Welcoming summer and Girl Guide patch swaps

Despite the fact that it's 3am, there are about 50 things I should/could be doing right now, however as the better part of half a year has passed since my last post here, it seemed like high time I reminded that - and why not do so in the wee morning hours?

While very little has been transpiring on the patch front so far this year (I've enjoyed two lovely swaps as of late - one with a Canadian, the other an Irish gal from Dublin, a city I lived for a while myself back in 2004-5), most other areas of my life have been akin to a three ring circus of activity. 

From getting a puppy (the first my husband and I have owned together) in March to having to go in for surgery again April, various serious health related issues, tax time, family events, and raising our incredibly energetic, but equally darling new puppy (an American Bullador - half American Bulldog, half Labrador Retriever that we named Annie, because she was mine and my husband's gift to each other to celebrate the ninth anniversary of the day we met),I haven't had a lot of time to blog (outside of my main blog, Chronically Vintage).

At the risk of sounding like a broken record, little is shaking on the online patch trading front these days any more, and (as per the past 3-4 years) eBay rarely offers much in the way of Canadian Girl Guide items these days (especially ones I'm interested in and don't already have).

I continue to keep my dupes and traders list up-to-date after each (occasional) trade occurs, but by and large, my collection hasn't grown much this year. As always though, I'm still actively collecting and trading, and always welcome new (or returning) patch swapping partners (just shoot me an email, if you're interested).

{Image source}

With summer less than a week away and the Guiding year wrapping up once more, I hope that this little post finds you all well and gearing up for a fabulous season ahead. Whether you'll be headed off to a big Girl Guide or Scout camp, relaxing at the cabin, embarking on a road trip, enjoying a two month long staycation, or any other fun activity, summer is all about good times, good friends, good food (roasted marshmallows very much included!), and great memories, and I wholeheartedly hope all of those things (plus some new patches!) will be yours this season!

Happy summer & patch collecting, everyone!

Join me in welcoming a new patch trading blog to the community

This post is long overdue, and I really must apologize to the person who asked me to write about their blog here last January for that. At the time we were incredibly busy in the midst of packing and preparing for a big cross country move, and I wasn't spending much time online, let alone writing post for this blog, so I wasn't able to accommodate her request at the time (but said that I would definitely aim to later on).

I always, always try to keep my word though, and thus am happy today to let all of you know about a new Girl Guide related blog on the block. Last January Stephanie Nash, a fellow patch trading and Guiding enthusiast started a blog of her own to document some of her swapping and Guiding related going-ons called Misty's Trading Post.

There are so few of us still actively seeking new (or returning) patch swapping partners online, let alone folks with blogs of their own devoted to the topic, so I really have been very eager to announce Stephanie's here for some time.

I hope you'll join me in extending a warm (slightly belated) welcome to Stephanie and her charming blog, and that you'll all take a moment to stop by, say hello, and perhaps zip an email her way if you're interested in trading.

I appreciate that you contacted me about your blog earlier this year, Stephanie, and really hope that things have been going great on the Guiding and patch trading fronts for you throughout 2012.
It's always a joy to hear from those with Guiding related blogs, and I welcome you to contact me anytime if you'd like me to consider blogging about your site here, too.

Happy start of November, everyone - here's to the hope that it will be a month filled with plenty of wonderful patch swaps for all of us!

Preparing for a big move

Many times - likely more than I could begin to recall - throughout my life, the skills and lessons I learned during my years in Guiding have served me well and helped make a wide range of situations easier to navigate.

Few circumstances drill home this point better than when I'm getting ready for to move houses, which I'm very pleased to share with all of you, my husband and I will be doing at the end of this coming February.

After nearly six years of living in Ontario, following a great deal of thought, planning, and consideration, we recently decided that the best step for us at this point in our lives (for a number of important reasons) would be leave Toronto and move to my home province of British Columbia.

Though I grew up (and enjoyed all of my Guiding years) in B.C., this will be the first time that my European born and raised husband will get to call Canada's most westerly province his own.

