How much do you spend on a signature item?

[+WRITE SHOP ROBERT]

I have several different kinds of signature items I've used over the years, and most of them require a bit of work on my part. Many weeks I won't need to work on them at all, but the weeks when I do need to, I can easily spend 15-20 hours a week making them. How much time do you spend making your signature items (or trade items even if they are not a signature). I'm thinking about design, preparation(including shopping for supplies), production and packaging.

[+MarshMonsters]

I created our first signature item last week. I only made 18 so I could see how well they work. It took about two days. I bought blank wooden nickels and painted them. I had to wait for them to dry before I wrote on them with a paint marker. After that I attached stickers and placed them into tiny ziplock bags. Right now I am debating on whether or not to make handmade items or get them printed. Total cost is $6.00.

Edited March 3, 2008 by MarshMonsters

[+Too Tall John]

I spent about 8 hours learning how to carve rubber stamps by making wooden nickel sized stamps that I now stamp on blanks for a sig item. Since learning, I've made a few improvements in my design, and it takes about 45 mins to carve a new stamp.

 

Now, it takes about 10 mins to put out a new batch when I need them.

 

I've also set a few others up with their own stamps, they make great gifts.

 

Oh... My avatar is one of my early efforts, I carry it with me to stamp into logbooks when space allows.

Edited March 3, 2008 by Too Tall John

[+Knight2000]

We leave foreign/world coins. They don't take long to put in baggies with a note. The kids like to do it.

 

We leave them because we hope that another young cacher would think that they are neat. (Our kids do.)

 

I dont know if it is really a sig item. Cachers around here probably know that we leave them. If kids like them, that is all that matters.

[+WRITE SHOP ROBERT]

I spent about 8 hours learning how to carve rubber stamps by making wooden nickel sized stamps that I now stamp on blanks for a sig item. Since learning, I've made a few improvements in my design, and it takes about 45 mins to carve a new stamp.

 

Now, it takes about 10 mins to put out a new batch when I need them.

 

I've also set a few others up with their own stamps, they make great gifts.

 

Oh... My avatar is one of my early efforts, I carry it with me to stamp into logbooks when space allows.

I'm very lazy about the stamps I've made, I just do them in negative. I had to just figure out my own method though. My avatar is a stamp that a friend made for me about 12 years ago, before I had ever heard of geocaching or letterboxing. I use it now to represent myself on everything. I've made some wooden nickels with that on one side and a smiley on the other, and paper (laminated) nickels the same with smiley stickers.

[+WRITE SHOP ROBERT]

I created our first signature item last week. I only made 18 so I could see how well they work. It took about two days. I bought blank wooden nickels and painted them. I had to wait for them to dry before I wrote on them with a paint marker. After that I attached stickers and placed them into tiny ziplock bags. Right now I am debating on whether or not to make handmade items or get them printed. Total cost is $6.00.

If you have enough time to spend in them, I'd stick with the handmade ones. They would be more unique that way.

[crawil]

We're in the process of making a new sig item - a business-card size pieco of paper with our team name in multi colors in a small baggie with a wet wipe and 2 band-aids - a mini first aid kit. I've put my 11-year old daughter in charge of creating them. It keeps her busy and they look better than if I did it!

[+softball29]

I'd love to do some sort of a signature item. I like the idea of a wooden coin, but wouldn't know what to do with them if I got a bunch of blank ones.

 

I wouldn't want to spend hundreds of dollars on the signature item, but it would be cool to come up with something that is somewhat cheap to do, yet pretty cool at the same time.

[+WRITE SHOP ROBERT]

I'd love to do some sort of a signature item. I like the idea of a wooden coin, but wouldn't know what to do with them if I got a bunch of blank ones.

 

I wouldn't want to spend hundreds of dollars on the signature item, but it would be cool to come up with something that is somewhat cheap to do, yet pretty cool at the same time.

You could start out with some Sharpie markers. They come in all colors and you could draw/write your message, or you could make a rubberstamp for them (they're not that hard).

 

http://members.aol.com/Letterboxr/carving.html

When I've made stamps, I find an image I like online, and then redraw it in my own hand. Most of my stamps have been in negative (a dark block with the drawn lines in white). I use the same method as described in the link, but I carve away the pencil marks instead of carving away every thing else.

