Things I Love to Share: SHOWER ART!

I saw this at Rosalie's table at Geek Girl Con and I JUST HAD TO get it!
Glasses Are Awesome - Shower Art by Ugly Baby

About a week ago I was in Seattle, WA and stayed at my friend's house, cos they're cool like that. We agreed to help each other crash at each others' places when we were visiting our respective cities back at Craftcation. And it was marvelous!

I loved hanging at her place, filled with awesome art! In fact, while I was showering at their place, I got to see some of what they make in action.

What do they make, you ask?

SHOWER ART! - I purchased some of their awesomeness for my friend. You should, too!
Get some at UglyBaby.etsy.com!

It was so great to see some shower art (waterproof art for your shower) in its intended habitat! In fact, their entire bathroom was kind of a shrine to everything awesome.

PROOF: When I needed to go to the bathroom, Rosalie told me to put on the 3D glasses and look around. The freaking art of the walls came to life! Best experience using the restroom ever!

I only share this peeing experience with you since we're such good friends. ;D 

Image by Jessica Glein

Also Rosalie & Doug's company, Ugly Baby, was just featured on Etsy's blog under the "Quit Your Day Job" section!

Wowzers! I loved reading their ultra practical advice for leaving your 9-5 for a creative life. 

If you're a creative human looking for some perspective on being a full-time artist, read on...

I gotta say, I always love product process shots. It inspires me to be more creative... Well, I'm even more inspired by throwing-glitter-in-the-air shots, but that's besides the point!

So, MY POINT WAS: I bought some shower art! I wanted to share the shower art that I got for my friend, Katy Kristin (who also make adorable things, but more on the jewelry side). She has a baby blue themed bathroom, and we love potty humour. I just know she'll love looking at Rosalie's art in her adorably themed shower.

And to thank Rosalie for letting us hang out at her house (appropriately dubbed "Couch Island") for the weekend, I made her a little something-something to go in her HUGE collection of designer dolls in her bathroom (oh, I didn't mention that she has an amazeball collection of toys on one of her bathroom walls?! No? Well, I should have)....

It's not finished (cos I underestimated the amount of time f*ckin' cacti spikes would take to make out of felt), but here's a sneak peek at her pressie!

Rosalie had a mini collection of tokidoki items, so I made her a Bastardino!
Then I branded that bad boy on the ass!

I won't be making this fool to put up in the shop, but some of my readers have said they've wanted to see more of the items I've been working on! What do ya think?

Anywho, thank you so much to Rosalie & Doug of Ugly Baby for making amazing shower art & for the use of your couches. :) 

On being exhausted & ghost-hunting

Needle-Felted Retro Green TV  - by ThingsByV - $20 USD

The last few weeks have been a whirlwind of one situation to manage after the other, guys. And to be perfectly honest, I'm completely exhausted by it all.

I thought that taking some time away from social media (I'm 12 days into a 30 day Internet Rehab, btw) would help give me some perspective about what I really need to accomplish in life.

Turns out that I just wanna turn everything to do with "work" (also known as the beast I constantly manage called nerd JERK) the heck off for a while.

This may be because I never get everything done my To Do Lists.. and in some cases, have never gotten back to some really kind people (I'm looking at you Cody from Daft Crafts and Katrina from toffee magazine)... but, again, to be perfectly honest - I just don't have the bandwidth!

It's gotten the point that I wake up in the morning, email people if I have to, then avoid everything by crocheting & watching ghost shows on Netflix.

Glow In The Dark Miniature Ghosts Figures - by jpants4sale - $16.40 USD

I mean it, guys... I've even resorted to watching most of "Ghost Lab"!! And it's not a great show.

So now that it's late at night, I've spooked myself out by watching 12 hrs of ghost shows and my boyfriend and cats won't stay up with me to speculate as to whether or not we should do an investigation on our house (We totally should! But I'm scared!!!), I'm left here to whimper into the internets about how much I'm not getting done while getting a lot of other stuff done.

I need a real vacation...

