Pumpkin LTCs

I Love Pumpkins: My Pretty Pumpkin

This is my card for Jaybirders I Love Pumpkins LTC swap.  My card is called, "My Pretty Pumpkin."

I fell in love with this image of a perfect pumpkin with leaves and flowers.  I carved it up right away but didn't feel like coloring all the cards.

I went to my "go to" background technique.  I rubbed Distress Oxide ink pads on my craft mat and sprayed them with water.  Then I tapped my paper around in the ink and set them aside to dry.  

I stamped my stamp using a Distress Oxide ink pad (Peeled Paint) and smeared that same ink pad around the edge of the cards.  
 

Pain in the butt cards

These cards were originally for aMAZEing adventure frog's Summer Craft & Swap.  I had problems with the cards and sent them for the Autumn swap instead.  

I like Life is Good images and carved up my stamp of hiking boots.  I was not happy with how the text turned out.  I decided to just stamp the boot and print out text.  

I participated in a Tim Holtz LTC swap recently and discovered this wrinkle technique.  HERE is a video of Tim doing it.  I don't have a "craft iron" so I put parchment paper over the wet paper before I ironed it.  

Autumn Craft & Swap '21: Not all who wander...

The stamp, fancy stamp paper, and embossing were done.  You think assembly would be easy.  The bottom boarder is brown texture paper.  Then I cut some Tim Holtz map paper that was supposed to be smaller, but it wasn't.  I glued the boot and text paper to the map paper and that to the brown boarder but they were the same size.  

I threw that one away and cut the paper smaller.  I got one card finished and took a break.  Then my husband pointed out that I had an error in my text.  Do you see it?  So I had to reprint it.  Thankfully they are done.  

Entomology LTC

This is my card for Beetle's "Wacky, Weird, Unusual, Quirky HOBBIES" LTC swap.  Our zoo has a big entomology display and I thought it would make a fun card.  

I debated for while if I could turn the card size ways and fit two bugs but decided that one was enough.  I also ordered some wood grain washi tape to use as the frame but ultimately carved a stamp for it.

I carved the beetle and embossed it.  Then I stamped the frame stamp.  I thought I was done but just they looked to boring.  Again, I asked my kids, and they agreed that the cards needed some work.  I drew the pins to "hold the beetle down" and wrote "Beetle" under the stamp.  I have no idea what kind of beetle this is.  It just jumped out as I was looking for images.  And as usual, I should have carved it just a little smaller.  

Hobbies: Beetle

My cards are called "Entomology." I am pretty happy with them and I look forward to seeing what everyone else made :) 

 

Girl Scouts

This summer I helped local Girl Scouts earn their Letterboxer Badge at day camp.  We had a good time going thru the badge requirements, looking for boxes, learning some LB lingo, and stamping stamps.

Do a Good Turn Daily

I made LTCs and gave them out as SWAPS (Special Whatchamacallits Affectionally Pinned Somewhere).  I had carved this stamp a few years ago but I wasn't happy with it.  

The theme for day camp was Bee the best you can Bee.  So I stamped and embossing my image on bee paper.  I'm pretty happy with them.  I had several extra and I am hosting a Girl Scout LTC swap to pass them on. 

Mixed Media Bee

This is my card for aMAZEing adventure frog's monthly mixed media LTC swap.  I like mixed media stuff and I don't know why I haven't joined any of these swaps before.  You know that I often go to Pinterest for inspiration, and this card was my muse.  My card is simply called, "Bumble Bee" but I considered calling it chubby bumble bee :) 

The mixed media requirement was to use molding paste.  I used Ranger Texture Paste but we will get to that in a little bit.

To start, I cut some scrapbook card stock a little smaller than card size.  I tore some old text papers and glued them to the card using Matte Gel, going over and under the papers.  When that was dry, I added Distress Oxide Spray Mermaid Lagoon and water to the cards.  While that was drying, I caved my stamp, stamped it on vellum and cut it out.

Now for the texture paste.  I played around with a few different things here; I tried Multi Medium Matte, Matte Gel, and Texture Paste.  I mixed two yellow alcohol inks in with the paste, using a craft knife.  The Multi Medium Matte was too thin and turned green with the blue background.  I also played around with using yellow acrylic paint but stuck with the alcohol ink.

I didn't have a honey comb stencil but I have a few different pieces of sequin waste.  I bought my first Geli Plate on Etsy.   It was a kit that came with old text pages and this sequin waste (I guess that is what you call it).  I took the texture paste, added yellow ink with a craft knife, and rubbed it over the stencil.  