As anyone who's ever prepared for a cross country move (in which you pack up all your belongings) knows, there's a significant amount of work involved with such a major life change. From detailed checklists to weeks of packing, finding a new home, organizing transportation, and following a budget, a long distance move like this requires careful preparation and well coordinated efforts on everybody's parts.

At times like this I think back to days spent planning for Girl Guide camps, several of which involved weeks or even months (as in the case of SOAR 1998) to prepare for. Then as now, there was planning, budgeting, task division, and plenty of packing involved. And of course, you have to be as prepared as possible for the unexpected - one of the cornerstones of the Guiding philosophy for sure.

When we arrive in B.C. we'll have about 7 to 14 days between then and when the moving company delivers our belongings, so for a little while (though we'll be graciously hosted by some of my relatives) we'll be channelling a campout vibe by living out of our suitcases (in a nod to camping packsacks) and adapting to a different environment than the one we're used to.

Fortunately we see this move as a positive one and we’re both extremely excited about it - as well as  for the many prospects the future holds in store for us in British Columbia.

As there's only about a month left until our moving day, this is likely the last post I'll be sharing here for the next few weeks. Once we're settled into our new home and have the internet set up (sometime in March), I'll be sure to let you know how things are going.

During this time, though you can always email me with your patch trading and other Girl Guide/Girl Scout related queries, please be aware that I may not respond to you as quickly as usual and that I won't be able to send out any patch swaps (as my all of patches have already been packed up for the move).

I appreciate your understanding about this and hope you'll join in my excitement regarding this exciting new chapter in my life.

Until we chat again, Guiding and Scouting friends, may you all have a wonderful rest of the winter – and lots of terrific patch swaps!

It's time to kick off a great new Guiding year!

There's still a hefty glint of sunshine in the air, but as the days grow a little shorter and the familiar routine of the school year starts up again next week, it's time to make peace with the fact (hard as it can be sometimes!) summer will soon be behind us.

I've always loved autumn (it's my favourite season), and have especially fond memories of the new Guiding years that September ushered in. Just as going back to class meant fresh pencils, squeaky crisp binders, and perfectly unmarred erasers, so too did starting another Guiding year bring the chance to earn more badges, make new friends, and amass a wonderful array of skills.

Though those lovely days of badge work and weekend camps are long behind me, I still get a serge of excitement as the Guiding year gets underway and have been sorting through my patch box, organizing and doing inventory, for much of this week.

As a result I've updated my Dupes and Traders list, with what I believe to be an accurate account of those items I presently have available to swap.

I know that not as many of us are swapping these days, but for those who still are, I'd always love to hear from you. Shoot your patch trading offer my way and we can definitely go from there.

 

(Autumn and the return of the Guiding season means it's time to live the words of the classic Girl Guide song that say, "Make new friends but keep the old, one is silver and the other is gold". Making patch trading friends is always a great thing, too! Image via the Girl Guides of Canada's clip art collection.)

Whether you're heading back to school, Guiding, or just readying yourself for the changing of the seasons, I wish you all a beautiful, happy, super fun month of September.

Here's to a great new Guiding - and patch trading - year ahead!

New Girl Scout patch collector launches blog

You may have heard me comment on before that it seems as though with each passing day (or least month) there are fewer and fewer of us actively trading and collecting patches online any more. Whereas once this hobby was alive and buzzing across the net, these days it seems that more many more sites devoted to patch collecting come down than go up.

As such, I feel that when I get wind of a new site or blog devoted in some capacity to Girl Guide and/or Girl Scout patch trading and collecting, it's all I can do not to jump for joy! I love knowing that people are still taking up (or renewing an interest in) this rewarding, fun-filled hobby, and believe that those of us in the GG/GS patch trading community should do our best to help support these fledgling collectors.

A few days ago I received a lovely email from a woman named Ashley "Stormy" Martin in which she informed me of her brand new site, called "Stormy's WAGGGS Patch Trading Blog", that's devoted to her interest in GSUSA patch collecting.

