What is Letterboxing? It’s a fun outdoor hobby that is kind of like a lower-tech version of Geocaching. Letterboxers hide small, weatherproof boxes in publicly accessible places (like parks) and distribute clues to finding the box in printed catalogs, on one of several web sites, or by word of mouth. Individual letterboxes contain a notebook and a rubber stamp, preferably hand carved or custom made. Finders make an imprint of the letterbox’s stamp in their personal notebook, and leave an impression of their personal signature stamp on the letterbox’s “visitors’ book” or “logbook” — as proof of having found the box and letting other letterboxers know who has visited. Many letterboxers keep careful track of their “find count”. Letterboxing is a creative way to enjoy the outdoors!
In this class you’ll get introduced to the basics of the hobby and learn to make two of the items that participants use – a hand-carved rubber stamp and a handmade log book. The skills you will learn while making these items can be used in a lot of other craft pursuits, such as art journaling, card making, scrapbooking, printmaking and much more.
Each class attendee will receive a printout with a written tutorial for that class so if you forget anything we learned you can refer back to it later. All materials are included in the class price.
You will have time for lunch and there are lots of good places to eat or pick up food in downtown Maplewood.
NEW! At each class, there will be at least one door prize randomly awarded to an attendee – probably a craft supply item of some type that relates to the theme of the class. Past prizes have included a necklace kit, a polymer clay frame kit and a craft stencil. That’s my way of saying thank you for coming!
What to bring
It’s not necessary to bring anything but it’s a good idea to wear old clothes in case you get any ink on you. You can bring or buy snacks or lunch. We have a refrigerator for storing food.
What will be provided
I will provide rubber carving material, carving tools to borrow, rubber stamping ink pads to borrow, paper and cardstock to make your logbook and all other materials needed to complete the project during class. Extra supplies will be available to purchase if you want to do more work on your own.
Introduction to Letterboxing
Date: July 16, 2016
Time: 9:00 am – 3:00 pm
Location: Studio:art, 7403 Manchester Road, Maplewood, MO
More information and registration: Class Signup
Are any classes age appropriate for a 9 year old?
I’m not an expert on teaching children, I’m not a parent myself, but I do think the Letterboxing class would work for a 9 year old. Letterboxing appeals to both adults and kids and I think the class is appropriate for relative beginners. For my classes I ask that the parents make their own decisions about whether the class would be of interest to their child and within their ability level. I also ask at least one parent to take the class with the child so they can supervise and make sure the child’s skill is appropriate for what we’re doing for safety reasons. Also so the parent can help the child later if the child wants to keep working on his or her own. My Dad thought it was ok to teach me to use a soldering iron when I was six but I’m not sure that was a good idea! I survived (though not without a little pain!). I have taught parent/child combos in the past and when the child is in the 9-12 range they often do a lot better than the adults on the project. Thank you for asking!