All Ready to Go for the New Year

I have been having trouble finding my logbooks here in Alberta. I spent a day running all over Calgary… office supply places (Staples seems to be the only one here), and art supply stores (sell nice little sketchbooks for 9.99ea. ~ yikes!!

So…. I finally ordered 30 from Holsts Office Supply in Hanover, Ontario and sent my Dad (lives 20 minutes away in Mount Forest) up to get them. Then…. they (my parents) passed them off to my brother (and finance) who are truck drivers. They met me in Calgary (at their truck yard) the week before Christmas and delivered them to me. So… here they are ~ and now I am all set to go!

I have also purchased 6 more L&L boxes…. now to get out the black duct tape and finish it all off.

I currently have one carved (I`m just putting the finishing touches on the box) and one more on the go to finish by Sunday afternoon. Then I need to work on the hollow book for the library “Publishers”  box.  I don’t know whether planting a library box (with their knowledge and permission) will net me a workshop or not.  If not, I can always host one at the ScoutShop again.

 

Next up will be some additional winter boxes ~ likely the Green Meadows & Green Forest ones for the APAL day on Feb. 2.

 

Then… it will soon be time to think about carving for a spring event.  I’d like to have lots of boxes ready to plant at Jumpingpound for a May 26, 2012 event.  I’ve already asked for a bunch from Ontario.  I think I’ll put out the word southward also, see if there are any carvers out there who want to send a stamp my way.

 

On a side note… it was fun over the holidays to welcome a very enthusiastic new LBer to the forum.  She is from Fort St. John, BC, which is just across the border from Edmonton, AB.   (about a 5 hour drive I think).   She accidentally found one of Bumble’s HHH’s in Burlington, ON while visiting her mom.  And that set the ball rolling.  She already has a stamp carved and has done a bit of boxing in Burlington.  I hope she will help populate the north of the province if I work on the south.

On Monday, Jan 2, I am planning a trip to the south of Calgary to get 5 LB’s that are there.  I also plan to plant 2 more of my GM&GF stamps while there.  (Alex want’s to stop at EB Games to pick up a new game, so he has agreed to come with me ~ ha, ha!!)

Anyways… creative juices are flowing and fingers are carving and all is well in the world of LBing!!  ON TO THE NEW YEAR!!!

Mini-Meet a Success

Just home from the first Calgary Mini-Meet and Carve Event. It was great to meet some new letterboxers, get reacquainted with the 4Sailors and have a chance to do exchanges and practice some transfer and carving techniques. We shared some good food and lots of ideas and inspiration. I didn’t take any pictures but others did, so as soon as they post to AQ I will be able to add a few pics here.  (I spent most of the time either talking/sharing or stamping my images ~ sig stamp and personal traveller) into folks books.  But I still enjoyed myself immensely.  Thanks to BiblioTech for the photo!!

The one big hiccup of the day occurred because I decided to be “smart” and take stuff to the office ahead of time.  (The event was in the same building that I work in).   So I got home on Thursday night (it’s over an hour drive to the office) and discovered that my carving material was at the office.  So…. no EVENT stamp completed.  However, this is not a complete loss.  I told people to keep a space in their books.  I will carve over the next week and then leave it at the shop counter for them to stop in and stamp into!!  Fortunately, everyone lives fairly close and will be able to stop by for it once it’s finished.

And…. I was given a large slab of the coveted ORANGE PZ Cut by the 4Sailors!!!  Who… hooo…..   I can’t wait to carve it.  I am too tired tonight, but you can bet I will be churning out as many stamps as I can fit on it.

Last week I drove all over Calgary trying to find the  Hilroy Pocket Sketch Books that I use for logbooks…. no go!!! I couldn’t find them anywhere.   So I’m going to order a huge bunch from the Office Store in Hanover (where I buy them) .  Mom will pick them up for me (they live 20 minutes away in Mount Forest) and my brother and his fiancee (they drive truck and come to Calgary often) will hopefully bring them to me some time.

So, now I just need a few more lock ‘n locks…. they do have those here….. and I’ll soon be ready to go with a pack more new carves/letterboxes.  It will be a good project for the winter…. along with learning to fiddle.

Oh…. and this week my boss told me he’s sending me to Regina for a training session.  So I will have a chance to plant at least three more of the TransCanada letterboxes that just didn’t make it into the wild on our last trip through.

Yup…. this is more than a hobby…. it an obsession!!  Lovin’ it!!

Prep for a November Mini-Meet

My early November mini-meet / carving event is turning into a not-so-small meet.  Amazingly, there are 11 people currently signed up for the event.   I was expecting two… three at the most.

So now I’m preparing.  Firstly… to set up a bit of a presentation on the computer including an overview of AtlasQuest and a look at LbNA.  Some image selection and preparation, transfer and then on to carving.  It should be a good day of exchanges both of stamped signature images as well as ideas and techniques…. (not to mention a couple of personal travellers).

