It's much easier to maintain the clues if they are in a series. If there are 6 boxes and a trail is rerouted or a landmark no longer exists, you only need to edit 1 clue instead of 6.

This is so important! I think people have a skewed view of cat's traits and abilities. I'd always had dogs, so when I got my first cat 4 years ago, I raised him just like a dog. Everyone told me he'd become aloof and start ignoring me like a "normal" cat, but that never happened. And research has backed me up saying cats tend to reciprocate the attention their owners give them.

Anyhow, Sunny Bear rolls over, sits pretty, goes on hikes and bike rides, camps, and loves bouldering. He also has talking buttons that he bosses me around with, which I highly recommend if you have a cat like mine who started getting bitey out of frustration when he couldn't tell me what he wanted. The 1st set had 4 or 5 buttons and it took him about 12 hours to learn which button does what. Whenever a new order of buttons comes in, he runs over to the box, hits a button, and stares at me to see what I do, and I have to remind him it's not programmed yet. 😂 For the talking buttons to be effective, the pet parent needs to be consistent.

Perhaps today.

My advice is to allow yourself a good amount of time and don't skip anything that you may need to decode. I made an assumption about something and was wrong! Also cell service is very spotty in that part of the county.

Every now and then, I see a post on the Facebook AQ page about newer carvers lacking confidence in carving, and I get it because I used to feel the same way.

I wanted to share that I think you should keep trying. It probably took me about 100 carves (thank you Power Plant Challenge of 2018/19) before I felt good about how my carves looked and eventually got a compliment along the lines of “wow, this stamp looks wonderful, you’ve really come a long way!” We all start at different places, but with practice, people can really come a long way quickly. Letterboxers that have been around awhile can see it all the time.

I once heard a linocut artist say “if you can carve a heart, you can carve anything” because hearts have straight lines, inside/outside corners, and curves. My recommendation if you want to start carving something is practice or warm up with a heart.

Lastly, I hope you plant the letterboxes with image quality that you aren’t confident in, because it can really encourage new carvers. All the time, newer ‘boxers will comment on a stamp image quality and make a comment along the lines of ‘I could never do that.’ And my response is always “I used to think that too” and I’ll send an image of the first few stamps I carved and we can laugh at my beginning inexperienced carving skills together. Being a beginning ‘boxer and seeing other peoples beginning ‘boxes can be really encouraging. On top of that, when you can practice carving and planting simultaneously, you improve on both skills. Goodness knows, our first few plants are not in the best spots and are not at the caliber of a letterbox planted by the same person a few years later.

Anyway, I’m done with my rant of unsolicited advice. I just wanted to get it off my chest and throw it into the AQ message board void in hopes that it encourages someone. :)

I like the print-on-old-label-paper method anyway. The backings of UPS labels are just the right shine amount.

I tried buttons with my cat Perry, but they didn't seem to connect with him the way that clicker training and walks did. Sunny Bear sounds awesome. In my mind, Perry would be an adventure cat like that, but he gets so overstimulated so quickly that walking more than a half block from home is his upper limit.

Also called Typhon, this Card symbolizes materialism, addiction, and temptation.

Will you seek?

Also called Typhon, this Card symbolizes materialism, addiction, and temptation.

Will you seek?

When carving real lino, you need to make sure your gouges are VERY sharp. Battleship grey lino is a harder material than any of the materials we use for stamps.

Also, lino should not be used as stamps as there is linseed oil in the linoleum and over time it has a tendency to dry out and crack.

Lynn

The madness of King ConOLD.

Somebody just posted on the FB AQ page asking for experienced carvers to show their earliest carves. I thought that was a great request! My earliest absolutely don't reflect what my carving skill would ever produce. I never expected to be a carver that boxers would ever ask if I could carve something for them. Almost 20 years later...

You had the Power Plant Challenge, I loved carving for the trading aspect of LTCs. So I carved and I carved and I carved some more and would do LTC after LTC after LTC! I have a binder full of baseball card pages of LTC trades that I have done.

I look at some of my carvings and shake my head still and go "I can't believe I carved THAT!!"

To those who are just starting to carve, if you find that you like to carve, just keep carving! If you have ANY questions, ask away! I'm happy to help.

Lynn

You might want to invest in a knife honing arkasas whet stone and honing oil.

Here is a video for you to watch:

https://youtu.be/t10n_TzlMUE?si=7umW-3xeoK_9LOLq

Lynn

My experimenting with various printers and toner has yielded some information that I am happy to share.

I used to have a large color HP laserjet. The toner cartriges for that printer were very expensive and tried various knockoff toner cartriges that I found could be hit or miss with acetone transfer. So I purchased the smallest HP B&W printer and replacement cartridges are about $60, the toner lasts a very long time as most of my printing is just for image transfers. I only buy HP toner, it ALWAYS transfers.

