So it has been a while since my last post about Box ON. But I have a terrible secret... and guilt.
As a result of a very generous gift from Fish Below the Ice, I am in possession of the following:
If you're new to letterboxing or stamp carving (ie. post-2010?) you won't have any idea what is in that photo. Maybe even if you are a long term boxer, you won't have seen this in a while... that right there is both white and orange PZ Kut.
I don't know all the lore of the PZ Kut, but from what I have gleaned over the years, it was a pretty devastating blow to the stamp carving community when it was discontinued. I started boxing and carving *just* after the two formulas disappeared...
The reasons for its discontinuance also seem somewhat a mystery to me: I think I understand that there was a component of the formulation (unicorn blood?) that is no longer allowed to be used....
In any event, I've been gifted with this amazing stash that I morally should put this to good use - I should not squander the opportunity. But I am in complete mental deadlock. Part of my concern is that I might like it - but then never have it again! Opposite concern: that I really *won't* like it, and have taken the opportunity to carve it away from someone who does (or face a lynch-mob of people who disagree with me).
Here are the options:
Carve both the white and orange to contribute to the carving material comparison reviews (I believe Fish implied that's what they're for).
Regift (I think Fiddleheads would bear me a child for this stuff)
Carve both as contribution carves for this year's Box ON
Continue to hoard them until I have better information...
So just as the summer was getting started, I decided to follow in the brave footsteps of Ms. Viking and finally start selling my carvings out via Etsy. Over the last couple of years, I had been press-ganged happily volunteered my carving abilities for wedding type things... There had been a post here earlier about being able to carve lettering on a stamp which was actually a wedding invitation and I had also done a Vegas-themed stamp for a Las Vegas wedding this past summer. After which I had been encouraged to go the Etsy route...
I figured there wasn't much to lose and mostly I wanted to set up shop to carve more pumpkins. Anyone who has read this blog knows I came to carve stamps because of my pumpkin carving past. Last fall, I actually sold my first commissioned pumpkin (which was unexpected and made me quite happy). So, I set up the shop to carry mostly stamps which people might like year round, but as a place to host my carved foam pumpkins.
My shop is called Cuts & Scrapes and so far I've sold mostly custom stamps, but I have also sold one of my pumpkins. I've learned quite a bit about what people like to use stamps for (not always what you think) and I've had some really nice feedback from people.
Anyways, I'll leave that here as an fyi and I'll probably post a link to my shop in the sidebar. Now, as you were, go about your business...
It has been quite the new year. I moved, and it has been non-stop busy
since. I haven’t been able to slow down
for even a second to catch my breath.
Favourite part of new home: <30
minute work commute. Worst part of new
home: already have to replace the brand new floors. Miss that?
Let me repeat: I have. To replace. My brand. New. Floors. Gawd. I have no money for this. My car also just decided to rot and I just
put a few grand into it.
Sigh.
I’m whining. My apologies.
I’ve even been so busy, I haven’t been keeping
up with the goings on at AQ... (Anyone care to give me a quick summary in the comments?
Any drastic changes I should be aware of?
Did Webfoot finally release some orange? Did the community come down on
magnet-only boxes? Anyone finally oust Jiggs?)
Also, as everyone is aware, this winter
sucks. Hard. I’m so over winter. I long for the trail. I have boxes to plant
so I desperately need this snow to melt.
I’m also back in Burlington, so I would really like to go revisit some
of my old boxes (and cull, maybe)...
Anyways, sorry for this whiny post. I will be back. I’ve got projects in my head and places to
see. Hopefully, we have a good
letterboxing season ahead of us.
Do you feel it? In the air? That crisp, magical scent that comes out in
autumn? If you close your eyes, just as
the sun begins to set, you can smell it.
I love the fall. We are slowly
coming to the end of another cycle – the leaves are beginning to chance, the
year will be coming to a close, and Box ON! is just around the corner…
Sorry it has been
quiet on the blog-front. It was due to
the work-front, but now due to the home-front as well. It looks like I will be moving in a couple
months. If you know me at all, you know that
I move – a lot. Well, the good news this time is that I’m moving into a place
that I will actually own (finally)
and back to a great location for letterboxing – Burlington, Ontario. I now have firm intentions to stay put in this
place and sink my roots in.
Some other thoughts…
I’m delinquent in
a post (or two) about the wonders of We Live & Breathe XV. It was a fantastic event – and but for this
event I would have had a very poor year for letterboxing.
