Funny you should ask... I just bought a few of the usual mailers that I use. They are 6x9 padded mailers. If your stamp is not too large and you make a logbook with only about 25-30 pages, postage is only about $1.60.

Keep the logbooks on the smaller side--after all, they are going to relatively few people. Add a few extra pages so people's kids/friends can stamp in maybe.

Here's a big tip that will make everybody's lives easier. Write your return address on the mailer and cover it with clear packaging tape (keeps it from becoming illegible). Put clear packaging tape where the postage will go (lets the following people peel the old label off without ripping the package). Put clear tape where the "to" address goes and write your "to" address on a mailing label (remove any old mailing labels when you get it ready to send back out). Maybe I'm being anal (a rarity for me) but it makes the package look neater.

Lastly, pretty please, even though the mailers have the sticky strips to close them, don't use the strip. Fold the flap down and fasten it with packing tape. Slit the tape when you get the package and retape to seal. If you use the sticky strip, people are forced to either tear open the flap or slit the envelope. Shortens the life of the original mailer...

How'd this get so long??? Sorry.

Knit Wit

Is it a bad thing to not have an elaborate logbook for a postal. Is it disappointing? or is it more about the stamp?

FG

It's about what you are capable of and what you can afford. I think the stamp is the most important part but sometimes you can get inspired by an idea for a matching logbook. It's your book and in the end your the one who will keep it. Keeping it light is a good idea too, keeps the costs down.

Red Soup

I'm not good at elaborate logbooks. I try to at least make a handmade one, but for me that means cutting squares of heavy paper, making cardstock covers, maybe decorating the covers a bit, hole punching and tying the books together with whatever spare yarn I have lying around.

I like elaborate logbooks but for me it's definitely more about the stamp. By that I don't mean that I expect some great art work or it has to be perfect; I really like seeing the intrepretations of the theme. Sometimes the stamp surprises me because it's not at all what I expected given the box title.

Knit Wit

I don't think it has to be elaborate; often, though, they are themed with the PLB in some way. Maybe the paper is cut to the shape of the stamp or the cover is related to the ring's theme, or just the type of paper that is used may be more appropriate than plain white. I think that most people in rings avoid the spiral bound flip book that you might buy at the store, although I would be perfectly happy to receive that too. PLB Rings just tend to get more attention because they are more controlled about where they go, and what they are exposed to- not out in the rain or cold (for the most part)

P Banks of the 4 little piggies

all this is perfectly wonderful advice!!

Knit Wit is right. What i usually do is put a layer or two of packing tape over the envelope's flap and the sticky strip so no one can pull the strip and use the glue to fasten the flap. a tapped flap can be cut open along the edge and re-used and re-taped over and over.

and might I add...
everyone has there own opinions as to if Delivery Confirmation (DC) is needed or not.
that has been debated over and over and I am not wanting to re-hash the debate but just a note to say...
DC is required in this ring but even when i am in a ring without DC requirements...I use it anyway.
biggest reason...it takes any burden of proof or doubt off of yourself.
if the next person in line behind you (the one you mail to) says they never got a package...
you really have no proof that you mailed it unless you have the DC slip which has a tracking number.

even DC is not 100% fail safe 100% of the time but more than once I have been questioned about whereabouts and with a DC number showing the package left my hands at such and such time... the doubt is no longer on me. I do it to protect myself and your packages :)

oh...and if a package is too thin (there is an old thread about this too) then in order to get DC you have to upgrade to priority shipping. That is NOT my intention here. make sure your package is more than 1/3 inch thick at the thickest point and you can ship regular first class with DC. I have seen a couple of PLBs that were super thin to save on shipping but ended up spending more because of the thinness issue...so if yours is super thin...just wrap a piece of felt, tissue, bubble wrap etc around the contents to make it just a bit thicker.

clear as mud??

thanks Knit Wit for helping the new folks and for reminding me that some folks need advice for their first PLB. Keep up the tutoring...it's great and needed :)

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DC is required in this ring but even when i am in a ring without DC requirements...I use it anyway.
biggest reason...it takes any burden of proof or doubt off of yourself.
if the next person in line behind you (the one you mail to) says they never got a package...
you really have no proof that you mailed it unless you have the DC slip which has a tracking number.

