An afternoon photo-shoot with Stefanie Renee

Photo by Stefanie Renee

It's true, folks... sometimes I'm a little weird about taking photos. 

Maybe weird isn't the right word. Maybe it's more like I see a camera and then my face tenses all funny at the thought of a lens being pointed in my general direction.

Yeah... kinda like that!

Except I didn't have to feel all "weird" when I spent an afternoon laughing & cracking craftastic jokes with my friend.

So it's great that a very talented lady named Stefanie Renee came along with her fancy pants camera & eye for beauty. Cos she got some fabulously candid photographs of some of my creations of our photo-shoot last week in my neighborhood in San Francisco. :)

New prototype for the Turntable Nerdy Cross Stitch Kit Pattern
Photo by Stefanie Renee

Another prototype for a new line of broaches - Retro Polaroid
Photo by Stefanie Renee

Been wearing this broach for months now! Really need to get on making & selling them soon. But I just love it so much! I hope everyone else will love it enough to appreciate all the attention to detail (not to mention the awesome vintage button lens)!

New Sea Foam Typewriter Cross-Stitch Pendant
Photo by Stefanie Renee

When I went on a trip with the ladies in LIDL last month (check out a blog post about our shenanigans here - courtesy of Cindy Ann Ganaden), I spent a good portion of a Saturday working on this perfecting this pattern. I'm in LOVE with the colour SEA GREEN and with vintage typewriters. It seemed to make sense that this pendant would come into being. I'm sure Stef shares my love of all things green & vintage!

My awesome vintage green Schwinn bike
Photo by Stefanie Renee

We had so much fun on this photo shoot, that I almost forgot I was kind of nervous to be getting my photos taken. :) 

Get ready to be featured, folks!
Photo by Stefanie Renee

But really, since I'm working non-stop trying to get my business to sky-rocket into epicness, it seemed like it was time to take the next step & start getting professional style photos of myself done. Cos hey - you never know when you're gonna be an Etsy Featured Seller or even interviewed by BUST magazine, right? (Those are two my biggest dreams!!)

I kinda love yarn a lot :)
Photo by Stefanie Renee

So I'm getting ready to dream big!

If you are ready to take that next step and need some profession shots take of you in your awesome creavite environment, then I'd love to recommend Stefanie Renee. :) She's currently running a promotion for folks that want to document their lives through photography: portraits, events, "day in the life" sessions, etc. She's got a great eye and really loves her craft. 

Read more about her New Photo Package Special on her website!

What do you do with those toys, anyway?!

Believe it or not, I get this question a lot at craft shows. *laughs* So I thought I would demonstrate what you can do with the items I make at nerd JERK.

Featured in this video:

1. Mini Bob-Omb - 2. Mini Boo
3. Boo - 4. Mario Invincibility Star

So - sit back and be amused for about 85 seconds. :)

nerd JERK Toys Demo from Steph Cortes @ nerdJERK on Vimeo.

Also, if you have any nerd JERK items at your house & wanna make a video about how you use them to entertain yourself (and/or guests) in your home (and/or office?), I'd love to share it!

Geek Chic Guide - Derby Girls

'Derby Girls Rock my World!' by NerdJerk

I've got a wicked obsession with all things Roller Derby. Not-so-secretly crushing on the idea of being a full-blown Derby Girl is one of my specialties! Here's some rad gear that makes me wanna buy that first pair of skates and rock out!

skatesnouts $20.00	janinebasil $23.00	SnapDragonStyl... $32.00	knickerockerol... $20.00
Whiskey7Art $5.00	BLSoaps $9.95	ravishingjane $19.99	BlackfinGraphi... $2.99
smallfly $22.00	cupcaketree $9.00	whimsyandink $18.00	missfancypants... $29.00
beepart $12.00	amepix $6.00	SkateLove $22.00	CausticThreads $17.00

Treasury tool by Red Row Studio.

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I'm pretty sure of a few things in life... and one of those truths is that "We are all geeks about SOMETHING!"

Whereas I've never been too ashamed of my geekiness (heck - it's how I make a livin'! Thank you, loyal fans!), I do have a long-standing secret crush & embarrassing point of shame about said secret.

Awesome starter skates that I've been
eyeing since before Maker Faire 2011.
On SALE for $144.99 USD
RollerSkateNation

SECRET CRUSH is...

