Now that I've been to camp, I'm all outdoorsy and such! So, we decided that today on my husband's day off, we'd try Letterboxing! It combines my favorite passion: rubber stamping with my new favorite passion: the outdoors. In case you're not familiar with it, here's how it works: people all over the country are hiding little boxes that contain a stamp (sometimes handmade) and a little notebook, journal or paper. They post clues to where their box(es) is hidden on the internet on Letterboxing sites. Then you go online, find your state and your area where you want to hunt for letterboxes in your state and click on it. You print out the clues that tell you where the box is hidden. You bring with you a stamp, an ink and a journal of your own. You follow the clues, look for the box, open it, stamp their stamp into your journal and date it, then stamp your stamp into their journal and date it. You can add your name if you'd like. Then you rehide the box in the exact same spot for the next person to find. It's very exciting! We found two letterboxes in our city today. The stamp I chose to bring with me is actually a retired stamp from the set It's Academic, and it's a globe. I thought that was appropriate for the theme! My kids, who are 8, 6 and 3, had a blast doing it. The anticipation of finding the box was almost as exciting as the moment we spotted the boxes!
Of course, as you can see here, we probably have the PRETTIEST Letterboxing Journal for our family. I brought with me one of our 5x5 Chipboard Art Journals (Page 178 $6.95) that I'd decorated at my friend Amy's downline meeting last spring. I'd never wanted to use it for *just anything* so it had remained unused all this time. I thought it was a perfect size to bring with us and since I own the spiral punch (Page 181 $10.95), I knew that if we ran out of pages we could always add more.
The journal is covered in retired designer series papers, and uses the soon to be retired Office Accoutrement Stamp Set (Page 124 $24.95.) It's even tabbed using the Round Tab Punch (Page 181 $15.95) but I took off the existing tabs (that are shown in the photo) and redid them in the same colors but didn't stamp them or write on them, in case I want to write the names of states or areas of our state where we go letterboxing, on the tabs. We had so much fun, we can't wait to go again.
If you've never tried Letterboxing, you HAVE TO! It's really neat. You can do it on vacations or in your own town. It's free, other than the gas to get there, and it's a great way to be taking advantage of the outdoors. If you're a Letterboxer and are in need of stamps, ink or journals, check out the Stampin' Up! catalog in my lefthand sidebar and pick out the stamp that best fits your needs and the journal size you desire (5 3/4 x 8 3/4 or 5x5) and then email me at jen@stampbythelightofthemoon.com to place your order today!