If anyone would like to pay for one, or even wants to paranormally investigate my house, let's chat. ;)

Lessons a 3 week-old newborn will teach you

In a sunny little cottage by the sea sleep a tiny baby boy & his mommy. I slip in around 8 and try not to wake them as I turn the door's lock with my key.

Turns out they were both kind of awake anyways, but I thought I'd be nice. :) 

For those of you who didn't know, I am now a "tia" or aunt! Well, sorta. As much of an aunt you can be without being related to someone by blood. 

Meaning I was around while he was being baked in the oven of him mom's guts and I am changing a few diapers, carrying him around on my shoulder and making sure he's happy while his parents get a few moments of reprieve.

Little Baby Jack was born on April 18th, so he's still pretty new to these parts, but he's already figuring out some crucial things:

• Boobs make food. Make sure there are always boobs around.
• Pooping is hard to do. Make sure you give it your all as many times as you can.
• Bouncing is awesome. Make sure to make people bounce you as much as humanly possible.
• Gas is super lame. Make sure to get rid of gas in as many funny ways as possible for maximum crowd shocking effect.
• I am adorable. Make sure to use that to my advantage.

Needless to say, I've already picked up a few tricks of my own in the few precious times I've been able to hang out with Baby Jack and his lovely mum, Katy.

Artificial Heart II felt brooch - by hanaletters - $50 USD

• You are growing at a ridiculous rate right now. Even if I started making your acorn cap that I promised your mum, it wouldn't fit you in a week!
• Sometimes you're just gonna cry cos you feel like it. If you ever feel like toning it down so that your mum can relax for a bit, that'd be a tremendous bonus.
• You totally don't even know how loved you are by everybody yet. One day you will and you'll start smiling on purpose!
• You got your dimples from ME! ...possibly thru osmosis.

I feel really lucky to be able to be a part of Katy, Kevin & Jack's lives right now. I've never been this close to a newborn or helped a kid grow from all stages of life, so this will definitely be weird. But I guess so long as we keep Baby Jack & his family fed & watered, everything will turn out all right. :)

Something else I learned from hanging out with Katy & Baby Jack is that if you feel like doing something awesome, do it! So one day when I felt poopy, I decided to do something awesome to make my friend feel better. Today I drew a gnome farting & framed it to celebrate Katy's birthday. A few weeks ago, I made a grumpy raincloud pee on everyone in shot of my friend's rearview mirror.

Mr. Pissed Off Cloud aka Mr. Tinkles - spur of the moment rear view mirror decoration
Custom awesomeness made for iCKY the Great

I will leave you in the knowledge that sometimes you just got make awesomeness: whether it's a whole baby that you made in your guts for many months, or a few random works of radness that you're excited about. Chances are that if you're excited about it (even if it occasionally frustrates you), it's totally worth doing.

Thanks for teaching me that, Baby Jack. ;)

Praise from daniellexo for nerd JERK: "Best description I've ever seen"

Mint Typewriter Necklace - by nerd JERK - $48 USD

I've been busy getting things all polished up in my Etsy shop. 

• Christel & I have been making more items (mainly in prep for Maker Faire!)
• My sister helped out with a recent photo shoot to show how my items look on humans
• Jen & I have been tweaking my item descriptions to be more consistent &... well, ..descriptive!

So as we're taking a few weeks to do all of this, imagine my surprise when Danielle from Etsy (also known as daniellexo) drops me a line to tell me that she used my Mint Typewriter Necklace listing in a treasury & Online Lab about "Descriptions that Sell"..!!

I may have pooped myself.

It was amazeballs! She even told me I ought to quote her in my item description. I'm gonna be a geek and embed the video for all the world to see below, but I don't mind following her advice & quoting her first:

The best description I've ever seen... breaks down the description by telling (you) what it is, the story behind it... who it's best for. I love that she points that out! ... One of my favourite descriptions I've ever read. Woo-hoo, nerd JERK!       - daniellexo

Okay, now for the video! She starts chatting about my item description at around 11:53 in. ;D

[NOTE: Very informative & thought provoking video, complete with exercises on how to get your customer's questions answered within your descriptions]

Watch live streaming video from etsy at livestream.com

Do you like the changes we've been making around nerd JERK? There's been quite a lot. I know I said there would be in my wacky vlog, but I don't think you all knew how nutty it was gonna get. :) 

Let me know what you like and what you'd like to see more of! My whole brand is built on custom orders, so hearing your feedback is the best thing for me - then I can give you what you want!