I'm sure many of can remember when we first started building up our collections and how fantastic it felt when veteran traders were able to help us out by swapping patches and sharing their years of knowledge with us. I will always be indebted to a few kind souls who assisted me in this way (especially my good friend Louise St. Germain).

I definitely remember how I felt when I started collecting patches online, openly encourage any and all fellow patch collectors who are reading this post to bop on over to Stormy's great new blog to say "hello" and see if there's something on her dupes list (which includes some of the beautiful new GSUSA 100th anniversary items) that you'd like to trade for.

If this terrific hobby of ours is going to continue to thieve as we head into the second decade of the twenty-first century, we really need to foster and support new patch traders as much as possible, and I for one am absolutely thrilled to see sites like Stormy's blog emerging again.

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! :)

Know what the Girl Guide and Girl Scout community needs?

Before I jump into the topic of today’s post, I really want to thank my darling husband for posting in my absence recently, to let the wonderful readers of this blog know that I’d be MIA for a while. I’m actually still quite under the weather (for a more detailed account of what’s been going on this regard, please the medical update post that my husband wrote yesterday for my blog Chronically Vintage), but wanted to take a few moments to share an idea with you all that I’ve been toying with for a few months now.

As many of us are keenly aware, the number of online Girl Guide and Girl Scout patch traders continues to dwindle. While there are no hard facts on just how many people actively swap patches these days, I know that that I’ve personally witnessed a drastic decline in the number of online patch traders over the past two to three years (especially from the spring of 2008 onward).

In speaking with Guiding friends and fellow collecting enthusiasts from Canada, America, UK, New Zealand, and Australia, I quickly came to realize that they too had noticed a sharp decline (both amongst online and "real world" traders, but all of the folks I voiced this concern to shared my sentiment that it's online trades in particular that have taken a nose dive).

While it would be easy to dwell on our diminishing ranks, little good can come from focusing on the negative side of things. Instead, the idea I’ve been thinking about implementing is the creation of an online directory (hosted on this blog) of people who are still actively collecting and trading GG and/or GS patches.

Of course this notion is hardly revolutionary. Directories of Girl Guide and Girl Scout patch collectors have been online since the early 90s at least, however the minuscule handful of those that still exist are (by and large) woefully outdated (as are, I’ve found, the directories on most patch trading related Yahoo Groups).

So far those in the GG and GS patch trading community that I’ve discusses this idea with have loved it and told me how much they’d welcome such a service (just as I know I would).

In terms of the information that would be required to join the directory (which of course would be 100% free!), all you’d need to do is email me with your name (just a first name or even online handle is totally fine), what country (state or province is optional) you live in, what kind of Girl Guiding/Scouting items you have available to trade (if you have an online link to your dupes list or photo album, by all means include that too), what sort of items you’re looking for (aka, what you collect), plus a valid email address (this would be how interested parties could contact you to set up swaps).

In order to help keep the directory current, once a year I would contact you via email to ask if you want to remain in the directory and if your information was still up-to-date. This measure would, I hope, help to keep this directory current and to reduce the number of bounced emails.

Before going ahead and putting together this directory, I want to gather some listings (of patch traders) together, so it may be a short while still before the directory itself materializes. I’ve been thinking that so long as I can find at least ten people who’d like to be a part of such a list, I’ll launch it and keep adding names as they come in.

If you’re interested in having you name added to this budding patch swappers list, please email me with your details and I’ll add you to my database of interested parties.

I truly believe in keeping the GG and GS patch trading community alive and sincerely hope that this effort with help to unite those of us – wherever in the world we may be located – who are still actively trading patches, crests, standards, silks, pins, buttons, scarves, books, uniforms, and anything else related to the perpetually wonderful world of Girl Guiding and Scouting.


~ PS ~

For those who are looking for other places in which to potentially connect with fellow swappers, be sure to check out the Girl Guide and Girl Scout Badge Collectors Club, a UK based group for patch enthusiasts the world over.

Have you heard of the Badge Collectors Club?