I have four stamps ready to go for new letterboxes.  I will likely have a couple of more before the event.  They will be permanently planted around the city.  However, I’m not anticipating that they will be found on the day of the event… after all, that’s not what it’s for.  But I will give out the clues to those that come and give them a chance to find before I post them publicly.

Also been working on an event stamp.   I really like this image

but I just can’t get it to transform properly into a line sketch for carving.  I think I’m going to just try a trace (basic bush, building, bridge and river’s edge outline shape) and see how I like that.  We’ll see.  I’ll figure something out.  Then to add the words… Calgary Mini-Meet, Exchange and Carving Event.  November 5, 2011.

This is way more exciting than work!!!!!

 

Thanksgiving Monday Letterboxing Trip

After a nice big meal on Sunday, my family consented to accompany me on a LB trip out towards the mountains on Thanksgiving Monday. It was sunny when we started out… sun and clouds for most of the day. And the temps got up to about 12C, so it was actually a fairly nice fall afternoon.

We began southwest of Cochrane by turning down 68 toward Jumpingpound Demonstration Forest where we were able to pick up BlueJs Northern Owl… a quick and simple find.    We feasted on our picnic lunch on the tailgate of the truck while the eyes of numerous cattle watched from the nearby woods.

  

Then it was across to the Kananaskis Trail (Hwy 40) and the Colonels Cabin Historic Site where we were able to pick up Blue Js Falcon.  This is the kit that I wear while letterboxing.  My husband is threatening to make up T-shirts for he and Alex identifying them as muggles.

Then on toward the mountains.   The next was a fairly lengthy hike up Heart Creek toward the waterfall where we were unable to find The Playmakers Heart Creek Trail box.  Too bad.

 

Still further west to Dead Mans Flats and up to the gates of the Banff Gate Mountain Resort.  This trail quickly and easily yielded up No Moose by 8 Bare Feet.   And then on still further west to Canmore where we picked up The Three Sisters by MPBS in the heart of a very touristy (and busy) downtown.  Time to head for home.  On our way back along Hwy 1A we made a quick stop at the Ghost Reservoir Provincial Recreation Area to pick up Crimson Lake Grouse by Blue J.

Our day ended at Dairy Queen in Cochrane for a treat _ reward for a hard days work.  All in all, a successful and happy day.  Thats pretty much it for the close boxes.  All future trips will now be further afield with less rewards along the way…. that is until I get more Albertans carving and planting.

First Find, First Carve & First Event

Well, I’ve finally settled in enough to get going with letterboxing. Last week on a lovely fall afternoon I stopped at the Bowmont Natural Area to pick up Blue J’s Bowmont Duck…. my first Alberta find. Yeah!!!

I have also been working on a series from Thornton W. Burgess’ Green Meadows and Green Forest series. A couple of nights ago I completed my first carve. It is Danny Meadow Mouse. I’ll likely plant it this week, although I’m not going to post any of the clues until after Nov. 5. I have planned a mini-meet/carving event at the Scouts centre where I work for Nov 5. This is where I will get a chance to meet at least two or three Alberta letterboxers, including Blue J and BiblioTech. I plan to give out the clues for all my planted boxes (I hope to have at least 3 or 4 by then) out at the event. I will post the clues several weeks after that, to give all of them first crack at it.

Hopefully, I will be able to encourage everyone to get out there and get planting so we can get a good base of letterboxes(ers) in this fair province I now call home.

Fall in Alberta

As I sit here this morning, 5 deer came to graze in the front yard. The sun is now up and the bluebirds are still chittering and swooping around the yard. It is a PERFECT fall day for letterboxing and I am missing my friends who are meeting today at Rockwood Provincial Park in Ontario for the annual BoxON Event. Wish I could be there with you, just for this day!!

I have attempted 2 LB’s so far (of the number already planted here) and neither of them were there. It is disappointing. So many ideas are floating around in my head right now. I’m collecting images and preparing to start carving again. My first set will be in green spaces around Calgary proper. Then I think I’ll do up a library series (or two) and get a couple of workshops going. We need more Alberta Letterboxers!!!!

As I drive around and explore the countryside, so many ideas in my head.  I don’t think one can ever run out of ideas to carve and places to plant ~ can they?

Settling Down and New Clue Site

Things have finally settled down a bit. We are getting settled in a new home (not too many boxes left to unpack) and the new job is getting more familiar. So…. last weekend i had the chance to take the time to go through all the Alberta letterboxes and collect clues and maps. Mind you… they are very spread out, so I won’t be getting them all at once. But I am starting to think about finding a few of them. And I’m starting to think about plants as well. I know it will be a while before anyone comes to find them, but I still follow the old adage “if you plant then they will come”. So… life is somewhat back to routine and now LB can be a part of things again. Yeah!!

My husband pointed out to me a website where I can create my own website FOR FREE.  It is called WIX. com.   It seems much more navigable than the old google docs system.  So I am gradually transferring all of my clues here.  So far, I  have completed all of the Ontario Labyrinths, and all of the Trans-Canada Plants.  And I’m starting in on the Niagara Escarpment Series.  Hopefully, it will be more user friendly than the old method, while still giving me the creative license that I need to post clues.  Check it out.

