Mixed Media Tree

I am in the "Mixed Media Frenzy" LTC swap.  I really don't know what "mixed media" is but I have received several collage cards recently so that is what I wanted to do.

I stated before that I had an idea to carve a plain tree stamp and use it for several seasons.  This is actually the first card that I started using it on.

For the background I took playing cards and Mod Podged strips of paper on them.  I used a phone book, old map, and parts of the news paper.

Then I took my tree trunk and stamped it on the cards.  For the leaves I placed a stencil on the card and painted the leaves.  I put the stencil on one way and used one shade of acrylic green paint.  Then I moved it a little and used a different shade of paint.

I wanted the cards to have a quote about trees but it needed to be short and sweet.  I found one by Ralph Waldo Emerson that says, "The creation of a thousand forest is in one acorn."  I liked it so I printed it off and carved up a small acorn stamp.

I glued the strips of text on with a glue stick and used raised glue dots for the acorn.  Then I glued the whole thing to some tree scrapbook paper.  I added that the quote was by Emerson on the back.

When I had the idea to make these tree cards I really didn't plan to make them all so close together.

Vincennes Again & Lepidoptera

Caboose at Princeton Train Depot

My letterboxing buddy, G-MA, and I went boxing together on Friday.  About 2 weeks ago someone passing through planted a box in Vincennes.  It is about an hour away so I was not in a big hurry to go get it.  But when MiSs cHiEvOuS nEsS was in town for our recent event she planted a box in Princeton which is half way between Evansville and Vincennes.  I had planned on going for the boxes on Friday and G-MA contacted me to see if we wanted to go together and I said yes.

The Princeton box was at the Princeton Depot.  There is another box here but G-MA and I already had it so we didn't check on it.  We did look around inside the building for a bit a talked with the workers who were not very friendly.

Gibson Co Quilt Square

Gibson County has a trail of quilt squares.  We saw several on out trip and this is the one at the depot.  G-MA thinks I should plant a box at each one.  There are 212!!  I can not do that but I do need to check them out and see if any of them have good hiding spots.  Maybe that can be an idea for next year. I don't know, plant a quilt square once a month?

The box in Vincennes is planted near a running track.  It was a beautiful day so G-MA and I sat at the bleachers and talked for a while.  We ate lunch at a Chinese place in Vincennes and then headed home.

Lepidoptera  II: Question Mark Butterfly

This is my card for the Lepidoptera II tracker.  When I first made the card I really liked it.  But the more I look at it the more I hate it :(

It's Back!

Bonnie Hunter's Celtic Solstice 

I just got my Bonnie Hunter's Celtic Solstice back from being quilted!  I just have to trim the edge and add the binding and I am all done :)  Now I know what you are thinking, "What does all this quilting have to do with letterboxing?"  But I discovered the quilt on Atlas Quest.

I believe that I have talked about this quilt before but I thought I would explain it again.  This is a mystery quilt.  I didn't do it that way but that is how it started.

Back in November, Bonnie Hunter posted on her blog what fabrics you needed for the quilt (what colors, sizes, etc).  Then once a week for 5 weeks she posted what blocks to make, what size, color, etc.  She gave step by step instructions.

Quilting up close.

As people when along they posted pics of their progress on the Facebook page.  Then on Jan 1st, Bonnie Hunter reveled what the finished quilt should look like.  Everyone also posted pics of their finished quilts and I fell in love with them.  So I made one too and I love it!

I probably should have made it a little wider but my husband can sleep on the short side :)~

Something Old, Something New...

Make Mine a Double!:Roses

I am in a LTC swap that was originally called "Make Mine a Double."  Then the name was changed to "Pete & Repeat."  But I have been calling it the "Something Old, Something New"
swap.

For this swap you had to use a stamp that you had before the swap was listed and use one that you got/carved after the swap was listed.  You also had to use stuff (paper, ink, embellishments, etc) that you had before and some that you got after.

I had a lot of ideas for this card.  For one of my ideas I couldn't find the old stamp that I wanted.  While I was thinking about this card I got the news that Housepitality Hostess's husband was killed in a card accident.  Then, I wanted my card to be meaningful.

For this card I used my old rose stamp.  This is the third card that I have used it on.  The stamp and all the papers are old.  The rose stamp is embossed.  The quote about thorns is new and so is the bee.  I think they turned out pretty good.

Today is the first day of school.  If you are keeping track, I started this blog 2 years ago when my kids went back to school.  Now it is just me and Lil Ewok at home.  Bitter sweet :)

TN to Turoni's Event

Last night we met at Turoni's for a little event.  MiSs cHiEvOuS nEsS was in town from Tn.  Her son attended a local summer camp and Team Awesome Pants organized the event for the day they were picking up their son.