P.S. I can still make you something special for Mother's Day! In fact, here are a few items ready to ship TODAY!

DIY Cross-Stitch Brooch Tutorial & how Lita approves

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Colourful materials to make a DIY Cross-Stitch Brooch - "How Tuesday" Tutorial by ME on Etsy Blog

The surprise project that I was working on is finally live on the internets! I wrote a double-whammy of a tutorial for the "How Tuesday" section of the Etsy blog  in a few days. It was quite a crunch, but I'm really proud of how it turned out.

I've learned the last few days that when my boyfriend, Roger, and I pull together, we can pretty much make anything happen. So he took pictures with me for a very intense hour (he doesn't like taking pictures nor does he know how) and after a lot of yelling about "framing the shot" on my part, we got it done. Then I edited for a million years and wrote for a couple of hours.

That's the behind the scenes of that epic tutorial. :D I'm SUPER proud of how it turned out, but was sad not to see the picture of all the materials included... so I posted myself.

You know what other picture was missing? The picture of my adorable "Quality Control Expert" AKA Lita (my granny who originally showed me how to embroider) so I took a picture with the brooch on... and the brooch is covering a juice stain on her cardigan. ;)

Lita didn't know why we were taking this picture, but she was excited about her new brooch!
Wanna see more pics from behind the scenes of nerd JERK? Follow me on Instagram!

My tutorial basically covers you for Mother's Day - but you might still want a little help in person? 

We've got you!

Monogram Brooches don't have to be monotonous
DIY Cross-Stitch Brooches by nerd JERK

Definitely not a kitten

DIY Cross-Stitch Kit - Polaroid
by nerd JERK - $18 USD

If you've always wanted to learn to cross-stitch, now's your chance. And at nerd JERK, we don't cross-stitch no kittens or cabbage roses (as you can see from our Etsy Shop).

On May 3rd I'll be teaching a DIY Cross-Stitch Pin Workshop at CRAFT BAR hosted by Etsy Labs at the Museum of Craft and Folk Art! Make a cute and cool pin, a perfect present for your cool mom on Mother's Day or for any other cool humans in your life!

-WANNA COME? Here's the DEETS-

WHEN: May 3rd from 6:00pm to 8:00pm
WHERE: The Museum of Craft and Folk Art (51 Yerba Buena Lane San Francisco, CA 94103)
COST: $5 (Covers materials, tips, and tricks)
BONUS: Adult Beverages will be available (liquid courage always helps crafting).

Pick any 2 Handmade Felt Brooches for $25!

Still need help with a rad Mother's Day gift or don't feel like making flair for yourself? 

You're in luck! I'm selling my Handmade Felt Brooches & they're READY TO SHIP today!

I'm really excited about these guys! Fellas look snazzy with a mix tape on their lapel & ladies look lovelier with a camera on their cardigans. 

Thanks so much for supporting handmade geekery, guys! Whether it's by making a DIY Cross-Stitch Brooch for a cool person, coming out to make stuff at Craft Bar this Thursday or buying a little gift for your Mum (or yourself!), I really appreciate your awesomeness.

Neon Custom Mini Amigurumi & Gallery Show

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After finishing a couple of mini items I made for folks at the Cherry Blossom Festival, I realised that I have really missed making new work. Sometimes I get so wrapped up in making items for different craft fairs that I forget that making new art is often what keeps me from going nuts on making my millionth Mini Red Mario Mushroom.

But while I was making a bunch of neon Lumas, I thought it would be awesome if I could make them in colours I was into: hot pink,  bright yellow & teal! Guess which colours sold the fastest?!

