New Year & Box of the Month

BOTM Fall 2016

Happy New Year!  We spent the first day of the new year like we would any other Sunday.  We went to church and out to lunch.  We tried to see the movie SING but were turned away because the seats were full.  They have recently remodeled one of the theaters in town.  They took out every other row of seats and put in reclining seats.  So, less people can see the movie.  Sounds like a bad idea to me but they didn't ask what I thought :/

BOTM Fall 2016

I participated in BOTM for 2015 & 2016.  I got to thinking, that I posted about BOTM every month in 2015 but almost never in 2016.  I guess 2016 was pretty uneventful as far as BOTM goes.  It didn't go missing like 2015, it was a drive by and much easier to get to by all.

In the fall I took a few pics of changing leaves in the cemetery but never posted them.  I tried to take more pics but my phone died.  I am thinking of carving a stamp of the Celtic cross and hiding it near by.

A local boxer is taking my place in BOTM in 2017.  I am so excited!  I get to be a finder this go round.  She posted the new box yesterday and we found it today after we saw the movie SING.  We loved the location of the box.  The kids goofed off while I stamped and I had to have a pic of the wall.  The box had a HH in it and I had 2 but they were are home.  I will make sure to drop them in my bag so I can pass one on next month.

BOTM January 2017

As for 2017, it will probably be pretty low key.  No planting 100 boxes for an event.  I have joined the "Google Doodle" postal, I am back in the ornament swap, I have some event donations in my pile of stamps to carve,  I hope to make it to the Ohio prairie event, of course LTCs and a few traditional boxes.  TTFN :)

Summer Craft & Swap

This is my card for the "Summer Craft & Swap" hosted by aMAZEing adventure frog.  My card is called, "Pooh :)"  This is the stamp that I send out last year for the BOTM.  It came back in one piece so I made cards and re-hid the stamp.

I got the idea for this card on Pinterest.  It is similar to my Gesso ones but this time you glue the papers down using Gel Medium.  I think I like it better than Gesso.  Also, I got on Etsy and ordered some new papers.  Some of them are from a German dictionary & encyclopedia.

After the Gel Medium was dry I sprayed the card with Dylusions London Blue, Vibrant Turquoise & water.  When that was dry I sprayed the cards with Tattered Angels Glimmer Mist Dragonfly.  Then I let the cards sit for a day.

For the clouds, I used white acrylic paint with a Tim Holtz Bubble stencil.  It dried quickly and I added the Pooh quote, which I got on Etsy.  This part also comes from the Pinterest link above.  You stamp the stamp on tissue paper, tear it out, apply Gel Medium to the card, put the tissue paper down, and apply Gel Medium on top.  The instructions said that the tissue paper would disappear, and it didn't.  I am a little disappointed that you can see the tissue paper but I really like the finished card.

Then I attached the Pooh image with a glue stick.  I have used Mod Podge on card backgrounds before but never covered the whole card with it.  I decided that I wanted the cards to be shiny and I would cover the card.  But I learned pretty quick that the Dylusions sprays will run/smear when you paint the Mod Podge on :(  So I covered the Pooh first and then the rest of the card.  You have to keep it lite and fast.  I put two coats of Mod Podge and it smeared a little the second time too.

Really like how these cards turned out :)

Happy New Year :)

First plant of the new year :)

I spent part of the first day of the new year out boxing and caching.  I planted a new box in Santa Claus, In and did maintenance on 3 boxes.  I also found 3 geocaches while I was out.  I have a feeling that I will find more geocaches than letterboxes in 2016 :(

I will be participating in Box of the Month again in 2016.  I know, I said I wouldn't do it again but I love getting the stamps.  I have already had one finder on my 2016 BOTM.  The last stop for my 2015 BOTM was St Louis.  I hope it didn't wash away in the floods.

Lumpy Cards: Peacock Plumage

I am using my 2016 BOTM stamp for an LTC swap. These are my cards for the "Lumpy Card Lovers" swap.  They are called "Peacock Plumage."  Fun name.  They have cardboard, encyclopedia & music pages, paint chip, burlap, twine, and a rind stone.  I really enjoyed making these.

The Peanuts Gang: Typical Linus

I guess 2016 will be the year of the postal.  I am already signed up for 3 (counting BOTM).  I am in "The Peanuts Gang" and "Star Wars Characters."   My Linus is ready to go and I have my Ray image transferred and ready to carve.

I have been carving a lot of Etsy stamps lately.  Last year it slowed down around the holidays but not this year.

I hope everyone has a happy & safe 2016 :)

October Box of the Month

2015 Pumpkin Carving Party

This weekend we took a break from stamp carving to carve some pumpkins.  We always have a pumpkin carving party with my parents, sisters, and nieces.  This year we also celebrated one of my nieces 16th birthday and she invited a few friends.  Fun was had by all.

I just retired my October BOTM.  It has had a few extra finders lately.  There is a family from Ky and another from Al that has been coming up to Evansville once or twice a month.  They have been finding my boxes for the past few months.  It is nice to have some new finders but I wish they could plant something for me.

Lake near my BOTM

In my previous post I told that I planted a letterbox/geocache hybrid.  Well, it was not approved :(  I was disappointed, frustrated, and angry.  I had to go out pull the box and find a new hiding spot.  I hid it this morning and got word this evening that it had been approved.  I will never plant another geocache again.  Why do they make it so hard?  Oh well, it's over now.