I hope that all the "proof" anyone would need is my reputation & my consistent reliability.

dewberry

Thank you, thank you, thank you, Knit Wit, for your wonderful mailer tutorial! That was a question that I would have posted once I got ready to send it out, I'm sure!!! ;)

Now I can't wait to get to Micheal's this weekend to get my stuff! Yippee!

moonshowr *humming country music songs all day for some weird reason*

oh knit whit.... if I just had your advice 24 hours ago :( I sent out my first postal yesterday. I hope my untaped bubble mailer lasts awhile. But thanks for the info... I'll know for next time:)

I am so sure that you probably did better than I did the first time I sent out a postal. I wrapped the stamp in a paper towel, and threw a small coverless pad of paper in. I had NO idea what I was doing. I just finished my fourth postal with a handmade logbook, and fabric wrapped stamp. Even the carving got oohs and ahhs around the house. Doing postals helped me see the possibilities and stretch my abilities more than I ever knew. And everybody here told me it would be that way: )

't'
dtandfambly

thanks for the encouragement!

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I wrapped the stamp in a paper towel, and threw a small coverless pad of paper in. I had NO idea what I was doing.

Speaking as the person who was the first to see your first PLB, may I state for the record that the stamp was beautiful and I wasn't really looking at the pad of paper. As I stated, the stamp is the thing for me with PLBs. :-)

Knit Wit

Thanks Knit Wit. I can't wait for you to see one of my next stamps, since you did see the first. I have improved! I saw you are in one or two of the most recent postal sign ups I did. You and I ought to just get together once a week at a coffee shop in H'ville to exchange postals; ) Unfortunately, my mailbox was empty again today: (

't'
dtandfambly

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I hope that all the "proof" anyone would need is my reputation & my consistent reliability.

yes...i know!!

but there are newbies here that don't have the reputation for consistent reliability...
and I have always been good about keeping them going and not losing a PLB etc but like I said...I have been questioned before when something came up lost...not accussed but questioned...as anyone should be if something seems to be lost etc. When I had a DC number that tracked the package as delivered to the address I mail to...or showed it had been mailed from my town on such and such date... then it feels good to know there could NEVER be any doubt whatsoever!

and on another note...if you never get a package...but the person before you didn't get a DC...
no one will ever know where the contact with the PLB really ended. especially if it was a new person. I would never ever want a newbie or anyone to get a bad reputation needlessly.

it's a simple thing to do that really does has it's benefits.
i will never again ship a PLB without it :)

THANK YOU! I'll know to do that next time! I did all but the tape under the postage and "to" part. Oh well...will do better next time!

On a cute/funny note. My husband...who is more of a geocacher...and not quite into the letterboxing thing (though I think he's slowly coming around)...came home with a package he got in the mail at work...inside the package was a ...4x6?...size padded mailer. He hands it to me and says....I thought you might like this! Mmmhmmm...he's coming around alright!!! LOL

D5 Mama

Oh how sweet! He's a good guy!!

As a newbie here on LBing I am wondering if there is a rule to use postal confirmation? I have rings for other things I do and it is mandatory to use delivery confirmation and keep the number until the ring is complete and everyone has their packages back. I have lost packages when just 1 person doesn't follow a rule and it is just a pain for everyone.

Cuyamaca Poppy

I have to agree with Dixie on the DC issue.

