February is the Cruellest Month LTC

Dogwood Blossom LTC

This is my card for the swap "February is the Cruellest Month." I always look forward to seeing the Dogwood trees bloom in the spring so I made a card for it.

For the branch I tore some brown paper. (It seems that I am on a big paper tearing kick right now.) I painted the blossom with watercolor paints on watercolor paper.

My son, R2-D2, was born on the first day of spring so I will probably plant it then.  I made several extra if anyone wants to trade :)

First time flocking

Daddy's Favorite Princess and I tried flocking for the first time this weekend. When I started working on my first LTC I picked up flocking by mistake thinking that it was embossing powder. I got home and saw my mistake so I returned it. But this weekend we wanted to give it a try. We went to Jo Ann's, Hobby Lobby, and Micheal's looking for flocking powder. We eventually got it at Michaels.

I have been working on a 4x6 stamp for a Christmas postcard swap later this year. When the princess sees me carving a lot she wants to carve. So, she made a Hello Kitty stamp and when I showed her what the flocking was she had to use it too. On some of her cards she got a little carried away with the glue but they look pretty good. She used it on HK's bow.

Hugs from Snoopy and Hello Kitty Ballerina 

For my card, someone posted a Valentine's Day swap but it filled before I could sign up :( But I had already decided what I wanted to do so I made the cards anyway; just for fun. The image is one that I will be using on my Christmas postcards later this year.

Had I known flocking was so much fun we would have started using it a long time ago.

Kids Only-Boys

I am hosting some kids only LTC swaps.  My daughter doesn't like getting "boy cards" so I set up a girl swap and a boy one.  It is supposed to start in about a week.

The stamp and card at the top was made by R2-D2-age 8.5.  It is a Minecraft creeper.  He sat down to carve his stamp and after a while he brought it to me saying that he messed up.  It was a mess so we flipped it over and started again.  This time we talked about what he wanted it to look like so he knew what to carve away.  I mounted his stamp to foam because he carved a lot away on the back side.

The stamp and card at the bottom was made by Lego Clone Trooper-age 11.  It is the Tree of Gondor.  The tree is supposed to have stars around the top but he wanted to ink it up after carving the tree and test it out.  The ink covered the starts and he forgot about them until he was done caring the stamp.

The tree is embossed on the card.  Lego Clone Trooper likes to emboss and I help him with that part.  I will stamp the cards and he will emboss or vise versa.

Kids Only-Girls

Very Hungry Caterpillar by Daddy's Favorite Princess (5) 

I am hosting some kids only LTC swaps.  My daughter doesn't like getting "boy cards" so I set up a girl swap and a boy one.  It is supposed to start in about a week.

Back in November I participated in a swap about favorite childhood books.  According to my countdown widget the swap started 72 days ago and I still have not received my cards.

When I was making my cards the princess insisted on making cards too.  I told her it was for adults remembering their favorite books from when they were a kid but she didn't care, she wanted to make one too.  I finally gave in, helped her pick the image, transfer, and she carved away.  After the stamp was done she didn't bug me about the cards so I didn't bring it up either.

I set up this swap and told her that she needed to make the cards with her caterpillar stamp and she was very gung ho.  She wanted to do it all by herself.  So I let her; the bottom card in the pic is her original.  But she left them down where the baby could get them and he tore them up :(

A little while later I talked her into letting me help her.  I wanted to stamp the cards using the stamp press so the colors would look nicer.  She agreed and I worked on the front and she did her sig stamp on the back.  After a few cards I suggested that we punch holes in the cards like the holes in the pages of the book.  Well, she thought that was the best thing since sliced bread and she stopped stamping so that she could focus all her attention on the holes.

I think they turned out pretty good.  We will probably plant this stamp at a local library.

Quilt Squares

The quilt squares came yesterday and mine stinks compared to all the others. I am very excited to finally get them but I hurt my right arm yesterday and it will be a little while before I am actually able to work on the quilt.  I will post about it again when I get it finished. 

Busy with books

I have been very busy the past few weeks making books. I am participating in a Bind it All tracker. You have to make a dozen books of any kind. The only requirement is that they must have one hand carved stamp image on it.

I signed up and started looking online for ideas. I found a cute little apron recipe book and decided I would make it. I went to Hobby Lobby and bought some supplies. But then I went to Jo Ann's, found something I liked better there, and had to return my Hobby Lobby stuff.

I printed, cut out my template, and got to work. I had to make 12 books and they each have 7 pages. That means I had to cut out 84 aprons plus pockets. Of course I ran out of paper and had to go back and buy another book. It took me a few weeks to cut and construct my books.

Next, came decorating them. My mom has a Cricut and I was hoping that she would be able to cut out some shapes for me. But she didn't have the cartridge that I needed. She called around to her friends but they didn't have it either.  

I started looking for baking stickers to go with the colors of the recipe book. We found some, bought all that they had, and put the stickers on the pages. After a few days I noticed that some of the stickers were peeling off. So I had to find another way to decorate my books. I sat down and pulled off all the peeling stickers :(

I was back at Jo Ann's looking at other stuff and discovered that the paper I used and everything that went with it was on clearance. I bought some of those stickers, flowers, tape, and some punches to make my own flowers. I am really happy with how they are coming along.

I posted this pic on my Facebook page and I had a few friends who are interested in buying some. I am going back and making more while I still have all my supplies out. Maybe I'll make one or two for my Etsy store. 

Reflecting on 2013

Lil Ewok and I at my 300th find

2013 was a good boxing year for me.  I didn't reach my goal of finding my 400th box but I am ok with that. There are two boxes within 10 minutes of my house that I could easily run out and get but I am trying to show the planter that I have standers.

Nashville, Tn

In 2013, I went to my first out of state events.  In August, the whole family went to an event in Nashville, Tn.  We had fun meeting new people and finding boxes.  It was interesting to see how other people do things.  Then in November, my boxing buddy and I went to an event in St Louis, Mo.  We enjoyed going over before the event and boxing.

GS Camp

I taught Letterboxing at two events.  I had about a dozen people show up at a class at the library.  Then I helped 85 Brownie Girl Scouts earn their Letterboxing Badge at Day Camp.

I love making LTCs!  In 2013 I made 35 and "found" 554.  I also hosted my first LTC swap.  It was a Christmas swap and I quickly added a few more that are due in 2014.  I have 2 Kids Only trackers and a Life is good one.

In 2013, I stuck my foot in the door of the postal world.  I have gotten 9 postal singles and I am thinking about joining a ring.  I am also pondering sending out a postal single.

Over all my find count was down from last year.  We have less boxers now and that means less people planting for me :(  In 2012 I found 154 traditional boxes and in 2013 I found 148.  I planted quite a bit more in 2013 than 2012.  In 2012 I planted 26 traditional boxes and in 2013 I planted 39.  I am about ready for my first plant of the new year.

Another new thing in 2013 was my Etsy store.  My husband had been bugging me about selling stamps so I gave in and started a shop.  I had 3 sales in 2013!  I thought for sure that it would so nowhere.    I have some new logbooks coming out soon.

I have no letterboxing goals for 2014 but I am excited to see what will come.  My noxer husband often bugs me about wasting gas while letterboxing.  I have promised to cut back and there isn't much for me to look for anyway.  I am thinking about making a quilt.  I recently joined a Facebook group where everyone made a mystery quilt and it looks like so much fun.  This has also got me to thinking about barn quilt squares.  There is a whole trail in a county near me and I want to check them out.  And maybe plant a box or two ;)