Mixed Media - Molding Paste:
Bumble Bee

Once that was dry, I stamped a gold ink pad on the honey comb.  I recently bought a Tim Holtz Splatter Brush and this was my first time to use it.  I rubbed Distress Ink Black Soot on my craft mat and sprayed it with water.  Then, I rubbed the splatter brush in and splattered my cards.  It was pretty messy and I'm not sure it was better than using a regular brush or tooth brush.  

I glued my blue and honey comb paper to black scrapbook paper.  Lastly, I attached my bee, some old school label maker text, and some sequins.  I thought about adding some glitter to the honey comb but one of my boys said the card was fine as it was.  I love my cards.  I should join more of these swaps.  Last month was "Corrugated".  That would have been fun :)

Continuous Line Drawing LTC

This year I am hosting a few LTC swaps.  This one is called Continuous Line Drawing and my card is Cassette Tape.  When I do an online search for images I often see continuous line drawings but I have never carved one, until now.

I saw that cassette tape image and thought it would be fun to do an 80's theme with neon colors.  I saw this video and tried to copy it.  

First, I cut out a bunch of "donuts" from cardstock.  Then, I rolled a layer of paint, put down the donuts, and pulled a print.  You pull up the donuts, put down a second color of paint, donuts down again trying to put them in different places than before, and pull a print on top of the first one.  

I really enjoyed making these but once I was finished I realized that I should have used music paper!  Oh well.  

For my stamp, I embossed it using Black Sparkle embossing powder.  I cut them out and attached them using foam squares.  

Continuous Line Drawing: Cassette Tape

I am happy with my cards and I will carve more continuous line drawings :) 

Homerdoodle 2021

This past weekend Boxing Turtle, Daddy's Favorite Princess, Lil Ewok and I attended the Homerdoodle event.  We left home at 8:30 Friday morning and drove up to Moonshine, Ill.  The princess and I had stopped here a few years ago with friends.  There were 2 boxes here but they have both gone missing.  We enjoyed some Moonburgers, got t-shirts, and planted a box.  

Then we headed to Casey.  The princess and I had been here before but they have added several new things since then.  And there were a few new letterboxes to find too.  We planted the first boxes here.  One of them has been marked missing and I checked on it while we were here.

Then we headed north to St Joseph.  We found 1 and planted 1.  I as hopping to get more boxes here but we were running out of time.  I had promised the kids that we would only box until dinner time and then the kids could swim at the hotel.  

We had dinner at the Cracker Barrel and got a box there.  We checked into the hotel and the kids swam for about 30 minutes.  They were pretty tired, we went back to the room, and I logged my finds and posted the clues for the 2 boxes I planted. 

Saturday, we got up, had breakfast at the hotel, and set off for Homer.  We checked in and hit the trails.  I wish someone would have remined us to use bug spray.  The mosquitos were horrible.  After walking the first trail, my younger two said they would spend the rest of the day in the car.  But we did get them out again and they enjoyed the nature center.  

We boxed until 5.  I told the kids we would have dinner on the way home.  We stopped in Paris and had pizza.  We got another box while we were close.  Then I drove until we got to Vincennes and Boxing Turtle drove the rest of the way.  He has his permit and needs night hours.  We got home about 9:30 pm.

For the two days, we found 146 boxes and 3 hitchhikers.  It was very different from a normal letterboxing event but we had a good time once we got the bug spray on.  

First Carve & New Sig Stamp

My youngest son, Lil Ewok, has been letterboxing since before he was born.  We started boxing in 2010 and he was born in 2012.  My other children were interested in boxing and stamp carving right away.  The Princess carved her first stamp when she was 4 years old.  For some reason, Lil Ewok has just now got the stamp carving bug.  He carved his first stamps this week.  He really likes turtles, so I transferred this image to rubber for him and he did the rest.  Then he got into my scrap bucket and carved 3 other stamps that he drew himself.  He is pretty proud :)

Lil Ewok has been using the same signature stamp forever.  In 2016, we went to a Homerdoodle event.  On the way home, my kids complained about having to stamp their stamps and write their trail names in all of the tabletop boxes.  I decided I would carve them new stamps with their names on them.  At this time, my 2 older kids changed their trail names and everyone got a new stamp but Lil Ewok.  We are going back to Homerdoodle this weekend and I have carved a new sig stamp for Lil Ewok.  Hopefully the rain they are forecasting will keep away. 

Anything Tim Holtz LTC

All the Ranger/TH stuff
I used on this card

I use a lot of Ranger/Tim Holtz (TH) products so I was excited to join Jaybirders, "Anything Tim Holtz" LTC swap.  I didn't do anything new for this card but it was fun to make.  I will walk you through it starting from the bottom and going up.