I have been questioned (in a non threatening way) about "missing" PLBs several times. The first time was the worst. It was about 4 or 5 PLBs from one ring. I had not been getting DCs consistently, but for some unknown reason I had gotten it for all 5 of these boxes. Once I provided the DC information to the ring leader (I love that phrase!) they were able to focus in on the problem and not waste time looking in the wrong direction. Since then, I get DCs on all the PLBs I send out, regardless of whether or not it is a requirement.
It's not that much extra to pay for my peace of mind.

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I am wondering if there is a rule to use postal confirmation? I have rings for other things I do and it is mandatory to use delivery confirmation and keep the number until the ring is complete and everyone has their packages back. I have lost packages when just 1 person doesn't follow a rule and it is just a pain for everyone.

we weretalking about that yesterday...
yes, please do use Delivery Confirmation...
what you say is true!! Thanks!

dixie

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Since then, I get DCs on all the PLBs I send out, regardless of whether or not it is a requirement.
It's not that much extra to pay for my peace of mind.

well said...
now i just can't figger out why I can never say things so simply and them still be easily understood ;)

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As I stated, the stamp is the thing for me with PLBs. :-)

I agree. Since the Highlander and I always recycle those PLBs back out into the wild as permanent plants, I figure using the simplest logbook is the best. I tried making a really fancy one once, but it got ruined as the mailing went on so I had to create a brand new logbook, anyway. I usually just use a spiral bound set of notecards.

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I'm not good at elaborate logbooks. I try to at least make a handmade one, but for me that means cutting squares of heavy paper, making cardstock covers, maybe decorating the covers a bit, hole punching and tying the books together with whatever spare yarn I have lying around.

Umm, Knit Wit, that IS an elaborate logbook, by my standards!

Mariette
(hasn't gotten beyond the purchased little blank notebooks yet)

I don't think you have to do any special kind of notebook. It's coming back to you eventually to keep, so what works for you is fine. Lots of people just use index cards or similar, so they can keep the images in their own organizing system when they get them back.

Mariette
(dbltall of Team StoreboughtNotebook)

I always make my logbooks. One of the reasons I first got into PLBs is to have an excuse to make books!

That being said, I do understand that not eveyone enjoys bookbinding and don't think less of anyone if their log isn't handmade. All that matters is that there is a place for people to stamp in. And like others have said before, it's all about what you are comfortable doing and your own personal preferences.

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The notebooks you buy are nice though. I've been meaning to ask where you get them from.

Barnes and Noble at U Village, but lots of places carry them. They're just the little Moleskine cahier blank journals that come in packages of three. I wouldn't splurge on them for planted boxes out in the woods, but for postals I want a semi-nice notebook, and I am notebook-making impaired (and also have signed up for too many postals and need all my crafting time to get the stamps carved ;)

Mariette
(stop having such cool idea for postal rings, all of you! I mean it! ;)

So I'm in a ring where I will be sending all of my postals to Canada. If I can't send them with DC, should I insure them? You could track it that way, right?

I don't think delivery confirmation is very useful, personally.

They don't get a signature from anyone. They only 'swipe' the barcode to confirm the package went out on delivery that day. It's not even confirming that the silly thing fit in the mail slot/box.

If I'm going to pay the extra postage at all, then I go whole hog and get signature required.

Ish

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They're just the little Moleskine cahier blank journals

I just saw something about Moleskines, they are supposed to be VERY nice!

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I just saw something about moleskins, they are supposed to be VERY nice!

yes, they are nice. I received one in a postal recently. But I like to use my scrapbooking skills (my other hobby) and make my own.

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I just saw something about Moleskines, they are supposed to be VERY nice!

Yep, very nice! Pretty well made, and they come in a variety of different kinds- ruled, unruled, thick sketching pages, graphing paper, reporter's notebook style....and, best of all, all Moleskin books come with a little strap to hold them closed, and have a pocket built into the back!

I find them very handy to use as PLB logbooks (especially since i'm not particularly good at making logbooks- lately, i've enlisted Kitten's help with that! :D)

CQ