Custom Mini Items I made for orders I took at the Cherry Blossom Festival

So it's no surprise that I wanted to make neon Mario Mushrooms. I was tempted to make some mini radioactive green ones when I decided I had better finish some other inventory instead of making new stuff. Then I got an order for a Mini Radioactive Green Mushroom. HA! Just goes to show you should go with your gut, right?

After a couple of weeks getting through the awesome Cherry Blossom Festival, I've kicked it into high gear for my first gallery show! I'm going to be featured with over 60 SF Etsy artists from the Bay Area at STUDIO Gallery in San Francisco, CA. Here's a pic of my submissions:

From left to right: Chain Chomp ($100 USD), Thwomp ($150 USD) & Bob-Omb ($80 USD)

These amigurumi versions of classic Super Mario villains have been delivered to STUDIO Gallery and will be showing from May 2nd through the 27th. Be sure to stop by to see them in person, if you're local to San Francisco. :)

I'm also prepping for a big surprise honour happening this upcoming May Day. If you're on the Etsy blog looking for rad things to make, you might wanna keep an extra eye peeled on the 1st...

OOPS! I've said too much!

Behind the Scenes - a sneak peek pic of the tutorial photo shoot
Photo by Roger Moore

CRAFTCATION! - I'm Little Miss Etsy!

Kick Off BBQ Photo Booth at Craftcation
From Left to Right: Me, Dorothy Mack, Ashley Jennings,
Tiffany Moore, Danielle Maveal & Marlo Miyashiro

You guys... I had such a blast at Craftcation this last weekend. So many dreams came true that I've gotta list em to make any sense of it all!

• I was flown out by Etsy, Inc to represent them as an Etsy Ambassador!

• I taught a really rad class on Etsy 101 - Starting Your Etsy Shop. Here's an action shot!

Image Credit: Rosalie Gale of Unanimous Craft  

• The folks who took the class kept telling me how much I ROCKED the whole weekend. I'm still getting "Thank You" emails from these amazing humans! :D

• I went to every event they had (including the 80s Dance Party) & followed up with fellow Etsy Sellers on their small businesses. More photo booth action in between consultations...

Tiffany Moore is every 80s high school boy's fantasy! So glad I committed to go BALLS-OUT-80s with her.

I'm rockin it with my side ponytail, sparkly headband (thanks to my Panamanian model cousin), rad earrings from Boo + Boo Factory AND my awesome red skirt MADE FROM SCRATCH by my epic fiance, Roger!

• In all that follow up, I realised that it made sense to finally launch myself into Creative Biz Consulting. So if you need help, you can now hire me to help you succeed! I'm super awesome at it, otherwise I wouldn't be doing it! Email me for deets!

• And I still had some time for fun in the sun in Ventura, CA at the hotel where "Little Miss Sunshine" was filmed. Since I'm a huge film geek, not only did I constantly incorrectly quote the movie, but I had to take pictures!

Delilah's fabulously restored VW Van that I got to ride in! Lovingly known as The Jam Van!

So, that was MOST of it, but totally not all of it. I guess what I took away from my whole Craftcation experience was that I thoroughly enjoy helping people succeed. I have been helping people do this for YEARS, but it's only recently that I've realised that I've been doing what I loved all along.

Remember that list of Things I Want To Do More Of in 2012? Well, this weekend hit on almost all of them!

1. Read Books
2. Travel
4. Write More (I wrote a ton) / Blog More
6. Walking
7. Take more photos
8. Get Organised
9. TEACH! And Start Consulting!

I love it when dreams come true!! 

Gettin' a little Wacky - A new look for nerd JERK

You can scratch even the TINIEST of turntables!
DIY Nerdy Cross Stitch Kit - Record Player - $18 USD @ nerd JERK

If you've been tuning in, you know that I've been working very hard on mixin' it up & getting things done in 2012.

..except for maybe regular blog posts.

And fortunately for you, this ain't no regular blog post!

A new look for nerd JERK from Steph Cortes @ nerdJERK on Vimeo.

G'ahead! Tell you friends what a weird geek lady I am. :D Cos it's about to get awesome up in this blog, yo!

