Coldfire

21 hours ago, spookygrrrly said:

So the past few years now we have Tacky Ornament, 5 days of Solstice/Yule (last year it was more beginning of new year), and 12 days of Christmas. I don’t mind hosting one but I can’t do 12 day of Christmas this year. I could do Tacky Ornament *or* Solstice/Yule if no one else was able/planning to host. Whatcha think?

 

 Tacky Ornament is usually run by Skyelyric and Dark_Alice if I recall.   I think they will probably do something again this year.

Hi!    Peeking in to confirm that YES!   We will be running the LucyBoo21 Memorial Halloweenie Switch Round!    Those you who want to play and are fairly new to the Forum can use the next couple of weeks to get post counts up!     Details will come soon!

I know that there e been some folks circling the forum and waiting for the announcement of Switch Witch. Switch Witch Weenie round will be delayed starting this year and will run shorter. THe Ringleaders have had some personal issues and injuries and so we will be changing things up a wee bit. Fear not....we will Switch Witch!

 

Switch witch sounds great! But I never participated and I'm not sure if I understand how it works. Can someone give me a short explanation or a link to the rules?

 

It's basically a highly personalized, long-term mystery match swap where each Witch (sender) can choose how they want to send things to their Witchee, with the point being to brighten their days and just generally spoil and surprise them. Like any other swap, only bigger and more intense. I'm pretty sure the only rule is that your Witchee must receive one package from you by the end of the round. Some Witches literally don't contact their Witchee at all throughout the round and send their one package at the very end; other Witches contact their Witchees several times throughout the round via e-cards, small packages, and/or postcards; some will send one small thing and then a big final reveal box; most Witches reveal their identity at the end of the round but some never do. I'd say the vast majority of Witches send a big final reveal box, regardless of how they've done the rest of the round. The initial questionnaire asks for your preferences on these things -- some people love a chatty, high-contact Witch, while others would prefer a quieter one, and the swap runners take that into account.

 

The in-thread chatter and questions tend to be very fast-paced and VERY detailed throughout the round. What's great about Switch Witch is that it really encourages you to "get to know" the person you're sending to, and the sky is really the limit in terms of what you can send -- it brings out a lot of creativity and generosity. People will enlist others to send gifts and cards from other places to throw their Witchee off their trail, and they find all kinds of other ways to be sneaky and keep their identity a secret until the end. There tends to be a good mix of handmade and store-bought gifts as well; this is definitely a swap where handmade things are appreciated, though they're not a requirement if that's not your thing.

 

Here are a few links to previous years' IGI threads, to give you an idea of what people typically do (noting that posts go on throughout the round often starting at Day 1, so the final reveal packages will be way in the last pages).

 

http://www.bpal.org/topic/89924-2016-halloween-switch-witch-round-igi-thread/?hl=witch

http://www.bpal.org/topic/87520-2015-halloween-switch-witch-i-got-it/page-1?hl=witch

 

It can be a bit overwhelming at first (it was for me!) but honestly my two Switch Witch rounds have been the best swap experiences I've ever had. People are so thoughtful and it's so personalized -- it's really cool to spend the whole round busily plotting to make someone else happy, while the whole time someone else is doing the same for you. You should try it!

 

you did such a great job describing it! AND....if you are very lucky you make 2 new friends each round. Your Witch and your Witchee!

There will be an Autumnal Round of SW! We are firming dates and prepping things!

Em- I'll give you a PM heads up when we have that solidified.

Any news of a proper Hallowmas Switch Witch? I'll be graduated from Grad School by then and will be able to devote all my attention to it!

I was just coming to ask if there is any interest in an Autumn/Halloween Switch Witch Round. Any interest?

Imp: WOAH! Oh hi floral in your face!
Wet on Me: Heady overpowering floral. Daisy, Carnation, mum and lily
Drying Down: This is really really really strong. Getting rose too. NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
Dry: This is a very very strong perfume. Truly this is SOOO not for me!

Imp: oh there is dragon's blood in this.
Wet on Me: dragon's blood that wants to head to Raid territory
Drying Down: getting some floral now and the dragon's blood is going more resin than Raid.
Dry: Floral dragon's blood. I'm of two minds on this. I don't hate it but I'm not loving it. But not disliking it enough to trade away

Imp: dark and deep musks with just the faintest touch of dragon's blood
Wet on Me: there is the dragon's blood more than the musks need to be careful how this goes. Dragon's blood can sometimes go Raid on me.
Drying Down: nice smooth powdery musks
Dry: a dark baby powder. Happy to have tried. But will put in the trade/sell bag.

