The LTC Diet

Here are a few photos of my LTCs (the complete list is below).

I should be losing weight on the LTC diet. Instead of sitting in front of the TV every night and snacking, I can usually be found sitting at my work table... my hands busily involved in creating Letterbox Trading Cards. Since I started this obsession in February, I've created sixteen different LTCs and participated in eleven different LTC rings. I've traded individual cards with numerous other LTC artists throughout the U.S. and Canada. Now instead of dreading checking my mail to see what lurks inside the mailbox, I practically skip to the mailbox to see what fun LTCs may have arrived. Then to add to the fun, when I email the artist to thank them for their cards, I usually get such cheerful, fun responses back from them.

The following is a list of my LTCs:

Bag Lady

Dog Days at Double Lake

Into the Garden

The Happy Dance

My Cup of Tea

Dots and Stripes

TALE

Post Card From Texas

Upon My Word

Top Chef Quickfire

Song Lyrics: Starry, Starry Night

Amy Brown Art: Wine Queen

Bloomin' Garden: Iris

Deja Vu: Maypole

Homonym: Bare Bear

Self Portrait: Puddle Splasher

Top Down Excellent Adventure 2008

Each spring my sister, Viewfinder, and I take a little letterboxing trip. Actually before we started letterboxing, we just had our "excellent adventure", but for the past four years, we've added letterboxing to our excursions. One spring, we went to the Texas Hill Country and climbed to the top of Enchanted Rock, explored the region and photographed the abundant wildflowers. Another time, we went to Colorado and risked life and limb rafting the white water rapids of the Arkansas River. The highlight (or low point) of that adventure was when we flipped our raft going through the Royal Gorge and had to literally swim for our lives. Then one beautiful autumn, we combined viewing the beautiful fall foliage of New England with finding a few letterboxes along the way. Last year we letterboxed in central Texas, and this year we combined attending the Dog Days at Double Lake Event with a letterboxing trip to Lake Bastrop, and then on to Austin to visit the Lady Bird Wildflower Center.
While in Coldspring, Texas, at the Dog Days Event, we were treated to wonderful cinnamon rolls prepared by Boots TX, and enjoyed a tour of Lone Star Quilters' fabulous quilting retreat the morning of the event. There were a few showers throughout the day, but never enough to stop us from letterboxing and enjoying the comraderie of all those boxers in attendance. The boxes that were planted in the park at Double Lake were amazing. There were some that had been there for quite some time, and many, many more that were planted for the occasion. It took us well over 24hours to find all the boxes, and there were still a couple we had to leave for a future visit to the area. Dewberry, Boots Tx and Lone Star Quilter were wonderful hosts!
The next day was warm and overcast: just perfect for a top down Miata drive to Bastrop. We arrived in the late afternoon, but still had plenty of time to find quite a few letterboxes. First we visited the Bastrop State Park and found some older boxes that had been there for several years. Then went to the South Shores area and located some boxes that had been planted the end of March during the Fifth Texas Annual Letterboxing Event (TALE). All the boxes were certainly worth the drive.
The next day was another beautiful spring day in Texas. We spent most of our day enjoying the Wildflower Center in Austin, but still we found time to stop for a couple more boxes before heading back to the DFW area. It was a wonderful trip... an "excellent adventure"!

Letterbox Trading Cards

The LTC bug finally bit me. After hearing so many letterboxing friends talk about their LTCs and seeing some amazing examples, I just had to join the party. I struggled with my first card, "Upon My Word". The idea for my card came quickly, but I had to suffer through the learning curve of getting my printer to accept cardstock and how to handle other problems related to creating the look I was after. However, I was somewhere in the middle of assembling the first set when I came up with an idea for my next set.... and the set after that... and so on! I've not looked back. In fact, at this writing, I've just completed my tenth set since creating my first card on February 20th, just in time for the Ta-Da meet in Dallas. My second set was for the TALE 5 (Texas Annual Letterboxing Event - #5) in Bastrop, Texas. I was so thrilled to get to exchange LTCs with quite a few letterboxers at that event. Just before leaving for this event, I put my first LTC set in the mail for the "LTC #5 For First Timers" ring. At this time, I've yet to receive my exchanges in return, but I am anxious to see the other nineteen contributions to this ring. Each morning I read the daily posts of the LTC Board on AQ where I always pick up some great hints about creating, exchanging or mailing LTCs. It's really difficult not to sign up for each tracker that is offered, but I try to exercise some constraint so that I won't find myself over-extended.
Next weekend, I am attending the Dog Days at Double Lake event in Coldspring, Texas with my sister, Viewfinder. Of course I just had to make a new set for that special occasion, as did Viewfinder. I always try to make a few extra of each of my cards, so I will have some extra for individual trading. Let's trade! Check out my logbook on AQ to see what I have available and send me an email!

Trip to Oz

I just returned from a very special event in Houston, "Follow the Yellow Brick Trail". It was a very friendly gathering of letterboxers and their families. The boxes which were hidden for the event were amazing. I arrived in Houston armed with a stack of clues, but as usual, I spent most of my day at the Event, meeting and exchanging with new boxers and visiting with old friends. Finally a rainstorm drove us inside to a local restaurant where we continued the fun. After we were "refreshed", I went out on the trails with Dewberry and Mother of Five and one of her adorable daughters to find a few letterboxes. There were a couple of their devilishly challenging mystery boxes that I solved and just had to find while in Houston! The next morning, I got up early and braved the fierce humidity to locate a few more boxes before having to travel back to McKinney. There are so many wonderful letterboxers in the Houston area. This weekend was just enough to whet my appetite to come back before long and find more boxes. Just to top things off, just as we were arriving back home in McKinney, we looked up and saw a hot air balloon drifting over our neighborhood - it must have been the Wizard!