link

Along the same lines - have you heard of the Paperclip Project The story of this project is incredible!

Wouldn't it make more sense to sent all the butterflys to one person (best living in H. or at least the US) who then sents them all together with a note about Swap Bot and maybe how many countries they come from?

I personally don't want to be responsible for that. (";)

I would be willing to gather butterflies to send as a big swap-bot donation...

Thx Leashah! I will pm you.

Why does it make more sense? I don't get that but I am in for making a butterfly for sure

It may not make sense as far as logistics because the postage for all the swap participants will be the same, but I think it will be an impactful donation to send in one big huge box on behalf of the Swap-Bot members, with a compiled list of names/countries and such! I'm contacting Rachel, as well. :) I hope you'll help!

Thanks I just didn't think of it that way ... I'm in for sure

I have revised the swap description to explain @Leashah 's role in helping with this swap.

A big

to her!

(";)

So I can crochet a butterfly correct?

I am trying to draw and make one on paper and fail. But I know I can crochet one.

I have been to the Holocaust Museum. You talk in there in low tones. It is very emotional.

There were so many wonderful people that helped get the Museum running, and it honors each and every victim of the Hitler regime.

I was stunned at some of the displays and stories. Being a Jehovah's Witness, I grew up knowing what Hitler and his 'men' did. I never, ever quite caught the total impact though until I was at the museum....

Oh and is the photos of the butterflies going to be sent to the link that is asking for photos on the project site? Or do we need to take our own for that?

And I do like the idea of the swap bot all being sent at once. Usually I am a loner, but in this situation, I think it is awesome to be part of the group!

Now I am about to cry, because the memories of the museum are rushing in my mind.

I will send photos and share our Flickr account with the Museum's email address. I'm very excited to be participating in this project!

@fawnscrafts If it is a relatively flat crocheted butterfly, I believe it ill be beautiful! (Not amigurumi style is what I'm understanding.) The butterflies each represent a unique individual child in the 1.5 million, so different mediums are totally accepted!

I can do a flat butterfly. In fact I have a pattern for at least one, if not two flat ones.

The hardest part will be choosing the colors. I feel they should be something special, not the first ball of thread I grab.

The Flickr will be HERE

I was going to make a swap for this project! I'm glad that someone else did though because its an amazing cause! Can't wait to join!

I participated in the first swap too, with my son. He draw a butterfly and I replicated that in felt and sent both off to Houston. Of course participating again!

Note: They ask the butterflies not to be glittery or from food (pastas or something).

I am really happy to be part of this swap. Hope we get a lot of butterflys.

And thanks to Leashah for doing all the extra work. Hearts for you!!!

I did the first one, I'm in for this one as well. I went to the Holocaust Museum in D.C. with my daughters a few years ago, it is unforgettable!

I have edited the swap description again to add the Flickr link and the Museum's criteria for making the butterflies.

@Fawnscrafts there's even a kind of special 2D butterfly crochet pattern here. I used it for first of this swap.

I think, this a very good and important swap! Reading the Museum's project description made me cry, aspetially because I live i Israel and today is Holocaust Memorial Day.

Wouldn't it make more sense to email a photo of our butterfly(s) to our partner?

There is no need to send any photos - Leashah will post photos of the butterflies on the Flickr link given in the swap.

I do not like email swaps because emails end up in people's spam folders and then they rate 1s or 3s without checking.

I was researching our family name on the Jewish genealogy site, and was horrified at how many of our surname came up on the Holocaust lists. I got such a shock that I just burst into tears. I would like to join just as a sign of solidarity with others who have had the same experience.

@pahasiga thank you for the link. I will make one of those, if not more. I have two on different hooks now, one over half done and the other I am trying to design, so I ma frog that and start one on the link.

@emrajr69 I am so sorry for the sadness that you are feeling.

What the regime did, I think most humans hope never happens again.

I do encourage anyone that can go to the Washington D.C. Holocaust museum to do so. I was there many years ago and the impact has never left me.

Tim Holtz butterfly die you could make hundreds in a mosaic fashion very easy just a suggestion

I talked to my daughter and she is going to make one in her latest crafting kick.

I did a search for more butterflies to crochet. I figure the many I can crochet, the better.

I do not know how to do links so you have to copy and paste this in the browser to get here.

http://sites.google.com/site/cheriscrochet/fancy-crocheted-thread-butterfly

I got into some other business and did not look for many more patterns. The other few I did see, were not the proper type. If I have time, I will look for more and post the links here. Only a few more though, because there are so many different modes to make butterflies.

I know DD is doing the crayon melting thing. It should look kind of like stained glass.

I am also thinking of other ways to make 2-d butterflies.

I am almost finished with the first butterfly.

For those that want to draw a butterfly and may need some help, I just found this site. To me it is easy enough to follow and mature enough to look adult.

It is a video with easy buttons to start and stop.

http://www.drawingnow.com/how-to-draw-a-butterfly.html

I am in - actually doing butterflys tonight with a kids program, will make extras if there is time! So there will be many from me. I am not sure if the project is considered 2 dimensional, (using a coffee filter and pipecleaners attached to a popsicle stick, but they will lay flat, so I assume that will work. I may not mount these on a stick to send them to the museum. Thanks for a fun swap.

