on 6/20/01 1:39 PM, Mischief In Wa at Mischief_wa@hotmail.com wrote:

> Hello,
>
> I just learned of Letterboxing yesterday, and Im very extited to get
> started... I've already bugun working on designs for my signature stamp and
> my first letterbox stamp (I have 3 letterboxes in mind to place in the near
> future [in western washington]).
>
> I had a question though, when equiping a letterbox do you include an ink pad
> or not? Most guides dont mention including an ink pad, but I wanted to be
> sure.
>
> I cant wait to get started. My husband is supportive of the idea....
> afterall he's been trying to get me away from my PC and out on day-hikes all
> spring and summer. =)
>


Hey Mischief!

Welcome aboard! Ink pads in the letterbox is up to you. Personally, I
don't include them for these reasons:

1) would be a little expensive

2) could leak & cause damage to the other contents

3) would eventually dry out & would require maintenance

Instead... on the off-chance that another letterboxer doesn't have a pad,
but would like an impression of my stamp, I usually stamp several pages in
the back of my log book and include box info, etc. These can be easily torn
out as evidence of finding the box.

Best of luck!

TC in Portland

--- In letterbox-usa@y..., "Mischief In Wa" wrote:
> Hello,
>
> I just learned of Letterboxing yesterday, and Im very extited to
get
> started... I've already bugun working on designs for my signature
stamp and
> my first letterbox stamp (I have 3 letterboxes in mind to place in
the near
> future [in western washington]).
>
> I had a question though, when equiping a letterbox do you include
an ink pad
> or not? Most guides dont mention including an ink pad, but I
wanted to be
> sure.
>
> I cant wait to get started. My husband is supportive of the
idea....
> afterall he's been trying to get me away from my PC and out on day-
hikes all
> spring and summer. =)
>
> Happy Hunting!
> _________________________________________________________________
> Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com



Hurrah! I hope you are in the Seattle area. Since most of the
Pacific Northwest boxes are concentrated in Oregon, it will be nice
to have more up this way!

I should get up off my butt and plant a few, (I have been working on
carving some stamps...but my art needs refining.)

Amanda from Seattle

Hello!

My sister and I are brand new to letterboxing, and after 3 weeks of
preparation (Took 4-EVER to pick out our personal journals and decide on a
design for our personal stamps!) we are finally ready to look for our first
boxes this Saturday! This is short notice, but we're wondering if anyone
can confirm that St. George's boxes in the Syracuse, NY area have been
placed for the season? The clues indicate yes, but we were hoping for a
double check.

Thanks to everyone on this list and the web site developers - we've learned
so much from the web site and reading old and new posts. What a wonderful
group of people to learn from!

Thanks for your time,

Debbie & Leslie

Hi,
I heard about letterboxing on NPR and am trying to come up with an
idea for a stamp I like. I want to look for an "urban" box here in
nyc. The whole thing seems really interesting and fun.

I joined this list because I figured it would be a good source of
information and I'm sure it is. With so many members, do people
actually get to know each other here on the list to any degree or
just pop in for questions? I just want to get a feel for the place
and go from there.
thannnnnks,
JuneM

Hi and a warm welcome JuneM!

This is a wonderful group of people and like any group of people, it has a
plethora of personalities. The degree of participation varies widely from
person to person, with some checking the list hourly to those that check it
weekly or longer.

People come here for camaraderie, friendship, idea sharing and question
answering, along with stories and brainstorming and just about anything
people can do in a large group of like minded people.

All in all, it's a pretty kewl group of people here, most with tons of
experience and knowledge and all willing to help and explain things to the
newer folks. Couldn't ask for a better group of people to share a hobby
with.

-----------------------------------------------------------
Steve of Team Rayvenhaus
Visit the National Letterbox Consortium's website.
http://www.myndworx.com
"We leave nothing but an image to mark our passage."
-----------------------------------------------------------
Carpe Arcanum Arca!
-----------------------------------------------------------
Ferengi Rules of Acquisition #28
Whisper your way to success.

I've gotten to know a lot of the Usual Suspects, and we've met at Gatherings, too. It's a very neat way to share the hobby! Mostly, we bounce ideas off each other and offer neat ideas to try. I've gotten some great hints on carving and planting. Welcome to the pack!

Dave
the von der Insels
----- Original Message -----
From: gothamlass
To: letterbox-usa@yahoogroups.com
Sent: Wednesday, April 21, 2004 8:42 PM
Subject: [LbNA] Newbie Question


Hi,
I heard about letterboxing on NPR and am trying to come up with an
idea for a stamp I like. I want to look for an "urban" box here in
nyc. The whole thing seems really interesting and fun.

