Well, if you can't beat 'em..join 'em....right? lol

http://www.atlasquest.com/gallery/viewphoto.html?gPhotoId=10745

I am happy to debut a new patch..the Blue Diamond Worthy Letterboxer" patch. There is no criteria or hoops to jump through to get this patch. Even if you HAVE a BD, there is no guarantee you will have it tomorrow, and so I made this patch to say LetterboxER...instead of Letterbox. You may not have a BD at this time, but if you are a BD in your heart and manner...by treating others with kindness and respect and doing your best to be a positive contributor to the Letterboxing hobby..you qualify in my book. I hope the patch will inspire you to explore those cool places, write those awesome clues, and carve beautiful stamps!

Patches are $3 a piece and can be paid with Check, Money Order, Cash or Paypal. Please enclose a self-addressed stamped envelope (1 stamp for every two patches). The gray areas in the scan are actually done in silver metallic thread...so cool! A couple of folks around the country got a sneak peek at these..and I also debuted them at the Mills at Salmon Falls event in NH. I really appreciated all the nice compliments. Ryan and Amanda...yours are in the mail as we speak!

Write to me here or at Lockwench@yahoo.com and I will send you my address. Tshirts may be in the works if I get enough interest.

LW PhD
"Nice Counts"

I've tried so hard not to be vain about the fact that I've finally got a Blue Diamond box, and now you're offering these pretty patches! Do I give in and order one for my backpack? Or do I resist pretend that "it really doesn't matter what others think"?

This website offers more temptations!

Murray7

I know what you mean. I want soooo many patches. But I've vowed to only buy patches after I have boxed in that area. Hence, no PNW patch for me.....YET! :)

LW PhD
"Nice Counts"

so nice! Alas I'm just a bumpy stone : )

Well, what about patch collectors? I collect patches; from parks, from events, from letterboxing, from places...
I would like to order one of your patches, but I don't know where to send the money and I almost feel guilty about. I really would like to have one just cause it's a letterboxer patch. Actually I wouldn't mind ordering one for my brother as well. How do I go about it? It is a really cool patch. I like the shape.

Oh patch collectors can have 'em too! I am a patch collector myself. :) Here's the info:

You can send a check, a money order, cash or use paypal. They are $3 each. Here's my address:

Lock Wench/Cyndie Long
218 Clairmonte Avenue
Syracuse, NY 13207

For Paypal, send to lockwench@yahoo.com
Checks and money orders should be made out to "Cyndie Long"

Don't forget a self-addressed stamped envelope. One stamp for every 2 patches. And let me know when you get them and how you like them!

Thanks!

LW

If anyone is buying a big quantity (like 20 or more), I will handle the postage.


LW PhD
"Nice Counts"

LockWench,

If you think they can get here by March 30th, I'll put in an order for a mess of patches for the April 1st Gathering.

I despise PayPal, but for this I will endure the suffering!!

Watch for an order to come through soon.

Renee

I'll put them in the mail asap as soon as I hear from you. Don't forget your address!

LW PhD
"Nice Counts"

Oh, Oh....(hand raised up high in the air) I will buy one (or maybe more) from you at the gathering.
We are coming and can't wait! See you soon,
In Cahoots Gang

WOW! The patch looks great!

Unfortunately I have sworn off and boycott blue diamond ratings. Otherwise I would be in line as well.

her patch has nothing to do with ratings.
we ae all blue diamond worth and that is what the patch says.
not that you have a blue diamond worthy box.
please don't boycott such a wonderful idea by lock wench.
the patch is beautiful.
i can't wait for mine.

david (team new hampshire)
http://teamnewhampshire.blogspot.com

I would love one of these patches and will be contacting LW soon.

But as for everyone being blue diamond worthy...I disagree. I have been to several boxes where it is obvious that the person put little effort into the logbook or the carving of the stamp. They simply wanted a plant.

Not to mention the "letterbox" that Becky and I found that was simply full of religious pamphlets and a store bought stamp from Wal-mart (I know because I've seen it there).

