALLY surprised you?
Odd/weird things?) Hmm. not really. The childrens swap I hosted had 25 people signed up and had no flakers!

SD: What do you think is the most challenging part of hosting a swap? Any advice for someone who is thinking about hosting a swap?

B: I think it is challenging trying to match people up. I always over think it though, and try to match people up based on similar interests or children's age. I try to make a new friendship :) Advice- I would say be redy to dedicate more time then you think it requires. You will undoubtedly have lost address, random questions that you have answered 10 times already, and even a flaker in which you need to take care of sending a package to the poor person who did not receive.


SD: Any exciting plans for the near future? Swaps, projects, new products?

I signed up for DollQuiltSwap6, that should be a lot of fun. It will be exciting.