Dear Ladies, Gents, and Fellow Junkies,

Thank you very much for all the warm welcomes.  When I read about anysoldier two weeks ago I just knew it was a group of exceptional people!  I would love to be in the card swap!  I read a bunch last night (before the football game-- huge football fan!) and I only have a few questions..... (and please be honest!) 1) do you frown upon store bought cards? (sorry! I don't 'scrapbook')  2) can you type the letter for the insert?  as I read it you are sending 20 cards w/ the same insert but the hostess separates them into the 20 supporters and each packet gets twenty different cards to send in one big envelope to a contact (I call them my contact heroes.)  3) leaving a few blank cards for the soldier to use is OK? 4) I read to keep the insert small (i.e. drink mix packet) but isn't the letter the "main attraction" and the insert?  Either way, count me in and I'll get first-hand knowledge after you send my set of letters!  I'll switch to "special projects" to figure out the address exchange.  I have very good intentions but am completely computer illiterate.  Also, thanks for the advice regarding over-doing it.  I stumbled over that wall after about one week non-stop-- I had to take a break, so I did one WHOLE day with only the barest minimum of shopping.  And I've started eating again! ha ha    XOXO  Catherine

Hi Catherine,

Go to the "special projects" section of the forum and look at some of the past card swap threads to give you an idea of what people do. There is no one "right" answer to most of your questions. In case any other newcomers are thinking about joining the current swap, I'll try some answers here:

1. Store bought cards are fine. I am not a scrapbooker either, although I have made some fairly simple cards using stickers and other supplies I got at JoAnn's.

2. Yes, if you do an insert it can be typed. Some people handwrite each one, but many people type them.  You do not have to do an insert. The insert allows you to leave the card blank so that it can be re-sent to someone else by the recipient. But some people write right on the cards.

If there are 20 people in a swap, then everyone sends in 20 cards, and gets back a packet of 20.

3. Again, no right answer, but I think it is easier, in the swap, if you do the same thing 20 times. So, if you are sending a blank card with an insert, do that 20 times; if you're sending a card you sign right on the card, do that 20 times. When you re-send the cards to your own "contact hero" you can always include a few extra blanks for them to share.

4. Not sure what you mean here. Some people include inserts in addition to the "letter insert," such as small puzzles or postcards. When you re-send the cards to your contact heroes you can choose to include other things, such as food items or little gifts. But if everyone does that with 20 cards, the swap will get expensive, and will be hard to sort out and mail back. (For example, some people like including a piece of candy in a Valentine, but if everyone did that it would be very hard to mail 20 Valentines in a single priority mail envelope.)

I think the really important thing to remember about a swap is that it's a way for us to spread the support around - that our contacts will get an envelope or small box with good wishes from people all over the country. Whether it's handmade etc. is secondary.

Hope that helps!

Barbara

BarbaraB,

Thank you!  This was extremely helpful.  Unfortunately, I already have twelve cards done and they are all different.  I really had fun doing it but it makes perfect sense to do them all the same!  Much easier on the hostess!  Thanks for your input and for your soldier support!  Catherine

You know you are a junkie when your puzzled husband asks, after you have heard him searching around the house for an hour, if you have seen his favorite winter hat and you don't dare admit that you'd sent it to Afghanistan two weeks before in response to a soldier's plea for winter clothes for locals. Oops! I had just swept up everything I could that I thought wasn't being used or that we had doubles of and mailed it off. I had no idea the heavy knit cap was a favorite as I had never seen him wear it. Oh well...

 Now that is funny!!!!  Poor husband.

I think it's hysterical! It reminded me of when the remote batteries quit and hubby asked where the batteries he just bought were......

Sarah, I did something similar. I sent a small heater to some cold troops in Afghanistan that belonged to my daughter. Didn't think she needed it when she moved back home. Found out she still wanted it when she was searching the basement and the garage for "her" heater.

Junkies,

Happy Valentines Day!

Please check out "Operation Warlords Homecoming" on the Where To Send Page.  Another fantastic opportunity brought to you via anysoldier!  I have a contact with the 2/2 and then there is also you know who..... my check is in the mail.  :)

You must be a junkie if... you drove to the post office yesterday to drop off two boxes you packed over the weekend!  The PO was closed for the holiday, but I still checked my mail box when I got home from work looking for free-mail!  I forgot again!

 ....if you have dozens of friends in the military, enlisted and officers, on active duty or retired, from 18 to 70 yrs old, and YOU tell them what the troops use to request when deployed. (and most of times they say: "really???")

...your husband comes home from work and asks where the sports page of the newspaper is...

and you confess you just boxed it up and sent it in today's mail!