In the UK, maybe letterboxing is popular at Dartmoor, but I’m in London right now with my sister, and there aren’t that many boxes in the area. Luckily, we did find one and also planted one. We’ll plant a few more during our travels for future travelers.

Well, Dartmoor is considered to be the birthplace and "mecca" of Letterboxing. Guess I wrongly assumed that LB'ing was as popular in England as it is in the US.

Like parts of the US, Canada has some areas which are just more active than others. When we were in the Calgary area, there were quite a few boxes to find and this was also true when we went out to the Maritime Provinces. If I recall correctly, Ontario still has a pretty strong and active letterboxing community.

When we have traveled elsewhere, we have come to realize that letterboxers around the globe often post their clues on sites other than AQ and LbNA. Some still post on personal websites or other regional letterboxing sites. When we were in the Canary Islands, one of our greatest finds was a box planted in the lava field of a dormant volcano. It was posted on a German letterboxing site and we had to translate the clues into English!

Like our area, the number of boxes in a particular area depends on the active LB'ers who live there, I think.
Nice to know there are a lot of boxes in the Maritimes. I haven't been there since pre-boxing days, and would like to travel there again.

Thanks for the backstory. I wasn't around and I remember getting a package instead of micro. Was not planning on that.

I think going forward, if its not listed what type of postal is, I have to try to remember to ask if its a micro.

Also check to see if the letterboxer is new because most likely they wont know the difference.

Great post.

What do you use to sharpen your Lino cutters/gouges - specially #1, which is the one that I use most of the time?

It would be great if someone were to collect links to these sites.

Congratulations to the winners.
Expect the next mystery in October.

Mystery Postal 2503 Solution and Explanation of clues:
The answer is the Backyard Brawl. This is the name of the WVU(West Virginia University) -Pitt (University of Pittsburgh) rivalry in football. Sometimes the annual basketball and baseball games also go by that name.

Clue 1 ¾ of a gross =108 This is the number of times the rivalry has been played.

Clue 2 blue. This is one color of both rivals.

Clue 3 Diamond. This refers to Neil Diamond (capitalization distinguished this from the common diamond so this does not apply to baseball although that was the rabbit hole for many.) The Pitt band traditionally plays Sweet Caroline at the end of the third quarter. It is a lovely song but WVU fans add a few extra lyrics for the three beats after Caroline (E.S.P.). Just google WVU Sweet Caroline to find multiple clips of the crowd singing the song. A Neil Diamond song title was also in the message board dialogue September Morn.

Clue 4 gold. The message board included a capitalized Old word in the dialogue. WVU’s second color is old gold. Pitt is just gold.

Clue 5 Denver. John Denver’s 1970s hit County Roads was played in person at the opening of the current WVU stadium in the fall of 1980. This immediately became a traditional way to celebrate a WVU win by linking arms with anyone around swaying and singing loudly for all to hear. Another rabbit hole for some living in Colorado of course went Rocky Mountain High and based guesses including the Rockies baseball team. The dialogue of course had me discussing my weekend road trip via “county roads”.

Clue 6 75.4 miles. This is the current distance based on Google Maps between the two football stadiums.

Clue 7 Yunz or Yinz or Yuons is spoken in Pittsburgh and western PA in comparison to Y’all used in WV. It literally was a term identifying which side of the Mason-Dixon line you were raised. The Mason-Dixon line forms part of the border running east-west between Morgantown and Pittsburgh.

Clue 8 Miners vs Mills. This was how the original rivalry was portrayed. Working man cities based on coal mining and steel mills. Yes, that is where the NFL Steelers name also is derived.

Clue 9 Rivalry. The Backyard Brawl has been a bitter rivalry for my area since 1895. I have attended a few and fortunately all were WVU wins. The most gut-wrenching loss was in 2007. It was the final game of the year. WVU only needed a win at home on senior night on a frozen field to finish #1 in the nation and play in the championship game against Ohio State. Pitt was 4-7 and not viewed as a threat, but that is when a rivalry really can bite you. WVU had the most prolific offense in the nation but only managed 9 points and also missed three field goals. Pitt finally scored a TD late in the 4th to win 13-9. The offense played very conservatively and of course it was found that Rich Rodriguez had already secretly met with Michigan to leave WVU. Don’t think he threw the game but was ultra conservative. He certainly was distracted by flying that week for a clandestine interview. LSU with a similar offensive style as WVU crushed Ohio State for the title.

As fitting in any good rivalry this game went OT. A monster WVU win! Unfortunately, the rivalry will be on hold until 2033.

LAST WEEK TO ORDER - end 19th.
Thank you.

I used to have a list of links for websites somehow related to letterboxing, but almost nobody ever used it, the links often become out-of-date (that German letterboxing website, I believe, no longer exists), spammers sometimes filled it with crap links, people would add links to their personal websites that had nothing to do with letterboxing, etc. and eventually I just retired the feature. It wasn't worth maintaining.

But there are help pages where everyone can contribute to, and it wouldn't be hard to add a question about other letterboxing websites with links to them. And whenever someone finds a new link or an old link is retired, it can easily be updated by anyone.

