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New and trying to come up with a cool sig item


Team Radius

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Haven't actually started yet--waiting for my GPS to arrive. Anyway, I have a 2-year-old son who does this with me--it's "our thing" and my only other hobbies are scrapbooking and making handmade greeting cards. I've read the threads about bad trade items, but some of the good trades mentioned just aren't "me".

 

Any suggestions? What are your signature items?

 

Thanks!

Michelle

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A signature item is different from a normal trade item.

 

Anything you choose is fine because your signature item represents you. Signature items are probably the most prized of all cache items. At least once it's known its a signature item.

 

If it's a geocacing type biz card then I'd not trade for cache items with it. If it's a 1 oz silver bar with your special desing etched in then by all means trade.

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Don't know if this will help you but....my husband and I dive and hunt for sharks teeth. I created our signature geocard on the computer and include a card with a shark tooth we found in each cache we visit.

 

The teeth are just something we do, not really related to geocaching at all, but it's us.

 

We used to be directionally challenged, now we have a GPS, and are high-tech directionally challenged. At least now we know where we are when we are lost.

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The custom log book is great. It might be worth finding someone to bind it into a book of travels. Make enough spaces for people to log, but when it is full an address that it can be mailed to for your little one. A blank diary can be found at a local stationary store and then decorated.

 

Great idea for youngsters!!!

 

See the happy moron

He doesn't give a da**

I wish I were a moron

My God, perhaps I am

Author Unkown

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Be creative.

 

My wife and I have created Geo-packs that we use for our signature items. These are ziplock bags that contain 1 Magnet (printed on HP magnetic 'paper'), 1 tattoo (also HP paper) and a toy compass all with the Geocaching logo, our name, and "SV Geocachers" on them.

THey seem to be picked up pretty quick as I'm sure the kids LOVE the tattoos like mine does.

 

Likewise, my wife scrapbooks and she has made Geo-CardsGeo-Cards, Covered log books, etc. and they have been swiped by the next finder each time.

 

We've also done iron on t-shirts for FTF and a few Kealia Geo-Shrinky Dink keychains. I'd say to use your imagination and your creativity and test a few things. See what gets grabbed first (or see what fits you best) and go with those.

 

I can tell you that I LOVE to find signature items no matter what they are.

(Who is this Ronald McDonald cacher anyway...his stuff is everywhere! icon_wink.gif)

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Handmade is always a plus. It is the personal touch that makes them valuable. Some of the ones I most want to have are the handmade sig items. Have you checked out the cachers personal websites that show displays of various teams sig items? That should give you ideas of what is out there.

 

Anybody want to Markwell a couple of threads or sites for the new cacher?

 

Till a voice, as bad as Conscience, rang interminable changes

On one everlasting Whisper day and night repeated -- so:

"Something hidden. Go and find it. Go and look behind the Ranges --

"Something lost behind the Ranges. Lost and waiting for you. Go!"

 

Rudyard Kipling , The Explorer 1898

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If one handmade greeting card doesn't seem like 'enough' to you, how about a set of three, with handmade envelopes (not hard to do) all in a baggie? Those would be great. As far as size goes, check with the PO for what mailing sizes are. Postcards (my hobby) are 3 1/2 by 5 1/2 inches. 1/4 of a sheet of standard paper (cut in half then fold) would be 4 1/4 by 5 1/2, and you could cut that down slightly to fit in an envelope.

 

My mom, bless her departed soul, used to make handmade cards with wildflowers fastened on the fronts somehow, and small painted embelishments. I still have some that I treasure.

 

I often leave antique postcards, sets of 3 or 4 along with postage. It's not a sig item, but it's not a McToy either.

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quote:
Originally posted by Kealia:

We've also done iron on t-shirts for FTF and a few Kealia Geo-Shrinky Dink keychains.


 

Geo-Shrinky Dinks????

 

How cool!! I didn't know they still make shrinky dinks!

 

Come leave some in Florida, will ya?

 

---------------------------------------------------

Free your mind and the rest will follow action-smiley-076.gif

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More great ideas. You guys rock!

 

I've already made a couple sets of 4 greeting cards, and embellished on small composition book, all in baggies and ready to go. I also created our team logo, but I need to clean up the art in Photoshop so I can have some buttons made next spring. Now if my darn GPS would get here, we could start finding!

 

I decided to use the greeting cards and embellished books as trade items and when I get buttons made, I'll use those for our signature. Might make magnets out of it, too. Also thought it might be a good idea to leave a little note inside the baggie with our names and email addy so people know where they came from.

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We have been caching for almost as long as it has existed, and we only recently decided what our signature item was going to be. We just started putting them out last weekend. We created a 'Hint Decoder' wheel. I make them my self. I figure they can be functional as well as collectable. Just rotate the wheel and get the letter pairs. They are inexpensive to make and look pretty good with our caching name and the groundspeek logo on the front.

 

$1000 Bill geocaching is living in a 30 foot circle

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On a related idea....Are you supposed to move signature items on like TB's when you find them? We found one of BladeCarvers cool signature ceramic animals in a little burlap bag. It's currently camped out on our mantle, but I was thinking of starting a knick-knack shelf of the signature items we find. I have to admit, it's pretty cool to find this stuff.

