And now, for a different kind of adventure!

Several months ago, a bit after I started boxing, I stumbled upon SHH's blog My H'art in Rubber.  It's been quite inspirational to me over the last several months - seeing her gorgeous! carves was what made me decide to start challenging myself with more difficult carves of my own.  And it was the beautiful pictures of LTCs at the bottom of her page that got me interested in doing LTCs myself - after all, I'm unlikely to visit the Pacific Northwest any time soon, and I just had to get my hands on some of those!
Since then, I've seen several people's blogs with pictures of LTCs.  And they are all just fabulous!  So, then I decided, I had to get my hands on those too!

Now, I found myself wondering, "How exactly does one get all these gorgeous LTCs?".  And I learned, you exchange them in swaps or one for one.  So, if I need to exchange for these little treasures, I have to make some of my own!  A new crafting endeavor!  Rastaman is going to kill me!  I signed up for three swaps that are due in March (figuring that March is plenty of time, since school doesn't start back up until late January).

This morning, I broke out the cardstock, my paper cutter, and little cutting template.  And quickly discovered that I apparently can not measure accurately, and that the blade of the paper cutter is really really dull.  So, I tried again - this time with scissors, which worked like a charm.  Then I found that my black ink pad is really dry and that hobby stores are closed on Christmas, and the stamp I carved was way too large.  So, I carved a smaller stamp, and rethought my plan.

After much trial and error, I finally got a working mock-up!  Which was followed by a sideways grin from Rastaman at all of my excitement - who was trying to watch movies at the time.  Two movies later, I finished everything up...  I'm really happy with them.  A lovely tribute to Roy Lichtenstein if I do say so myself!  I can't wait to see the other cards in the swap come March!

Tomorrow, I think I'll tackle the cards for the Labyrinth movie swap...  And Monday, I'll work on my stamp for the Enlightenment swap...I'm so excited - I can see myself running out of PZKut very quickly at this rate.  What a good problem to have!

So, today's Lessons in Letterboxing (or rather Letterbox Trading Cards):

• Measure twice, cut once - applies not just to housework, but paper-cutting as well.
• A variety of inks is important to have, and something I am certainly lacking.
• A variety of cardstock colors is also important - and something I do have!  :-)

Happy Hunting (and Crafting)!
Rogue Artist