Edited March 3, 2008 by WRITE SHOP ROBERT

[+Huntnlady]

I make ladybug magnets and micro ladybugs. They are painted rocks. It takes twelve steps to make a ladybug magnet, starting with finding the right size and shape rocks, washing them in my dishwasher, the different steps of painting and letting the acrylic paint dry between colors, sealing them with clear laquer, and finally gluing on the magnet. Micro ladybugs are only 10 steps. Truly a labor of love, but all the local cachers have coveted my ladybugs.

 

When I found my first dozen caches, I put in obsidian arrowheads that I had flaked. I wonder where they are now.

[+Photographer Jim]

I recently started leaving a signature item. I went online and found a place where I could buy blank poker chips (the weigthed clay type) and some sheets of 1 1/4 inch round vinyl labels. The chips ran about 12 cents each; the labels are $1.89 for a sheet of 48. Then, using Photoshop, I designed a label with a cartoon character, my caching name, and my home town. A second label says "I Found It! TFTC". The effort is in peeling off the labels and afixing them to the front and back of the poker chip. It takes me about an hour to make up a batch of 50. When I find a cache having enough room for items, I date the "I Found It!" side, slip it into a small coin sized baggie and drop it in the cache. I have toyed with the idea of numbering a few of them and setting up an account at www.sigitem.com where I could track them, but haven't decided yet. For now, just having a fun item that I can slip into a cache showing that I was there is enough fun.

Edited March 3, 2008 by Photographer Jim

[+WRITE SHOP ROBERT]

I make ladybug magnets and micro ladybugs. They are painted rocks. It takes twelve steps to make a ladybug magnet, starting with finding the right size and shape rocks, washing them in my dishwasher, the different steps of painting and letting the acrylic paint dry between colors, sealing them with clear laquer, and finally gluing on the magnet. Micro ladybugs are only 10 steps. Truly a labor of love, but all the local cachers have coveted my ladybugs.

 

When I found my first dozen caches, I put in obsidian arrowheads that I had flaked. I wonder where they are now.

I found a pile of rocks that you would love! I was at a truck stop in VA, and the rock truck that was parked next to me had leaked a neat pile of about 20 pounds. They're all black, flat and round, about 1 3/4 inches diameter. I just couldn't leave them sitting there, so I scooped them all up into a bag. If I never make anything out of them, they'll end up in a potted plant sometime. I think they're some kind of slate from a river bottom

[+WRITE SHOP ROBERT]

shameless bump

[+The Chaos Crew]

John (too tall or otherwise), love your eraser carving avatar.

 

I used to really enjoy making my own stamps, but eventually I succumbed and bought a machine to do it for me (you can see some examples here)

 

As for signature trade items for geocaching....I've been thinking about this. Making things has been my hobby much much longer than this has - I only very recently discovered geocaching, on a forum about making things So I figure I should be able to come up with something really cool for a signature item. As yet, though, my mind is a blank.

 

I did order 50 brooch backs the other day from ebay, I was thinking of maybe making a bunch of Signal the frog pins out of polymer clay, maybe, or shrink plastic. My son can't be the only kid out there obsessed with that frog

 

As with all these things though, it's finding the time....that's time I could spend caching

[+victorymike]

I make chainmail keychains and include my custom geocaching card in a craft baggie. I buy the wire in 1/4 mile sections, wrap it on a 3/8" steel rod (mandrel), cut it, bend it, weave it, and attach a split ring. I have about 20 patterns and can change them with different colors of wire and/or different colored split rings. Total time to make just one...I'd guess around 30 minutes. I make a bunch every Winter. Right now I have 4 pretzel jars and a large cheeseball jar full of them...I'd guess 600-700 total. I also have around 80 geocoins left (from my batch of 200) and just bought 200 pathtags...but those are for special caches.

I call these V-Man chainmail keychains.

Here are a few of the styles.

Last Winter's work.

Cost to me is around 40 cents each...and a LOT of personal time. That includes price of wire, baggies, split rings, and printing and laminating my geocaching card.

Edited March 4, 2008 by victorymike

[+GSVNoFixedAbode]

Haven't done any for a while but my folding cubes end up taking close to 2 hours each although I tend to do a batch of them for each stage: cutting images one night, assembling cubes another, applying sticky labels yet another.