@ebs427 your project is a 2-d project., It lays flat or can lay flat and there is not layers to it.

I have signed up and also just shared the swap on the Swap-bot blog here Thank you for hosting this wonderful swap!

I have a poor record, as i lost my grip on swap-botting when a close friend was killed in an auto accident, and have just been embarrassed about trying again... but this butterfly thing got me going. I have already started cutting paper.

I'll be on the watchlist for a bit before I join. I have challenged my friends and family thru Facebook to get them interested (and mailing seperately from this, don't worry Leashah!). Maybe we can have a craft night or something.

I remember the first swap! It was so amazing. I may have to do this again.

Thanks very much to those of you who have offered to help Leashah with the cost of sending the box of butterflies to Houston.

We already have a very kind and generous benefactor who is going to cover the cost for us. I don't want to say who it is in case they wish to remain anonymous - but maybe they will come here at some point and "out" themselves! (";)

@TerryF - don't let it bother you, you've done a beautiful thing with this swap and that's all that matters!

Further to that issue, you have Rachel's support! What a stamp of approval!

Congrats on the blog mention - with Rachel's okey dokey, I imagine this swap will BLOW UP!

What a wonderful project! I'm thrilled to be involved. Will be starting tonight! Thanks, @TerryF @Leashah and EVERYONE for this. You all are the BEST!

:) my kiddos (2, 4 & 14) and I are making a box full of butterflies to send. so far we have 5.

There are so many wonderful people on this site - thx to all of you who have joined!

By the way, I have edited the swap description to indicate that only one butterfly is actually required for this swap - but if you keep them simple and can make more, all the better!

I just didn't want anyone to not join just because they do not have the time to make a lot of them.

Here is an easy and quite pretty butterfly made from ---- wait for it ---- craft foam! lol You could also make these from paper if you prefered.

And here is the tute in case you are interested in trying it.

(";)

Terry, I was actually going to make as many as I could do of these:

They are made of scraps of patterned paper and pipe cleaners! And we all have those in our home ;)

Or alternative with scraps of ribbons:

tutorial for anyone interested

Those are very pretty tuts if not for this then for my other crafting! I googled images for Holocaust Museum butterflies and it showed hundreds of examples of ones sent. Makes me really sad to think that each of them represents a child who perished in this way.

Would it be helpful if we provided the number of butterflies we are sending?

MichelleWillow: Those are so pretty and won't take long to make - perfect for this swap!

suemick15: I am sure @Leashah will be counting them and we will post the total in the PFs when it is all done. But definitely tell your partner in your note if you like. (";)

While I appreciate that many of us will be making and sending several butterflies, please keep in mind that every single one counts - every single butterfly is in memory of a precious child lost to this world - so making even one butterfly means a LOT.

I will get my husband to make some origami ones as well. He loves making things like that.

So origami would be considered 2-d, because I would like to do a couple of those as well. :)

My kiddo loves origami so this will be great. Thanks so much

Here is a link to an origami butterfly, to me it is one fo the better origami butterflies.

http://www.doorigami.com/origami-butterfly.html

@leashah is it possible to take a photo of all in a group as well as all individually please?

And one more note. I did start a thread and a donation on Ravelry, so those that would like to donate through them also, can go to the thread and read about it and take it from there.

I am hoping to at least take some photos of butterfly groupings, maybe even outside... I will do my best to take a big group pic before packing them up, but I can't promise!

I would like to include my 4,5 year old daughter too... so, went hunting for some easy & quick butterfly tutorials! Here is what I found:

coffee filter butterfly tutorial

wooden cloths pin tutorial

heart butterfly tutorial

yarn butterflies tutorial

band aid butterflies - just cut around the cardstock after gluing to the paper to make it 2D

concertina fold butterfly tutorial

I'm looking forward to making mine... Here is my favorite artist making her butterfly for the project a few years ago!

Mixed Media with Suzi Blu: Butterfly
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sLXsBpxcvnc&list=UUZjsMkfWjqln2DfIL3YT-JA&index=18&feature=plcp

I like the bright coffee filter butterflies MW!

A lovely video of Suzy Blu - and a gorgeous butterfly - such talent! Thx for sharing creativetempo.

I have cut out 100 butterflies in total. Three different sizes & shapes. Now I have to glue them together.

A wonderful project. Thank you TerryF!!!

Oh my goodness Poggy - you are going to be butterflied out. lol

It is my pleasure capi - and it couldn't be done without all of our amazing members!

I may be able to get my small class to make butterflies. But at least I will send one of my own. Thank you for doing this.

I'm thrilled to be able to be a part of this project, thank you!

I am absolutely thrilled to be part of this project. I will definitely be making more than one butterfly and will hopefully get my creative mother in law involved as well. <3

If anyone is ahead of schedule, here's my address (I've had a few requests already):

Alicia Cross
7251 SE Lindsey Lane
Hillsboro, OR 97123-6623
U. S. A.

THANK YOU! I'm looking forward to the butterflies beginning to roll in!

If you are involving children, here are some butterfly crafts that could be adapted for this swap.

And here too...

I am sending my 100 butterflies to Leashah today. This is a great project to be involved in.

Jackie! (";)

I am in too, I just had time to go through the swaps here on the bot and took the time to read this one over. I am so making lots of butterflies! Thank you ladies for organizing this swap.