I like using text papers on my cards.  I found a Tim Holtz book of scrapbook paper that I loved.  I cut the papers to size and set them aside.  

While I was out looking for TH stuff, I found the film strip ribbon.  I thought it was cool and if the Magi would have had a camera, they would have taken pictures of their trip.  I cut ribbon in strips vertically and horizontally and glued them to the background.  Once the cards were totally finished, I realized that I like the ones where the film ribbon lined up with the star in the stamp best.  

Then I took TH watercolor cardstock and cut it to size.  I did a resist distress ink technique.  I stamped a music stamp on the paper with a VersaMark embossing ink pad, and I embossed it with Ranger white embossing powder.  I rubbed the distress inks (Chipped Sapphire, Blueprint Sketch, and Wilted Violet) on my craft mat and sprayed them with water.  Then I tapped a piece of acetate into the watered down ink and smeared it on my card.  One color at a time; drying the paper in between the colors.   

HERE is the video that I am trying to copy.  I have used this technique before and I wasn't totally happy with it.  The problem is, sometimes less is more.  I struggle with that and don't know when to stop.  I think these cards are much better than the last time I tried this.  

When that was dry I lightly sprayed the cards with Distress Mica Spray Tarnished Brass.

I roughed up the edge with the TH edge rougher.  Lol, what is the name of this silly tool?  I don't know.  It made a fluffy mess.  I glued that to my background.  (I Googled it and it is called a Thread Cutter/Paper Distresser.)

Now for my stamp.  I wanted to recarve a TH stamp but so many of them have tiny text that I knew I couldn't do it.  I saw some cards on Pinterest using a Wise Men die cut.  I love the image and carved it right up.  I stamped it on grey textured paper using a black VersaFine ink pad and fussy cut around the outside edge.  I stamped the star using Dew Drop Brilliance Galaxy Gold ink pad and Wow! Metallic Gold Rich Super Fine embossing powder.  I attached the Three Kings with foam squares and glued the star on with a craft glue stick.  

Anything Tim Holtz: We Three Kings

I was very happy with my cards but thought they needed something.  The bottom area of the stamp is plain and I went back out to the craft stores looking for the perfect TH thing to put there.  I thought about adding a brad but the cards were completely finished and I didn't want to tear them apart.  I found some TH paper clips.  I asked my daughter what she thought and she said they looked good.  

So, they are in the mail and I am looking forward to seeing the other cards and maybe learning a new TH technique :) 

Product Review: I wanted to add that I am not a fan of the Ranger Heat It Craft Tool.  It is ok for drying areas of ink but it stinks at embossing.  I bought it after watching video after video of bloggers using it.  I totally prefer my pink Paper Studio Embossing Heat Tool for embossing.  I included it in the first picture because I used to dry ink and not to emboss. 

TAP's March Madness

7c Worth of March Madness: Smile

This is the 2nd time Team Awesome Pants (TAP) has hosted a goofy paper swap. She bought some paper, cut it to size, and send it out to folks who signed up for her "7 cents Worth of March Madness" LTC swap.  

The paper I received this time was much better than last time.  HERE is the link to my blog post last time I participated.  For this paper, my first thought was Indian/Hindu.  I don't know much about that but I kept thinking about elephants.  I did an online search and this cute elephant popped up multiple times.  I decided to carve him and add the text.  

I stamped it on cream vellum with a gold ink pad and gold embossing powder.  I tried to use the embossing powder sparingly to make the cards look worn.  So, if you look at them and think, "Wendy needs to get a new embossing ink pad."  It was intentional.  And I'm not just saying that to cover a mistake.  The card that I kept for myself has minimal embossing.  I punched 2 of the corners, rubbed gold ink around the edge of the vellum, and added gold studs on the other corners.

I'm very happy with how my cards turned out and I'm looking forward to seeing the others. 

Disney LTC

This is my card for Disney Addict's "I Love All Things Disney" LTC swap.  Disney bought Lucasfilm in 2012 for $4.05 billion. 

I struggled to carve this stamp.  I had a large Etsy stamp order and was burned out.  I couldn't motivate myself to carve anything.  But eventually, I got my act together and did it.  I'm very happy with the stamp.

I Love All Things Disney:
Droid Friends

I have made saving cream backgrounds multiple times.  They are fun and easy to do.  But this time I am disappointed with the results.  I used alcohol inks instead of food coloring. 

I wanted blue for R2-D2 and orange for BB-8.  I did not have orange food coloring, so I used alcohol ink.  The color is very muted and I'm not happy with the background.  But I was running out of time and just made the cards.   