Much <3
- Steph

nerd JERK First Vlog

The fact that I'm vlogging right now is probably a sign that the universe has made it easy enough for preschoolers to make movies.

And yet, I encourage you to take a few minutes and watch this, cos it's got some important news about some changes at nerd JERK... along with a whole lot of other stuff that isn't quite as important. 

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However, I would like to take a moment to say that this latest venture into the blogosphere was made possible by the following sponsors:

I got an email on day from Tammy George at PuNk rAwK pUrL with a link to her newest vlog. Although she'd sent it along with a cute joke about her looking like a frog in the screenshot (not true, BTW), I saw the instant connection that can be made with peeps over the internets once you can hear and see them.

Tammy did her vlog in answer to a conversation on My Girl Thursday's blog, in which she's been giving away items (giveaway ends today at 11:59 PM) in celebration of her blog recently reaching 1,000 followers! :D She's now well into the 1,100s, but that's totally reason to celebrate! She had a few questions that were posed on her blog that seemed to inspire answers in their video bloggin'! So, like Tammy, I was inspired to do the same. Check out the questions below the video.

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Steph's First Vlog 
from Steph Cortes @ nerdJERK on Vimeo.

PSST! Here were the questions I couldn't remember on the 4th take of this video:

1.Do you have a middle name?

2. What was your favourite subject in school?

3. What's your favourite drink?

4. Favourite song at the moment?

5. What would you name your children?

6. Do you participate in any sports?

7. Favourite Book?

8. Favourite Colour?

9. Favourite Animal?

10. Favourite perfume?

Image c/o Madame Scodioli

Solid Perfume mentioned in this vlog:

Madame Scodioli's

EUPHORIUM 

$12 USD

Possibly the greatest perfume I've EVER worn. Lovely notes of almond, milk & honey mingle & melt on your skin to leave you smelling of some sort of dreamy marzipan! YUM!

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And who knows... maybe I'll post some outtakes of the first couple of versions of this once I figure out how to do video editing on my iPad. But until then, I'm afraid you're stuck with one-shot takes! :D

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Comments encouraged, but please be gentle. ;D

I'm such a n00b!

Celebrating 200 Etsy Sales - A New Milestone!

Thank you to all of the amazing people who have been inspired to buy nerd JERK items! You're awesome!

Sign up for my newsletter A.S.A.P. to find out about the NEXT round of new items to celebrate a whole other side of geekery!

Geek Chic Guide - Bright Hot Pink!

We all know I love hot pink. I mean, that the first colour that came to mind when I wanted to dye my hair (mainly so sea foam green would've looked effed up)! So when I got word from RedandMain that they'd made a treasury with my Hot Pink Mini Bob-Omb in it, I was overjoyed!

'Oh Yes It's 80's Night and the Feeling's Right...' by RedandMain

An homage to my favorite thing about the 1980's...hot pink!

crazycouture $14.00	TatterBeans $18.00	MySecretFace $26.00	NerdJerk $16.00
lydialuxejewel... $13.00	PuffedPeonies $15.00	SpinningWheelS... $13.00	amyfine $30.00
JulieMarieSink $16.00	SunnyLeeStudio $300.00	whimsyneedles $3.50	mengseldesign $65.00
meganleone $48.00	SoFino $16.00	NikkiCrossAppl... $20.00	Needlings $30.00

Treasury tool by Red Row Studio.

Etta + Billie GIVEAWAY Winner is...!

On Saturday night all the entries were assigned #s and were entered into the "True Random Number Generator" at Random.org and Hilary Goldman from A Slice of Delight was selected! When told of her winnings, she exclaimed:

A few things - at first when I saw the "We have a winner"  I honestly lost track of thinking about the giveaway -my mind at first thought it went out to the entire team and then when I saw it was just to me and that I won!!  The first thing that crossed my mind was - how I wished all 3 of us that entered could have won.  Then the second thing that crossed my mind was - I won!! 