This is such a wonderful swap and has made me all emotional. What a wonderful project and what amazing people on here to be organising this swap <3<3

Do these have to be big like 8" or 10"? I was thinking of using my Cricut and the largest I can do is about 4". Would that work?

This is a wonderful idea. I've never been to the Holocaust Museum, but I have been to Buchenwald, one of the concentration camps in Germany in 2006- it was literally one of the most evil and sinister feeling places I've been.

topshelf43: 8 x 10 is the maximum size for the butterflies...smaller ones are perfectly fine.

@Leashah has provided her address (10th comment above) for anyone who has gotten an early start on their butterflies.

I have also added it to the swap description.

Thanks, @TerryF Glad to know I can use my Cricut. I'll be making several.

Just thought. Should we write our name and country on butterflies or include a note? Xx

It would probably be easier for Leashah if you included a separate note with you real and your SB names as well as the swap name and your country. Then she won't have to check the back of every butterfly to compile her list.

However, please feel free to also add your name and country to the back of your butterfly/-ies if you like. (";)

I have added the above info to the swap description.

Thank you :) xx

This is completely awesome. Thank you so much for creating such a wonderful swap.:)

I just read a book called THE ZOOKEEPER'S WIFE, about the begining of the rounding up of the jews in Poland, It is about a family who helped them, with a underground railroad as was done here in the United States with the escaping slaves. The young boy in the store was my age at the time, This really struck home to think I was living free here in the states, and they were going through such hell there. I was very moved. It is hard to think of the fear and hate that existed . Butterflies will be on the way to this wonderful museum. We must not forget!!!

I believe I joined last time, can't remember, hahaha, and I will do it again and I will send as many as I can this time! I love projects like this!

I am starting to check profiles and will only drop people from this swap for the following reasons:

• partial suspension
• serial flaking over time
• completely empty profiles
• have not logged on in the last 2 weeks (must have logged on since April 27 - unless I am aware of the circumstances)

Please do not worry - I will arrange an

for anyone who needs one (as soon as 1 ratings have been given). (";)

Come on watches sign up! Friday is the last day to sign up!

I just found a slideshow of art, poems and bios of children lost in the Holocaust. I don't know what to say...

Watch it here (just click the forward button at the bottom of the slideshow screen).

I hope at least one of us will be able to actually see the butterfly exhibit when it opens!

That would be great if someone went and took a few pics for us. (";)

Anyone here actually in or close to Houston?

Currently, 152 butterflies have landed here. <3 And the swap hasn't even officially started.

Wow - that is wonderful! Thx for letting us know Leashah. (";)

Hi TerryF. Just reading about this and think it's an awesome project. I have been to two different Holocaust Museums (St. Pete, FLA and Andersonville, GA) and they were both so moving. At the St. Pete, FL museum a Holocause survivor was there giving a talk. Talk about emotional!!!!! I'm definitely in. I just want to tell you that I've been inactive for several weeks as I was "in transit" from my winter location to my summer location. Please don't drop me from the swap! I love Swap-bot.

Not a problem QuilterinMotion. (";)

I didn't know there was a Holocaust Museum in St. Pete's - I have a place just north of there so will have to visit it next winter.

I pulled/strained/tore a muscle in my back this week, so I'm going to see what I can do about photos. I can take individual/small group photos and you can see the ones I took of the butterflies I've received from @123poggy123 and @suemick15 on the Flickr already. I upgraded to FlickrPro for three months because otherwise there's a 200 photo limit and that just wasn't going to work. :) I'm also not sure I will have any WAY to photograph all the butterflies together, there are going to be so many! (YAY!)

Total received to date: 153

So sorry Leashah - there's lots of time still, make sure you give your back a rest.

I don't think you should worry about a "group photo" - there are just too many and it would be a logistical nightmare. The individual and small group photos are great!. It's a lot more than we had the last time we did this swap. Thx!

When I joined this swap, my family decided that our 2014 vacation would be going to see the opening of the exhibit in Houston, so my kids and grandkids can see where their butterflies "flew" too! I'll be happy to take pictures to post for the swap-bot group!

That would be amazing! (I am going to go and mark that on my 2014 calendar right now so we don't forget. Well, ok, so I don't forget. lol)

I noticed that in multiple places on the site it says they are hoping for a Spring 2013 opening, that's why they are only accepting butterflies through December 2012. i think the 2014 may be a typo.

Oops, I meant to say I received 34 more butterflies today! :D

I have emailed them about the opening date.

A little

to everyone who has sent their butterflies to Leashah so far. (";)

Received this email today from the Holocaust Museum:

Unfortunately there is no set date for the exhibition. We had planned it for 2014, but have since changed due to venue availability. The new date has yet to be determined.

Cynthia Lynn Capers
Associate Director of Education and Changing Exhibitions
Holocaust Museum Houston
Morgan Family Center

Can we upload our own photos to the Butterfly Project site? And you can "join" Flickr for $$ and have unlimited photo hosting. I think I paid $49 (?) for two years...can't remember. I post my students' sewing projects and I wanted the parents to be able to view them without having to send individual emails.

I will ask Leashah to come and reply to this.

I Never Saw Another Butterfly...I saw this as a play in high school...has always stuck with me.

