White Elephant Swap and a free christmas pressie - Can you resist? BUMP 22/10/13

[pandabear_chan]

Honestly I'm currently pushed by work so hard that I rather have time to organise such a swap. If anybody likes to take the idea over and likes to do to mod job, just do. Or if you're all willing to make this swap by January, just let me know.


Hi pony peeps,

I know, there has been a lot of discussions recently among the quality of customs (see the referring thread) and the basic result is, that everybody puts his heart and soul in every custom - no matter which kind of commission (swap, trade, paid commission) it is for.

So why shouldn’t we use this spirit and do a second “white elephant” swap, Requiemart hosted some years before but with a topic this year?

The topic that pops in my mind is: “Make a custom of your choice that you ever wanted to do and that you’d proudly put in your glass cabinet”

I know the topic might lead to the opinion: “every custom I make deserves a place in my glass cabinet” but I meant to create a truly special custom you’d be proud of especially because you maybe tried a new technique, you usually don’t use on your customs. In Germany we would say "to think out of the box"
Maybe you can describe it as “that is my potencial/ speciality” or something like that. The final custom could not only make somebody very happy but may be a reference to your abilities too.

For one who doesn’t know what a white elephant swap is please take a look at this link:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_elephant_gift_exchange

As for this swap we maybe include 2 categories: advanced and newbie, no matter if you paint, sculpt, sew or repose. If everybody agree and would be okay I’d appreciate it.

Last time we divided it into: painted and sculpted and there were a few who weren’t as satisfied as they could be.

I know interest is depending on swap times and timelines, so I invite everybody who likes to take part to post a start date, timeline for the custom itself and final date for the white elephant part. Maybe we can time it the way that we have all our picked customs on Christmas this year? Wouldn’t that be a nice surprise?

As for the white elephant part, I’d do it in the following stages:

1.   Getting all final pics of the customiser’s ponies and edit it in a way you can just see the shadow of it, maybe with a tiny visible hint...
2.   Then we take the participants list, randomize it and the first can pic a custom from the shadows
3.   The custom will be unveiled and the person who picked it, will “get” it temporarily (yes a bit different than in the classic way but simpler)
4.   We finish step 3 until everybody has a custom, then the fun part II starts
5.   Participant 1 decides whether to keep the custom he currently owns or “steal” another from participant x
6.   It would be possible to choose your own custom too. As we’re all proud of our work this should be easy to do.
7.   When we’re done the customs will be shipped or kept

Finally you get or keep a custom you truly love and maybe realized a dream custom that you wanted to create this year.

What do you think?

Any recommendations are more than welcome.

[kaelynn]

I am in LOVE with this idea!!  I tend to go a bit overboard with my art, so this would really give me free rein to go crazy!  Since you mention Christmas, I'm assuming this would be in the fall?  I don't qualify for custom swaps until October so if signups will not be until then I will be totally, wholeheartedly IN!

Great idea!!

[pixieponies]

i really like this idea. im a novice customizer but i always try to do my best if the work is for someone else. would it be later in the year?

[kaoskat]

Sounds interesting. Best of luck!

[Eluluu]

It sounds like a lot of fun but I'll prolly just watch this one. I can see myself getting salty (tho I'd try not to) if the custom I drooled over got swiped lol. So yeah I'll prolly just sit on the sidelines and cheer... and maybe join the next one once I've seen one in action. =)

[pandabear_chan]

@pixieponies

Yes it would be later this year, this swap shouldn't take forever so maybe fall would be the right season to start?

@ Kaoskat and Eluluu

I'd be honored if you'd take both part, you do awesome work!

[Shiromisa]

That would be soooooooooooooooo cool! I'm definitely a custom newbie, but I'd be in. ^^

[Sarahlacewing]

I would be down for this, but I see the potential for hurt feelings. 

I'd feel sort of sad if everyone who got my custom tried to trade it away for a different one and no one wanted it.  And I'm horribly competitive and I would mercilessly stalk the customs I wanted and miss them terribly if I didn't get it. Lol! 

[Eluluu]

Yeah that's what im concerned about too Sarah... if I was the last kid picked at gym and (more so) if I fell in love with one or a few customs and almost got one only to not get them. So I'll have to think on it a bit. It does sound like it'll be a fun game but I'm not sure if I'll risk Evil Eluluu rearing her head =P

[Shiromisa]

Pffff, don't worry about that! I'm sure mine will be picked last since I'm just starting out, and that's fine.

[Unicorn_pops]

This does sound quite fun!  Fall is a long way off so I'll keep an eye out and see if I'm open at the time.

[Saja]

Id love to also, but prefer it to start later in the year also.

[pandabear_chan]

@ Sarah and Eluluu

I know what you mean but

1. people can pick only from a random list of shadow pony pics, not the pony next to your name (sorry for misunderstanding that step, I could be more clear here) so you can't directly connect the picture of the pony with the style of the customizer (to make it more difficult, you have to photograph your final pony in front of a solid colored background so no one can imply from you to the background.
2. in the final keeping and stealing round you can always choose your custom (if no one else loves it more than you *g*)
3. we can all make it without names and you just reveal your name in a little note, when you send the custom out? When all ponies arrived, we can reveal the names in the thread.

Come on please think about it during the summer and join us. Be sure the fun part will be better and we don't want to hurt feelings. 

[Saja]

thanks for clearing that, still sounds like a great idea! Picking a custom from a small shadowy pic sounds like it would be really hard to tell what it is anyhow!! FUN!

[pandabear_chan]

@ Saja

Yes it was fun few years ago and you wouldn't expect what shadows revealed which ponies, it was truly strange partially.