If there is any
interest, I may hold a winter mini-meet at my new place to sit, visit, and
carve – obviously, this would be in Burlington, a little easier to get to for
most. Email me if you’re interested.
I have two months
left in Toronto. I’ve had a lot of
intentions in terms of boxes I had wanted to plant or find that I
haven’t been able to accomplish. At this
point, my only letterboxing goal to hopefully complete is to finally get to a
half-carved book series that was intended to be planted for PAL back in
May. Whoops. I had wanted to create logbooks for them all,
which was what was slowing things down.
I think I’ll just finish carving and make it a complete magnet-only series…
Just a quick check in... My staycation is going swimmingly. I've read about five books, carved as many stamps, letterboxed, had a sister date and a manicure... Lots to do still, but I just wanted to share some photographs that I've collected that I love. I don't think a letterboxer alive could look at any of these and either think, hey, I've been somewhere like that, or hey, I need to go there.
Yeah, I essentially did nothing today and it was awesome. I slept. I read. I carved. I watched (bad) television. I ate. Yeah. Nothing on that big list got done.
Ah, well. Concert tomorrow and hopefully some a.m. boxing squeezed in, weather permitting.
But, having said that, don't you all want one of these?! So great, I'd wear one all the time. If anyone is thinking of buying me a happy summer present, there ya go right there.
I don't really intend to start doing book reviews here, but i just wanted to make mention of a book I read a little while back that really stuck with me: Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern.
While it isn't the best book I've ever read, mostly because I love a strong plot and in this book I couldn't really tell what the plot was... Was it a love story? Was it about the masters? Was it about the game? Was it about the circus? Was it about the circus's followers? I'm still not sure, but there's probably some metaphor in there I'm missing. I'm a literalist and don't always catch everything.
However, I love this book anyway because of the amazing and vibrant imagery... and can't help but see the parallels in our hobby.
I do recommend you read it, but I don't think I'm spoiling it if I explain part of the book: the Night Circus itself is a travelling circus of oddities and magical things that has a close cult of followers (why and how the circus and its performers is important, but not for this post).
Part of the intrigue of the circus is never knowing where it is going to be; the circus suddenly shuts down and vanishes, only to arrive unannounced and unexpectedly somewhere else. While anyone can go see the circus, those that are the followers of the circus love it because they understand the magic of it all better than others. They know about the hidden world and help others stay in contact. And so they form a network to relay messages of where the circus has been and where it has arrived so that they can enjoy it as much as possible. And while all of the performers in the circus wear only black and white, the followers imitate by wearing the same, but with an additional red item to let performers and other followers know that they too are followers of the circus.
As I said, I wasn't too taken with the plot - because I wasn't clear what it was - but I did love the eccentric characters, the vivid world, and the lingering mood of this book. It's worth the read. I'm likely going to plant a box in honour of this book, just be sure to ink it in black, white, and red.
Today, I finished up a second attempt at a present for a long time friend whose birthday is this weekend.
I had decided to give her a stamp to make book plates, and since she has a background specialty in gay roman porn (she may characterize this differently, but essentially true) I go one of her favourite images out of her and carved away.
Now, unfortunately, the image she picked didn't exactly lend itself to a carve - it's this image, from the ruins at Pompeii:
Kinda hard to get lines or whatever out of that one. But I gave it a good ol' college try, but it didn't really come to anything grand. Big ol' mess, actually.
So, I took it upon myself to find some other picture that would work a bit better.
Too funny. I love the guy on the left with his hand in the air, like "hey, it's my turn!". Or the guy towards the right punching the other guy in the butt.
Ah, much better design... time to carve this bad boy up (see what I did there?)...
Done and done. But still not as interesting as a medusa with penis hair... But SHHHH! Don't tell her, it's a surprise.
So, I've been making my own holiday cards for a while now, and I've been keeping my favourite cards for longer still. And the question had always remained, what to do with the cards after the holiday/event? Throw them in a drawer? A box? Recycle them?
My first book of Christmas cards.
Then while learning to bind my own books for logbooks, I came across something that stuck with me - just as you fold signatures for binding, each card is sort of like a little card-stock signature of its very own and therefore easily bound. Somewhere I saw how someone had taken their cards and bound them into books. I can't remember for the life of me where I saw this - it might be in one of my books or I might have seen it online. Credit is due somewhere, but it's not with me.
