Don't worry, I haven't already forgotten the sketch requests (I'm planning on doing a mass update of them when I get them done), but I also wanted to do a journal of this since it just came up.

The ever-fantastic ~Dumpysaurus recently came up with a fantastic idea and I AM ALL ABOUT FANTASTIC IDEAS AS OF LATE so THIS IS WHAT IT IS:

Quarter machine trades!

How do you do a quarter machine trade? You trade handmade art in quarter machine capsules! Here are some steps:

1. Participants post a wishlist and/or set of hints, guidelines and interests that will help others decide what to make for them. Can be as specific or as open to interpretation as you like.

2. Contact somebody else who has posted a wishlist and ask if they would like to trade.

3. Go out and buy something from a quarter machine. Take the original toy out of the capsule and make something else to go in there, using your tradee's wishlist as a guide.

4. In keeping with the spirit of getting surprise loot from an actual quarter machine, it is recommended that you do not make specific requests. However, this is completely up to you. It's your trade!

5. Once your prizes are made, put them in their capsules and mail them to each other.

Guidelines:

DON'T BE LAZY. Put as much effort into your half as you would like the other person to put into theirs. Materials needn't be expensive, but they should be durable and your work should look nice. Treat your prize as an art piece.

Make sure that you are both working with the same size capsule (if this is important to you).

Be creative! Consider the quarter machine capsule as a form of presentation, not just a container.

Be sure to sign your work, and/or the capsule that you send it in.

Prize suggestions:

Handmade sculptures or figurines

Flat artwork on tiles, sturdy cardboard, etc.

Pins/buttons with your art on them

Mods of existing toys*

Keychains, charms, bracelets or other wearable art

*These should clearly be MODS. I.E, don't just paint a plastic kangaroo a new color--sand off its head and sculpt a new one, attach wings from a different toy, glue spines on its back and then paint the entire thing in stripes. Put your mark on it.

I'm pretty excited about the potential of this project and would love to see it take off. Think of it! Collections of designer quarter machine prizes sitting in fish bowls. Well, that's where I'd keep mine. If this sounds cool to you and you want to participate, repost the rules or link to this journal, and then post a wishlist. This is something that will definitely be cooler if a lot of people participate.

This is my wish/interest list:
(in no particular order)

-Fantastic beasts
-Spirals
-Stars
-Fetuses
-My characters
-Your characters
-Robots
-Religious iconography (from any religion)
-Plastic figures
-Found objects
-Art from other cultures
-Animal bones (please do not kill anything for this, that would be bad)
-Charms
-Aliens
-Strange things
-Random fanart of things

Since I'm already throwing myself into the sketch trades and stuff I'll start out with five open slots and see where I go from there.

1. ~yukni
2. ~ScribblerRigby
3. ~Vamoki
4.
5.

YAY, LET'S GET CRAZY.