Celebrating my second blogiversary with an open call to trade patches

Two full years have passed since I first began this wonderfully fun blog, and a tad more time than has rolled by since I began to collect Girl Guide and Girl Scout patches (and badges, and pins, and silks, and...) again for the first time since I was a Pathfinder. Over the course of those two years many things have transpired in my life. I’ve moved homes, experienced very rough periods of health, adopted an incredibly precious cat (Stella), had a marvelous visit (last spring) with my mom and step-dad who flew out to visit my husband and I here in Ontario, experienced my first (two!) operas (which I hope are the just the beginning of a lifetime of live opera performances), began a second blog (devoted to my lifelong love of the past called Chronically Vintage), become an avid photographer, and experienced many other memorable events both large and small.

In that time I’ve also had the true pleasure of meeting (in the online sense of the word) and swapping patches with many fantastic people from across the world. Getting to know some of my fellow patch collectors, learning from your years of GG/GS collecting wisdom, and sharing my thoughts on all manner of Guiding related topics with you has been nothing short of a joy. Some swappers and I have interacted only once, others several times, and a handful of badge collectors have become cherished friends. No matter the duration of our correspondence, I can say with absolute sincerity that every one of the people I’ve swapped with has definitely exuded the spirit of the sisterhood of Guiding, and helped to make me even happier that I rekindled my love of patch collecting!

On that note I am issuing a call to swap to one and all! I know that our ranks have dwindled as of late, but at the same time I know there are many people across the world who are also still actively collecting and trading patches. Whether we’ve swapped before or not yet had the pleasure, if you would like to trade, please swing by my Dupes and Traders list to see what catches your eye then zip an email my way letting me know what you available to swap.

Today, on this lovely second blogging anniversary, and always, thank you to one and all for your friendship and the wonderful swaps we’ve shared. I look forward to many more years of trading and sharing in this terrific hobby with you!

What Girl Scout Cookie Are You?

North of 49th we currently have two different types of Girl Guide cookies: classic vanilla and chocolate (creams), and chocolate covered mint. Both are scrumptious, and thinking about them brings back many fond memories of canvassing my neighbourhood as a youngster, selling cookies and working towards badges and fun crests at the same time.

In the US the Girl Scouts there have several more types of (delicious sounding) cookies, but whether your country sells one type of biscuits or ten varieties, the important thing about all Guiding and Scouting cookies is that their sale goes to directly put money back into the organization and in turn its members.

For a bit of sweet fun on this traditionally treat filled day, I thought it would be enjoyable to take a quick online quiz that poses the question “Which Girl Scout Cookie Are You?” According to the results I’m a Thin Mint – yum!

You Are Thin Mints

You are bold and brave. You dare to be different, and you are confident about who you are. Your fearlessness has paid off. You are extremely well liked and popular. You are charismatic and charming without even trying to be. People appreciate your unique take on life. You are willing to take risks, speak your mind, and live life to the fullest.

If you’d like to know which GSUSA cookie you are too, take the quick quiz here and feel free to share your results in the comments.

Happy Halloween wishes, everyone, I hope this day is filled with wonderful fun and oodles of goodies for all of you!

The nationwide Girl Guides of Canada online store is now open for business

A while back – February of 2008 to be exact – I blogged about the fact that the GGC had officially announced plans to gradually phase out all (remaining) GGC shops across the country and introduce a nationwide online store (aka, “eStore” or “eShop”) to replace all physical shop locations.

At the start of this month the online GGC shop went live, and though the process of closing down the remaining bricks and mortar shops will continue until December 31, 2010, for all intents and purposes it appears that GGC is directing members and the general public alike to the new online store. (At the time of writing, GGC store locations exist now in only Alberta, Ontario, Saskatchewan, and Prince Edward Island, all others have ceased operation.)

If you haven’t swung by the check out the eStore yet, I highly recommend you visit it here. This site replaces the Girl Guides of Ontario online shop that had previously existed (if you were registered with that site, you will have to register again for the new national shop, as the Ontario eStore site is no longer operational) and is meant to serve Guiding members across the country, wherever they may be located.

As one might imagine the eStore sells both standard GGC items such as uniforms, programme books and a selection of “fun patches” (crests which are not earned but rather purchased), in addition to a selection of lovely gift items (think plush dolls, jelly bracelets, mugs, bud vases, etc). The items in stock this year are by and large the same pieces that appeared in last year (2008’s) catalogue and some of the items stretch a few years further back.

One thing I had been secretly hoping for when the announcement of a nationwide online store first broke, was that the GGC would return to selling a broader range not only of uniform pieces (remember the days of multiple pant, skirt and blouse options for Guiders – or of dress and pant options for girl members?) but non-uniform pieces alike. I fully realize that in this cost-conscience age it’s not always possible to stock a store to the rafters with merchandise, but the nostalgic side of my soul greatly misses when there were far more items emblazoned with trefoils available from the GGC.

At present, the main question I raised in early 2008 still looms unanswered: what is to become of A/D/D crests? Currently, the official GGC eStore FAQ page, while certainly helpful in answering numerous questions visitors might have, does not address this point. I’ve asked GGC (adult) members across the country for over two years about what the fate of A/D/D crests is going to be when the last of the physical GGC shop locations closes its doors, and no one has been able to provide me with an answer.

Of course, I fully realize that the GGC – an organization I will perpetually hold near and dear to my heart – does not exist merely to produce crests, far from it! This organization – and Guiding the world over – is about the lives of the girls and women it touches, enriches and challenges.

However, I do feel that it would be a sincere shame to watch A/D/D crests go the way of the dinosaur. They have been a mainstay of camps, day events, sleepovers, international events and myriad other situations where Guides from different areas of the province/country/world gathered in the sisterhood of Guiding.

Like license plates of sorts representing the part of the country a girl or woman hailed from, these crests – sometimes highly detailed, other times humbly simple, yet no less elegant in their design – have told the rest of the Guiding world where a Canadian member was from and allowed her the opportunity to connect through the act of swapping patches with new friends from not only the roads of her own country but also from destinations the world over. I hope in my heart of hearts that somehow – whether it be through the national GGC online shop or perhaps via A/D/D council offices, location crests will continue to be produced. Many Guiding members and patch collectors the country over will miss them terribly if they are phased out.

Like the band that played until the Titanic went under however, I always try to maintain a sense of optimism until the very end, and as such I won’t dwell on this topic any more for the time being. Instead I’ll extend my congratulations to the GGC for launching a terrific, very easy to navigate eStore, which I’m delighted to report accepts PayPal as a form of payment.

I look forward to ordering from this new shop in the future and also to the merchandise they’ll continue to offer members and supporters of the GGC for many years to come.