I may or may not be depending greatly on when it is. I am headed to FL on Monday until about April. Also finances permitting. I got too much on my mind right now, but I will try to brainstorm ideas.

Sorry to hear about your dad, Ffrogg526 

[Letterboxing]

So this is VERY delayed but thank you all so much for your compliments on my stamps. I have been off of here lately because something happened to my computer that I can't figure out. Out of nowhere it decides that it wants to take 5 minutes to load a page and freezes all the time. So I guess commenting with my phone will have to do for now, but not ideal. I wanted to comment to individuals but I will have to do that another time. So, again, thank you all!

Craftwise, not much going on here. I head south in less than two weeks so I have been prepping for that. I made 6 felt pouches for stamps that got sent out to other letterboxers to be placed in those states. I have carved two more stamps since the time I posted pics of all those stamps. They are for more wooden nickels that are smaller versions than the 1.5" standard size so I can fit them in smaller geocaches.

Ah yes, I remember now, many requests to know what letterboxing is. Letterboxing is like geocaching in the sense that you are looking for a container and a logbook. In geocaching you use a GPS to guide you,  when in letterboxing you use clues. In a geocache you find a container with a log to sign and you may find items you can trade for. In a letterbox there is a logbook and a stamp. The stamp is not to keep or trade. It stays with the box. You use the stamp to stamp into your own personal logbook to show you were there and found it. You also carry your own personal signature stamp. That sig stamp is to log into the letterbox's logbook to sign in. Mine is that Mickey Mouse. Did I explain that well enough? There are technicalities in both hobbies, but that is the gist of it.

I do letterboxing, so I like to carve stamps. Some get put in the letterboxes and some travel from letterbox to letterbox. Some of the less detailed ones are the size of a thumbnail. Here are the six I have done so far in 2013. The Mickey is my Signature Stamp that I log in to the logbooks in the letterboxes with and the "AlishaMisha 2013" is not for letterboxing, but I will explain that later. You will see the same Mickey in the next stamps. That is because mine got damaged, so this one is the recarve.


I am also a geocacher and have several signature items that I put into caches that people collect. One of the popular sig items that people have and collect are Wooden Nickels. Most geocachers purchase them and have standard pictures or text put on. Nothing wrong with that, but I like mine to be unique and, well, me...oh yeah, and cost effective. Thankfully my logo for geocaching is also that particular Mickey I use  for letterboxing, so I use my sig stamp and then I carved a new stamp, "AlishaMisha 2013" just for these nickels. I made about 26 of these this time around, because I ran out of wood blanks and I need to pick up another black ink pad.


All of the following are 2012 stamps. I am posting them here instead since this thread gets more traffic now...






Another 2012 project, Mini Crochet Thread Flower Pins.


And yet more 2012 projects...Another geocaching signature item I have are Mickey Marble Magnets that I sign on the back. So here is an example of a few of those (I made about 300), an example of some other marble magnets I made at the same time, and an example of the Lotion Bars I made for Xmas. The Lotion Bars are equal parts (by weight) of Beeswax, Coco Butter, and Sweet Almond Oil.


More pics of previously unpictured 2012 projects to come once I finish taking pics of the ones I am able to.

[kbrison]

kbrison - Thanks for the info! That is a good point about the combs coming in a variety of colors...hmmmm. Something tells me that comb may be the way to go considering I will be binding in large quantities. I already have the combs as I make logbooks out of the prepunched paper, but that can get expensive and doesn't give you much freedom on paper. Also, I have been able to get about 4 logbooks from one comb when I am doing the mini ones, so I am able to make the combs stretch far. I found a good comb binding machine at Staples that they had on sale for only $49, I am figure if I am patient I can run into that deal again. Thanks again!

[that1girl]

that1girl - Jeeze you must be a super fast knitter! I am impressed! You and alwaysinmyroom are like machines. I just don't understand. Even when my hands are in a blur, things still seem to take me a century.

trinalocakary - I'm sorry about the nerve issue in your legs. I know what it is like. I have nerve damage in both of my elbows that send painful shocks through my arms and fingers. It not much of an issue anymore in day to day life, but unfortunately I figured out that it gets aggravated when I knit and sometimes crochet. *smacks forehead* Hope you can find relief!

kbrison - What kind of binding machine do you currently have? I have been back and forth on what type I want (between comb and wire) and what brands. The Bind-it-All seems to be popular. I am a letterboxer and would find the machine helpful for making logbooks for the letterboxes, but since they containers they are in are sometimes exposed to moisture, I am afraid of rust. So that is my dilemma...

I am also going to be an auntie( but not the first time) sometime this summer.

Congrats! I have had a blast with my niece. She is at the fun age of 1 1/2 and it is fun to watch her grow and figure out the world. Bizarre to think she is going to be a big sister. I am curious on what the new baby will be like and how Michelle will react to it. She already gets jealous when her mom holds her younger second cousin. How many nieces/nephews do you have already?

On a crafty note - I haven't got much done at all this year. I carved 4 stamps, but that was on the same night. My brain wants to craft but my body is telling me no with a streak of migraines everyday for the past 1.5 weeks. I get them all the time, but when I have them everyday without a day to recover it just runs me down. So, not much from me, but I am sure I will be forcing myself to make something soon, and I am sure it will be baby related or probably more stamps for me to place in letterboxes in FL next month.

I'm going to be an auntie for the first time too!!!  I am soooooooo excited!!! Its hush hush right now too here and just like you my sil hasn't told her family yet, just ours, lol.  They're not going to find out so I'm going to be making alot of neutral baby things!!!

Congrats! Too funny that it is the same situation! I have to make neutral baby things in the mean time. I think they will find out. Last time they were going to find out but not tell us, but they gave in the same day they found out. I plan on making a cotton green hat for it and then if we find out it is another girl then I will probably crochet a flower to put on it. We will see... She is only 6-7 weeks along right now, so I have time. Though I have already planned a lot of the details for the baby shower. It's going to be Bee themed I figured it is gender neutral and my niece loves this bee song that she gets all excited about...

It seems as if everyone is pregnant or just had a baby.  My brother-in-laws wife and I have two cousins(3rd cousins) that are pregnant.  Then, 3 other realitives of mine just had babies within the past year.  And my sister and brother-in-law are going to start trying this summer.  Im glad that they are all excited about the baby mania, but I sure would hate to have to start all over again!  Our kiddo is almost a teen, and he has been a fantstic kid.  But the thought of starting over-dear hubby and me are like 'oh no no no no!'  With that being said though-I have plans to make some baby gifts this year.  I have bibs on my list already.  Im also thinking of some embroidered onesies as well.  And I want to make a deer hat for one of the babies too.

In my family there is ALWAYS someone pregnant. Usually 2 at a time. It has been that way my whole life. Right now the youngest generation in my family (the one below me) is going to have the first of a new generation. So, currently my SIL is pregnant and my cousin is pregnant. And let me mention that only half the 28 of us cousins have had kids. Now that one of their children will be having one it is a whole new generation to start counting.

Thanks Always