But in the end . . .

Each time I begin a new LTC project, I am faced with a big challenge or two. The challenges always seem to differ, though, with each card making it's own demands for creativity and each piece of carving medium asking the question, "What are you going to keep, and what are you going to carve away?" At other times, it's the basic card idea that seems to be so elusive.

When I joined the the recent Star Wars swap, I knew almost immediately that I was going to carve a quotation. Ideally, I wanted a portrait and a quotation, but portraits have proven to be a bit out of my league. (Call me a chicken; I don't care.) I knew that if I could find the right quote, though, the rest of the card would follow.

Given that it was SHH's Star Wars swap, I wanted a quotation that was particularly meaningful to her -- and one that she hadn't already carved, herself. Tall order, don't you think? The odds were against me, but I started poking around on her blog anyway. I even picked her brain for favorites. Nothing seemed to satisfy me.

So, I slept on it. *smile*

When morning came, everything began to unfold! This was going to be my "All About the Swap Hostess" card.


THE BACKGROUND

Now, this one was going to be tricky. You see, I still wanted a portrait in the background, and I am a stubborn girl. What I could not do myself, I would just have to commission someone else to supply. That "someone else" was my daughter, a budding little artist, who graciously agreed to undertake the project. I used her sketch for the background. Don't ask me what I paid her -- it was not nearly enough!

Isn't she beautiful?

THE STAMP

Buried somewhere in SHH's newly rearranged Ruminations blog was the quotation I was after -- not just any quotation -- no, it was to be her own words! Here's the catch: I wanted it in her own handwriting, too. (No problem. Every computer comes with the SHH font installed with the operating system, doesn't it?)

I pulled out my stack of SHH LTCs, along with the little notes that accompanied them, and got to work. One letter at a time!!! Copy. Scan. Crop. Copy. Crop. Copy. Crop.


Fourteen rounds later . . . voila!
Not a perfect forgery, but every letter was indeed her own.
What do you think?



THE CARD

Yes, in the end, she's a Jedi.

Maiden Voyage

Back in March of 2007, I put the following thoughts online:

Once upon a message board, a letterboxer named dragonflies asked, "Does anyone here make and trade ATCs?" She elaborated later, and a new twist on an old idea was born.

Most of you are familiar with some type of trading cards, especially baseball trading cards. (We used to get these in bubblegum packs.) In addition to these, many of you are also familiar with nonsports collectibles, such as Artist Trading Cards -- small works of art traded among artists.

While Letterbox Trading Cards are an obvious extension of Artist Trading Cards, they are not exactly the same. I like to think they bring back something reminiscent of the earliest days of letterboxing in Dartmoor, when calling cards were the proof that one had reached his or her goal. Blend the Victorian calling card with the artistry of rubber stamping and the convenience of the postal system, and you have Letterbox Trading Cards.

I still smile when I think back on that little adventure. As I prepared to mail that first set of cards back to the letterboxers who agreed to participate in the "Maiden Voyage" swap, I decided to include a little something extra to thank them. I prepared a little envelope to encase the cards, and printed the following on the outside of it:

May the only tempest
That tests this little ship,
Be the brainstorm of inquiring minds
That launched it on its trip.

Its maiden voyage completed;
The new idea cast
Upon the friendly waters
Where the old ideas passed.

What say you of its journey?
What say you of its end?
Is it just a passing fancy?
Or a lasting little trend?

Well, poet laureate, I am not. *smile*

Back to the swap (to get that poem out of your heads) . . .

Would you like to meet the Maiden Voyagers? (titles in alphabetical order):

A Chipmunk Went to Sea, Sea, Sea (created by Chippy)
Ballentine Buddies (created by Ballentine Buddies)
Bat Flight (created by Batty Girl)
Booking It (created by Webfoot)
Caught in the Rain (created by mudflinginfools)
Cuppa Joe (created by D5 Mama)
dbltall - Maiden Voyage (created by dbltall)
Ghost Horse of Monument Valley (created by alamocito)
hiking (created by skier4444)
mudflingin 101 (created by mudflinginfools)
Progression (created by SHH)
Scrapper (my hobbies) (created by Scrapper)
Shado hart (created by Tee of Draygonflies)
Stamps Carved by The Woodwhittler (created by thewoodwhittler)
Wanderers I-2007 (created by Team BearCat)

You all were such good sports! Happy New Year of Trading!

;-)