Alberta Bound!!

Anyone else have that Stompin’ Tom song running through their heads???   As my last post stated the news is official.  By May 6 or 7th, I will be on the road to Alberta.

My plan is to spend some time on the first day in Muskoka.  I have a couple more labyrinths to plant and a hubcap or two to drop at rest areas.  Then over to Parry Sound to pick up a couple of fiddleheads/kirbert boxes (and several others) before heading northward.  My sister-in-law will be joining me in Parry Sound for the drive west.  She is a rookie (avid) letterboxer, so it will be fun to spend a couple of days with her.  We will be stopping along the way at all of the letterboxes I planted on my trip west (to Saskatchewan) last spring as well as planting 14 new ones between Sudbury and Calgary.  I had these all carved and ready to go a while ago, so it was just a matter of finishing up the boxes and logbooks.   (I had almost enough already purchased…. I need two more L&L’s and 1 more logbook and I’m set to go).    Oh, and I will be leaving behind 6 new mini’s in the library in Owen Sound.  (I got permission and even recruited a new letterboxer ~ the head librarian).  She and her husband take motorcycle trips around NA and they were soon heading for Gettysburg, PA.  I told her I thought there might be lots around that area.  She was really enthused!!!

I will try to remember to take photos as we go, so I can post the story when I have a chance!!

Last Big Ontario Letterboxing Trip ~ for a while anyways…

So… the news is now official. I am moving to Calgary (area). I will be leaving within the next two weeks. I really wanted to get in one more day of letterboxing to bring my find numbers up to 200 before I left. With Friday the 22nd (Good Friday and Earth Day on the same day) looking to be sunny and warmish, I decided that was the day!!

I left home at 5:00am to take best advantage of the day and headed for Penetang.  First stop Caragouha outside the little village of Lafontaine.  I love these kinds of letterboxes with history in out-of-the-way places.  Unfortunately, the box was missing.   Then I stopped in Penetang to pick up Champlain which had been frozen in place a month ago.  Then over to Victoria Harbour to the Hogg Bay Trestle Bridge.  Unknowingly, I had also planted a hubcap at this same rest stop (before the clues for the bridge LB were posted), so you can pick up two letterboxes here with one stop.  Another great history lesson and a cool spot.  Then on to Orillia to try for Not Your Typical Grannie at the Stephen Leacock summer home…. missing.  Next down to Barrie to the Arboretum to plant yet another labyrinth.  This is actually a replant of #4 which was originally at the Guelph Jesuit Centre.

Next I headed for Bradford.  I was determined to finish up the Green Forest Series planted by Trailfeathers at Scanlon Creek Conservation Area.  I had attempted these twice before and the final two had eluded me.  By reading the directions (and following them) carefully, I was finally able to pick up Peter Rabbit and Johnny Chuck.

Next I headed for Hockley Valley.  I also really wanted to complete the Celtic Animals series placed here by Trailfeathers.  I had missed the last box on my first attempt (although I realized where it was about 15 minutes after I had passed the spot, but didn’t have time on that day to go back for it).   The Irish Wolfhound was an easy find once I realized what had happened with the clues.   AND….. I met a family with two young girls hiking the loop that were really interested in what I was doing.  (I passed them going in and then met them again on the way out.)  So,  I told them about letterboxing and gave them the clues (since I was done with them) and the AQ address.  So maybe some new letterboxers have been “born”.

I finished the day in Orangeville with the Ontario Wildflowers series (found the Marsh Marigold and Red Trillium but didn’t make it to the last one) and the Erindale Park series (found Strike a Pose and All Dressed Up).  By the time I finished at Erindale Park the wind had come up (biting) and it had begun to rain.  With 9 finds for the day, my total finds are up to 199.

Unfortunately, I don’t have any pictures to show for it because my camera was sitting at home on a shelf.  Argh!!!

Just Can’t Stop Thinkin’

So even though we are likely moving and I don’t want to leave lots of LB’s behind for someone else to “mind”, I just can’t stop thinking, planning and carving.

I was thinking about Fiddleheads’ Five Cent Christmas Songs in the library in Guelph to use up her small pieces. So I have come up with a Publishers in the Library series. Once again (like the labyrinths and the hubcaps) it turns out to be bigger than life. Just by going around opening books in my house (OK, I have a lot of books. A couple of weeks ago I took 120 boxes of books, mags and files to the storage unit in anticipation of our move. And there are still lots of books here in our house), I was able to come up with 80 symbols for different publishing houses. (In all fairness, some of them did come off the internet). Anyways…. I am going to do 10 per library and finish with a hollow book (holding the logbook, final stamp and ink pad) in the reference section of the library. Owen Sound is all ready to go. I plan to stop in today and visit with the librarian to get the go-ahead. I’d publish a picture (’cause I’m pretty happy with the end result) but I don’t want to post a spoiler for all you Ontario boxers out there!!