Kindred Spirits discussion

Hello! You're invited to join a bookish Valentine's Day card swap. :)



1. Choose a pretty Valentine's Day card or postcard. (Cards may be purchased or handmade.)

2. Write a sweet message to your partner and include either:

a. a favorite romantic quote
b. a description of a favorite romance book or romantic scene in a book and why you love it. This can be YA, MG, adult, etc.

3. Mail your card by Wednesday, February 10th so it arrives in time for the holiday.

Everyone will receive a little bit of romance in her inbox, and perhaps a new book to explore!

If you'd like to join, please fill out this form by the end of the weekend, Sunday night, February 7th. You'll receive your partner assignment on Monday.

This card swap is US only.

Sorry for the short turnaround time on this one, I'm now on week three of a horrible cold! But I really wanted to get a quick swap posted for those who wanted to join. In the future we'll open this up for our international friends who want to participate, too.

Hope you'll be able to join!

I'm definitely joining! And so sorry you are still ill, Wendy! I've noticed that colds have been hanging on entirely too long this season....

Ok, I tried filling out the form, but for some reason the space to fill in didn't appear. It just had an "Option 1" next to it. Maybe someone else can try and I'll see if the issue is on my end....

Katie wrote: "Ok, I tried filling out the form, but for some reason the space to fill in didn't appear. It just had an "Option 1" next to it. Maybe someone else can try and I'll see if the issue is on my end...."

They all say Option 1 for me too Katie.

I was hoping you were feeling better by now Wendy, hope it clears up soon .

Oh no, let me see what the problem is! I clicked on the link before I posted, so I don't know what's going on.

Thank you ladies--it got better and now it's relapsed even after antibiotics, ugh. I'm going to try and see a doctor again on Monday. Boo to all these winter colds! So many people are sick. (I promise my card will NOT be germy.)

Okay, I've fixed it! Sorry about that. I hadn't done a Google form in awhile and they changed the defaults.

Let me know if this works for you or if you have any other issues!

It worked! Thanks, Wendy!

Yep, works fine thanks!

Okay, partner assignments have been emailed, so let me know if you have not received yours for any reason!

Once you've received your card from your partner, it would be lovely if you could post to this thread to let her know that it has arrived safely.

I received my assignment and I'm very excited!

Received my assignment earlier today, really looking forward to exchanging Valentines and getting to know everyone in this group better!

Thanks, Wendy I got the email and looking forward to exchanging Valentines.

:D

I sent my card off this morning! I'm excited about this whole thing.

Im so sad that i missed this. Any possibility of doing a monthly or quarterly book pal type card and book trading?

Wendy, I got a lovely red envelope in the mail today....and man your penmanship is gorgeous on the envelope ❤️ Can't wait to see the inside.

I received the cutest package from Brenda! Even the envelope was festive! Inside was the sweetest postcard with a wonderful note, including a quote from Winnie the Pooh and a mention of two of my favorite romantic movies as well; Princess Bride and You've Got Mail. Also included was a tied pouch with a few Valentine goodies. Thank you, thank you for such a heartfelt Valentine, Brenda! Xx

Attached is a photo of the postcard and three little hearts included with her note.

I couldn't wait after all, such a beautiful Valentine and sonnet Wendy. Thank you ever so much. I'm an avid postcard collector, so this was perfect!

I can't seem to get the photo to show up in the post, but it's on my profile pictures.

Catie wrote: "I received the cutest package from Brenda! Even the envelope was festive! Inside was the sweetest postcard with a wonderful note, including a quote from Winnie the Pooh and a mention of two of my f..."
So Glad you liked it Catie!

Hi Anna--

Yes, I'm hoping we'll be able to do more swaps like this regularly! I think starting out with postcards is good as we get to know each other better, and eventually it'd be fun to do packages with active members as well.

Brenda, I'm glad the card arrived safely! My handwriting is HORRENDOUS so I'm not sure how I managed to fool you on the envelope, hah, but I enjoyed sharing that poem with you anyway.