One of the best parts of collecting patches is the wonderful community of fellow collectors that exists. I love getting to met and trade with wonderful people from across the globe (as well as in my own backyard!). Sometimes though it seems like it can be hard to find new people to swap – or just chat about crests – with.

If you’re looking to expand your list of swap contacts, love reading about patch collecting or would just like to stay abreast of some of the patch related news that happens around the world, then without a doubt the Girl Guide and Girl Scout Badge Collectors Club is for you!

This terrific club is centred in the UK and run by a lovely lady named Annette Preston. The cost of club membership is very reasonable: £8 in UK and £10 for those outside UK (which can be paid in cash, UK Cheque, or by UK/international money order, in the following currencies: Euros, Pounds, Australian dollars, US dollars, and Canadian dollars). Membership entitles you to six printed club newsletters each year, plus a hugely useful CD upon joining, which is jam packed with a directory of known patches from various countries.

Each of the multi-paged newsletters features information on topics such as recent Girl Guiding and Scouting events (particularly in the United Kingdom), write-ups about the patches and relevant Guiding information about particular parts of the world (in the most recent newsletter, New Brunswick, Canada was in the spot light), the names and contact info of new members, general GG and GS patch related articles, and member profiles (including what patches people are specifically looking for and/or have to trade). I’ve been a member of the club for a year now and adore receiving the newsletters, which arrive like clockwork every two months, and highly recommend becoming a member to fellow patch enthusiasts.

If you are interested in joining the Badge Collectors Club, please contact Annette Preston by email at annette@badgers2.madasafish.com, by postal mail at 24 Badgers Brook Road, Drayton, Norfolk, NR8 6EY, England, or by telephone at +44-(0)-160-386-1435. (In case you were wondering, at present, the club doesn’t have its own website.)

Below is the club application form which can be mailed with your annual membership fee (make cheques payable to “Guide & Girl Scout Badge Collectors Club”) to the address above:

Guide and Girl Scout Badge Collectors Club membership application form. Please complete and return, to the above address.


PLEASE COMPLETE IN BLOCK LETTERS (apart from e-mail!)

NAME…………………………………………………………………
ADDRESS…………………………………………………………
………………………………….………………………………………
POST (POSTAL) CODE……………………………
E-mail …………………………………………………………

Data Protection Act – I give permission for my details to be held on a computer. I give permission for my details (*address / e-mail) to be published in the newsletter.

Signed……………………………………………………………

I enclose a *cheque / money order / cash for £…………………
(Sterling cheques only)

(* Please delete as appropriate)

This is official Badge Collectors Club patch.
It’s available for 75p (pence) per patch,
plus SAE, from the address above.

Girl Guides and Girl Scouts blog turns one year old

My goodness, has a year really zoomed past since I first began this blog? It has indeed, and today is this site’s first anniversary, its “blogiversary”, if you will. While elements in my personal life have at times prevented me from posting as often as I’d like, I’m also pleased with what I have had a chance to write about.

Image from the GGC's clip art graphics gallery
A huge element of any site is its readers and visitors, and nowhere is that more true that on a blog like this one that offers an element of “real world” interaction via patch trading. I began blogging about Guiding topics just a few days after I started collecting patches (et al) again for the first time since I was a youth, and over the past twelve months I’ve had the pleasure of trading patches and pins (and occasionally other GG/GS items like scarves and postcards, too) with fellow collectors from five different continents!

I want to take a moment to sincerely thank everyone that I’ve traded and chatted with over the past year. I’ve loved shipping off little parcels of crests to places as far-reaching as New Zealand and Ethiopia, as well as to my fellow Canadians and a plethora of lovely folks from many other countries. Thank you also to all of the people who visit this blog! I hope that you enjoy reading its contents as much as I enjoy writing them.

Here’s to another wonderful year of covering Girl Guide and Girl Scout topics – and taking part in patch swaps – that lies ahead!

