I remember there being a great tutorial about how to prepare a postal. DOes anyone have that link? I forgot to bookmark it!

Do you mean the envelope? If so, here you go.

http://chedvasltccarvingsspoilers.blogspot.com/p/bubble-envelopes.html?m=1

That's the one!! Thank you!

Clue 2 = Black

Your welcome. :-)

Clue 3 = 64

Will be traveling for work but should still be able to keep the clues going.

Clue 4 = ..... and White

Clue 5 = Norway

The correct answer is Grandmaster Magnus Carlsen who is the current world chess champion.

Thanks to all that played along.

Clue 1 = GM stands for Grand Master (got lots of good guesses but this sent many down General Motors pathway. Also a few General Managers)
Clue 2 = Black - Black pieces of chess game
Clue 3 = 64 - Number of squares on a chess board (This fit with the General Motors theme. Did have a some go with the GM pavilion at the 64 Worlds Fair. Kudos for such a creative guess which easily could have been correct.)
Clue 4 = White - White pieces of chess game.
Clue 5 = Norway - Home country to the champion

It struck me recently that there are fewer and fewer postal boxers that actually write any comments in the logbooks either on the electronic AQ or the paper logbooks. This was a common practice. I personally try to write something in regard to the carve, logbook or a related story/concept.

Yes these are not required, but are always nice to read. It is rather sad to see a logbook full of stamps and almost devoid of comments.

Getting down off my soapbox now.

I wonder if this is also the case with traditional letterboxes...? I personally tend to leave comments on AQ over the logbook but maybe I'll adopt the practice of comments in both places.

I've noticed that some people almost always comment, and others do not. I usually make my comments on-line if they are longer, and just write a few words in a log book, due to space considerations.

It is sad, though, to get a logbook back without anything personal written in it. :(

I did have a few postals I sent out (my Flat Panda series), in which it was required to write at least a paragraph about the panda. It was very fun for everyone to read - a lot a creative minds out there!

Thank you for sending out the coloring balloon postal it was a lot of fun. My wife writes in the log books and we are trying to write more in them. I totally agree with you.

A couple times I rescued really old boxes and noticed that their logbooks were filled with comments. It was fun going thru them. I wonder how many owners actually get to read any of the comments made in traditional letterbox logbooks.

I always leave comments because I like to receive them. It's also fun to do a little embellishments if space is available like one time I remember the stamp was an elephant with a blue hat so I stamped an extra hat and put it on my sig stamp. I usually write the same comment or something similar on line as in the logbook (especially with Traditionals) in case the owner never gets to see the log.

I am fairly new to letterboxing and even newer to postals. I did not know exactly what the protocol was for commenting in log books and such, so I just followed the lead so to speak by copying what others had done before me - which is to say just a date and stamp in many cases. I have gotten one postal back that had a couple longer comments in the logbook and I found that I really appreciated that. I will work on being a little wordier with commenting at least in the logbooks.

I don't always leave a comment when I log on-line but I usually leave something in the logbook of the 'boxes that I find. And while I do like the on-line feedback about my 'boxes, I prefer the status updates more, whether it is a found, damaged or missing report. When I visit my 'boxes, I LOVE reading the comments other 'boxers leave, albeit there are fewer comments left anymore. When I find a 'box, I like reading previous finders' comments.

Since I don't participate in Postals, you may find my $.02 useless. YMMV, and invariably will...

I am more likely to leave comments in the logbook now than online.

I think this has stemmed from the "need" log immediately upon delivery of the postal.... especially in rings.

I do think I have backed off a bit from comments - but reading this makes me what to get back to olds school!

Doglvrs

Being new to postals, I was unaware of this practice, but will make it a conscious effort to do so from here on out! I am not sure if this is okay, but I usually take the postals to my girl scout meeting and let the other two leaders along with my daughter, stamp the books as well. I think it is great to have extra stamps and others to see share my art with!!

If that will be your intent, i woul let the tracker leader and box owner know. As an owner i am usually okay with extra people taking the image and logging online. However i do very simple logbooks and typically only leave enough pages for the number of boxers signed up. I would add extra pages if aware of the need. I limit logbooks to the bare necessities in postals to kept shipping costs down. However a few extra sheets of paper arent usually a problem. The only time I restrict extra sign ins are for my postal mystery series that require solving clues to get the box.

I've noticed this trend as well. I miss seeing comments in log books. I always try to leave a little something..

I usually take the postals to my girl scout meeting and let the other two leaders along with my daughter stamp the books

That's fun, but make sure it doesn't delay the turnaround time of the postal. We used to meet every two weeks so if a postal didn't arrive a day or two before a meeting, it didn't get shared. I like extra stamp-in's in my logbooks, but I encourage groups to share a pages. When in doubt it's always best to ask the planter/owner.

As long as it doesn't delay the postal turnaround time, I like extra sign ins for my postal stamps. I add extra pages just for that reason and include a sticky note stating that extras are welcomed. For micro postals, I just include a sheet of paper that has the stamp and name and postal ring it is apart of and still welcome extra sign ins and tell them to use the front and back. It's not a very pretty "log book" but at the end of the year, I bind together all my sheets from micro postals to create one book.

My post office won't take it without a return address!

I always use the recipients address as the return address. That way it gets there either way.

~Aurora

Any one up for the challenge??

https://www.atlasquest.com/showinfo.html?trackerId=9372

How does one join a new postal? I can't seem to find one....

Thanks,
SanibelMama

Do you have the new trackers widget? They will pop up there. You can also go to the My Page tab, then click Trackers, and available Postals. Postals fill up fast so you'll have to keep an eye on the widget :)

At the moment, there doesn't seem to be any new (open) ones. They do fill up fast - sometimes within 24 hours!

I just posted a newbie ring if you would like to join to get the hang of postals!

https://www.atlasquest.com/showinfo.html?gTrackerId=9398

New to postals?
I am hosting a Newbie Ring so you can get the hang of postals!
Sign up here: https://www.atlasquest.com/showinfo.html?gTrackerId=9398