I don't believe there's any way to allow others to post to the flickr account. I set it up with my email so I am not comfortable sharing the login info, sorry. If you are able to take better photos or if you have a great photo of your butterflies already, please feel free to email it to me! I can add it to the ButterflyProject Flickr for you. :) My email is SASSYBERRY@JUNO.COM

As far as sharing your photos via email with the Holocaust Museum, I will be sending the photos and the Flickr acct info to them via email as requested. I do not know how they would feel about getting duplicates.

And I did already pay for a Pro Acct on Flickr for this project, thanks. :) I just did the 3 month membership because that's what I can afford right now. We can cross the renewal bridge when we get there... Or there's a Gift A Pro Acct option.

Okay, I was just trying to help.

Leashah - what about a group on Flickr for the butterflies? Then anyone can add their butterflies to the group photo pool. :)

Hi Everyone!

I am so excited to see that we have over 200 participants! Yay!

I have screened everyone and only dropped 2 newbies who have empty profiles.

I know we are all excited about this project, and want to share our butterflies with everyone! What Leashah is already doing to keep track of everything, as well as take photos, is a lot of work for her, and when she is done, we will have a Flickr record of everyone's creations for this swap (on her account, which everyone can see).

I do not want to make things any more complicated right now by having various photo groups. However, if you want to share your butterflies right away, I would love if you would post your photos right here. (";)

I have been asked the following questions - am posting them here FYI.

How thick do the need to be? If I make them out of cardstock will I need two layers to make them thick sturdy enough?

They can be made of only one layer of card stock if that's what you want to do. They are supposed to be 2 dimensional so that they can be stuck on a wall at some point, so don't worry about sturdiness so much. Just package them with a sheet of cardboard or something to keep them from getting damaged in the mail.

Do I leave the back blank or decorate both sides?

You only need to decorate one side - but if you want to do both sides, it's your choice.

Can the backs be just white card with my name and country on?

Yes.

I did something I want to share. I wrote a little message on the back of my butterflies. I also wrote my name, my screen name and where I am from.

I wrote them to the children we are honoring. Things like this... dear one, sweetiepie, angel face, good boy, good girl, I just wanted to connect in a spiritual way with those children.

A lovely idea. (";)

Many thx to everyone who has joined today. I know some of my dear friends here have put out the word in some of their groups as well, and I see a number of Europeans have joined today. Plus Rachel also mentioned it in a PF thread. I really appreciate people spreading the word and joining. (";)

I have screened up to @yomousey so far, so it shouldn't take long tomorrow to assign partners. Look out Leashah! lol

I have a few packages of butterflies on my desk to photograph, catalog and label, already! :D I'm ready, though. Setting up an organized system for Butterfly Intake!

Almost everyone has so far, but if you are able, please send your butterfly/butterflies in a ziploc type baggie inside the shipping package; this is how I'm keeping butterflies separated by artist in the box for the museum. If you don't have the right size or can't get them, please don't worry. I'll take care of them, I promise! :D

Also worth noting, I've received multiple butterflies in every package so far; we are an amazing group!!! <3

Awesome ideas everyone..... I hope to make atleast 2. I was thinking about it this morning and I think I'm going to use fabric. Use felt for the back and then glue a prettier fabric on top and then add some detail to it. I figured my four year old could help with that too.

I would appreciate if an e-mail could be sent when we're done to know how many butterflies we made. :)

Just finished reading through all the suggestions and comments. What a wonderful group of women you are. I am very proud to be associated with you.

We will let everyone know the final count. (";)

Current butterfly Count: 206, from 9 people!!! :D

Can the note to my partner be on a postcard? Or does it need to be a letter in an envelope? Thanks!

Can we send more than one package of butterflies? I have a full box of origami butterflies, (probably over 300) but I don't want to stop there. I mean we have a month, why not make more? Or should I just get a bigger box and send them all in at the end of the month. I want to make as many as I can. I am averaging about 100 a day. But I don't know if it would be easier or harder on you to send multiple packages or one big package???

LauraAust: It can be a note in a greeting card, or a note in an envelope, but no PCs please and thx.

JMM876: I will ask Leashah to come and reply to your question since she is handling the butterflies.

Just let me know if you've sent more than one package, please, so I can link up the butterflies in my list of artists. :) Send away!!!

All butterflies are going to Leasha now and not to my original swap partner. Is this a correct assumption??

Yes. I am putting them all together to send all at once as a Swap-Bot Donation.

Seven packages of butterflies have arrived and are awaiting their photo session and cataloging! :D This is lots of work, but I am so glad to be helping! This is such an amazing, generous, wonderful group of people and I'm going to be just over-the-top giddy to send an GIANT box (or... several smaller ones? We'll see!) to the museum!

Current butterfly total: 277 :D

Since the deadline on the Holocaust museum is December, any chance we can extend this one? I am hoping to "recruit" my co-workers, and I don't think I'll be ready by June 11th? Can you p/m me the answer as I always forget to check these things. lol

Thanks!!!

churlann: It was never a part of this swap to send any butterflies anywhere except to the Houston Museum. All we changed was to ask everyone to send their butterflies to Leashah instead of directly to the Museum. The only thing you are sending to your partner is a note about your experience making the butterflies. This has not changed.

crazypurplelady: I am planning to do this swap one more time in the fall. But there is nothing stopping you and your co-workers from making and sending butterflies to the Museum at any time.

