My goal is to plant every single one of them. I figure what good is it in doing anyone (esp me) in a drawer. But I must admit that I have had 9 boxes ready to plant in the trunk of my car for almost a year. Life got in the way but my 2025 goal is to get these planted.

I plant some, give some to event hosts, and give some to a local letterboxer who loves to hike way more than me and she plants them!

Hahaha! It works out well, since I love to plant but don't like to carve! I'm always grateful for your awesome stamps, stereosister1!! 💗

Funny how you knew I was referring to you! ❤️

Very interesting. If I don’t meet my 2025 goal…expect a package.

I have an idea for an upcoming tracker but I want to see what more seasoned creators think of embellishments hanging off the edge of an LTC. Think tree branches poking off or tentacles wrapping around the edge. I also posted this on one of the LTC Facebook pages.

This sounds like a fun challenge! I will say, a lot of people use card sleeves that don’t have any wiggle room for overhang. But I think creativity going out of bounds is worth the break in uniformity :)

As long as they can "fold in" to allow them to fit in a standard card sleeve there should be no problem. If they can not be folded to be 2.5" x 3.5" then they should be listed as oversized or undersized.

Oh, I think if the size of the overhang fits in 3 1/2 × 2 1/2, then the card itself is slightly undersized, I think that would make it fit the size criteria. That way people can still fit them in baseball card sleves

I might go with Orchid's suggestion to simply categorize it as an oversized when you select the type ... Go ahead and make it known ahead of time in the tracker that it'll be an oversized card tracker.

I think I'm just going to save the idea for an oversized card tracker when one pops up or if I decide I'm brave enough to make one myself.

Usually an oversized ltc is for postcards going individually through the post office. Can't imaging how something hanging over the edge would survive the USPS.

I've read the earlier responses and agree mostly. I'll add this: it depends on what the hanging off pieces are like, by which I mean I can imagine a double wide card with a multi-stamp scene or group of people or animals. Then some parts of the extra width are trimmed off, leaving just the parts that are needed for the image. The "too wide" parts then fold back behind for storage, and a sleeve would protect them from damage unless the card is displayed. It would be standard size until it's unfolded.
Is that what you're imagining?

This. The tree limbs (or whatever) could be adhered to a folding flap.

Here's an example of a card we did that was quite a bit oversized but did fit into a sleeve.

Front

Back

Maybe make the actually card 2x3 and the overhang cannot go over 2 1/2 x 3 1/2

This way it can fit into the sleeves and you can still have the overhang.

I keep my LTC’s in a binder with sleeves and if I get one that is too big, postcard size or just won’t fit. I take a plain piece of paper and slide it in the sleeve where that card would go and write “In front pocket”

I have done multi "paged" LTCs before. So thst they fold open, then up and out. I started with a 5x7 paper with 1 2.5x3.5. area removed all sides are stamped and decorated with the last side having sigi and card info. They fit into a card sleeve and then into a 9x9 card sleeve page. I don't have images to share.

The first time is was for my second ever ltc - The GREAT GREEN Trail: Springer Mountain . If you look at the finds you will see some active peeps that may still have it and might be able to show it to you. Each area had at least one carved Stamp and maybe my original sigi carved with a pencil eraser metal holder.... oh in the days of walking 5 miles to School all up hill in 3 foot of snow.

The latest one I did like that was C.S. P.O. 500 F.A. while I believe it only has one Stamp, each page tells a little about the subject. All of these finders are very active and could share an image.

These were my way of sharing as much as I could in a 2.5x3.5 area.

There are binder pages with different sizes. I have one, two, nine and twenty pocket pages. Most LTCs go in the nine pocket pages. For a postcard tracker I was in, I use the two pocket pages. For quisps, I use the twenty pocket pages.

Hey, has anyone jammed their laminator before? Is there a trick to getting those small pieces out of the machine without buying a new one?

I have some experience using a laminator, but I don't understand your situation. I use the laminator to laminate paper between two plastic sheets. All layers are put into a protective sleeve before going through the machine. So it's not clear to me what small pieces might be stuck in your machine?