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I am a bookbinder, and make small leather notebooks (about 3 1/2" by 2 1/2" x 1/2" thick) as signature items. I have a special tool that allows me to emboss my rooster emblem in the leather, either "blind" or in gold. (I actually use it on all my books, not just the ones in caches).

 

They're enormously popular, though I haven't ever seen any turn up as logbooks. I think people like them too much to leave them in a cache. I use Ziplock sandwich bags to protect them from moisture.

 

evilrooster

http://www.bookweb.sunpig.com

-the email of the species is deadlier than the mail-

 

[This message was edited by evilrooster on September 27, 2003 at 05:03 AM.]

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quote:
Originally posted by Doc-Dean:

quote:
Originally posted by Kealia:

We've also done iron on t-shirts for FTF and a few Kealia Geo-Shrinky Dink keychains.


 

Geo-Shrinky Dinks????

 

How cool!! I didn't know they still make shrinky dinks!

 

Come leave some in Florida, will ya?

 

---------------------------------------------------

Free your mind and the rest will follow http://www.click-smilies.de/sammlung/aktion/action-smiley-076.gif


 

what does your shrinky-dink stuff look like? Don't you have to bake that stuff? Does it smell up the house pretty bad?

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quote:
Originally posted by Doc-Dean:

quote:
Originally posted by Kealia:

We've also done iron on t-shirts for FTF and a few Kealia Geo-Shrinky Dink keychains.


 

Geo-Shrinky Dinks????

 

How cool!! I didn't know they still make shrinky dinks!

 

Come leave some in Florida, will ya?

 

---------------------------------------------------

Free your mind and the rest will follow http://www.click-smilies.de/sammlung/aktion/action-smiley-076.gif


 

I'm making shrinky dink CITO container things... You can buy the plastic at wal mart for 97 cents in the craft dept.

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my local cachers are having a lvively discussion today about his very thing.

 

once you are known, your item will be collectible simply because it represents YOU. an item that is VERY cool skews the local cache stuff economy; it leaves circulation. if you want it to be something that people can use, you may consider also something they can keep.

 

in addition to my rather nondescript signature item, i sometimes release limited edition art as trade.

 

wheel15 leaves unique hand painted rocks that are themselves a topic of conversation on our boards. many of us would rather arrive at a container after them than first. some of us (not me) will revisit a cache over and over to clean out the rocks. we have a gallery of the ones we have, so people who don't have them can see them.

 

the important thing is that when you find the right thing, you will know. and if you feel like it, you can change.

 

quod est, est.

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Here are two relatively inexpensive companies that could make you an signature items:

 

www.tokenfactory.com

Here you can make a custom token (that is doubled sided):

- pick your own color (even glow in the dark)

- upload your own art design & add wording (or use their art designs)

- the option to get these tokens individually numbered.

** The cost will be about $40 to $50 for 50 tokens

 

Another one is:

Here are two relatively inexpensive companies that could make you an signature items:

 

www.tokenfactory.com

Here you can make a custom token (that is doubled sided):

- pick your own color (even glow in the dark)

- upload your own art design & add wording (or use their art designs)

- the option to get these tokens individually numbered.

** The cost will be about $40 to $50 for 50 tokens

 

Another one is:

http://bumblebuttons.com/index.asp

Here you can buy already made geocaching themed buttons or have your own made.

 

For custom made buttons, you tell this company what you have in mind and they will see if they can please you. They usually work up a couple of variations on a theme and send you a full size mock-up of the button as an image attached to email. There is no art charge or set up charge if

you order at least 2 dozen buttons ($20 plus shipping).

 

- Bobkat92 & the 3 Bears

 

"To me, Geocaching is the thrill of the hunt and going to neat places (you might not go otherwise); it's NOT what you actually find in a cache."

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quote:
Originally posted by flask:

my local cachers are having a lvively discussion today about his very thing.

 

once you are known, your item will be collectible simply because it represents YOU. an item that is VERY cool skews the local cache stuff economy; it leaves circulation. if you want it to be something that people can use, you may consider also something they can keep.

 

in addition to my rather nondescript signature item, i sometimes release limited edition art as trade.

 

wheel15 leaves unique hand painted rocks that are themselves a topic of conversation on our boards. many of us would rather arrive at a container after them than first. some of us (not me) will revisit a cache over and over to clean out the rocks. we have a gallery of the ones we have, so people who don't have them can see them.

 

the important thing is that when you find the right thing, you will know. and if you feel like it, you can change.

 

quod est, est.


 

Okay Flask, a few questions -- what's your "local cachers" area? You don't say on your message. We'd like to read some of this. Also, how about a link to the picture galleries you mentioned for wheel15's collections? I'd like to see that as well, and I'd bet others would too.

 

Now, to answer the topic question, my signature item is usually a frog, but if I'm out of those (and I frequently am), I either leave something from my geo-stash, or if the cache is big enough, a handmade wooden item (I do craft shows - puzzles, frames, etc). I think your idea for the handmade cards is VERY cool, but remember to seal them against the weather. Nobody likes a "custom" moldy mess!

 

My signature item may change... stay tuned for more details!

 

Joel (joefrog)

 

"Do not meddle in the affairs of dragons, for ye are crunchy and taste good with ketchup!"

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