[+softball29]

I recently started leaving a signature item. I went online and found a place where I could buy blank poker chips (the weigthed clay type) and some sheets of 1 1/4 inch round vinyl labels. The chips ran about 12 cents each; the labels are $1.89 for a sheet of 48. Then, using Photoshop, I designed a label with a cartoon character, my caching name, and my home town. A second label says "I Found It! TFTC". The effort is in peeling off the labels and afixing them to the front and back of the poker chip. It takes me about an hour to make up a batch of 50. When I find a cache having enough room for items, I date the "I Found It!" side, slip it into a small coin sized baggie and drop it in the cache. I have toyed with the idea of numbering a few of them and setting up an account at www.sigitem.com where I could track them, but haven't decided yet. For now, just having a fun item that I can slip into a cache showing that I was there is enough fun.

 

This sounds like something up my aisle. I like it. I found a place online where you could make wooden nickels, too, at a decent price.

 

Even though I've only done this briefly, I've basically decided I'm one of those TNLN guys unless something really strikes my fancy. I'm all about the hunt, find and sign the log book. But I like this personal item thing, if not just to leave so people see you've been there. Even if never taken out of the cache.

 

Are the poker chips tough to do?

[+The Chaos Crew]

oooooh I LOVE those maille keyrings - I have just recently got into maille and have made a few pieces, but I am still slow at it, all that lot would take me years

 

Please come caching in England and leave a few for me to find

[+Snoogans]

I call these V-Man chainmail keychains.

Here are a few of the styles.

Last Winter's work.

Cost to me is around 40 cents each...and a LOT of personal time. That includes price of wire, baggies, split rings, and printing and laminating my geocaching card.

 

Ya know, I've always wanted to find a victorymike sig item. They were one of the first sig items to really impress me.

[+Snoogans]

It only takes a couple seconds and a few pounds of elbow grease to produce my sig item. Here's Jeremy cranking one out at GW5:

 

It took a couple of months to design order and pay for my smashed penny sig dies and the machine that makes them. (I don't even wanna think of the expense right now. Don't send email asking. It was a whole lot.)

 

My reasoning for the expense was that to produce a trackable coin to my standards of quality and what I had in mind a minimum run would have cost me nearly $11 per coin. When the run was given away, traded or god forbid sold, I would have nothing but the expense of another run. When I started crunching the numbers for several runs of a coin, or one BIG run to get the price per coin down, I came up with the novel solution of spending the money once to have an endless supply of nifty sig items and a great way to justify the cost to my future wife.

 

My wife loves smashed pennies, so I proposed that we have a wedding die made and the machine at the reception to have a uniquely interactive wedding favor to give to our guests. (This also did away with the expense of buying 100+ wedding favors to hand out. Most folks go cheap with Jordan almonds but wedding favors can get freakin' exxxpensive.)

 

I have 12 designs and a possible 13th using the 2 backside image dies, but I've never tried it. You can check my profile gallery to see the other designs.

 

This one took the longest, because I didn't have the skills to reproduce what I wanted and since it was to be my main sig item, I wouldn't settle for less than perfect. I ran a contest in the coin forum and this design came from the coordinated efforts of three folks going off of my vision and a picture of my actual sig in a log book.

On a Bahamian coin.

 

My actual log book signature.

 

My favorite. A Mexican 2 Peso coin.

 

This is what most of the coins look like on the backside: (I have another backside die, but no pics of it.)

On a British One Penny coin. Prolly don't hafta hit ya over the head to point out that the symbolism means "good luck geocaching" so all of my sig items are lucky!

Edited March 4, 2008 by Snoogans

[+MarshMonsters]

 

If you have enough time to spend in them, I'd stick with the handmade ones. They would be more unique that way.

 

After reading the boards it seems like alot of people love the handmade items so I will stick with those. Thanks for the input!

 

I'd love to do some sort of a signature item. I like the idea of a wooden coin, but wouldn't know what to do with them if I got a bunch of blank ones.

 

I wouldn't want to spend hundreds of dollars on the signature item, but it would be cool to come up with something that is somewhat cheap to do, yet pretty cool at the same time.