Oh my gosh, I made butterflies with my class today and it was so touching. They worked with such care, knowing that they were representing a child from the Holocaust. These are cchildren with behavior challenges, who usually don't want to do anything creative. They kept saying, "I hope everyone in the world will send a butterfly to the museum so all the children will be known.

Wow - very touching. (";)

Butterflies As Of Today: 386

any chance i can be on a list of people to notify/remind about the next swap? i'm so sorry i missed this one, and i'm worried i might miss the next one. my father's jewish and escaped the nazis in germany as a baby, thanks to some german family friends who advised his parents to get out immediately. they went to amsterdam then israel (palestine then). his father lost a brother to the concentration camp murders. apparently i am also related to one of schindler's secretaries.... just a little history, and i'm a 40-something australian you probably wouldn't think had any connection to the holocaust. the consequences of horror reach far and wide though, don't they? the generation of survivors is fast disappearing, so i think the outcome of this swap - the visible evidence that so many people still care - would be a lovely gift to the memory of their lost ones. thanks @TerryF and @Leashah so much. :)

Thx for sharing your story papercaper. With the Diaspora, I am sure that every Jewish community anywhere in the world has family stories to tell about the Holocaust. As long as we keep talking about it, it cannot be forgotten.

I will make a note to let you know when the next swap is set up. (";)

@chilady61 has kindly offered to help angel this swap, if necessary. Thx dear!

If anyone didn't get signed up for this swap, please remember you may still SEND butterflies to be included in our SB box!!!

After this week's mail, our total is now 567 butterflies, received from 54 people. :D

This is a cause that is very close to my heart as well, but for a different reason than Papercrafter's.

My Gram was an orphan in Holland, she was born in 1902. A family by the name of Ten Boom cared for her and many other orphans in their home. Specifically "Opa" (Grandfather) and his two spinster daughters, Betsy and Corrie.

When the Germans invaded, Tante Corrie and Tante Betsy were in their 50's and Opa was well into his 70's. The Ten Boom's built a hidden room in their home and ran a network for hiding Jews and helping them escape. Those for whom a hiding place could not be found (ex. a older Jewish man who's features were obviously Jewish, a pregnant Jewish woman, etc.) were given permanent refuge in their home.

They were eventually found out and sent to prison then ultimately to Auschwitz. My Tante Betsy died in Auschwitz, Opa never made it out of the police station. They both are buried in unmarked, mass graves.

Tante Corrie survived many, many years and toured the world telling her story of God's love and how he helped her survive. You can read their story in a book called "The Hiding Place."

If it hadn't been for this family, I wouldn't be here. I am so proud that part of my family legacy is to be associated with people who would help to their own ultimate sacrifice in times of great moral crisis. And I am proud to be a part of this swap! Thanks for hosting and for all the hard work!

Wow, @ArtsOnFire - Corrie Ten Boom was an amazing woman (her whole family was amazing). I read as much as I could about her when I was a teen, and their house was one of the first places I wanted to visit when I went to The Netherlands. Very moving.

I'll be mailing mine tomorrow or as soon as the glue dries!

Could someone please tell me how to post a photo to this page? I know about copying and pasteing but it isn't working....help?

! [] (image address) - but remove the spaces.

There is a detailed Markdown Tutorial here.

If you are still having problems, pm me. (";)

ArtsOnFire, Thx for sharing. I read "The Hiding Place" many years ago. You come from strong, courageous people - what a legacy! (";)

Thx for the update Leashah! I feel humbled by the generosity of everyone here.

That's incredible, @ArtsOnFire ! Wow!!

I have sent my little butterflies to @Leashah and a note to my lovely partner :) As I said to my partner, I cried after I finished the butterflies and had them laying out before me, because I knew they were representing six little souls of the lost 1.5 million.

<3 <3 <3

After this week's mail, our total is 759 butterflies received, from 76 people. <3 !!!

Wow!

Woo hoo that is awesome!

Sending mine out today, this feels so good to have done and to be doing for such a project. Thank you ladies for organizing and for doing this.

Today i wrote a post on my blog and i hope people will send Butterflies from France, even if it isn't with swap bot.So i hope France will do somethng for this project. Thaks for this great idea.

I sent my partner the letter explaining my two butterflies. I think today I'm going to sit down with my roommate and make some more because there is time for more and I really want this project to reach its goal.

I marked sent yesterday by accident, my butterfly is actually being mailed today as is my note to my partner. Awesome idea, I loved making my butterfly. :-)

Here's a link to my photo of it if anyone is interested: http://flic.kr/p/ccktCQ

Mine is finally going out tomorrow!

oops lol did the link totally wrong..... @Picture here

Went to the post office this morning and mailed my butterflies and my letter to my partner. Wished I had time to make more than 15 - plan on visiting the Museum next summer and plan on taking some with me then.

@Cakers pretty butterfly:

@JemStone 's pretty in pink:

And there are tons more great butterfly photos on Leashah's Flickr!

I have been feeling really awful the past few days and I just want to let everyone know that next weekend I will be doing cataloging, but I'm taking a break this weekend. If you sent your butterflies and I should have received them this week, please be patient with me. I probably did receive them and I'll confirm with you when I'm able to do some cataloging. (It's easier to do in bigger batches and I expect a LOT of packages next week since the send-by date is tomorrow!) THANKS!!!