So this is my first attempt to bind up my cards. I got some really beautiful ones this year and like that they are now in a book that I can shelve and perhaps bring out to look at if the mood strikes me. It only took three episodes of Big Bang Theory to complete, so just over an hour. If you can bind a book, you can bind yours too.
Here's the stuff. Beautiful carved images at the top, rest of my cards all around, and the stamps I carved to make my own cards this year on the left.
I used my own stamps on the cover - I forgot to keep any of the cards for myself this year, or rather, I ran out of cards and actually had to use purchased ones for some.
Bound and standing on their own. I ordered the cards from short to tall to make the book more easily flipped. The cards each have a unique width so being able to see the next larger one behind it is nice.
Finished and on the coffee table. My supervisor worked so hard that she here is enjoyed a well-deserved nap.
Whatever your religous background, I believe any reader of this blog can agree to celebrate one particular day of the year: Boxing Day.
It has been well established that Boxing Day is the one day of the year that people from across the commonwealth gather together to celebrate the great hobby of letterboxing. And so I'm just popping in to leave some cheer with the traditional Boxing Day poem: May your trails be clear, With some clues for nearby. May your boxes be clean, And your logbooks all dry. May your material be firm, And your gouges be sharp. Your transfers detailed, And your carve on the mark. May your boxing be wonderful, Both near and afar, Find lots in the New Year -- Wherever you are.
Wishing you and yours a wonderful Boxing Day. Sip some seriously spiked nog for me.
Well, it's been a long time since I've posted here. There probably won't be too many more posts before the end of the year (if any). But here's a quick update of my travels:
I've moved to downtown Toronto. Mostly everything is unpacked, but I just can't find where I put things. Case in point: I know where my OZ Cut is, can't find my gouges. Little hard to do any carving in those circumstances...
Supervising the moving process. Also can't find the gouges.
I bought one of those Helmer drawer sets for my letterboxing stuff. I saw them in an Ikea a while ago and thought the shallow drawers and mobility of the thing would be perfect for my letterboxing stuff in my new apartment. I was right, it's perfect. Problem: Ikea is discontinuing them. So go buy one asap! I was told what is on shelves is what is left...
Also, I live right near the Ikea that poor little Darwin went to visit. I think a letterbox commemorating that is in order. Stay tuned in the new year.
The marching season is over. No more parades for me this year - luckily the weather was pretty good for all of them, so I haven't lost any fingers to frost bite.
My Christmas cards are finally done and going out. I carved my own again this year - three different stamps, two from images, two that I carved freehand (into my last bit of that awful crumbly stuff - now it is gone!).
This year's cards, free hand carves on the last bit of the crumbly stuff.
Anyways, I'm off. Christmas plans to plan, need to clean my new place, and getting prepped for a new job in the new year. Oh, and I guess I also have to do some Christmas shopping. Gotta go, busy.
So, in the middle of moving to a new apartment in the City, done in the middle of changing jobs, in the middle of packing, in the middle of saying goodbyes, in the middle of hearings, in the middle of the Christmas season, in the middle of life... I'm anxious about the fact that I have packed my carving stuff and can't get at it for at least a week.
Ugh.
One more week to go and I'll be moved; one more month to go and I'll be in a new job. My trail name should have been Gypsy Jo.
Hello. Just checking in. Haven't dropped off of the face of the planet, just busy. And I've got the blahs.
I'm working on a couple posts about recent letterboxing adventures - one regarding some box finds in Buffalo, New York, and another for Key West, Florida. Spoiler: I think my favourite find ever is down in Key West... I was down for Fantasy Fest just before Hallowe'en, which was awesome. Just missed Sandy. However, I got in a car accident while in Buffalo on my way to the airport, so letterboxing there was cut short. But those posts are coming along... Soonish.
Meanwhile, I'm in the midst of insurance claims, getting my car fixed, packing to move, buying new furniture, making moving arrangements, as well as the usual workload for this time of year at work. Oh, I just remembered that I have to make all the calls to get my address changed for everything. Sigh. It's all good, I'm a very lucky girl, but I've got the serious blahs.
Hope you're having a spooktacular night, filled with treats, tricks, and some spooky atmosphere. Here are the last three movies for the season... You should be able to get somewhere to download and watch these shows, it'll set the mood just right for some awesome pumpkin carving!
My absolute favourite Hallowe'en movie at the moment... This movie unfortunately went directly to video, not sure why, but it is an amazing movie with a few concurrent story lines. Perfect to have on while busy handing out candy or carving your pumpkins. Sam's the man - better keep up the Hallowe'en spirit or he'll be after you!