I am feeling lazy and I think next month I will hide my BOTM closer to the trail head.  If we get any snow the locals will thank me.

Waterfall near BOTM

Friday is my 5 year letterboxing anniversary.  I will celebrate with a new box of course.  I wanted to plant it today but Lil Ewok wouldn't cooperate.  We are going to do it first thing tomorrow morning.

July BOTM

Found a geocache

July has been busy and it is time again remove our Box of the Month.  The box had only one finder again :(

When we dropped it off there were many fungi on the trail.  They were white, tan, orange, and yellow.  It was neat to see so many different colors on one trail.

First Finders on 2 new letterboxes

When we retired the box we looked for a geocache in the area.  It was this dinosaur in a tree with a Bison Tube in it's mouth.  The tube has a logbook in it.  Now don't tell, but we couldn't get the logbook out!  We counted it as a find anyway but I guess we need to add tweezers to our letterboxing bag.  I have some in a pocket knife in my purse but I locked it in the car.  Oh well, the young ins had a great time finding the cache.  I believe that there are others in our area like this that are Disney characters.  We may have to try to look for them too.

Cool leaf bug :)

So while we were out we found 3 Munzee, 2 Letterboxes, and 1 dino in a tree Geocache.  And a cool leaf bug :)  I don't know why the person who planted two new boxes here didn't look for my box.  It's really frustrating.  I am pretty sure that I won't do this BOTM thing again.

May Box of the Month

In April my BOTM box went missing.  I planted our May one at a completely different location and it had less finders.  The original park I was using was centrally located.  Me & my boxing buddy are west siders but I think most of the fair weather boxers are east siders or are from Newburgh, the town just to the east of us.

The new location is the University of Southern Indiana on the west side of town.  Now a few years ago we had some very active boxers in Mt Vernon, the town just to the west of us, but they quit boxing.  However they have recently said that they are back and one of them came to our restaurant event a few weeks ago.  I am surprised (and frustrated) that they didn't get this one.

When Lil Ewok & I planted this box he fell in the water of one of the creeks and insisted that I take off all his clothes.  That's what is going on in the first pic.  The princess went with us to remove the box and they stopped for a minute so I could take a pic.  She wants everyone to know that she is holding a cicada shell.

Oh, well.  The box had only one finder in the month of May but it is on a beautiful trail that is easier for me to maintain.  And I am pretty sure that is has a lot less muggles than the previous location.

April Box of the Month

When we planted our April box we stopped to help a turtle cross the road but when we picked up our April box it was missing.

I looked all over the area for it but it was nowhere to be found.  And whoever took it, took my bonus box too :(

April was a bad month for BOTM.  One box is stuck with the postal service and another box was muggled.

So, when the May box arrives I will be looking for a new hiding spot.  And I plan to leave a note at the old hiding spot to see if I can get the box back.  That probably sounds silly but I feel really bad loosing someones box :'(

Box of the Month (Jan-March)

The Princess & Lil Ewok helping to pull the Feb box

Hi guys.  Sorry I haven't been posting lately-boxing has been slow :(  So I thought I would talk about my box of the month.

In January, the local box I planted had 4 finders!  We had a mild January and I was surprised by how many folks came by.

Our February was very cold and snowy.  My kids missed 4 days of school and had 3-4 two hour delay days.  This box only had 2 finders (not counting my kids).  The box that I sent out didn't have any finders in February.  I am in SW Indiana and I am sending to Michigan. I think it is safe to say if it is cold and snowy here, it is worse there.

Trail in March

In March, the trail that I am planting on has been very wet.  Once again this box only had 2 finders (not counting my kids).  One of the finders was someone passing through.  It was the only box they got while in town.  Technically this box may have had 2 more finders.  There are 2 stamps without names and dates on them.  I am not sure if someone new found the box or if kids were messing around.  Hopefully things will dry up soon and the box will be easier to get to.

When I pulled the March box today I noticed some yarn bombing at the park so I stopped to take some pics.  I have heard folks talk about yarn bombing but had never seen it in person.  It was very pretty.  While I was out I got 2 Munzee's.  With letterboxing being so slow we are looking for other games to play.  I probably won't do this a lot but thought I would check it out.

Yarn Bomb at Wesselman Woods

Box of the Month & Gelli prints

Me, Daddy's Favorite Princess & Lil Ewok

This year we are participating in the Letterbox of the Month club.  Twelve people sign up, make a stamp and a logbook, and hide it for the first month.  Then, like a postal, you mail the logbook and stamp to the next person and they hide it for a month.  And it goes on and on until you get your own stuff back at the end of the year.  

Yesterday we got our box for February and we planted it today.  In the pic is me & the princess.  Lil Ewok was mad that I would not let him bring his blanket on the walk and he would not face the camera.

I have a cousin who is a geocacher and when she comes to town she caches.  The last few times she has loaded up all the kids and went off geocaching.  Now the princess thinks caching is more fun than boxing because you "get prizes."  So we have looked for a few and not had much luck.  We looked for one today and couldn't find it.  I give up; it is just too stressful looking for something with no directions.  

On a happier note: I told you that I got a Gelli plate last Friday and took it to a GS leader retreat.  I had a lot of fun playing with it.  These are my first prints.  I am using my Gelli plate on two cards and will probably use it a lot :)