There is no rush to send them off to the Museum Leashah - please take care of yourself, the butterflies can wait. (,)

hope you are feeling better soon Leashah! sometimes we need a break to take care of ourselves!!! take care!

Leashah, Can we post our own photos to the Flickr account, if you're not feeling ok? I wrote a blog post about the project & have many photos already taken of the butterflies that I made. Let me know if that's ok.

For everyone, The blog post I wrote about the project includes a little tutorial (for personal use) on how I made them: http://samsstuff-samsstuff.blogspot.com/2012/06/butterfly-project.html I know it's last minute for the Swap-Bot project, but you can still make more & send them to the Museum directly. I nearly cried thinking about the meaning behind the project...

P.S.- I think the glitter thing may have to do with how it ends up everywhere & the no food items (like macaroni) probably has to do with attracting pests.

I hope you're feeling better soon, Leashah

@gooseberry will be sending June 12 - she has advised her partners.

samsstuff: Leashah posted this on 05/10/2012:

I don't believe there's any way to allow others to post to the flickr account. I set it up with my email so I am not comfortable sharing the login info, sorry. If you are able to take better photos or if you have a great photo of your butterflies already, please feel free to email it to me! I can add it to the ButterflyProject Flickr for you. :) My email is SASSYBERRY@JUNO.COM

What a wonderful swap! :]

@themissiah will be sending June 12.

I am so sorry, got caught up with work and missed the Post Office today. I will mail tomorrow, and will message my partner.

Thanks!

Not a problme ebs427.

@talanae will be sending on June 13 - she is advising her partners.

I am afraid I have spotted a few flakers while reviewing the participants list - these are people who have not logged on in a while and have started accumulating ones since this swap closed.

Anyone who sends their swaps, and has given 1 ratings to partners who have flaked, will be angeled.

I will be following up with everyone affected once the 2 week period is up.

I offer to angel for any flakers :)

I lost both my days off this week to funerals at work, so I also only got my butterflies in the mail Monday . . . Sorry! Will PM my partner.

I can angel also.

Butterfly was mailed today. Thanks for the extra day. I wish I could have made more, but the original style I was going to make didn't turn out the way I wanted to.

@gooseberry will be sending June 13.

Thx sugarskull and smmarrty !

PJ, Monday was June 11, the send by date. (";)

I have pmd all of the people who have not marked "sent" as of today.

I have received replies from the following so far:

@ArtsOnFire has contacted her partner and Alicia, and will send by June 16.

@hannibal is ill and cannot give a sending date yet.

@Shirano will send by June 18.

@FibreJunky is ill - @spinjenny will contact her re status of this swap.

@Happycrazylion has already contacted Leashah and her swap partner - will send by June 18

Still waiting to hear back from:

@LavenderLizard
@Haole1
@themissiah
@Mayte4U
@Salma92
@ksalcewi
@mauiwahine
@shari5
@smvlpn

I have pmd all of the above people's partners re status.

I'm still really sick (unable to sleep or eat hardly anything, zero energy, along with tons of pain), waiting for another appt with my doctor early tomorrow morning. I've got boxes and boxes of butterflies waiting for me and all I can offer is an apology. Sorry I'm behind in the cataloging and photographing, everyone.

Leashah, there is still tons of time to do everything - please just take care of yourself and don't worry about this until you are feeling better. Hugs, Terry

@shari5 has been ill - will mail everything today - I advised her partner.

@LavenderLizard sent her butterflies in May - will send note to her partner today.

@Haole1 will send asap - I advised her partner.

I can angel butterflies and letters if needed! Please let me know if I cna help in any way! :-)

If I can't get better enough soon, I will personally make sure that it gets done by @Simba . ;)

Thx NaughtyElf - I will!

Leashah, please just do whatever you think best - the butterflies don't have to be in Houston until December - hopefully you will be better long before then! (";) Hugs, Terry

@Fibrejunky mailed hers today (per @spinjenny .

Sent email to @smvlpn as she has not logged in since May 15.

Left this message on @mauiwahine 's profile today:

TerryF on Jun 22, 2012:

I and your sending swap partner have been trying to reach you by pm (you have read both of them) and email to find out the status of the Holocaust Museum Butterfly Swap. You have not marked it as sent yet (deadline was June 11) and have not rated your partner. Of course I am sure you understand that if you do not reply to us to try to resolve this, we will have no choice but to rate you a 1 and name you as a flaker and non-rater in the PFs. Given your current excellent ratings, this would be a shame. I hope to hear from you very soon. Thx.

We finally figured out what's been wrong with me, and I will be seeing a surgeon this week to make an appt. I'll be working on these flutterbies soon. :)

Well, that sounds like good and bad news! (";)

Still not marked sent:

@themissiah
@Mayte4U
@Salma92
@ksalcewi
@hannibal
@mauiwahine
@shari5
@smvlpn

Their partners have already been advised that, if they want to be angeled, they should rate the above a 1 and then let me know.

Kind angel volunteers on standby:

@chilady61
@sugarskull
@smmarrty
@NaughtyElf
@TerryF

@heritagedecouleurs has rated @mauiwahine a 1.

I will angel this one.