Okay, so Roseanne Barr loves Hallowe'en and made sure that each season of the hit show she starred in had a great Hallowe'en episode. I remember making sure to see the new episodes each year when they came out - and I guess other people had great memories of those episodes too since the powers that be released a Hallowe'en Special dvd features just those episodes...
Whew. Right now, I'm in Key West with my band for Fantasy Fest. It's not really all that Hallowe'eny in Florida, but I should have a great Hallowe'en with a suntan, right?
So this is the last full set before the Hallowe'en edition of this series of posts... Get your gouges or saws ready, here are this week's flicks:
Honestly, I think this is the perfect date movie. With the well-documented British humour, Shaun has to deal with a both the tedium of a mundane life when contrasted with a zombie apocolypse. Hilarious and perfect for watching while carving.
Vacant, with a hint of sadness. Like a drunk who's lost a bet.
I had to look twice when I saw that this movie came out in 1990 - it seems to me to be more recent than that, but time is tricking me, I guess.
Anyways, the movie is actually quite predictable: family moves to the country-side where an invasive species of very poisonous spiders are proliferating and spiders are scary. The last part is key.
While I'm on it, just about every letterboxing adventure I go on seems to be a scene out of this movie. *shudder*
I love John Goodman in just about everything, and as the exterminator called in to deal with the alleged arachnids, he plays the perfect comic relief for this flick.
Warning: if you watch the following clip from the movie, it is possible you will never be able to shower again. You are warned.
The mood in this Tim Burton flick is perfect for the holiday. I love the expanded story of the legend of sleepy hollow. Damp, dark, and foggy, this movie sets the stage nicely for a haunting good time for the holiday.
What would happen if Jack Nickolson was the devil? And what would happen if Cher, Susan Sarandon, and Michelle Pfeiffer happened to be witches?
This movie is fantastic, my favourite character is Felicia, the bible thumper, who has has an unfortunate cherry incident (note: I will not eat cherries because of this movie). She's over the top and I think she actually gets the best part in the movie.
Wow, this movie is almost 20 years old, and they are still merchandising the hell out of it. You can't go anywhere without seeing someone with a Jack Skellington purse or phone cover (*cough*cuzit'dbeme*cough*). This movie is a classic for a reason, the story, the animation, the music, the legacy... You really can't beat this film as a pick for your Hallowe'en night movie...
Now here is another classic. There is a reason that adults still dress up as Magenta or Frank N Furter and go out into the mean streets of the city to go see this on the big screen and sing along... One of those perfect Hallowe'en movies, Tim Curry is a god.
Oh, Jamie Lee Curtis, how I love you. The huge Halloween franchise, not as big a fan, but I don't think I can really leave this one off of the list. And really, it's the movie from which all future horror movie cliches stem... I'm sure you've seen it. Mostly sure.
I should note that I do blame this movie for the loss of the apostrophe in the word "Hallowe'en" in modern English. Perhaps this movie isn't among my absolute favourites for that reason ;)
Now, this is an instant classic movie that I can really get behind. You may not have seen it, which is tragic and you should get your butt into a chair and watch. This one is great; cheesy, campy, and full of Nathan Fillion in all his glory. Really, why don't they give that man more movie roles?
Anyways, if you haven't seen it: a meteor hits in middle town USA, and slug like things come out and start taking over - particularly one man who ends up hosting one of these parasites and starts eating pets, then people. The movie is actually more of a comedy than a horror - unless you're easily scared, the slugs aren't really all that scarifying. Great movie, think I'm going to watch it tonight...
The newest addition to my Hallowe'en movie shelf is this year's movie by the god known as Joss Whedon. (I would bear him children if he asked.) And this movie is also an instant classic - very meta, a horror within a horror - actually scary. The only flaw in this otherwise perfect movie is the hand at the end. If you've seen it, you know what I mean.
If you haven't seen it, whatever you think it's about - it's not. And I can't really describe it without spoiling it for you, so you should just go see it. Love this one.
And speaking of Joss, the first movie that he had anything to do with was the original Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Super cheesy - and actually the reason I didn't start watching the Buffy television series until the end of the second season (mistake).
