Monday, February 14, 2011

Flier for the Spring Homemade Food Swap

The lovely Jessica Ortiz of http://EnchantingStamps.etsy.com  has created this beautiful flier for our upcoming event. The images are taken from hand carved stamps she makes and sells in her etsy shop. Check it out!

Feel free to use this image when sharing the event with your friends but please be sure to credit Jessica with the flier design. 

Tuesday, February 8, 2011

Swapper Info

So you are thinking about swapping with us at our next event? Great!

Here is a little info to give you an idea of what to expect at one of our swaps.

What you can swap and how it should be packaged:
-All swap items have to be homemade or homegrown by you.
(think: jams, pickles, granola, bread, sweets, home canned soups, dips, cheeses, kombucha, beer/wine, eggs from your backyard chickens, produce from your garden/fruit trees)
-All items should be bunched and loosely packaged in to swappable size containers. 
Jams, pickled items, and canned goods are already in neat little packages but items like breads, sweets, kombucha, etc. should be packaged together at least loosely. You want your items to be distinguishable in the amounts you want to swap them in and protected from all the hands that will want to pick them up and examine them during the swap.

How many items you should bring:
-Each swapper will get a space at least 1 1/2 feet square (possibly more depending on how many swappers sign up) You can bring enough items to fill that space up if you would like.
-You can bring a bunch of one thing or multiples of a few different things
If there is one special thing you make a ton of, you can have that be the only item you bring and fill your space with a bunch of them. Or, if you make multiple items, you can bring a little of everything and increase your chances for swaps. Maybe 8 jars of jam, 4 loafs of bread, and 6 jars of pickles? The possibilities are endless!

How the swapping will happen:
We hold our swaps in a silent auction style. Each swapper will have a sheet filled out with a list of all the items they have to swap and a few lines under each item.
*The first hour of the swap everyone will walk around and examine each item from the other swappers.
*The second half hour to an hour will be the time for everyone to write down on the sheets of paper the items they would like to swap. If Jenny has some jam you really want, you will write on her sheet of paper under the jam you want what you are willing to swap her for it. Multiple people can put in swap offers for the same item.
*The final half hour-hour is when all the swapping actually happens. Everyone will go back to their original sheets of paper and look at their swap offers. They will then decide which swap they would like to accept for each item and find that person via their name tag and make the swap.


Sign Up!
-You must be pre-registered to participate in the swap
Pre-registration starts about 3 weeks before each event. Notification for pre-registration will be done through the email list, on the blog and on our facebook page.
-Participating in the swaps is FREE. Donations will be accepted to the group organizer for time, marketing, & supplies expenses but are in no way necessary to participate. 



If you haven't already watched this video, please do. It is a great example of how these swaps work:

Thursday, February 3, 2011

Spring 2011- East Bay Food Swap April 9th!


The date has been decided! 
Saturday April 9th will be our first ever East Bay Food Swap!

Mark your calendars & sign up for the email list for updates, because this will be an event you will need to pre register for.

The location will only have enough space for up to 40 swappers. Sign up's for spots will begin on March 19th, 3 weeks before the event.
On the day of the event, April 9th, the event will go from 2-5pm. 

Keep in mind:
*When signing up for the swap you will need to tell me what items you will be bringing to swap. This is important to make sure we have a good variety of things for people to trade.
*You may only attend the swap if you will be participating in the swapping.
*This event is FREE. Donations will be accepted to the group organizer for time, marketing, & supplies expenses but are in no way necessary to participate. 

I would LOVE LOVE LOVE any volunteers interested in creating a flier for this event. Please leave a note below if interested. Any links to previous work would be great!