16 people contributed cards throughout the year, although actually only 4 of them (including me) participated in every single month. Some just did one month as a trial to see if they liked it, and others dabbled in and out as timing allowed. I don't mind that at all, it's nice to have lots of people sending cards in every month, and it would be absolutely brilliant if the swap were to grow and have hundreds of cards in but, with rising postage costs and people seeming to have less time again, I'll take whoever would like to join in and be grateful that they chose to spend their time making cards for my swap idea.
Similarly with international participants, the postage to the UK seems to be astronomical now and although there has been a lot of interest from people in the USA, it is just not worth it to post every month, or even every three months because of the cost. (Unless you do think it is worth it, in which case join on in!)
What I've ended up with though, is 24 really lovely cards which make the most beautiful display. I did exactly this same photoshoot last year at the end of the 2022 swap (which you can see here), so my collection of other's peoples artwork is growing rapidly!! I'm not sure if I photographed all 48 of the cards together that you would actually see any detail in them though.
January: Frosted Dew Drops
February: Snowdrop Carpet
March: Morning Chorus
April: Butterfly House
May: On the Edge of the Cliffs
June: Waterlily Pond
July: Patchwork Fields/A Birds Eye View
August: The Allotment Garden
September: Rockpooling
October: Toadstool Treasures
November: Thunder & Lightning
December: Still Reflections
The themes were again linked as much as possible to the seasons so that there would be inspiration striking at the right time as you walked around. They are usually linked to landscape themes but I try to broaden the theme title so that they could be more abstract depending on how you wish to interpret them. Some are broader than others obviously but we've always had such a wonderful variety sent in, different angles, viewpoints, sometimes focused in on an area, sometimes taking a step back and giving an overview, some making a specific technique fit the theme in some way.
These cards will all be added to my Papermania trading card folder so that I can flick through them with ease and admire all over again. Spares that ended up not being used (I make 4 cards rather than the 2 everyone else makes in case there's an issue with the post or a late joiner) will eventually be framed and added to my Etsy shop.
I'm intrigued to know how others are storing their cards, do let me know!
The full collection, with individual photos of each card sent in for each theme, is on my website so you can go through and have a look. Or you can see all posts about the Stitchscape Swap cards for 2023 under the Category section on the right hand side of my blog, just scroll to the bottom of the right hand column and select ' Stitchscape Swap 2023'.
Three cheers for the Stitchscape Swap 2023!!