I am always surprised how people travel far and wide for events.  We had MiSs cHiEvOuS nEsS from Tn, BBStacker & Cootie Queen from Va, aMAZEing adventure frog came over from St Louis, Team Awesome Pants is from the Indy area, and the Gumbies came from Ill.

We had a lot of fun talking and passing around stamps.  The event was at 8pm so we ate before we went.  Daddy's Favorite Princess and I enjoyed a brownie but Lego Clone Trooper and R2-D2 brought their own money and ordered a pizza.  Silly boys :)

Paducah, Ky

4 different Log Cabin quilt tops

This year has been the year of quilts.  Back in the fall I found a Facebook group making a mystery quilt.  (I actually found the group through AQ.)  The group was making Bonnie Hunters Celtic Solstice.  I had never heard of a mystery quilt but at the beginning Bonnie Hunter tells on her blog how much fabric to buy, what colors, etc.  She gives you a few weeks to get everything together and then every week for 5 weeks she tells you what quilt square to make.  She tells what size, colors, gives step by step instructions, etc.

On January 1st, Bonnie Hunter has the big reveal and shows how to assemble the squares into her Celtic Solstice quilt.  Every one on the Facebook page was showing their progress and finished quilts.  Earlier this year I decided that I had to make the quilt.  I got all my materials together and completed the top in just a few weeks.  When I was done I sent it to a local woman to quilt it and I am eagerly waiting for it to be finished.

Outside the National Quilt Museum

During this process my kids have really enjoyed watching me make the quilt and then they all wanted quilts.  The first quilt I ever made was a Log Cabin quilt.  So I told the kids that I would make a bunch of Log Cabin squares and they could arrange them.  I just finished the tops this week and to celebrate we went to the National Quilt Museum in Paducah, Ky.

Paducah is about 2 hrs southwest of us and it has 5 letterboxes (now 6).

You are not allowed to take photos inside the quilt museum but here are the kids goofing off with a sculpture outside.  While we were there we planted a box nearby.

 Also in Paducah is a RR museum and it has a letterbox inside. You might recall that we went to a train museum on spring break and it was awesome.  Well this one was not so much.  Oh well, you win some you loose some.

Oak Grove Cemetery

There were two boxes in a local cemetery and they were easy to find.  However, the grounds crew had nothing to do on this gloomy rainy day so they drove in circles the whole time we were there.  We ended up taking the first box with us to the second box because they were hanging out too close to the first one.  We eventually were able to get everything back where it belonged.

Just down the road was a nice large park.  It had a cool amphitheater that the kids ran around on while I stamped the near by box.  We were almost attacked by ducks on the way back to the car.  The park had several play grounds so we had to stop and play for a little while.

The last box we looked for was another Whispering Giant mystery box.  This is our third one to look for and the second one that we have found.  These stamps are amazing!  If you haven't looked for one, you should!

Wacinton made of Red Oak 

We had a great trip.  The quilt museum was nice, we found all of the letterboxes that we looked for, and the kids were pretty well behaved.  We did miss our turn on the way home and went a little out of our way.  I always tell the kids that letterboxing is all about driving in circles ;)

July Nonsense

July Nonsense: And I'm Cute

This is my card for the "July Nonsense" LTC swap.  She is Dot from the Animaniacs and the card is called, "And I'm Cute."

The Animaniacs was my favorite cartoon in middle/high school.  The three main characters were the Warner bothers and the Warner sister, Dot.

They made Animaniac fabric and my mom made me some shorts with it.  Later she made me a quilt and added some of the extra fabric to it.  I also had a small figure of Dot glued to the dash of my 1st car.

I carved this stamp for the "Whatever You Want to Carve" postal tracker last year.  But then I was to chicken to sign up and she has just been sitting in my extra stamp drawer.

I stamped the stamp on white cardstock with black ink.  Then I wanted to color the skirt and flower with some kind of blending markers.  I bought some Tim Holtz markers and a water brush/pen but it didn't really work how I would have liked.  For the nose I just used a fine red Sharpie.

I got a Cricut Cuttlebug for my birthday and I used it for the pink background.  I glued everything together with a glue stick.  I really hope I am able to find the blending markers next time I want them :(

Favorite Childhood Cartoon Character: Dot

EDIT: Of course as soon as I sent these cards off someone listed a LTC trackers for "Favorite Childhood Cartoon Character."  So I have made another version of the card.  This time I just stamped it with back ink on pink cardstock and rubbed a little ink around the edge.