I loved the little note you sent to Catie as well, the hearts are so cute! Catie, thanks for posting the photo. :)

AND I got my own handmade cards page from Katie, too! Thank you so much for taking the time to pick out things you know I like (Jane Auuuuusten <3), making the whole thing with love, and sending the magnet and such as well. It was a great deal of fun to open up.

Hope you're all having a nice Valentine's Day weekend! Hopefully other cards will be rolling in early next week as well.

Yay! So glad you received it alright, Wendy! Happy Valentine's Day!

Thank you, Layla, for my beautiful card! I love the Jane Eyre quote as that is one of my favorite books--such a treat to receive in the mail!! xo

Cate! I just got your card today! Thank you so so much, and I'm also so glad you chose "Persuasion" - oddly enough, I was just having dinner with a friend who's teaching it this semester and was talking about how much I loved it with her. So your choice was totally perfect. <3! Thank you for your card - I loved hearing about your affection for Valentine's Day. :)

Layla, I'm so glad you received your card! I'm sorry it took so long to get to you, I was hoping by mailing it on the 10th it would have arrived before Valentine's...

I'm so glad to hear you're a fellow lover of PERSUASION. It truly is my favorite Austen, and I felt it was so befitting for a Valentine quote.

Hey, what are your thoughts on another swap? Should we do another themed postcard, or a bookmark, or a small book present? Other ideas?

I also would love to do a "winner takes all" type postcard thing sometime--basically, those interested would commit to sending one postcard, and then one person picked at random would receive a mailbox flooded with postcards by the other members. Then the next month, another person would be the recipient. It sounds kind of out there, but I can vouch for this being very fun--I once got 30 postcards from all over the world, which was a great deal of fun. :)

Anyway, just some ideas...throw more out there if you have them!

I think the swaps sound like fun. something springy feels nice. maybe favorite spring flower poscards..anything. just sounds nice to connect.

I'm up for any kind of swap, whether it's a postcard or bookmark or small book present. We could even do a spring/Easter time swap with a book and a card and candy or tea? Just throwing out some ideas...also I love the idea of "winner takes all" postcard swap too!

I'd be up for a swap as well, a Spring/Easter swap sounds like fun.

Anna--I can put together a spring postcard swap for April! I have a zillion postcards that would be perfect for this. :) And doing it early, we can also open it to international friends who want to participate. Sound good?

I like the spring swap with little goodies like you suggested, Katie!

Maybe we do a small package swap that posts by March 18 (so it arrives approximately around Easter)--say, around $15 minimum (is that too much? Too little?) with:

1. at least one bookish item (does not have to be a book necessarily? Unless you want to start with that first?)
2. a nice card with a note
3. Easter candy
4. anything other little goodies that you see fit.

I think as we get into swapping packages, I'd want two things to happen:

1. Those participating in package swaps MUST be someone I've known for awhile, or are active participants in the group. I swapped regularly for years, and I unfortunately, people do flake out on these things often and leave someone without a package. (Postcard/letter type swaps are open to all at this point.)

2. We should probably set up a subfolder so that everyone who participates in swapping may set up a profile so that your swapping partners can get to know your likes/dislikes, what you're open to receiving. (Like if you hate coconut in candy, are allergic to nuts, would prefer no sweets at all, etc.) That way if everyone creates his/her own thread, you can just update it as you think of more things or as new information comes along. Does that make sense? And everyone should probably maintain a "wishlist" shelf on GoodReads for this group.

Let me know what you guys think, and I can put up the sign up form this weekend, and I will put up rules for swapping as well.

One last thing--while everyone in the group is welcome to create his/her own readalongs or polls or discussion threads or whatever, swapping is the one thing I need to oversee at the moment, since there's a lot of moving pieces and potential for things to go wrong. I think eventually, experienced/active members can probably go on to host letter-type/simple swaps if they wish, though.

I think those are great ideas wendy! $15 sounds like a good amount for me. not too much, but enough to send a nice gift, and also handmake some items. as long as everyone else is comfortable with that amount.
for fairness, i do also believe it is best if you oversee swaps right now.