The shaving cream background to mounted to black paper. 

Christmas Monsters LTC

School Mascot: Christmas Monsters

This is my card for SLeaves "School Mascot" LTC tracker. Early in the summmer we decided that if the kids had to wear masks at school, we would not send them back. We think it is not healthy and safe to wear face masks for long times. So, we are homeschooling 3 of our 4 kids. The oldest is in college and moved home because all his classes went online. 

 For the card, I rubbed Distress Inks (Wilted Violet, Blueprint Scetch, and Pine Needles) seperatly on my craft mat and sprayed them with water. Then I rubbed and tapped my paper in the ink. I stamped and embossed my stamp. When that was done, I cut out the monsters. Since it had to do with school, I added some old, torn, text papers to the background. I glued everything together with a glue stick. I ran out of the one I normally use and had to borrow one from the kids. I hope everything holds together. 

When finished, I mailed the stamp to Jiffy for a recap of 2020 event. I also sent her a dumpster fire that I craved just for fun. I may carve another and hide it here in town. I'm having a hard time thinking of a hiding place.

2020 Christmas Ornaments

Christmas Ornaments 2020:
Clothes Pin Nativity 

This is my 5th year to participate in the Christmas ornament swap hosted by Moose on the Loose.  I make something a little different each time but I have decided to start a series.  From now until whenever, I am going to make clothes pin ornaments.  They are cheap and easy.  

This year I made this nativity.  I got the idea from Pinterest and there are a TON of clothes pin ornaments there.  I'm thinking about making a snowman next year.  

The ornaments must have a stamp on the ornament or on a tag attached to it.  Mine was on the tag with my sig stamp and AQ number.  

After just 5 years my little Letterbox tree is really filling up :)

Secret Santa Stamps

I believe this is my 9th year to participate in the Secret Santa stamp swap.  Bungalow Boxer had my name and send a pinecone/needle stamp, an awesome logbook, and some chocolates.  

I actually met Bungalow Boxer early this year.  She was passing thru town on her way to an event, and asked if I wanted to get together for an exchange.  It was fun getting a surprise from someone I recently met.   While in the area, she planted some boxes and I got them on Spring Break.

I am looking for a good place with pine trees to hide my stamp.  I wanted to stop and look at a cemetery yesterday but my family said no :(

I had Sherlock Miles and her sent this detective stamp I carved and a few LTCs.

Merry Christmas to all!  

Advent Calendar LTCs

I was excited when SLeaves posted the "Advent Calendar" LTC swap.  I like making cards/boxes for silly holidays and I immediately went to the interweb looking for fun holidays in December.   

My first day is December 12th.  It is National Gingerbread House Day.  I carved my stamp, stamped it on cardstock, and colored it with Copic markers.  I also went over the snow areas with my Scrapbook.com glitter brush pen. 

My second day is December 18th.  This is Answer The Phone Like Buddy The Elf Day!  I carved my stamp, colored it with Marvy markers and stamped it on cardstock. 

The one requirement from the tracker is that they have the date on them.  I have goofy handwriting so I ordered a few different stamp sets to use on the date.  

I'm happy with them and looking forward to seeing the other cards. 

Oh Come Let Us Adore Him LTC

This is my card for Disney Addict's, "Christmas Time" LTC swap.  Again, I went to Pinterest for my inspiration.  

For my card, I took playing cards, and used Gesso to glue down some old, torn text papers.  Once that was dry, I stamped my stamp, and colored it with Distress Crayons & a water brush.  I affixed my strip of text with a glue stick.

I wanted to add some glitter and set the cards, so I bought some glitter spray paint at the craft store.  It was a total dud.  The can did not work at all and if I could have found the receipt, I would have returned it.

Christmas Time: 
Oh Come Let Us Adore Him

Then I went to Walmart and bought some glitter spray paint and it had waaay to much glitter.  Even when I tried to go easy on the nozzle, it was too much.  

I used to have some glitter Mod Podge and could not find it.  I ordered some online.  It came and I loved it.  I loved that it had multi size glitter pieces.  I painted it on my cards and I'm quite pleased with how they turned out.  I'm very happy with my first Christmas LTC of 2020.

 

Fall Break boxing in Louisville

My kids are on fall break for a few days this week.  Yesterday, Daddy's Favorite Princess and I went to Louisville to look for the new Who Killed Colonel Sanders boxes.  I have been thinking about hiding a Clue series myself and wanted to find these boxes.   We left home at 7, stopped at McDonalds, and stopped to find a box at a rest area on the way.