 

I found the nickels 2.99 at Michaels for 22 and the paint was $.95. I choose some nature themed stickers. I am using frogs and turtles for this batch. I was able to keep the cost around $6.00 not too bad. The next time should cost less since I have most of the materials on hand.

[+Renegade Knight]

I have several different kinds of signature items I've used over the years, and most of them require a bit of work on my part. Many weeks I won't need to work on them at all, but the weeks when I do need to, I can easily spend 15-20 hours a week making them. How much time do you spend making your signature items (or trade items even if they are not a signature). I'm thinking about design, preparation(including shopping for supplies), production and packaging.

 

My RK Redneck Coin series is up to two coins. Each is unique. one is a shot up Idaho Geocoin. The other more in tune wiht the concept and a custom camo painted washer with unique number.

 

Time wise the washer er... redkneck coin takes about 20 min over 3 or 4 days. I'm not very fast at completing stages. Most of the time consists of waiting a day for the paint to dry for the next layer.

[+Ockette]

I make shrinky-dink coins. $8ish for a pack of ten sheets, and I get 10-15 coins per sheet. Each of my coins is unique, though, so the time-expenditure can get crazy.

[+softball29]

Now that I think about this a bit more, I'm curious...

 

Say you have your signature item... do you just leave one? Use it as trade?

 

Also, what's the plan of them? For example, for those who use wooden nickels -- do you hope someone takes them? Leaves them there to show you were there? Hope the owner picks them up?

[+Snoogans]

Say you have your signature item... do you just leave one?

 

More often than not I just leave several without taking anything.

 

Use it as trade?

 

Sometimes.

 

My smashed coins are worth at least a dollar each on auction websites, (sometimes much more) however I have a hard time placing such a high value on them as trade since I come by them so easily. I would have no problem trading a complete set of 12 (worth $5+ to me) for an item of like or lesser value if it was something I wanted. I can count on one hand the number of times that has happened when the item wasn't another sig item.

 

Also, what's the plan of them? For example, for those who use wooden nickels -- do you hope someone takes them? Leaves them there to show you were there? Hope the owner picks them up?

 

When they go, they go. I just hope the person that takes them enjoys them rather than putting them up for auction.

Edited March 5, 2008 by Snoogans

[+MarshMonsters]

Now that I think about this a bit more, I'm curious...

 

Say you have your signature item... do you just leave one? Use it as trade?

 

Also, what's the plan of them? For example, for those who use wooden nickels -- do you hope someone takes them? Leaves them there to show you were there? Hope the owner picks them up?

 

I leave mine in each cache that I visit. If I find something I want I will leave a trade item in addition to the wooden nickel. I hope someone will pick mine up. If not, the nickel is there to say that I was there. I collect signature items.

 

Some people will leave a signature item instead of signing the log. The problem with that is if your item is taken then there is nothing there to say that you visited.

[+softball29]

I think eventually, I'll look to do something like this. Right now a little low on the $$, so I'm just trying to get ideas and see what would be the best. I like the wooden nickel idea, as long as I could figure out how to put something nice on there etc.

[+Zor]

I recently started leaving a signature item. I went online and found a place where I could buy blank poker chips (the weigthed clay type) and some sheets of 1 1/4 inch round vinyl labels. The chips ran about 12 cents each; the labels are $1.89 for a sheet of 48. Then, using Photoshop, I designed a label with a cartoon character, my caching name, and my home town. A second label says "I Found It! TFTC". The effort is in peeling off the labels and afixing them to the front and back of the poker chip. It takes me about an hour to make up a batch of 50. When I find a cache having enough room for items, I date the "I Found It!" side, slip it into a small coin sized baggie and drop it in the cache. I have toyed with the idea of numbering a few of them and setting up an account at www.sigitem.com where I could track them, but haven't decided yet. For now, just having a fun item that I can slip into a cache showing that I was there is enough fun.

 

Funny you should mention poker chips. I wanted to do a sig item for myself with coins but decided that the whole "geocoin" thing was too expensive. For me, I just ordered custom ceramic poker chips that have my own design on each side. The cost was not too bad and it didn't take much time to come up with a design that I really liked. Plus, being ceramic, they are a little bit more weatherproof but still cool.

 

Nice to see someone else had the same idea with using poker chips.