I still believe everyone has the potential to be "worthy" of planting great boxes in great places. Whether or not they will be inspired to do so is a different thing. At least my patch will last longer than an actual BD.....before I opted out, those came and went and came and went and came and went...well....you get the picture. :)

LW PHD
"Nice Counts"

so that box isn't for you.
im not a religious kinda guy either and probably would also be turned of by it, but if someone who did follow the words from above, then that box would be just fine for that someone. i have found boxes that i really didn't care for and i feel now, that i am not to complain about it. i have store bought stamps and foam stamps out there, so i am every bit as untalented as some others i met. but, just because i have those still out there, doesn't mean anything. not to brag, but i have come a long way. my first stamp is carved from a pink eraser, my last stamp was the talk of the town at the last event attended.

did you not enjoy the hike? was it a drive-by? i find myself carrying a camera more now, so i don't get all caught up the prize at the end of the trail. i have a blog that i post on all the time and so, the better the story, the better the interest. i think that letterboxing is more than just about the prize. it is about the wrapping around the prize. look at the beautiful wrapping sometime when your out. then you will see who is a blue diamond worthy letterboxer. even if it is in the LORD's company.

now it sounds like i sit in church!
david (team new hampshire)
http://teamnewhampshire.blogspot.com

They simply wanted a plant.

Not to mention the "letterbox" that Becky and I found that was simply full of religious pamphlets and a store bought stamp from Wal-mart

I know which box that was... how annoying. Nevermind it didn't have anything to do with the locale, it was so stuffed full of religious propaganda you could barely shut it. And it was not "words from above", it was more like the "holier than thou" B.S. (yes, capital letters) you get shoved in your face. I found it offensive.

If I could have, I would have rated that box a "1".

Actually Becky and I are both devout Roman Catholics...so we ARE religious type people. This box was a drive by, so there was no hike to enjoy. We simply drove out to the spot to find a stamp and a bunch of pamphlets...disappointing. NOT Blue diamond material. Saying that everyone deserves a blue diamond is false, it defeats the purpose of the blue diamond. Everyone may have the potential to plant blue diamond boxes, but they don't. There was no beautiful wrapping on this one. It was hidden under a broken down shed.

99% of my boxes aren't blue diamond boxes! I'm proud of them anyway.

Let me add to that...

In my opinion a box has to have at least two out of these three to be a blue diamond:

An excellent handmade logbook
A beautiful location
A very detailed and nice stamp

Creative/well written clues are also a bonus.

If someone stuck a pad of index cards and a store bought stamp at the top of a beautiful mountain I would be happy about the view but disappointed in the box.

Becky and I both agree, the "worst" handcarved stamp is better than the best store bought one.

Hmmm... Coincidentally, I was raised Roman Catholic—went to the same parish school my mother and her brothers went to. I've got nothing against religion (except that I think it's been one of the roots of a lot of the conflicts in the world). I even carved, for a budding boxer, a sig stamp with a religious theme.

If the box had been religiously themed and planted near a historic church, that would have been different. I would have been able to appreciate it more. But as it was (still is??), it was very disappointing.

'nuff said!

Exactly.

That box is missing actually. It wasn't exactly well hidden in the first place. (Under the steps of a shed used by maintenance workers) We checked on it out of curiosity when we went to that park to check on one of our plants.

I agree. Well said.

I may be missing something here...

..but isn't the point that we all deserve a blue diamond? Not our BOXES. Us. The people-types.

I mean, really, there's a heck of a lot of boxes that don't meet minimum standards, but I never heard of a person who didn't.

I don't think all letterboxERs deserve blue diamonds. MOST of us yes. But we have found too many boxes where the people who found it last left it sitting out or hid it in the wrong place or didn't close the bags, etc.

Our favorite is when we see that someone has stamped the box stamp into the log and written the message, "Not sure what I'm supposed to do." Or even signed there trailname, etc. We have seen that way too many times for it to be attributed to someone who just stumbled on the box. At least they can be excused as probably just being new to letterboxing.

Some letterboxers are just plain inconsiderate. So all of us don't deserve to be blue diamond letterboxers. Most of us probably, but not all.

But I'll get off the high horse now.

well in that case... can someone design a first aid patch... because that seems to be my biggest contribution. The mother in me just oozes out when I see a box in need... I spent an hour last fall trying to recoup a box in the wild... the poor thing was in such bad shape. I wanted to take it home and cure all its ails... but never did. I e-mailed the owner, but don't know if it was ever fixed.

I'm the same with postals... by the time some of them reach Maine they look like they were KICKED the length of the turnpike and need LOTS of love and care... I refuse to send one out that has to limp to make it to its next destination.....

