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Reader's Paradise

2009 Christmas bookmark exchange, continued

14 years ago

We do need to keep this going, I think. It has been so much fun for us all.

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Comments (15)

J C
14 years ago
The bookmarks keep pouring in, and I am so glad we did this - it has been more fun than I ever imagined. Instead of putting the bookmarks in my regular pile, I am looking at my favorite books and matching the bookmark to the book. This is surprisingly easy.
dido1
14 years ago
Posting this just so it rises and the duplicate posting falls.

Dido
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Yes, it is a good idea to be wise about which charities we support. My hubby and I have a group of charities we support yearly, including the two I listed above. I have to admit that initially we chose charities based on a personal connection. For instance, we support Medical Teams International because it's home-grown and a high school friend of hubby's worked there for many years. We support two others because we've been personally affected by the diseases they represent. There were times when we wondered whether those we supported deserved our respect and patronage. A few years back I found a website that rated the charities based on the percentages of donations spent on programs versus fundraising and administrative costs. Unfortunately, I didn't bookmark it but I did find two worth checking. One is the Better Business Bureau, which provides a monetary breakdown of money in/money out so that you can see how much of what you send actually goes to the cause. Most charity watchdogs suggest that at least 80% of funds should go to the cause and the higher that percentage the better. According to BBB, Medical Teams International spends 3% on fundraising and 2% on administration with 95% of donations going to programs. The American Red Cross spends 4% on fundraising and 6% on administration with 90% going to programs. I just learned, to my dismay, that one of the two disease affiliated charities spends 18% on fundraising and 9% on administration. That's $27 for every $100 donated. Not so good. Given our recent experience, I'm not surprised. As a thank you for our $100 donation, we received - by Fed Ex, no less - a reusable tote with their logo. I called to tell them that we were not pleased with this gesture, a waste of donation dollars in our opinion, especially when a letter of thanks would have been sufficient. We'll have to think hard about whether we want to continue to support this organization. But I digress. The other website that I found is Charity Guide, which seem to be a compilation of resources that vet charities. As someone who is active in a local non-profit, I know that the above may not always give a full picture, especially if it's a new charity. We spent a large percentage of money our first year on fundraising paraphenalia and if we'd been judged by that first year, it would not have looked good. Since then, however, we've kept costs low and we're forever looking for other ways to save so that more of our fundraising dollars support the program. As an aside, we always request to be left off an organization's mailing list, especially those that send out fat newsletters on a regular basis (such as the disease affiliated charity above), so that more of the donated funds can be spent on programs and not on paper costs and postage. Many charities now offer to send e-newsletters instead. If you regularly support a charity, ask if this service is available and help them reduce their overhead costs. HTH
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The book arrived back home after a year of traveling ! It was packed with all your additions and notes . I had such fun finding each item and will love sitting down and reading everything and enjoying it's journey. Thank you all for putting up with any inconvenience of having to mail it along. As we learned it even got lost in the mail for a short time yet still surfaced and was able to complete the trip !! The souvenirs inside included: a B&N gift card ( with $2.16 still on it !!), letterheads from workplaces; bookmarks found in other books, old poem, photo found in a book, personal notes from you, yarn label, B&N receipt and many more items ! Here are photos of what it brought home from it's travels.
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yoyobon_gw
14 years ago
THANK YOU ALL for the beautiful, creative, thoughtful and interesting bookmarks I have received . I feel as though I have come to know something special about each one of you by your choice of bookmark.

A perfect holiday adventure.
sheriz6
14 years ago
This is SO much fun! I was away this past weekend and returned to a lovely stack of six bookmark envelopes to open. What riches! Everyone's bookmarks are just terrific. I can't wait for the mail today.
Kath
14 years ago
Thank you Vee. I love the bookmark (the same artist as the one I received from you last time, a lovely watercolour) and the card was so clever too!
jankin
14 years ago
Thank you Siobhan and all the lovely people who've sent such kind and often original bookmarks - all so welcome - thank you again.

I have sent out my cards but my bookmarks leave much to be desired - I saw myself as creating something special but in the end the swine flu vaccine!!!! got me and I was laid up for a couple of weeks so my plans went to pot.
BUT much better now and much cjeered up by the super communications
Lots of love and thanks
Jan
lemonhead101
14 years ago
Thank you to everyone! It seems like nearly every time I go home, there is something fun for me to open from one of you, and the ingenuity and individual tastes that the bookmarks reflect is great. Everything from home-made to bought - it's all good to me....
frances_md
14 years ago
Today I received Christmas cards from friends but there were no bookmarks in the envelopes! I'm so spoiled now!!

I wish I could sit in a room with all of you and ask questions about the booksmarks. They are all so interesting and different (and useful, of course) and I would love to hear more about them.
Kath
14 years ago
Frances, I agree with you - maybe when we all have ours we can write a brief comment about why or how we chose the ones we did.
I received yours today and it is so lovely, thank you!
netla
14 years ago
I sent mine out yesterday. The ones to Britain should arrive by the middle of next week and the rest should start trickling in by the beginning of the week after that.

I have received several so far, all of them lovely additions to my collection.
yoyobon_gw
14 years ago
HOW I CHOSE MY BOOKMARK DESIGN:

Well, being a dyed-in-the-wool "creator" and a dedicated recycler this was quite easy.
One day I noticed that the design on my favorite fat-free milk ( that gives you another hint to my choices!) was rather interesting. I liked the arch over the charming bovine ( what kind is it?), and thought that the dairy scene might be appealing since it also depicted a typical American barn.
I thought the wool felt gave them a "warm, fuzzy" feeling!

That's my story, what's yours!?

PS..to the RP'er in Lancaster PA....what a coincidence that your daughter married someone from my town! Small world isn't it!
yoyobon_gw
14 years ago
Also....if you are at all drawn to do something with a milk carton that has the screw top pour spout.....go to this site. It is a hoot to create one of these milk money pouches!!

Be brave....it's easier to make than it seems.

Let me know if you do it! You can use an orange juice carton with same kind of pour top also.

Here is a link that might be useful: Milk Carton Coin Purse
veer
14 years ago
netla, your card arrived first thing this morning . . . very speedy and most interesting; and many thanks to the other RP'ers who's cards arrived during the week.
stoneangel
14 years ago
I held out opening the envelopes until today and all I can say is wow, wow, wow!! From homemade to local landmarks, vacation destinations, local libraries - one even local to me! - mementos and quotations...I am touched and amazed. Thank you all so much; I am SO glad I joined. You have enriched this Christmas for me more than I can ever convey!

I sent most of my cards on Monday and the remainder trickled into the post throughout the week, with the last cards going in the mail yesterday so I hope they reach you all soon! Embarrassingly, I realized too late that I accidentally sent an international envelope with extra U.S. postage, thinking I was sending it with the required extra International postage; hopefully it worked out to the required amount anyway or hopefully the postal service has a heart - it is Christmas after all!
rouan
14 years ago
How I chose MY bookmark design...

The last time we did this, I used a basic design I had learned from the children's librarian I was assistant to in my previous home. I wanted to do something homemade again, but different. I don't think I'm a very creative person so it took a while to come up with the idea. I had received a folded, magnetic bookmark (I think from the last bookmark exchange) and thought that would be something different. I experimented with different types of scrapbook paper but my biggest challenge was getting the magnet parts. I found the magnets at a local scrapbook store but couldn't find the steel piece for the magnet's counterpart. That's where my DH came in. He found something that would work, cut it into pieces and spray painted them and voila! I had the other part I needed for the bookmarks. And you all should have yours by now (I hope).

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