We arrived in Louisville around 9:30 our time and found the first few boxes rather easily.  With the route that I chose to get us around the city, in a way I thought was most efficient, we discovered who the killer was, what the weapon was, and the room quickly.  The series has 21 boxes and we found 18.  Most of the time, when we box in Louisville, we visit cemeteries.  We really enjoyed all the places that these boxes took us.  

I planted a box while we were there and we left 2 hitchhikers and found none :(  I really like hitchhikers and rarely find them.  I will keep making them because I enjoy them.  I have an idea for a large series of hitchhikers that I can use my scraps to carve.  

Altogether, we looked for 23 and found 20.  I was worried that we would not be able to find them all in one day but we actually made it home before dark.  The weather was great, even though we drove home in rain.  

It's Fall Y'all and some boxing

 

It's Fall Y'all: Autumn

This is my card for jlsd0218's "It's Fall Y'all" LTC swap.  My card is called, "Autumn."  For this tracker, you were supposed to use some sort of embellishment.  As you can see, I used eyelets.  I bought them a long time ago but I don't know if I ever used them.

THIS was the inspiration for my card.  I considered carving a tree blowing in the wind but couldn't find just the right image.  

For the background, I used my Geli Plate.  I have been having problems with my plate lately.  Can they dry out or go bad?  I bought new paint at the end of last year and thought it may be the problem.  So I got new paint and it worked better.  I'm very happy with how the cards turned out.

Haubstadt, Ind

I went letterboxing last Saturday and had a great time.  The weather was beautiful and I found all 7 boxes that I looked for.  

I started off in Haubstadt looking for a box that someone planted passing thru. I also explored a nearby park.  Next month is my 10 year letterbox anniversary and I have been thinking about planting a ten box series.   I checked out a park that used to have a few trails.  Now it is a disc golf course.  I think I will plant there anyway if I can get my butt in gear and carve the stamps. 

Owensboro, Ky

Then I went to Owensboro, Ky.  Big jump, I know.  There is a new boxer there and she has planted a bunch of boxes.  I went over back in July and got some of the boxes.  This time I got all of them but one that is inside a library.  

A while ago, I got a message that one of my boxes in Owensboro was missing.  The area had flooded and the box washed away.  We went on a field trip to an orchard just 2 miles away and I had to check while we were so close.  I found the box!  It was in a pile of flood debris.  It was in bad shape so I cleaned it up and rehid it in a better place last weekend.  

I was great to be out boxing again.   I love this weather and all the awesome stamps :)

Autumn Craft & Swap

These are my cards for aMAZEing adventure frogs "Autumn Craft & Swap 2020".  There is no theme for these swaps and I usually make something for the season or holiday.

This card is kinda the fall version of my Water Lily card.  I cut light tan texture paper to card size, laid a wood grain stencil on, and rubbed Walnut Stain Distress Ink thru the stencil.  Then I sprayed the card with Tattered Angels Glimmer Mist Woven Burlap.  I cut the top corners off to make it look like a tag and rubbed the same distress ink around the edge of the paper.

When I had the bleeding tissue paper out to make my camping cards, I made some extra for the leaves of this card.  I painted water on watercolor paper, laid the bleeding tissue paper down, and I added a little more water on top.  Once that was dry, I stamped and embossed my leaf stamp, and cut them out.

Autumn Craft & Swap '20: Pretty Maple Leaf

You may recall that the water lily card has vellum and text papers.  So I added vellum and scrapbook paper to this set too.  I loved using thread on the other card and used twine on this one.  I think it needs a little extra color but I'm happy with it.

Brads

Brads: Patience 

Way back in the spring, I participated in Team Awesome Pants's A-Z w/Thee LTC swap.  I never made a blog post for those cards but I plan on it.  When she sent the cards back to you, she sent a surprise.  The surprise was brads.

She then made an LTC swap where you were supposed to make a card with the brads you received.  It was when I was working full time and I didn't really want to make the cards.  I also wasn't crazy about the brads I got.   But I felt guilty throwing the brads away and I didn't want to mail them back.

My brads were tiny, brightly colored birds.  I didn't like them because they were too small and the colors were too bright.  I went thru my paper stache looking for something loud that fit the birds.

I found this old pad of paper that I used a few years ago in a Bind it All swap.  You had to make some kind of book using your BIA.  I made little recipe books in the shape of aprons.  I thought they were cute.

I used scraps from that book to make these cards.  The cards also have a plain brown border.  My cards are called, "Patience" because the brad bird is waiting for the eggs to hatch.  You used to be able to make a synopsis of your "box" on the Box Details page.  But you can't anymore.  So I put in the Keyword box, "tapistryingmypatiencewiththesebrads".  XD