I wanna be a bad-ass derby girl!!! RAWR! :)

SECRET SHAME is... 

 I am totally afraid of skating. :(

Okay, okay! I can hear you all the way from over here!

• "What's WRONG with you?" 
• "How could you wanna be a derby girl and not be willing to suck it up and get a little beat up?" 
• "There's no way you'd make it as a bad-ass. Better stick to yarn!" 

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And you know what? Part of that might be right! But not all of it. So to answer your (*ahem* hypothetical) questions:

• Nothing is truly wrong with me other than:

1. I was traumatized by roller blades as a young child. Take 9 y.o. girl with poor balance, add roller blades, a rope, a bike and some sugar-crazed kid pulling you along downhill on asphalt. Marinate for almost 20 years. Serve.
2. I'm the heaviest I've ever been in my life & as other types of physical exercise leave little to be desired, the prospect of derby gets my blood going!
3. Roller Blades are not Roller Skates.Roller skates have the potential to hold more weight at a better distribution. And possibly go slower... down hills?

Roller Derby Poster by Whiskey7Art - $5 USD on Etsy

• Dude - although I've got these extra pounds and gimpy crochetitized wrists, I'm willing to make it happen. I just need to get that first pair of skates. I suppose I can *grow* a pair while I'm savin' to buy a pair.
• I will stick to yarn, but I'll do you one better. I'll make my own bad-ass derby gear. ;) Being a hookin' baller has it's perks.

That being said, I ended up getting an email from Erica of Derby Girls Blog about possibly doing some advertising on their site. As I've yet to fully invest myself into the derby culture, I don't know if I would quite fit in very well. But it still got me thinkin' about how much I love the culture! Which led me to looking at my favourites on Etsy! Which led to a treasury! Which is what today's Geek Chic Guide is all about!

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What activities have you just been dying to try out?!

Have you gone for it yet? If not, what's holdin' you back?

Vlog #2 - Living the Life of Nerdity

A young Steph Cortes, nerding out over
generic brand crayons. I still get that crazy
look in my eyes when I see bright colours!

Trust me, you don't get to call yourself the Master of Geekery without earning it somehow! And while I may not have earned it conventionally through hardcore Nintendo Entertainment System gaming at the age of 2 in 1985, I believe that I have indeed willingly participated in enough button-mashing marathons (with minimum tours in D&D campaigns as a blood-thirsty ninja) to have been awarded the right to an MFA in Nerdity.

That being said, I thought I would take this opportunity to show my followers a little more about what my day to day life looks like, starting with a tour of my bedroom.

Not that it's that kinda tour, but more of a peek into a little of the "hoarder-like madness" behind the curtain of kawaii plush at nerd JERK.

DISCLAIMER: This video may be a bit overwhelming to librarians and retail craft store sales associates, as it may trigger flashbacks of previous stressful workplace environments. Proceed with caution.

from Steph Cortes @ nerdJERK on Vimeo.

I love colour! And I love crayons! :D

My severe love for crayons has never died. In fact, with time, it has only grown stronger.

I guess that's why I have such an obsession with things that bring back nostalgia. When forced to deduce my brand into a few sentences today, all I could come up with was:

nerd JERK aims to excite your inner geek with a love for all that is old-school & retro! 

And really... what more is there for me to say?!

Tell me a little bit about what makes you feel like a geek!

I  know I can't be the only one enjoying making plush typewriters, smelling the pages of old books and occassionaly bustin' out that 64 pack of Crayolas. :)

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!

Geek Chic Guide - Neon Lights for Summer Nights

Oh folks! It's so obvious from my product photos that I love me some neon colours. And you know what? They're finally coming back in style! So as an ode to the photo-shoot I'll be having soon in front of some neon chartreuse backgrounds, I thought I'd share this POPPIN'  treasury that MaukyJo put together!

'Neon Lights' by MaukyJo

80's Flashback....everything neon!

mtcoffinz $40.00	Janefoster $33.00	greengoat $17.50	BlackbirdChic $15.00
elisehooperdes... $	CuckooBoo $4.00	NerdJerk $50.00	muppetloon $5.00
crazycouture $16.00	Buffpuppet $6.00	amoriconi $12.04	boxingbella $46.00
NikalaJayne $16.00	Buttonhead $15.00	StephsFantasti... $33.50	mademoiselleme... $40.00

Treasury tool by Red Row Studio.