Charming, as always

Do your remember this post about My Charms? I joined my first altered charm swap and made three general sets of charms and two Halloween ones.... well I got the swap back and am amazed at the talent and the variety I received!

Three sets of general charms:

Two sets of Halloween charms:

Aren't they wonderful? Some of them were even packaged so well I almost hated to remove them from their packages. Here are a few I took pictures of:

Those beautiful tags and charms above are from the swap host. You can check out her blog Ink Stains  to see all the charms from all the artists and even sign up for the Christmas one if you are so inclined!

A few things I learned from my first charm swap:

• Packaging is the first thing you notice, make sure it is worthy of your creations.
• Charms shouldn't be too big, or too small. You don't want others to feel like your charm is the centerpiece just because of it's size, but you also don't want one so small that it gets lost in a group.
• Longer is better than wider. A little length gives interest in a group, width just crowds out the charms of others.
• The back is important. Charms spin and move, the front isn't always what's going to be showing. Make your backs pretty as well.
• Make sure your attacher (yea, not a word, but it should be) works with the swap you are joining. Some charm holders have small holes and while a jump ring or lobster clasp may work great, beads and unusual clasps will make your charm hang funny, if it is able to be attached at all.

All in all, it was a hugely successful swap. I had fun, learned a lot, received some amazing little works of art and am ready for the next one!!