[+Scooter Bill]

My signature item is literally that...my signature. Over the years, I've taught myself to "mirror-write" or write backwards. So I "mirror write" my note in the cache logbook. When I log my find online, I avoid cut & paste entries by making my log unique and entertaining.

Cost? Nothing but my time.

[+victorymike]

I always leave an item, be it a chainmail keychain or a coin or pathtag. Sometimes I take an item. But more often than not I'll take a sig item or card. If I take an item and a sig item I'll leave 2 items. If its a REALLY good, or extremely hard to get to, cache I'll leave my personal geocoin and one of my chainmail keychains.

 

As far as taking sig items...your logbook entry in the logbook and online are how people know you've been there. For my caches I am most concerned about the logbook. If I wanted anything back from any of my muggled caches it would definately be the logbook.

 

Since I do like to trade, and because micros became prolific, I made these (although I don't have many left):

I enjoyed micros much more when I was able to leave something. I hate writing TNLNSL...but I'll do it on boring micros. Some micros are really good tho (albeit rare).

 

Those smashed pennies are awesome, Snoogans!

[+WRITE SHOP ROBERT]

I recently started leaving a signature item. I went online and found a place where I could buy blank poker chips (the weigthed clay type) and some sheets of 1 1/4 inch round vinyl labels. The chips ran about 12 cents each; the labels are $1.89 for a sheet of 48. Then, using Photoshop, I designed a label with a cartoon character, my caching name, and my home town. A second label says "I Found It! TFTC". The effort is in peeling off the labels and afixing them to the front and back of the poker chip. It takes me about an hour to make up a batch of 50. When I find a cache having enough room for items, I date the "I Found It!" side, slip it into a small coin sized baggie and drop it in the cache. I have toyed with the idea of numbering a few of them and setting up an account at www.sigitem.com where I could track them, but haven't decided yet. For now, just having a fun item that I can slip into a cache showing that I was there is enough fun.

 

This sounds like something up my aisle. I like it. I found a place online where you could make wooden nickels, too, at a decent price.

 

Even though I've only done this briefly, I've basically decided I'm one of those TNLN guys unless something really strikes my fancy. I'm all about the hunt, find and sign the log book. But I like this personal item thing, if not just to leave so people see you've been there. Even if never taken out of the cache.

 

Are the poker chips tough to do?

If you're a TN kinda person, then an in expensive sigitem is great so that you can leave your mark, and leave a little something special for the next finders, even if it's just a tiny laminated card. I've seen somethe size of a postage stamp. Just choosing your size from the preset label templates in your word processing program, but printing the result on plain(or fancy) paper. Trim, Laminate, Trim again, all set!!

[+WRITE SHOP ROBERT]

Well, without pasting a bunch of quotes, I'll try to reply to some of the points I've seen mentioned.

 

I tend to view any sigitem as having the same value as any other (Roughly $1) if it cost a penny to make or $6 to buy I see it as the same value. As for trading, my sigitems come in handfuls and I view the whole handful as one individual trade item. (if I leave a Wooden Nickel, 10 Raffle Tickets, and 4 BINGO! Cards, I would take one or no trade items). Any other trades I'm interested in would have me dropping some other item as trade. Most times though I'm leaving a handful of micro sized trade items even if I take nothing.

 

I'm glad to see some of you with micro sigitems. It's long been my view that the main thing wrong with micros, is that most people don't leave anything as trade. I have a big list of things I can trade in micro caches.

 

Most of mine are related to some game or another, so the idea is that you'll take one or two, and try to win a prize. This is cool, because I leave enough for the next several Cachers to play, and they cost me nearly nothing in money(the most expensive cards I've made cost about $.12 each) but since you can win Travel Bugs, they are actually worth much more than that. If you don't win, or for the other items just adding them to your collection is the idea(except two new games where the idea is for them to travel)

 

As for softball...a simple card in a baggie with one of those "softball" erasers from the party store would be cool. and cheap too. Also baseball cards can be really cheap.

[+komatsu200]

I like the idea of wooden nickels and poker chips but I wanted something different so I started hand carving little traffic cones and putting stickers with my name on them. I made the stickers with a dymo label maker. The reason I chose traffic cones is because they say something about me since I work in road construction. From start to finish it takes about 30 minutes each to make one.