-- Ryan

It feels like all my best local stores keep going up in smoke, so I'm finally forced to look online. I definitely think it would help add some dimension to my cards and definitely reduce some of the anxiety I have about having too plain a background sometimes. I'm a very big fan of the 12 x 12 inch sheets with repeating patterns so I can slice those down and not need to worry about losing part of a design or putting the prettiest parts only on one card. This especially helps when I need to make more than 5 cards for a tracker since most of my supplies were bought from a defunct craft reuse center or get pulled out of my origami stash, both of which have been dwindling for related and unrelated reasons.

I'm going to be asking around for recommendations for scrapbooking shops locally (should be able to have more success with that than some of my other hobbies in this area lol), but figured I'd ask the LTC pros since most people near me don't completely understand what it is I get up to. Thanks in advance!

So sad that all the scrapbook stores and even craft stores are falling by the wayside. This is worth attending (and stocking up), if it comes to your area -

I go here paper

A Cherry on top is a family owned business I would like to recommend. They carry a great variety of products

I also like to use distress inks and: or distress oxide inks and make my own backgrounds. There are tons of tutorials on You Tube : )

Shelly

Those aren't postcards though, and I'm sure some people would like them, but I'd personally be a bit disappointed to receive one of those through Postcrossing as I prefer the picture postcards. I'm hoping you have regular postcards to send to people who specify their preference.

TG

I do, yes.

That’s actually the majority of what I have! I bought the inks originally to layer patterns on top of alcohol ink drawings like an artist I follow and then found letterboxing as I was recovering from the flu and never actually used them for the intended purpose haha. I keep forgetting I have access to a Cricut machine through my library too. Might not be a bad idea scale down some stencils. Thanks for the idea!

Not an “other” per se. A few years or more back, there were a few separate categories for LTCs such as: quisps were their own category. Someone decided to combine all stamped pieces of art such as quisps, traditional LTCs, coins, etc all under the category of LTC. There are definitely differing views about what constitutes an LTC. The original founders of LTCs combined their stamp carving artistry with the trending ATC hobby to create LTCs. The early cards, some rudimentary, but most were stunning, bold or intricate carvings woven together with art media to create lil pieces of art that are perfectly displayable! The biggest complaint over the past 5+ years that has even driven many LTC artists away has been the lack of quality cards being crafted. The combining of all cardstock images from the lil Quisps to oversized LTCs, in my opinion, struck a blow to the overall quality of LTCs because of the combining of the categories. Quality craftsmanship diminished and some crafters became obsessed with pumping their Hall of Fame numbers rather than producing art… ART.

Sorry, I’m on my soapbox.

well, that's a gratifying and rare show of integrity. Of course, profiting from your relative's misdeeds must be awkward. I don't envy him any of it.

Just returned from a Maritimes Cruise--GORGEOUS!
I would say if you are planning on letterboxing in the Maritimes, my experience was that most active boxes were set a distance out from the Ports. Boxes placed within 1/2 mile to a mile from port were typically missing or in such tourist heavy locations, I did not feel confident attempting.

I had limited walking ability and no individual transportation on this trip. If you do not have such restrictions, I think you will find some intriguing boxes. The couple I was able to get were well worth it!

In 2015, there were a couple on Mount Royal, but they were planted by Shorty (who was visiting from Illinois).

Best,

LB

I have seen it at Dollar Tree

Congrats to Lovebirds-NC for getting box of the week! It's a great box and the honor is much deserved. I really miss finding their boxes...

Planning a trip to NE Ohio in a couple weeks and organizing clues for potential boxes. As I read through the clues, I am double checking comments to see if boxes might need maintenance or for other useful info (earwig warnings, for example)

I have come across a couple of comments that kind of detract from the fun for me--what I would consider spoilers. I know not everyone shares my opinion, but I did get to wondering what types of comments others might consider spoilers. I'm sure I have been guilty at various times so am trying to improve

The examples I've come across recently are:
Providing the answer to a puzzle in the comments
Commenting on what the stamped image is specifically

We had a paper-craft store in my small town with an amazing amount of patterned and textured paper, along with every color of cardstock you could imagine. Sadly, she closed up shop, and now the nearest in-person options are 45 minutes away - Michaels and Hobby Lobby. I really like seeing it in person and being able to buy just a few sheets at a time, so that's my first choice over online shopping.

I’m much the same way. I like being able to physically hold what I’m going to buy before I get it. The big box shops can be alright sometimes but their selection has been really bad in my area lately and I’m not particularly motivated to drive close to an hour for a shot at having the same thing happen haha. I miss my local shops a lot.

I would definitely consider those two examples spoilers. And even so much as just a hint would potentially ruin the experience for me. IMO the owner should have deleted those comments.

Definite spoilers.

We've participated in a couple of that host's 'coin' LTC trackers.

Congrats to Lovebirds-NC on getting box of the week! It's a great carve and plant and definitely a worthy pick. I miss finding your boxes...