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Read Thread: carving itch counseling?

carving itch counseling?
Board: Letterbox Chatter
Jun 10, 2007 7:01pm
Thread (disabled) Board
Am I the only one who gets periodic episodes of carving itch and does NOT know what to carve? Am I the only one who scours the book cases just to find images, then madly starts deciding on ones to carve? Am I the only one who wants to carve and carve and carve even though I have no idea where the box will be planted? And am I the only one who carves stamps that have absolutely no meaning, no connection to their future planting location, but just HAD to carve it anyway to scratch my itch?

Just today I carved three pointless stamps. By pointless, I mean, they weren't particularly screaming at me that they "belong" in a letterbox and that there is a "perfect" location for them. They were simply images I found in some Stephen King books that were not that hard to carve, that did make pretty good stamps, simple though they may be. And the itch did get semi-scratched. :)

Becky :)
Re: carving itch counseling?
Board: Letterbox Chatter
Reply to: #99077 by Nurse Wanderseek
Jun 10, 2007 7:03pm
Thread (disabled) Board
Quote Am I the only one who gets periodic episodes of carving itch and does NOT know what to carve?


Sounds like you need to sign up for more postals! :D I just go to my list of postals to carve when the carving itch hits! :)

-gollygee
Re: carving itch counseling?
Board: Letterbox Chatter
Reply to: #99078 by gollygee
Jun 10, 2007 7:05pm
Thread (disabled) Board
great idea, and this would seem to scratch the itch. And yes, I do have two postal stamps to carve. However, I gotta find just the RIGHT images! Also, gotta get to the library or the school where I can print out those images. Luckily, that'll be tomorrow. Until then, I'll either be "itching" or staying up waaaaay too late to carve anything I can find. haha!

Becky :)
Re: carving itch counseling?
Board: Letterbox Chatter
Reply to: #99079 by Nurse Wanderseek
Jun 10, 2007 7:13pm
Thread (disabled) Board
I think I know what you mean... I have several stamps that I have agreed to carve for this letterbox, or that postal, or whatever, but just today I carved the blues brothers just because I like them and I thought the image would make a killer stamp (I was bight about that too), but I didn't need to carve it, I should have washed dishes, or done homework, ordid laundry or even carved some of my other "obligations", but I just had to scratch that itch.

Warm Front
Re: carving itch counseling?
Board: Letterbox Chatter
Reply to: #99082 by Warm Front
Jun 10, 2007 7:20pm
Thread (disabled) Board
Warm Front, it sounds like you know just exactly what I mean! Carving stuff just because you like it, not because it goes with something you need to accomplish, and carving stuff when you should be doing other things! Yep, that's just what I mean..... :)

Becky
(who is also itching for a new trail name; my friend suggested "Hoosier Mama," and my mom suggested "Hoosier Nurse?") :)
Re: carving itch counseling?
Board: Letterbox Chatter
Reply to: #99082 by Warm Front
Jun 10, 2007 7:20pm
Thread (disabled) Board
Warm Front, it sounds like you know just exactly what I mean! Carving stuff just because you like it, not because it goes with something you need to accomplish, and carving stuff when you should be doing other things! Yep, that's just what I mean..... :)

Becky
(who is also itching for a new trail name; my friend suggested "Hoosier Mama," and my mom suggested "Hoosier Nurse?" or "Bloodletter") :)
Re: carving itch counseling?
Board: Letterbox Chatter
Reply to: #99087 by Nurse Wanderseek
Jun 10, 2007 7:53pm
Thread (disabled) Board
who is also itching for a new trail name; my friend suggested "Hoosier Mama," and my mom suggested "Hoosier Nurse</qoute>

Oh I would stick with TrailStompers, I think it is great. I have always envied names with some connection to the activity, names like Inky Fingers, Clueless etc.

YT
Re: carving itch counseling?
Board: Letterbox Chatter
Reply to: #99094 by The Yorkshire Tortoise
Jun 10, 2007 9:20pm
Thread (disabled) Board
I too love to carve just to carve. I have a few stamps carved just waiting for one day when they might be needed.