I don't have a laminator so I am not familiar with the situation.

However, I think that photos would help to diagnose the condition.

All fixed. Hubby ended up taking the laminator machine apart and pulled out the 3 little quisps that were stuck. He said they just wrapped around the roller. No wonder it wouldn't come out. They just went around and around and around.

Thanks anyway folks. Yesterday we just couldn't figure out where all the screws were. Turned out you had to take the rubber pieces off the feet, and the screws were hidden in there. ;)

Soooo, I keep seeing advice from others, to others, involving "washing your stamp." This is the 1st time I've heard of doing this.

Why wash the stamp?
What is it washed with?

This may seem like a silly question, but we are still learning ♡

☆Dawni (Wind)

There are multiple reasons for washing stamps. On the trail, it is a thoughtful, though not necessary, gesture to not leave your ink on the stamp because the next person may want to use a different color. Another reason is that some inks are very juicy and stay wet for a long time in their baggie. In that situation, sometimes even removing a stamp from the baggie can be messy. Again, this is not required yet is why some people wash or wipe off a stamp after stamping it in their logbooks. That said, people do somewhat expect to get their fingers only when letterboxing.

Event stamps can sit for a long time in between events or whenever they might be used again. There are hosts who will wash all of the stamps after an event so that they are as clean as can be and look nice for the next person who might use the stamps. This is also not required, yet it is absolutely considerate. Receiving a bunch of gooky stamps back after loaning them to someone else can create a mess when the owner unpacks them and also leave the owner having to clean them.

I wash stamps with a stamp shammy (which I just learned about last year) or, if they are very inky/gunky, a brush. In either instance, I do not use more than water. I blot dry the stamps and then lay them out to finish drying.

Other people may have different reasons, yet those are a few that I can share with you. 🙂

this link went to a 30 piece set. do they need replacing very often? there's 3 colors....... are they different in how they work, or just different colors. this looks like something that would be great especially for an all day outing.

thanks
condo

Oh, Dear. I thought that I linked to the smaller set, but maybe it defaulted to my last order, which was for giveaways at an event. Maybe this one? I wash them as well as I can in water by rubbing the shammy under the faucet. They stain, yet they still do the trick. Each shammy lasts for a while.

There are a bunch of ways to do this. I will say though, even in the rubber stamping world there is controversy... so who knows what is wrong and right.

Anyway I've cleaned stamps in a few ways. Sometimes I'll use water and a washcloth to wet and blot off ink (vigorous rubbing will damage the stamp so I just blot with this method). Other times I will use one of the fluffy stamp cleaning pads and stamp cleaner (the cleaner smells a little and I think has glycerin in it to "condition" the stamps, but the verdict is still debated on if it pulls moisture from the rubber degrading it faster or if it actually conditions it) I have also found little bottles of stamp cleaning fluid with like a dauber on the end for cleaning on the go? Then lastly I grew up around a woman who was very into rubber stamping and card making, she used baby wipes to clean her stamps.

So what I'm saying is there are many ways to clean a stamp.

warm water
paper towel
dish soap
blot
been washing them this way for almost 20 years
no problems

PS, Don't forget a soft toothbrush for those tiny crevices when needed. ;)

I give my stamps a quick wipe/blot with a damp water and folded paper towel or swipe with an alcohol pad (that's what's on hand sometimes because I am a nurse! LOL) but my sister who takes great care of her stamps uses something like this

https://www.thestampmaker.com/Products/KIT-Stamp-Scrubber__STAMP_SCRUBBER_KIT.aspx?srsltid=AfmBOoqlsBjes1GxoYPCNLjejWl9knsTZ9dFmG6a0mpUxIzcB0GeXfv1tZ0

and the DIY recipe for the stamp liquid cleaner solution is:
2 tablespoons glycerin (able to be purchased at any local pharmacy section of store)
8 oz. distilled water
1 teaspoon baby shampoo/wash (like Baby Magic or Johnson&Johnson)

I don't use a "scrubber pad- I just use a piece of foam--- because I am thrifty like that! :)