I'm still here and happy to trade Girl Guide or Girl Scout patches anytime

Phew!!! It's hard to believe that well over a year has passed since my last post here. Granted, it is not my focal blog at this point in my life (that would be my vintage fashion and lifestyle blog, Chronically Vintage), but I do want folks from around the world to know that it's still active and that I am continuing, as always, to collect, trade, and purchase Girl Guide and Girl Scout patches, crests, silks, badges, pins, and various other related items.

A great deal has transpired in my life since I last penned a post for this blog, and telling you all about it could fill many, many entries - if not a whole book, but again, I'll defer you to Chronically Vintage, if you want to learn more about my daily going ones in recent months. :)

One extremely exciting thing, and great new undertaking, in my life that I will mention here is that in May of this year (2014), I launched an Etsy shop dedicated to antique and vintage fashions, jewelry, hats, accessories, books, sewing and knitting related items, ephemera, and various other delightful old school items.

Chronically Vintage was already a full-time job (I'm very fortunate to have been able to turn my vintage blog into my career in recent years), and now with my shop, which I put many (many!) hours into each week, I have two jobs, on top of running a household, tending to our pets, and making time to spend with my husband and family (as well as the occasional day of R&R for myself!).



{Click on any of the listings above to learn more about it and visit my Etsy vintage shop, which shares the same name as my popular vintage blog, Chronically Vintage.}


While I do not currently have any Girl Guide, Girl Scout, Scouts Canada or Boy Scout related items in the shop, given my unending passion for this field of collecting, it's highly conceivable that some will land there in the future. You'll definitely want to favourite my shop now so that you can catch wind of it right away when such listings come to fruition (and to see all the other super cool antique and vintage items I sell there).


Though the patch trading front in Canada continues to be exceedingly slow and I can often go months or more between trades, again, as always, I remain very committed to this fabulous hobby (obsession! :)) and sincerely welcome you to zip me an email anytime if you'd like to set up a trade or simply chat about any aspect of patch collecting or Girl Guiding/Scouting in general.


We're in the midst of my favourite season, autumn, right now and though not terribly warm here in Penticton any longer, the sun is still poking out most days and we're having a beautiful (is somewhat windy at the moment!) season. I hope that the same rings true for all of you, wherever you live and that you have a joyful, awesome remainder of 2014.

Checking in with my fellow patch traders

Hi everyone, this quick little post is to say that, no, contrary to popular belief, I have not fallen off the face of the earth! :)

As those who follow this blog and/or know me from elsewhere may be aware, I’ve been going through a very challenging time with my health this year (well, for much longer than that, but 2010 has been fraught with new issues on the medical front).

About three weeks ago I surgery to (hopefully!) aid one of my (more recent) health problems, and remain steadfastly optimistic that I’ll eventually be able to get help for some of the other pressing medical issues that are dominating my life at the moment.

But enough of all that drearily serious talk! With the hours of sunlight already getting shorter each day and that familiar zesty nip of fall swirling through the air, there’s no skirting around the fact that (for those in the Northern Hemisphere) summer is gingerly meandering its way to a close.

As we slip into the familiar rituals of fall, I am, year after year, struck by the pleasantness of memories filled with childhood Septembers when new Guiding years commenced and once again weekly meetings brought evenings spent intently focusing on such things as badge work, challenges of all sorts, volunteer activity planning, cookie selling, campfires, rousing songs, lessons learned, and friendships formed.

I’ve always felt there was an undeniable buzz to September, rich as it is with new beginnings and anticipated events. From school years to the once-again wearing of cozy sweaters, the launch of the end-of-the-year holiday season (which, depending on who you ask here in Canada, kicks off with either Labour Day or Thanksgiving in October) to the autumn harvest teaming with toothsome apples, pears, and early season root vegetables.

With the fun-filled frenzy of another summer quickly falling behind us, the upbeat tempo of September gives way to a sort of magical autumnal tranquility. Lingering between the excitement of summer and the whirlwind weeks of December, this time of the year is one of the best in which to rekindle favourite pastimes – and what better hobby to once again dive headfirst into than Girl Guide and Girl Scout patch trading?

For those of us still diligently trading patches, the past few years have seen a sharp, ongoing decline in our ranks, but I know that there are still many of us, scattered as we may be around the globe, who are still passionate about this hobby (and/or who are looking to get back into it again).

Now, as the cooler days slip into our midst and evenings spent at nestled at home seem inviting once more, why not take some time to reconnect with past swapping partners or to make new ones? Sort through your patch collection (who hasn’t gone to organize their patches before, only to find you had more dupes than you thought?), spend time sharing your zeal for patch collecting with the younger Guiding members in your life (it’s never too early to get children interested in this rewarding hobby), shot an email to a dear Guiding friend, and enjoy the simple joys that come with being a patch, badge, pin or any other sort of Girl Guide memorabilia collector.

{Autumn, as the new Guiding year takes off, is amongst the beast seasons during which to divulge in your love of patch collecting and trading. This photo, which I shot last fall, shows a small selection of the GGC fun/camp related patches in my collection.}


Though I know that until my health improves further I won’t be able to spend quite as much time online as I’d ideally like to, my email inbox is always open (and checked frequently). If you’d like to swap patches with me (or simply shot the Guiding breeze), be sure to swing by my Dupes and Traders list, than zip an email my way.

Gather together, fellow badge swappers, and lets all start autumn off on a stellar patch trading note! :)