Letterboxing and mini-meets in Guelph

Ah.  What a wonderful Saturday I had.  First, some lovely winter letterboxing in Eden Mills, then a lovely mini meet with old and new letterboxers.  I finally got to go boxing this year, found some great boxes - didn't fall in freezing water this time - and then off to a mini meet which was hosted by the ever gracious Fiddleheads.  Ah, bliss.

I had actually meant to get out earlier in the morning yesterday so that I could go after a few more winter letterboxes, I ended up going out with only enough time to hit some Lone R plants in Eden Mills (on the way to Guelph).

First up: Food for the Undead - planted by the talented Lone R.  I love this gorgeous trail system.  This particular box takes you along the Guelph Radial Trail near Eden Mills.  It's a gorgeous trail, for me particularly in winter where you have some nice crunchy snow in the silence of a fragrant cedar forest.  Very serene.  Loved it. 

Continuing along the trail, a wonderful box planted by Lone R with layered stamp by 3 Blind Mice - I'm a Lumberjack and I'm OK.  I've always lusted after the gorgeous images 3 Blind Mice has created and shown online, and I'm really happy to have one in my logbook today.  Unfortunately, it's not the best of transfers.  I think it was about -10 Celsius yesterday, so I think the ink was actually freezing to the stamps and not transferring well.  I loved the image so much, I may just return in the summer to ink this one up to do it justice.  However, this also has started the gears going in my head to try to find a way to make good impressions on the trail.  Hmm...

Finally, Two Little Zombies Sitting in a Tree. Too cute.  Loved them. Sadly, no more boxes so back to the car and off to the meet!

The very first letterboxing meet up I ever attended was Fiddleheads' Winter Mini-Meet and Carve in 2011. I was completely awed by all the amazing carving I saw going on around me.  I found it really inspiring and I really got carving after that meet.

Two years later, I found this meet equally inspiring and have been plotting some new boxes for Toronto.  It was a smaller gathering - but actually perfect.  I love our little community, so it was great to learn some new things, catch up, and chat about the state of letterboxing in Ontario.  Just like Vivian the Viking, I was most intrigued by the parchment transfer technique which I haven't tried yet.  It seems a little more cumbersome than the xylene pen or hot iron - the two transfer types I rely on now.  The only draw back for me of those is that I have to know that I'm going to carve and what I'm going to carve the business day before I'm actually going to carve since my trusty printer is at work.  I can't be inspired and start carving on the spur of the moment as I have an ink jet printer at home.  So I definitely want to try this one - but I'm lacking in ink, paper, and parchment at the moment, so that's a post for another day.

Anyways, after yesterday, I have a number of transferred images waiting to be carved, so I must be off!

Happy trails!