I agree with YT your name is cool, why change it.
Re: carving itch counseling?
Board: Letterbox Chatter
Reply to: #99077 by Nurse Wanderseek
Jun 10, 2007 10:46pm
Thread (disabled) Board
Quote Am I the only one who gets periodic episodes of carving itch and does NOT know what to carve? Am I the only one who scours the book cases just to find images, then madly starts deciding on ones to carve? Am I the only one who wants to carve and carve and carve even though I have no idea where the box will be planted?


And why is this creative itch so strong? I've felt it since I was very young and have found various outlets of creativity through the years. It seems some of us (all of us?) are made with a desire to make nice things.

Murray7, who this very night scoured the bookshelf, found a book and carved an image that ACTUALLY FITS a place that I hope to plant! (but I often have to carve great pictures with no purpose at all)
Re: carving itch counseling?
Board: Letterbox Chatter
Reply to: #99110 by Murray Herd
Jun 11, 2007 5:27am
Thread (disabled) Board
Quote And why is this creative itch so strong? I've felt it since I was very young and have found various outlets of creativity through the years. It seems some of us (all of us?) are made with a desire to make nice things.


I'm the same way, and I've learned not to fight it. Part of my soul/psyche/mental stability needs creativity, and a creative outlet - regardless of how it manifests itself in the final (not necessarily finished ;-)) product. If I *don't* spend enough time being creative - don't get near me, and someone get out a checkbook, because I'll be calling the therapist pretty darn soon.........

I recently read a book called "The Zen of Needlework" that discussed this, along with the "zone" you can get in while creating/being creative/planning creativity. I don't know much about Zen thought, but it was an interesting and charming book ;-))

Mama Fox
Re: carving itch counseling?
Board: Letterbox Chatter
Reply to: #99129 by The Little Foxes
Jun 11, 2007 8:10am
Thread (disabled) Board
I recently read a book called "The Zen of Needlework" that discussed this, along with the "zone" you can get in while creating/being creative/planning creativity.


My girlfriend (Cold Front) calls this "The Tunnel". It's funny to me, because when she is in the tunnel, all she does is nod her head and say "uh-huh", no matter what I say :)

I played drums for 18 years and the term there is being in "the pocket", but it's much different than "the zone" or "the tunnel", that I've recently experienced with carving. I was initially only interested in the hunting/finding/stamping aspect of letterboxing, but the carving is quickly becoming my favorite part.

Warm Front
Re: carving itch counseling?
Board: Letterbox Chatter
Reply to: #99167 by Warm Front
Jun 11, 2007 9:45am
Thread (disabled) Board
I always just called it "My Focus"

At work, a friend of mine told me. "It's like your entire world is suddenly focused on the tip of your pen"

I guess the same goes for the tip of my carving tool

S~N~K
Re: carving itch counseling?
Board: Letterbox Chatter
Reply to: #99191 by Sits N Knits
Jun 11, 2007 11:13am
Thread (disabled) Board
Carve away...the plant will come.

deniserows
zen master of pointless carves
Re: carving itch counseling?
Board: Letterbox Chatter
Reply to: #99216 by deniserows
Jun 11, 2007 12:03pm
Thread (disabled) Board
I normally have no problem coming up with ideas for stamps and boxes - and with the winter we had last year had plenty of time to work on them. It'd be years to work my way through my idea file (something I recommend - I keep image ideas along with box ideas).

Now I'm struggling with having the "itch" but for the first time ever - I can evaluate an image as to whether I think I can carve it and all, and I can't! I've messed up the same danged one 4 times now! I've even simplifed what I'm attempting.

So I have the *desire* but am losing patience with the ability. (And I'm not a newbie carver - prolly done 70+ stamps at this point.) It's very frustrating. My solution for now is to let it go and return with a fresh eye, but this has been going on for weeks now. Does anyone have any ideas/guidance for this kind of carving *itch*?