It's so ironic - I never spend any time chasing down entering giveaways (and there are a lot of them out there and I get them sponsored for my own soap - I'm sure we can do something similar in the new year for A Slice of Delight) but I thought to myself - it's my Etsy mate, she's local, Steph put a shout out to encourage people to comment, I enjoyed the post and Alana's soap process is so completely different than my use of glycerin that I thought pour quoi pas (I've got enough glycerin soapy art around I don't need anymore of that ;+}). And why can't a soap crafter (i.e. me)  take a break from using my own soapy scraps ;+} 

So, congrats to Hilary! :) I've given Alana's soaps as gifts and can testify to how much different people dig them! And Hilary's excitement for new soaps just goes to show how everyone can enjoy something handmade.

Thanks to everyone who participated! Stay tuned for more awesomeness!

Awesome Artist Feature: Katy Atchison

Our newest pick for the Awesome Artist Feature series will be with Katy Atchison from Katy Atchison Illustration! A member of the SF Etsy Street Team, Katy has just finished doing the graphic design for the upcoming Winter Wonderland Craft Bazaar that's being sponsored by Etsy, INC. A talented artist with real desire to create beauty in the world, it's a pleasure getting to know the story behind Katy.

KATY ATCHISON ILLUSTRATION

Photo of Katy Atchison by J. Astra Brinkmann

• Who are you? 

I’m Katy! Katy, Katy Atchison... A Graphic and Web designer who has a soft spot for anything so cute you want to instantly pinch its cheeks.

•  And what drives to you create!?

More like...who...as the daughter of a Potter and a Weaver. Granddaughter to a painter. I’ve always been surrounded by art my whole life. Having an art studio incorporated into my home was natural, and a general requirement for a happy life. Creating art is so much of who I am...that I’m pretty sure if I wasn’t doing it...everyone around me would tell me I’m not being true to the core of who I am. 

Really tho...by day I sit at a computer...so at night, I try my best to unplug and deflate my brain into a mush of paint and varnish fumes.

I’ve always had that drive behind me where I feel that if I stop creating art, I’m doing a disservice to myself.

•  When & why did you start your Etsy shop? 

Hoot by Katy Atchison
Available at Three Twin's Ice Cream

 My Etsy shop is my “overflow” shop. It’s a place for my fans to come and shop. About a year and a half ago I started putting up my work at Three Twin’s Ice Cream in the Lower Haight here in SF. They have been so kind to me...allowing me to keep my artwork up this whole time. I have sold around 3 paintings a month...but there’s always that painting that just doesn’t grab that particular audience...and after a few months, I just need to allow other people to see it. So it lands on Etsy. I really LOVE that I’m able to have an Etsy shop because I can even allow some of my fans to preview new items...get a first grab at it before it hits the shop and it’s been a venue where people have been able to reach out to me via Etsy Mail and ask questions...It’s been a great way to connect to people.

Also, I believe that art should be affordable and available for people. Having a painting or a drawing or even a beautiful piece of pottery in your home to enjoy each day brings a lot of warmth into a home. I want to give people the opportunity to have a piece of art, or gift one to make someone’s home warm and inviting. Etsy allows me to reach people that wouldn’t be able to see my work otherwise. 

"Katy's Beautiful Apartment: The Pullback"
by J. Astra Brinkmann

• Describe your creative process

I carry around a sketch pad with me all the time. And If I forgot it, I’ll sometimes use a receipt during an emergency. If I get an idea for a painting, I’ll sketch it out during my 25 min. commute ...and usually the saying comes last. 

I love to get ideas from my friends – so recently, I painted a little head of garlic and asked my Facebook fans what they would have him saying. Lauren Puff won with the saying “I Stinking Love you”. It made me giggle and I just know that little painting will sell quickly.

"Katy's Beautiful Apartment : The Table Spotlight"
by J. Astra Brinkmann

I sit down at my art table or with a sketch pad and my Prismacolor markers about once a week (usually Friday evenings when most people my age are out partying it up...). I have this insane closet that is chalked full of art supplies. Sometimes I feel a little overwhelmed by the large # of available creative outlets I have in my house... So usually...I just start simple with backgrounds...I’ll commit to getting some backgrounds done for the evening first. Then, I’ll take a background that has been painted and remember all the little ideas that I had bottled up for the week and paint one of them if I have time.

