GS Day Camp-Day 4

Passing around the box of the week.

Today was the last day that I was helping the Brownies earn their Letterboxing Badge and we mainly talked about stuff.  We discusses camouflage, good hiding spots, muggles, maintenance, and Leave No Trace.  The girls had asked me about stamp carving so I showed off my tools but there was no way I was going to let 20+ K-3rd grade girls carve.

Passing around the Thank You Cards.

Most of the stamps that the girls found this week were donated so we passed around a "Thank You" card for them to stamp.  And they passed around the official stamp of the week.  When we were all done I gave them a handout with letterboxing info for their parents and gave out my SWAPS.

Carving w/ the big girls. 

The older girls were having an overnight tonight where they were going to do some night caching.  I went back to camp to talk to the girls briefly about letterboxing and talk them thru stamp carving.  They will hide their stamps tomorrow for a scavenger hunt.  All in all, it was a good week.

GS Day Camp-Day 3

One of the requirements for the Brownie Letterboxing Badge is to find a box by solving a code.  I hid 3 boxes that were written in code and the girls had to work with their partner to solve the code and find the box.

The day started off with a little rain but the girls didn't seem to mind :)

  Here are some pics of the girls solving the clues: 

The girls found a HIPS box on the back porch.

There was a micro box hidden in the herb garden.

Stamping the box that was hiding under the stone. 

GS Day Camp-Day 2

Today the girls went and looked for some letterboxes.  We had planted 9 boxes for them but we were not sure how far they would get.  The girls come in groups of 20-25 so they did not get very far.  The first group of each day is our "guinea pig" group.  Both yesterday and today we changed things up after the first group left.  Today when they first group left we split the girls in half and my son took half to find some boxes and I took the other half.  So each group got to find 3 boxes.  I think we will have some extra time tomorrow to get the ones we missed today.

Here are some pics of the girls lined up to stamp the stamp.

GS Day Camp-Day 1

Me showing off a box. 

I have been working for a few months now to get things together for Girl Scout Day Camp.  They asked me to help the Brownies earn their Letterboxing Badge.  I carved stamps, received stamp donations, made logbooks, containers, clues, etc.

Today was the first day of camp and it started off very wet.  But for this first day we had planned on being inside anyway.  We talked about what is letterboxing, what do you do, what do you need, etc.  Also today the girls assembled their logbooks and stamps.

Putting logbooks together.

Making stamps. 

For stamps the girls just put a foam sticker on a plastic bottle cap.  I had the logbooks mostly assembled before camp.  We used three paper lunch sacks and folded them in half.  Then we punched holes on the fold and tied the bags together with yarn.  One of the requirements for the Letterboxing Badge is to make a dictionary.  I had typed one up and they put it in the openings of the paper bags.

My sons, Lego Clone Trooper and R2-D2, were my helpers for the day.  We saw four groups of girls with about 20 in each group.  They were late getting started with the rain but once things got going it went well.  I am looking forward to tomorrow where the girls will go out and find some boxes.

Happy Trails Hitchhiker

Ellis Park, Henderson, Ky

Recently a person in California posted on the Kentucky AQ board that they wanted to get a Hitchhiker to the commonwealth of Kentucky.  There are very few Kentucky boxers so I offered to plant the HH for them.  The stamp arrived in the mail and I was surprised to see that it was a horse racing stamp.

Just across the state line in Kentucky is the horse track, Ellis Park, and the there is a letterbox there.  I thought it would be the perfect place to leave a horse racing Hitchhiker.  

My logbook from 11/11 and today (6/13).

I had found the letterbox at the track in November 2011 but I had forgotten what the image was exactly.  When I arrived it was cool to see how similar the stamps were.  I stamped the logbooks and left the HH behind.  The box is a Blue Diamond on a busy highway and I am sure that it will be picked up in no time.  

Biggest Stamp Ever!

Big side of the card.

Ok, maybe not the biggest stamp ever but the biggest stamp that I have carved :)

My sister's ex-husband is getting re-married and his fiancee asked if I would carve a stamp for their "Save the Date" postcards.  I said yes and she made it very clear that she wanted the image to take up the entire card (3.5 x 5.5).  I looked at some wedding clipart and sent her some that I liked and she picked the one that she liked.

Address & info side.

This is only my second time using OZ and I think I don't like it.  It is really hard compared to the pink but since she is going to use it a lot this is what I carved it on.  I think it turned out pretty good considering that I have not carved a lot of letters.

I stamped one up and sent it to her in the mail.  I hope she likes it!

Stopping at 100

Last month I said that I was going to carve 200 stamps for SWAPS (Special Watchamacallits Affectionately Pinned Somewhere) for Girl Scout Day Camp.  I got started and made 50.  Then I started having eye problems.

I went to the doctor and he said that I had pink eye.  He gave me eye drops and wanted to see me again in two weeks.  After a week I ran out of drops and my eyes still hurt.  I called his office and he called me in different drops.  When I went in for my two week check up he was surprised to see that my eyes were still bothering me and he sent me to an eye doctor.  The eye doctor says my problem is just allergies.

So now I am behind on my SWAPS.  Our camp is the last week in June but with all the other things I have going on I don't think I can make it to 200.  The 100 stamps that I have made will be enough for the girls coming to the letterboxing program.  I am glad that I got all of my other stamps finished very early on and that I am not rushing at the last minute to get the important ones done.