I have some boxes to do and an event stamp I HAVE to do this summer, because I've commited to doing so!

preboxed
Re: carving itch counseling?
Board: Letterbox Chatter
Reply to: #99228 by preboxed
Jun 11, 2007 2:07pm
Thread (disabled) Board
You guys are so awesome! Thank you so much for encouraging me to let those creative juices flow, and sharing your stories. The thing that prompted my original post was something that was somewhat frustrating to me, but now you've helped me realize it's a cool thing to have enough craftiness, creativity, desire, whatever you wanna call it that I need to welcome it and go with the flow of it. What a great bunch of people!! :)

Becky
Re: carving itch counseling?
Board: Letterbox Chatter
Reply to: #99256 by Nurse Wanderseek
Jun 11, 2007 4:39pm
Thread (disabled) Board
Quote but now you've helped me realize it's a cool thing to have enough craftiness, creativity, desire, whatever you wanna call it that I need to welcome it and go with the flow of it. What a great bunch of people!! :)


You better go with the flow - otherwise your head will explode!!!!! It's happened to me...... ;-))

(now you can tell people who complain you know someone who's head exploded when she wasn't allowed to carve!)

Mama Fox
Re: carving itch counseling?
Board: Letterbox Chatter
Reply to: #99078 by gollygee
Jun 11, 2007 6:50pm
Thread (disabled) Board
Quote :Am I the only one who gets periodic episodes of carving itch and does NOT know what to carve?


Ha ha ha! this is how I came up with my Urban Forestry stamps! I wanted to carve, but was drawing a blank. Then I found the tree identification guide and just started carving,

21 stamps later!!!!!
sometime ideas come from silly places!
~littlmoon
Re: carving itch counseling?
Board: Letterbox Chatter
Reply to: #99333 by littlmoon
Jun 20, 2007 10:10am
Thread (disabled) Board
i want to carve but i'm horrible! all the carved stamps i see are pretty fantastic, and i have no idea how they get them to look so good! are most letterboxes artists or something?!
Re: carving itch counseling?
Board: Letterbox Chatter
Reply to: #101954 by campfrekkles
Jun 20, 2007 10:23am
Thread (disabled) Board
No, I would say the majority of us are not "artists" before we get started letterboxing and carving. But once you carve a stamp, I think that qualifies you as an artist. :) I'm not sure what the nature of your troubles are, but here's one thing I see that new carvers try to do that messes things up for them: carving waaaaaaay too deep, sometimes even GOUGING big canyons into the rubber. If this happens to be what is troubling you, just let up. You can simply lay your carving tool down on the surface of the rubber, then start sliding it along with a gentle press downward, and you're carving! :) Now, like I said, maybe that's not what is troubling you. A problem for me that causes mental turmoil is that I can never ever seen to get what I see in my mind's eye onto paper. I can see this really great things in my mind but can't draw then worth a hoot. So I resort to copying images that I see here or there on signs, out of books, etc. Once I transfer those images onto the rubber, it's way easier for me to get a good carving than if I'd tried to use "my own" images. I hope that has in some way turned in the direction of being helpful for you, Team Frekkles. If not, please ask more questions! We have a very helpful bunch of people here. And good luck! :) :) :)

Becky (whose carving itch has finally been scratched after seven halfway decent stamps, one not so decent, and a handful of images to be carved yet this week)
Re: carving itch counseling?
Board: Letterbox Chatter
Reply to: #101960 by Nurse Wanderseek
Jun 20, 2007 12:15pm
Thread (disabled) Board
All I can say is,

Ya gotta start somewhere!!

Now, get to carving.
Re: carving itch counseling?
Board: Letterbox Chatter
Reply to: #101954 by campfrekkles
Jun 20, 2007 3:43pm
Thread (disabled) Board
are most letterboxes artists or something?!


Totally not! Even my stick figures are terrible. I just seem to be pretty good at carving the lines of clip art and coloring book images.

TG