At work we have a Brother Color laserjet. Initially, I discovered that Brother toner absolutely would not transfer with acetone. My agency started ordering knockoff toner and I found that it would transfer, not as great as HP transfers, but usable enough to carve.

Also, I noticed that HP toner and acetone leave the image a little tacky on the rubber, whereas the Brother knockoff toner and acetone are not tacky on the rubber.

My experimenting with inkjets is an ongoing experiment and so far not successful on either Epson or HP.

Lynn

I've regressed :(

I've created a public photo album where people can upload their first carves at https://www.atlasquest.com/gallery/view-album.php?albumId=246. Definitely add yours if it isn't there already, and share it with people who need the inspiration. =)

It also includes my own first stamp which was my signature stamp for my first 10 finds or so, if I remember correctly. (Then I got better and carved another stamp for the first 100 finds before settling on a turtle which has gone through several iterations over the years.)

-- Ryan

Perhaps not today.

Is it just not a good time of year to plant new letterboxes; especially in a small town?
Come find our newest box PLeeeaase Michigan hunters. Actually anyone. :)
It’s been over a month and not one find. :(. - Holding my breath, Team Mac

https://www.atlasquest.com/boxes/clue/?boxId=388600

I guess I'm one of the "old geezers" that found some boxes with your spider sig stamp image way before I ever met you. I think it was in the Columbia River Gorge in 2003.

I was pretty new to carving but joined a tracker... I needed to carve my sig stamp as a suspect. Stamped it up made the required cards and sent them off. They were returned to me, and I was told they were not good enough. So, I carved the one in my profile. Those were deemed worthy...

Everyone starts in a different place - and improve over time and practice. I love every stamp I've found and appreciate them all... the firsts and the 100th carves alike. Even now - I carve some stamps and look at them and think they are total crap... and then a couple I think are really decent. I no longer look for praise from others... it is so often not given.

What a wonderful idea! I haven't done any serious letterboxing in a couple of years but I miss it so much. It has been even longer since I've boxed in Hamilton. So many boxes are hopefully waiting for me there.

I will help any way I can. I do have a pile of stamps looking for homes.

Pam
Big Blue Team

Wow. Returning your cards was not a cool thing to do. My first LTC was primitive, but the recipients, many of whom are incredible carvers, were very kind to me, which encouraged me to keep participating in LTC swaps. I probably wouldn't have continued if that had been my introduction to LTCs.

I love looking at this album! It's fun to see how people's skills have progressed over the years.

As a person with no artistic talent I have made that statement many times. Just carving anything was a huge leap for me and even with years of practice I still can't carve as well as many others. At first it bothered me, but I finally realized that I still enjoyed carving even if I would never be great at it. I guess you could say I carve well enough to enjoy myself, and for some beginners this might be your first goal.

Even though I don't have artistic talent, I do have creative abilities, so that is what I concentrate on. Thinking of funny or interesting things to carve for a place I want someone to visit still gives me great enjoyment and even if nobody would find one of my boxes for its stamp, they will come to experience a new place with a creative stamp that might not win any awards.

I guess what I am trying to say is that because there are so many aspects of letterboxing to enjoy, find your niche and don't lament the parts you don't excel at.

I'm an hour and a half away. I don't know how much I can do but I'd try to help out any way that I can.

I actually do have that one saved on a list on ClueTracker (looove that app) and when I pull it up, I see I am 3 hours away so that’s not possible today, but next time I’m out visiting my family in Oakland county, I just might have to take a trip up to grab it.

I love cucumbers and would love to try cucumber ice cream.

I saw this video recently:
https://youtube.com/shorts/qOSxBgx7SHI?si=iwH-Y0LIFbfbQAjC

And it piqued my interest in wanting to try some

Oh I’m sorry ToriKisu, they dont have Cucumber Ice Cream. It’s a code word to give you the box.
Though I did see that same video a few weeks ago and it piqued my interest as well. So did the Parmesan ice cream video by him.

Thanks for thinking of us.

Before I started carving, I had exactly zero experience with art or crafting. My first carves were made with stencils.

Then I joined numerous trackers for micro postals, and I’ve upped my game considerably from the consistent activity (as well as a lighted magnifying glass and custom narrow gouges).

Compared to LTCs, the postals mean recipients get my actual stamp. That puts the pressure on me to make precise carves.

I posted my first and current giraffe sigs—what a difference!

Thank you, TRC. I did connect her with an old school letterboxer (in between you and me for time boxing) who is also considering hosting again. That could be fun!