While @hannibal has not marked sent, she obviously mailed the swap because she was rated a 5 and heart by her partner today (June 25).

Still not marked sent and not yet rated:

@themissiah
@Mayte4U
@Salma92
@ksalcewi
@mauiwahine
@shari5
@smvlpn

The next one who gets rated a 1, send me a pm and I will angel that one, Terry. Bless you @Leashah I hope everything will be all right. Thank you both.

Ok NaughtyElf! (I am having problems convincing some people to rate their flaking partners a 1, and will not OK any angeling until this has been done.)

By the way everyone, @Leashah had surgery this morning - I am sure she would appreciate good thoughts from everyone.

@Leashah I hope the surgery went well and that you are on your way to recovery, and that the recovery goes by speedy!!

White healing light and love is surrounding you @Leashah from all of your swapping sisters! Be well!

This is the response I'm sending to those who have PM'd me about their butterflies, and I'm very sorry life has really thrown me a curve ball lately:

"I'm so sorry, I've gotten behind. I've been very sick and I had unexpected surgery yesterday.

Please be patient with me; I will confirm receiving butterflies as soon as I am able. I have received LOTS and LOTS of packages that I haven't catalogued yet, so I wouldn't worry. I will not be sending them off until everyone has had a chance to send them to me to be included.

Thank you.

<3 Leashah"

Thank you all for your thoughts. <3

PS: By "LOTS and LOTS", I mean I had to have The BF ( @Simba ) move the piles of boxes into the closet so I could move around the bedroom easier. I'm certain there are thousands of butterflies, and every one of you is amazing! <3

Glad you are recouping from surgery :) Hugs, Linda Russell

I have reported the following as late/potential flakers in FOPS:

@themissiah
@Mayte4U
@Salma92
@ksalcewi
@mauiwahine
@shari5
@smvlpn

I sure wish their swap partners would rate them the 1s they deserve...

Leashah, once again I am sorry to have bothered you while you are trying to recuperate and feel better from surgery. I am praying for healing and a speedy recovery. Thank you so much for working so hard on this swap, we appreciate it and hope you feel well soon.

hugs Robin

I just rated my partner @Haole1 a 1.

Listed her as a flaker in FOPS.

Picked it up at the PO today, so I did receive from @Haole1

Yes, but she did not communicate with you or me about being late, lied about when she really sent it, and left a sarcastic reply to your rating and comments. I will not allow her in any of my swaps again.

Angels on standby:

@NaughtyElf
@sugarskull
@smmarrty

I will happily angel if you need more, Terry. (I have quite the butterfly experience to write about!) :)

HELP! I received butterflies from Myriam Guichard in France and I can't tell what the SB username is. I tried Nina and Nira and Nirou... No good. :(

Nevermind. It's @Ninou . :)

My goodness Leashah - haven't you enough on your plate? lol Thx dear!

Angels on standby:

@NaughtyElf
@sugarskull
@smmarrty
@Leashah

Obviously not enough if I'm volunteering for more. ;D

Current Cataloged Butterfly Total: 1088

Every last one is beautiful - and it is so much fun to see the ones made by the children too!

LIst me as a angel, too Terry. I think there should be a special place for somebody who would flake on this swap!

Over a thousand! amazing! How many people counted? Is that the final total?

Just over 100 of the swap participants are accounted for, @NaughtyElf . I've still got a LOT to do!!!

Slow and easy Leashah dear! (";)

Thx cherrybombgirl!

Angels on standby:

@NaughtyElf
@sugarskull
@smmarrty
@Leashah
@cherrybombgirl

Current Butterfly Total: 1486

You all are so amazing. As I open packages and see double and triple digit numbers of butterfly submissions, I'm so totally in awe!!! <3

ATTENTION:

@CraftyCrocheter : Your profile has something on it that is linked to a known malware site. Please check your images and hotlinks. I cannot send you a message or leave a comment, but I have received your butterfly submissions. THANK YOU! :)

Tonight's current Butterfly Count: 1652

WOOT! WOOT!

Leashah, I left @CraftyCrocheter a message on her profile to check back here. (I have a Mac.)

Is it weird that I am both extremely pround and extremely sad at the number of butterflies we have?

Hugs to you all.

I feel that way too cherrybombgirl...

I can also angel if needed. I didn't get to make any butterflies with my daughter because time didn't allow for it, but I would love to make some with her and send those in!

Current Butterfly Total: 2201 , From 171 Contributors

I have been having to catalog in 'chunks' because my camera battery keeps dying. How RUDE!

If you can help, I need usernames for:

• Val Donley in OR
• Janet Ciskowski in CT
• Inge DeCoeyes (?) in Belgium

And I need the following to message me their address, please:

• @chaospony
• @beinguided
• Inge DeCoeyes in Belgium
• @magnyette

We have cataloged 2442 butterflies so far, and should be able to finish cataloging all I've received by this evening! :D (At that time, I will be able to confirm whom I definitively have and have not received from.)

I have sent the above info to you Leashah.

Are you sorry you volunteered to do this now? lol

I cannot thank you enough (((((dear)))))!

Hahaha, Fearless Leader Extraordinaire @TerryF has saved the day and filled in all my missing blanks listed above, THANK YOU!!!