It’s natural for me to steer towards the cute side of this world. Whimsical lines, lots of lashes on the eyes of my characters and usually at least one heart fill the canvas.Lately I’ve been painting on wood and have enjoyed how the softness of the colors enhance my work. Sadly, they take SO long since the wood sucks up so much of the paint... I usually like to work quick and dirty – paint on pre-stretched canvas. It keeps the cost of the painting down.

"Katy's Beautiful Apartment: Over The Shoulder" by J. Astra Brinkmann

•   Top 5 fave books, movies, music, artists...

I listen to Pandora A LOT when creating art. My favorite station right now is the one that my boyfriend made from me which is called "Bet Katy will Like this"...and it's created from multiple seeds... Passion Pit, Wallpaper and I think he threw in some Katy Perry - so every once and a while there's a random Chris Brown song that will come on (insta Thumbs Down)...

but really I just LOVE me some pop. Keep the beets thumping, get my butt wigglin' from side to side and I'm down. Everytime I hear a Chromeo song I start to get all hyped up.

But then again...I get just as excited when I hear some good ol' Disco on the radio. 

•  What does a day in your life look like?

"Katy's Beautiful Apartment:
Big Cat Little Lady"
by J. Astra Brinkmann

I’m the busiest person you know....but as I’m thinking about this now, it just seems like I’m really very vanilla-regular. 

Everyday I get up at 7 – maybe 7:20am really cause I like to hit snooze...

Tuna and I get up and hang out for a bit. Yeah....my cat’s name is Tuna and she’s the best roommate I’ve never had. (‘cept she steals paint brushes...she’s conspiring to end my painting career)

I work 8:30-5:30 weekdays and then come home and work some more for other online clients, dinner with friends, craft night at my house, cooking classes at my house...or my boyfriend will come over and we will make dinner together. I spend most all of the weekend creating art and trying to keep myself on time for commitments...I volunteer my time A LOT and it allows me to stay connected to my community. Living alone, I’ve found that keeping myself busy is the only way to keep myself active. Also...it helps that I don’t have a TV...so I’m challenged to keep my mind active by being active in the world around me or keeping my hands busy with a new craft concept.

I love to cook. So often, I'm experimenting with a new cookie recipe often or making a new batch of roasted veggie soup. 

• How do you promote your work? Do you have any best tips & tricks of the trade?

Make your cards and flyers so amazing that people HAVE TO HAVE IT! I get about one email every other week from a person has picked up my card somewhere and they researched me online. I go through nearly 200 cards per month! No joke!

How does this happen for me?! My cards are adoooorable... And I have more than one design. So people will take one, and I’ll watch their friend take a different one. Offering up something for them to enjoy and keep and just have has allowed me to expand the # of people who look me up online.

Also – keep your community growing online! This has been the hardest for me personally because I’m just one person. I keep saying I need to get an assistant. Keep your work fresh...keep creating...this will keep people talking about you, what you’re up to... Your current fans – even if they are just your friends WILL TALK ABOUT YOU BEHIND YOUR BACK... Let this be the thing that keeps your community of fans growing. Encourage sharing online with a contest. Tell your friends you need their help. Use your community to build your community. 

Also, make sure your blog and website have ways for people to connect with you through their favorite site... Twitter, Facebook or whatever. Keep the options open. Don’t pigeonhole your business and keep it from growing by not opening up yourself to other communities online.

One iPod and Two Owls by Katy Atchison - $80

Check out Katy Atchison's work in person starting 11th November at the "Tiny" show on Polk Street in San Francisco, CA! And cruise her awesomeness online by clicking the links.

ETSY // FB // WEBSITE

The Awesome Artist Feature series will be running every Monday on nerd JERK: Inspire Your Inner Geek. If you'd like to participate, feel free to email me at nerdJERK@gmail.com