I joined this list because I figured it would be a good source of
information and I'm sure it is. With so many members, do people
actually get to know each other here on the list to any degree or
just pop in for questions? I just want to get a feel for the place
and go from there.
thannnnnks,
JuneM




------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Yahoo! Groups Links

a.. To visit your group on the web, go to:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/letterbox-usa/

b.. To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
letterbox-usa-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com

c.. Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the Yahoo! Terms of Service.




[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

I'm glad to hear someone will be looking for the first of my urban
boxes. I'll be placing a few more in the city in the next couple of
weeks. Right now, I'm just looking for appropriately small
tupperware.
While this list can be a bit much to go through (I myself just skim
through messages unless I see something pertinant), there are a lot
of really nice and interesting people on here. I would suggest, for
a more organized discussion of things, to check out Rayvenhaus's
forum at www.myndworx.com. That's much less chaotic, and you can
actually hold semi-conversations there.
-cg
p3f7
--- In letterbox-usa@yahoogroups.com, "gothamlass"
wrote:
> Hi,
> I heard about letterboxing on NPR and am trying to come up with an
> idea for a stamp I like. I want to look for an "urban" box here in
> nyc. The whole thing seems really interesting and fun.
>
> I joined this list because I figured it would be a good source of
> information and I'm sure it is. With so many members, do people
> actually get to know each other here on the list to any degree or
> just pop in for questions? I just want to get a feel for the place
> and go from there.
> thannnnnks,
> JuneM

"Tupperware" is sort of a generic term, nowadays, so new folks may note that Rubbermaid is much cheaper and just as good. Gladware may be used, but advisedly, since it's not as sturdy. My first planting was Tupperware (TM), since I'm just a guy who doesn't shop much. I've gotten much better, with Diane's patience.

Dave
the von der Insels
----- Original Message -----
From: chris g.
To: letterbox-usa@yahoogroups.com
Sent: Saturday, April 24, 2004 10:54 AM
Subject: [LbNA] Re: Newbie Question


I'm glad to hear someone will be looking for the first of my urban
boxes. I'll be placing a few more in the city in the next couple of
weeks. Right now, I'm just looking for appropriately small
tupperware.


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

I'm new to letterboxing and have a few questions. If anyone is
willing to answer them let me know. I've read some articles on it and
still don't quite understand the language along with some other things.

1. What is a hitch hicker (HH) and how does it work.

2. What do you do with the stamps when you find the box? Do you leave
your stamp and take theres or do you just use there stamp to stamp
your book and use your stamp to stamp there book?

I think those are my most pressing question. Would love to start
letterboxing soon to spend time with my family.

Thank You

Hi Audrea!

Welcome!

As to the HH, it is a small traveling box that goes from box to box. If you
find a HH, you would normally take it with you (after making sure it has
already been stamped in to the host box's logbook and the host's stamp has
been stamped into the HH's logbook, and doing so if it hasn't been done).
You would then stamp it's stamp into your logbook and your stamp into it's
logbook. When you visit a box that the HH will fit in, you will leave it,
but not before exchanging between the new host and the HH. If you don't
think you'll be finding it a new home quickly, you can leave a HH in the
original host and exchange stamp images with it still. Don't keep a HH too
long though if you can help it!

To your second question, you never exchange stamps - you exchange stamp
images! So as you said, you would stamp the box's stamp into your book and
your stamp into the box's book, leaving behind the stamp you found in the
box and keeping the stamp you brought with you.

On 1/16/07, Audrea wrote:
>
> I'm new to letterboxing and have a few questions. If anyone is
> willing to answer them let me know. I've read some articles on it and
> still don't quite understand the language along with some other things.
>
> 1. What is a hitch hicker (HH) and how does it work.
>
> 2. What do you do with the stamps when you find the box? Do you leave
> your stamp and take theres or do you just use there stamp to stamp
> your book and use your stamp to stamp there book?
>
> I think those are my most pressing question. Would love to start
> letterboxing soon to spend time with my family.
>
> Thank You
>
>
>



--
Barefoot Lucy
"It's not about footwear, it's about philosophy"


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Starting with question #2, no you definitely DO NOT
trade stamps. The stamp you find in the letterbox
stays with the box. Often it has been carved with a
particular place in mind, and it is the property of
the box owner.

When you find the letterbox and open it, you take your
OWN stamp and stamp its image in the letterbox
logbook. You can write your trail name there, too,
where you are from, the date, and often folks leave a
nice note about the hike, the well-carved stamp, etc.
Look through the logbook and you'll see how fun it is
to read the humorous notes and encouraging words from
fellow box-finders.