Imp: lush and red is right! getting a red fruited floral
Wet on Me: still red fruits and flowers
Drying Down: glorious. deep dark red fruits and flowers but not so heady that it creates a headache.
Dry: I didn't think I would like this as much as I love this!

Imp: definitely dragon's blood and dark musk alrighty
Wet on Me: now the wee faint whisp of fig adds to the mix.
Drying Down: definitely the red and black musks and the ghost of fig.
Dry: the musks kept the dragon's blood from going all bug spray on me. pretty nice.

Imp: the soft orris with faint touches of a sweetness and blood
Wet on Me: getting the sweetness of the coconut
Drying Down: the coconut is being tempered form becoming too sweet by the orris.
Dry: nice. powdery orris and coconut. glad I tried it but probably gonna put it in the trade/sell pile!

Imp: vetiver and gardenia
Wet on Me: vetiver, gardenia and the faintest trace of leather
Drying Down: the vetiver has receeded, mostly gardenia and leather with a sprinkle of cinnamon.
Dry: I gotta keep this! sshhh don't tell rose. this is just a smooth leather gardenia!

Imp: ethereal, almost floral, glowing
Wet on Me: Powder
Drying Down: Powder-y patchouli is what I'm getting now
Dry: the patchouli disappeared and I get a powder-y pale faint incense. nice. Nice to have tried it but would probably be best to be re-homed to someone who would LOVE it!

Imp: lovely Irish coffee. comforting.
Wet on Me: Irish Coffee and oak. omgs I love this so far
Drying Down: less Irish and more wood now. Still get the sweetness of the coffee but the deep wood notes are become more prevalent under my nose.
Dry: Mostly a sweet deep oak scent. this is a total comfort scent.

strong sharp deep honey. not as sugary as most honeys tend to get on me. this one is actually working on my skin and under my nose!

Imp: Lily and neroli scuffling under my nose\
Wet on Me: the ginger and purple fruits are trying to break up the scuffle under my nose but not succeeding.
Dry: really heady. Lily has a way like rose of getting all bossy with the other notes and taking over. And not always in a good way.

getting rose air freshener and bug spray. Lilac always comes off as bug spray to my nose and skin.

Imp: OMGS this is old school air freshener rose. It 'rose' up out of the imp and smacked me hard! To the trade pile!

Imp: Super heavy dark air freshener rose.
Wet on Me: I'm giving up on Rose notes. she has it out for me.
Dry: nuh -uh

Imp: sharp bright rose.
Wet on Me: I get the green but it's putting up a losing battle against rose on my skin.

The green lost. I haz a sad.

Imp: mmmm leather and steel
Wet on Me: by all the gods I am swooning. lovely leather and sharp but dark steel with the faintest whisper of musk
Drying Down: yummy yummy yummy leather-y steel and the faint ghosts of blood and musk. Still swooning!
Dry: Sweet cheetos this is love!!!!!

Imp: dark neroli. dark like dark chocolate but with out the chocolate
Wet on me: getting touches of the black patchouli and musk now. and now I get like that dark chocolate vibe
Drying Down: still dark and seductive with the teak notes and vanilla showing up
Dry: ssshhh don't tell Rose so she won't come and hate on my skin. this scent actually works on me!

Imp: mmmm white tea, but then rose roaring under my nose
Wet on Me: no tea, no carnation...rose
Drying Down: that air freshener rose. I'm eternally optimistic that one day a rose scent will work on my skin. This is not one of them.
Dry: Alas poor rose you loathe me so. To trade!

Imp: fresh, clean and masculine. Reminds me of my dad when he was getting ready to go on a flight(work)
Wet on me: i get the men's cologne and lavender and faint whisps of lime.
Drying Down: still a lovely masculine lavender cologne. really enjoying this.
Dry: the powder notes of the musk have arrived smoothing out the more astringent edges of the lavender. well done. Soft but yet so very masculine. The kind you just want to curl up in and snuggle for a weekend.