From what I understand, Joss didn't have all that much to do with this one other than coming up with the concept - and really, other than the premise, the movie and television show couldn't be any more different. But as much as I hold dear the Buffy series, I love the movie for its camp-factor, and I pull it out every now and again just to hear the valley-girl accents... They had this look in their eyes, totally cold, animal. I think they were young Republicans.
If you've seen these, you'll understand why I've lumped them together. If you can find any of these on video, give them a watch - lots of spooky short flicks. None really worth a deeper watching, more for just ambiance. But I love the cryptkeepter - how can you not? Lots of the episodes are available for watching on YouTube if you look carefully...
This is a great coming of age movie about girls, bullying, getting your period, and being a werewolf. We all know how that is. And it's Canadian, shot here in the greater Toronto area. The movie is about two sisters who are outcasts at school and are being bullied. One night, while trying to seek revenge on one of the bullies, Ginger gets attacked by... something... and then slowly starts turning into a werewolf. Great movie, definitely worth the watch.
Are there people who haven't seen this? Yes. And that is sad. Truly sad. Unfortunately, this movie only retains cult movie status. This movie gets major props for the right kind of cheese. This is well aged, high end cheese. There is no higher class of cheese.
S Mart employee ends up going back in time to 1300AD where the dead have come back to life and are waging war. And somehow 20th century guy saves the day... with science! Don't touch that please, your primitive intellect wouldn't understand
alloys and compositions and things with... molecular structures.
Still here, carving away and getting ready for this year's Boneyard Boxing event... It's the second week of the 31 days of Hallowe'en, so here is the next batch of movies to help you carve up some spooky stamps or pumpkins... Elvira, Mistress of the Dark (1988)
If you don't know who Elvira is, shame on you! This hilarious, campy, cheesy movie always brings a smile to my face. Elvira, who was known for hostessing the airing of bad old horror flicks, gets her own movie here involving her great aunt dying and inheriting a house, a dog, and a book.
Probably one of the cheesier movies on my list, but I love this old movie. I ended up meeting Cassandra Peterson a few years ago and what a lovely lady she is... I hope I look that good when I'm in my 60s!
If somehow you've been living under a rock for the past few decades, you may have missed this popular show called The Simpsons. You would also be unaware that every year they have a Hallowe'en special episode called the Treehouse of Horror that has three mini scary stories.
This newer movie is nice and spooky... It's based on Neil Gaiman's book, which is much shorter, and goes on to flesh out this amazing world. Truth be told, I like the movie better than the book.
Nice and spooky, it follows Coraline who has just moved into a new rental (something I know a bit about...) and finds kooky neightbours (also know something about) and a secret behind a tiny door... (know nothing about this).
It was put together by one of the same guys who did Nightmare Before Christmas, so it has the same sort of feel as a stop motion animated film.
This one may be controversial, but I actually like the sequel here better than the original. Based off of the original tv series, this sequel kills be because parts of it take place at a summer camp and out in the wilderness. And Joan Cusack? Too funny.
Anyways, I think the movie is fantastic to watch during the Hallowe'en season for obvious reasons, but if you can only see one of the Addams Family movies, skip the first and go straight for the second.
Remember the good ol' days when there was the Sunday Disney movie? Well, these two gems were made-for-tv movies of the '80s that I had/have on beta (don't judge). I still have them, but I don't have a working beta machine.
These great movies have to do with a family that moves into a haunted house in Lucifer Falls (couldn't they have known from the name? c'mon...). Also, I just realized that it was because of these movies that I'm afraid of the vacuum.
I have looked and looked, and other than a brutal copy online, I've never found these movies for sale or otherwise. If anyone knows where I can get a more modern copy (read: not beta) of these movies, I'd love to hear it!
This is another instance where I actually like the remake more than the original. I love the spooky atmosphere of this killer party in an abandoned asylum for the criminally insane, and that as a nod to Vincent Price's role in the original they renamed the party host to Mr. (Stephen) Price - played by Geoffery Rush. Great cast and super spooky, this movie originally scared me quite a bit and now I just love it for what it is.
And I love the tagline for the movie: Evil Loves to Party.
This one still gives me the creeps, which is rare for an old flick. This is a Stephen King novel turned movie...Based on the premise that there's this old indian burial ground that in modern times was used as a pet cemetery, but anything that is buried in that ground comes back to life... ish. Including their little son who was hit by truck, buried, dug up, reburied in the sour ground and who then comes back to terrorize the family. Sometimes, dead is better.
I hope you're all getting ready for the spooky holiday! Happy Hallowe'en!
