Artelopes - The Lost Files - Outback Bowl, and Rose Bowl

With baseball season coming within the next few weeks for not only the ML:B, but minor league teams. I have been preparing artelopes for business card, and schedule requests. As I prepare to let the mailing begin I feel its time to admit defeat on two artelopes that have been gone for two months now. Using my past track record, when they haven't come back by now they aren't coming back. Hopefully at some point this record will change, but currently it hasn't.

Before showing off these two lost gems I feel maybe it would be best to explain artelopes to the new readers of this blog. Two hobbies that I enjoy other than baseball cards are business cards, and pocket schedules. My business card collection covers many other subjects, but my favorite part is the sports teams. Lately it has been very tough to add new business cards into the collection. That is when I read a post by Tom at 'Baseball By The Letters'. Tom mentioned drawing on envelopes to increase the odds for autograph returns. I took this idea, and decided to attempt it in my mailings to sports teams. Thus the artelopes were born.

Other than a few non-returns the results have been amazing. Last year I was able to trim the wantlist for baseball teams down to six, and got returns from a few very tough holdouts. While the list has grown back to 22 due to new team names, logos, and affiliations. This year I am hoping for more results like last year. So far I'm not fairing too well with three returns, and two lost.

Using the same concept as the New Mexico Bowl late in 2013. I decided to add the football boomerang in hopes of jazzing things up a bit. Unlike the New Mexico Bowl artelope which came back with business cards. The Outback Bowl left me hanging.

The daughter had been itching to do this concept for awhile. For a time she was really into drawing roses, and hearts with wings. She wanted to add some flair to the rose by rubbing her finger across the rose while the ink was still wet. So no your screen isn't going blurry the rose really is that way.  At first I wasn't into the idea, but it was her concept so in the end I let her run with it.

As a fan of a team in the PAC-12 I'm kind of disappointed that the Rose Bowl didn't send a business card. Maybe one day in the future I will get the chance to add a card from the Rose Bowl. Until then it stays on the list of missing bowl game business cards.