Not sorry, except that I had to take such a long time to get this done! It's been an amazing experience and I'm very grateful to have personally seen every butterfly. It's very touching! (I must admit I'm very glad to be getting it finished!)

All the butterflies I've received have been cataloged! (If you didn't receive a PM from me saying I cataloged your butterflies, I probably didn't get your butterflies! Message me or @TerryF !)

TOTAL: 3965

Leashah:

I have just pmd everyone whose butterflies you have not received.

I have also just pmd the angels to ask if they are still able to send some more butterflies to make up for the 6 confirmed flakers.

I will keep you informed. (";)

If you need another angel, Terry, let me know. ;)

Pming you MW! (";)

There is a push on right now to get the number of butterflies to at least 4,000 before our wonderful @Leashah sends them all off to Houston. (";)

While a few swappers' butterflies were unfortunately lost in the mail, they have kindly offered to re-send.

As well, to make up for the flakers, the following dear angels are making extra butterflies to send to @Leashah :

@NaughtyElf
@sugarskull
@smmarrty
@cherrybombgirl
@MichelleWillow
@blessedtwox

Finally, @Leashah and I will make a few more too.

I will take care of sending notes to anyone who asks to be angeled.

I wish it were more, but all I can do is express my heartfelt thanks to everyone who is helping out! (";)

Note for @CarlaDMG angeled by me.

Angeled butterflies have been mailed yesterday to @Leashah Hope she'll get them in next 10 days.

@Glory contacted me today to say she was going to re-send to both @CarlaDMG and @Leashah .

From Leashah:

Angel'd and/or ReSent butterflies received from:

@alishab
@nativegan
@camelsamba
@hannibal
@ryleighsmom
@punkergirl (or, um... @leosmom4life ?) - Received originals from her, not sent to the museum as previously stated.

<3 Leashah

I know I'm waiting for a few International butterflies, too. :)

I received butterflies today from:

@MichelleWillow (angels)
@TerryF (angels)
@princepeta (not in the swap but wanted to send some)

THANKS!

I input @principeta 's 23 butterflies, then I added @TerryF 's 12 Angel'd butterflies, and VOILA...

4000 BUTTERFLIES!!! :D

AND there are more!

Total as of today: 4044

(PLEASE don't say you want to go to 5,000 now. lol)

Nope, we're good. :D

I received some angel'd butterflies from @smmarrty today. :)

Yes, sorry it took so long for me to send but they got to you quickly.

I also received angel'd butterflies from @cherrybombgirl , and I received @oceanna 's resend. THANK YOU.

Current Total: 4078

Received a butterfly resend from @cbzcando today. THANK YOU!

And my daughter made one. :)

I am finally getting to the PO and sending my angel butterflies out tomorrow! Sorry it took so long but things have been crazy! Hope they help!

Thx everyone! (";)

Unfortunately, there is a downside to this swap: the flakers, who have all been reported in FOPS, AND those swappers who declined to rate some of these flakers the 1s that they deserve. (If anyone else in this swap was never rated for a swap they did send, please let me know and I will list them here as well.)

The following have been listed in FOPS as flakers:
@Mayte4U
@Salma92
@ksalcewi
@mauiwahine
@shari5
@smvlpn

I have also listed the following in FOPS as non-raters because failing (or declining) to rate people properly puts all of us good swappers at risk:
@esew123
@qofscrap
@ceecee
@katiewoo

I received angel'd butterflies from @NaughtyElf . THANK YOU!!!

Don't be too hard on @katiewoo I know her and have swapped with her several times, she has a career and is busy quite often. Maybe she just forgot about it. Has anyone pm'ed her about it? Would you like me to? Thanks!

Oh! And you are welcome for the angel girl, I love to help out!

Current Total: 4094

I have pmd all of the flakers at least once, and all of the non-raters at least twice.

I have only listed the non-raters as a last resort after they had confirmed to me in writing more than once that they did not want to rate their partners.

In addition, @katiewoo 's butterflies were never received the first time and she told me that she would re-send - but @Leashah has still not received anything from her.

However, @esew123 has just rated her partner a 1 finally, so she is no longer on the list and I have noted this in FOPS.

This is the updated list:

The following have been listed in FOPS as flakers:

@Mayte4U
@Salma92
@ksalcewi
@mauiwahine
@shari5
@smvlpn

I have also listed the following in FOPS as non-raters because failing (or declining) to rate people properly puts all of us good swappers at risk:

@qofscrap
@ceecee
@katiewoo

Hoping to get a chance to take this big box to the Post Office at the end of next week.

Any butterflies that are already in transit now, if received, will be forwarded to the Holocaust Museum separately. Thank you!

I am going to go ahead and archive this swap, I am so thrilled that all of us were able to make so many butterflies for this cause! Thanks you Terry and Alicia for putting this swap together!

Final Total: 4096

I'll be sending this on Friday; have to get The BF ( @SIMBA ) to carry it to the Post Office for me, the box is BIG! :)

Well, dear Leashah made a few more butterflies, so here are the

Final Numbers:

• 4100 Butterflies

• 224 Submissions
• 25 Countries (as listed in return addresses)
• 42 US States Represented

Just saw the photos on the front page. Congratulations to all and I feel so proud to have participated. Good luck with sending the big box and thanks to both Leasha and TerryF for this amazing experience.

Leashah!