Man - my 2 yr old is naked again! Gotta run!
*tissues in one hand, diaper in the other!*

WOW! I have been amazed by the interest in these patches. My original order was for 200 and I have less than 40 left! I will definitely reorder these so there will be plenty for spring and summer backpacking…as well as to show off at events. For those who didn’t see the patch yet, here is a rendering:

http://www.atlasquest.com/gallery/viewphoto.html?gPhotoId=10745

There is no criteria or hoops to jump through to get this patch. Even if you HAVE a BD, there is no guarantee you will have it tomorrow, and so I made this patch to say LetterboxER...instead of Letterbox. You may not have a BD at this time, but if you are a BD in your heart and manner...by treating others with kindness and respect and doing your best to be a positive contributor to the Letterboxing hobby..you qualify in my book. I hope the patch will inspire you to explore those cool places, write those awesome clues, and carve beautiful stamps!

Patches are $3 a piece and can be paid with Check, Money Order, Cash or Paypal. Please enclose a self-addressed stamped envelope (1 postage stamp for every two patches). The gray areas in the scan are actually done in silver metallic thread...so cool! A couple of folks around the country got a sneak peek at these..and I also debuted them at the Mills at Salmon Falls event in NH. I really appreciated all the nice compliments. Ryan and Amanda...yours are in the mail as we speak! T-shirts may be in the works if I get enough interest. Here’s my address for those who need it:

Lock Wench/Cyndie Long
218 Clairmonte Avenue
Syracuse, NY 13207

For Paypal, send to lockwench@yahoo.com
Checks and money orders should be made out to "Cyndie Long"

Don't forget a self-addressed stamped envelope. One stamp for every 2 patches. And let me know when you get them and how you like them!

Thanks!

LW PhD
“Nice Counts”

But you and Becky are Blue Diamond Boxers!

Quote

NOT Blue diamond material

who decides whether it is BD material or not?
i think somewhere, a point was missed. somewhere along the line, we decided that we are allowed to B&M about boxes we supposedly didn't enjoy traveling to. so what if you didn't enjoy that box at all. that is your problem, not the planters. if that is how they view letterboxing, then the lack of travel to thier boxes will show them they need to change thier ways. we have other complaining about adult stamps, cooties, religious stuff in boxes. why don't we complain about "quilt codes" in andover, MA while we are at it because it talks about the hardships of blacks in the past. since when is it anyones given right to B&M because thier box doesn't suit your fancy. not every box is for everyone. to this box you speak of, maybe the planter is proad of the box. let them think so. they are BD worthy in thier minds. don't ruin it for them.

Quote

There was no beautiful wrapping on this one. It was hidden under a broken down shed.

we sometimes make bad decisions when we plant sometimes. we are not all perfect. i planted a box in an hole and the box went missing. come to find out the hole belonged to some critter. so it was a broken down shed. i have found many boxes in old falling apart stonewalls, under some falling apart buildings and some bridges that have not place for a box. it doesn't matter to me wher the box is located. we all go through learning curves. i plan on retiring some of my boxes because they are not in great places. does it make me a bad person for planting 2 store bought foam stamps in a state park, where people have to pay to park, and walk a mile both ways. not knowing where i brought you, does that make me a horrible planter?

in my mind, all my boxes are BD worthy.
do i care if i get a BD? NOPE!
david (team new hampshire)
http://teamnewhampshire.blogspot.com

please not let everyone forget that we plant boxes mostly in the woods.
what else live in the woods?
animals!
we should not be claiming that letterboxers are to blame souly for boxes being left out in the open. it is so funny how many times i have read up on others who are quick to blame other letterboxers for misfortune. i blame mugles and animals first, then letterboxers. but you know what! i haven't lost a box to a letterboxer yet. just stupid muggles and wildlife that don't know better.

so we are not all worthy of a BD!
that's not really for you to decide!
david (team new hampshire)
http://teamnewhampshire.blogspot.com

Quote

There was no beautiful wrapping on this one. It was hidden under a broken down shed.

that sounds cool to me though. We love photography of the unusual. My personal favorite is black and whites of dilapidated buildings, so I'd LOVE to find a box around, in, or under one.

Tee

Quote

There was no beautiful wrapping on this one. It was hidden under a broken down shed.

Ok, I realize that this box may not fit what I am about to say, but.... sometimes it is not about where the box is hidden, but the area you have to go through (walk/drive/etc) to find the box. For some of my boxes (currently planted and planned in my mind) The actual location of the box is of minimal importance. My intent with the clues and the planting of the box is to take the searcher on a journey. Sometimes it is very short and to the point and sometimes it is long and drawn out, but in the end it is more about the journey than the destination. But of course, that is just my intension and I cannot force anyone (even the searchers) to see it from my point of view. Fortunately I think most of the people who have found my boxes have in fact enjoyed the journey =o)

Rhea of The Gillespie Tribe