Then you use the letterbox stamp and place its image
in your own journal/logbook. Some folks like to write
their own notes there, too. I do, but I do it later
at home where it's comfortable and dry. I write
whose box it was, where I found it, and anything
interesting that happened along the way.

Depending on the region of the country you're in, many
letterboxes do not provide markers or ink pads, so be
sure to bring your own with you.

Everything you took out of the letterbox goes back
in--carefully! Rebag everything, make sure the
ziplock bags are shut completely, make sure everything
is snug in the container, and then carefully rehide
the box under the rocks or where ever you found it.
Try to not let any passersby watch you do this.

Question #2. Hitchhikers are like a second little
mini-letterbox. If you're brand new to finding boxes,
I would suggest you LEAVE THEM THERE until you are
comfortable with the signing and stamping.

When you're ready to deal with the hitchhikers, there
will be a little stamp and logbook in the hitchhiker
container. You stamp your personal stamp in it and
then stamp the hh image in your own journal just like
you do with the traditional letterbox. BUT the
letterbox's stamp image should also be stamped into
the hh journal, and the hh's stamp image should be
stamped into the letterbox's logbook. [Often folks
neglect this step, so check before you take it with
you.] Then take the hh, and put it in another
letterbox soon on your travels [don't remove it if
you're not boxing for another month, for example].
When you get to the new box, you will stamp your
personal stamp in the logbook, stamp the letterbox
stamp in your journal, and then you will REPEAT this
process with the hitchhiker....stamp the hh stamp into
the new letterbox logbook, and stamp the letterbox
stamp into the hh logbook. Yes, it's a bit confusing
at first, and a lot of back and forth stamping, so
that's why I would recommend waiting to deal with any
hhs you come across until you are familiar with the
basic process.

This seems like a lot of words to explain something
that becomes routine...if you go at it with the
attitude that the letterbox is a precious gift to you
that someone else has taken the time and energy to
create, and treat it gently and carefully, you'll be
on the right track.

Have fun, Audrea.

Mommo


--- Audrea wrote:

> I'm new to letterboxing and have a few questions.
> If anyone is
> willing to answer them let me know. I've read some
> articles on it and
> still don't quite understand the language along with
> some other things.
>
> 1. What is a hitch hicker (HH) and how does it work.
>
> 2. What do you do with the stamps when you find the
> box? Do you leave
> your stamp and take theres or do you just use there
> stamp to stamp
> your book and use your stamp to stamp there book?
>
> I think those are my most pressing question. Would
> love to start
> letterboxing soon to spend time with my family.
>
> Thank You
>
>




____________________________________________________________________________________
Want to start your own business?
Learn how on Yahoo! Small Business.
http://smallbusiness.yahoo.com/r-index

Try www.letterboxing.org That's where you'll find everything you
want/need to know.

--- In letterbox-usa@yahoogroups.com, "Audrea" wrote:
>
> I'm new to letterboxing and have a few questions. If anyone is
> willing to answer them let me know. I've read some articles on it and
> still don't quite understand the language along with some other things.
>
> 1. What is a hitch hicker (HH) and how does it work.
>
> 2. What do you do with the stamps when you find the box? Do you leave
> your stamp and take theres or do you just use there stamp to stamp
> your book and use your stamp to stamp there book?
>
> I think those are my most pressing question. Would love to start
> letterboxing soon to spend time with my family.
>
> Thank You
>

Audrea:

Welcome! We also encourage you to join the Newboxers group - a talk list designed for new letterboxers who want to ask lots of questions. Our slogan there is "where no question is a dumb question!"

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/newboxers/

Mark Pepe




--- In letterbox-usa@yahoogroups.com, "Audrea" wrote:
>
> I'm new to letterboxing and have a few questions. If anyone is
> willing to answer them let me know. I've read some articles on it and
> still don't quite understand the language along with some other things.
Recent Activity
18New Members
1New Links
Visit Your Group
Y! GeoCities
Share Your Passion
Join the web's lar- gest community.
Y! Toolbar
Get it Free!
easy 1-click access
to your groups.
Yahoo! Groups
Start a group
in 3 easy steps.
Connect with others..


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

--- In letterbox-usa@yahoogroups.com, "Audrea" wrote:
>
> I'm new to letterboxing and have a few questions. If anyone is
> willing to answer them let me know. I've read some articles on it
and still don't quite understand the language along with some other
things.


Another good source of information is: www.letterboxing.info

Wisconsin Hiker