Heartfelt thanks & a fantastic tip for sending pins in the mail

When I last posted here the snow was still heavy on the ground, creating massive banks and rising high enough to entirely cover our bottom floor windows. In the weeks since mid-March I've had many ups and downs, come through surgery and seen a new season blossom without me even getting a chance to officially say good-bye to that (sometimes insipid, sometimes elegantly beautiful) snow.

As I type these words I still have a period of recovery before me, but I hope to be able to post from time-to-time as I work my way through these weeks of rest and healing.

I've long believed that healing comes not just from a pill or a doctor, it can also come from (or be fostered by) our own outlook on a given situation and from the care and support offered to us by the dear and special people in our lives. And on that note, I would truly like to thank everyone who sent me emails and cards, enquired as to how I was doing, offered kind thoughts and healing vibes, and even – in the case of one GSUSA member from California, whom I'd never had any prior contact with – sent an envelope full of delightful event and fun patches, which they insisted were a gift, not a trade. In these acts and words I cannot help but see the naturally caring spirit of Girl Guiding and Scouting at its finest.

To usher in my 'return' to posting, I'd love to share a wonderful tip with you on how to securely send (GG/GS) pins in the mail. Not too long ago I received about eight pins which came wrapped so ingeniously that I knew the moment I saw how they were presented, I'd be blogging it here.

Pop (Soda) Bottle Lid Pin Protectors


What you'll need:

-1 plastic bottle lid (cap/top) for each pin that you wish to send, cleaned and dried (you can use the lids from water bottles, soda/pop cans, juice bottles – whatever works)

-(Approximately) 3”x1” long stripes of bubble wrap (or adjust to the size that you need, just ensure that you have enough bubble wrap to go around each pin at least once), 1 strip per pin

-Scotch tape (aka, sticky tape)


How to:

One at time, place a pin on a strip of bubble wrap so that the puffy bubble side is what the pin is resting on. Wrap the pin – fairly tightly – with the rest of the strip of bubble wrap so that it's entirely covered/protected and secure the bubble wrap with piece of tape so that it can't come unwrapped.

Place the bubble wrapped pin into a pop bottle lid (it's fine if some of the bubble wrap sticks out over the sides a little, just so long as the pin itself is nestled into the bottle lid). Wrap the lid (with pin inside) with a piece of tape, securing it so that the pin cannot fall out of the lid.

Repeat with as many pins as you plan to send/store/trade/etc. For added protection send pins in a bubble lined mailer (envelope), placed all together in a plastic bag or good sized paper envelope. Not only does this method do a great job of keeping pins safe and secure when travelling through the mail, it provides the receiver with fun little gifts to open.

If you wanted to send bigger sized pins (or even buttons or sturdy homemade swaps), you could implement this same technique and use lids/tops from products such as 4 litre (1 gallon) milk containers, plastic yogurt container (the kind that have lids with rims), jam jars, baby food jars, and the twist-on tops from vitamin bottles. Be creative and resourceful, while recycling – and protecting your traders – all at the same time.

My Girl Guide and Girl Scout Dupes and Traders List

Welcome to my list of Girl Guide and Girl Scout patches, silks, and other memorabilia that I have available to trade. I'm fastidious when it comes to ensuring that I keep this list up-to-date, and any time that I get a new dupe or send out a patch, I update this page. Please feel free to bookmark it for quick reference – and check back often to see what's new.

IMPORTANT - PLEASE NOTE: On October 13, 2016, my husband and I lost our home, our beloved cat, my (home based online business), and very nearly all of our belongings - including 100% of my Girl Guide and Girl Scout collection - in a tragic arson fire. 

As such, I presently do not have any patches to swap/trade or sell. Please see this blog post here of mine for many further details about what happened to us.

It is my sincere hope and desire to slowly start rebuilding a new GG & GS collection again and I hope that in time I'll have some swaps to post here once more.

Thank you very much for your understanding in this matter - and a huge thank you as well to all those around the world who I had the pleasure of trading patches, badges, pins, etc with over the years.

Though the physical items I received from you are sadly now gone, the lovely memories of them and our interactions will long live on in my memory.


This page was last updated on May 9, 2017.