Help Us Have an AWESOME Wedding - Sale!

As I was crocheting flowers for the bouquet for my wedding last night, I was thinking about how wonderful all my friends have been about helping make our wedding possible.

The night before, Roger and I got to sample some delicious beer that our neighbour has been home-brewing for the event. He specifically asked us what we like in beer and then =POOF= there was an icy bottle with a stopper delivered to our porch a few weeks later. :D

Then our good friend, Loun, scheduled her vacation so that she could make us some tasty cupcakes for our guests! Pumpkin spice and Mexican Chocolate - my FAVOURITE!!

Then my friend, Katy, came over today to check out the "situation" that is our backyard. With some weedwhackers and some composting, it looks like we may be able to actually pull this thing off!! *fingers crossed*

But even with all of the extra gigs we've picked up and money we've tried to put aside, we still don't have a ton of funds to get food, lights and pay the awesome photographer (you know, Stef did my portraits last year)!

That's where you come in!! :D I've noticed that people really love getting a good deal and being part of something awesome. Well, since we don't have time to run a Kickstarter, Roger and I thought we could do a "Help Us Have an AWESOME Wedding" SALE in both of our shops! Roger hand-sculpts cute polymer clay jewelry shaped like food and you know I make geekery of all kinds!

This was a particularly good meal at Denny's

We've gone through both of our shops and marked everything down for you, so all you have to do is go in and shop your little hearts out! :D

Every sale made from now until Oct 12th will help fund our BIG DAY!!!

Roger may even make his super happy face as seen in this picture... which he normally reserves for really tasty food or when he sees adorable kitties.

You can see why I wanna marry him. :)

Thank you all so much for supporting handmade geekery for all of 2012! And for telling all your friends!!!

I'm particularly excited to be moving on with my brand in 2013, so this will be the last year that I'll be making Super Mario Amigurumi plushies.

So if you'd like to get them for holiday gifts (or even a gift to self), this would be the best time to do so! :D

Check out what we've got right now...

That's all I've got for now, dudes. I'm still a nervous bride trying to figure out paperwork and possibly giving up on the whole making-my-own-piñata deal, but really - it feels so good to know cool people like you are out there supporting us!

THANK YOU FOR BEING AWESOME!

xo - Steph

P.S. Here's a shot of the beer! It was sooooo freaking delish! :D Nevermind all the craftastic hot messes in the background....

Sorry for the radio silence: A Proposal

Every few months, I write the same thing: I'm sorry I've been so quiet, guys. It won't happen again.

But, as we can clearly see, it totally does.

Now, mainly what happens during this period of time is that my other commitments (you mean there's stuff you do other than nerd JERK?) get the best of me. This almost always totally blows, as my passion is really with my geektastic creations... and how to make them more nerdifyed.

However, this time it was different. I have a pretty good reason this time.

My grandma (affectionately known as Lita) at Wal-Mart
[P.S. She loves Wal-Mart]

My adorable grandma had a couple of heart attacks. I'm her full-time care-giver, so I'm supposed to be able to fix those, right? Well, the good news is we caught them in time and after a couple of procedures, she's on the mend in a rehab center.

So while she's getting better, I've got this gut-wrenching cold/flu/disease-from-hell that I still go to my retail job with during the week. And I've got social worker meetings to go to for my great-aunt (not to mention the phone calls from the same great-aunt about her sister in the hospital). And I've got a business to run.

Needless to say, I'm exhausted, so it only made sense that my body decided to give up and get super duper sick in the middle of all of this. But that doesn't mean I'm not trying to be awesome... somewhere on my insides.

What I wanted to say was thank you to all the homies that have stuck it out & are waiting for new content. :) I definitely wanna give it to you. But I wonder if I've made it kind of a big deal for myself to blog something. I mean, the content I put out is usually well-thought out and has tons of pictures (plus a purpose). But lately, I've been thinking about one of my big dreams back in the day... I wanna write a book.

This could be on the cover:

photo by Stefanie Renee

Cos, I mean, c'mon - who WOULDN'T wanna buy this book?! It's got Bestseller written ALL over it!

This picture (taken by my friend, Stefanie Renee) is the kind of person I really am, but don't show too often. I worry about what people will think of me (says the girl who makes crocheted toys for a living) instead of thinking of the rad people who'd embrace my kind of weirdness.

So, keeping with the theme that I haven't been taking very good care of myself, that I wanna do better & I've got a whole lot of awesome I've been wanting to share, but haven't because of fear, I think I'm just gonna say I'm gonna go for it.

Is anyone strongly opposed to knowing more about the person behind the glasses? Or do I get an "All Systems Go" from y'all?

Memes? For reals? - The Handwriting Game

Although I'm a firm believer in writing pretty when I have to, when I saw Tammy, from PunkRawkPurl, rock her sassy hand-writing full force, it inspired me to whip out the quick writing I've had most of my life.

Not much one for internet memes, I didn't know whether this would be a post that anybody would be into. But really, I guess I wanted to see what people thought of it. I know that I love getting a sneak peek into my fave artists' lives; why not give a little of that back?

So here's how I roll:

I'd really dig seeing the handwriting of some of my fave ladies:

a) Danielle from bunnydee

b) Bettina from icky.the.GREAT

c) Alana from Etta + Billie

There's a whole lot you can tell from a person's hand-writing. I used to check out a book at my elementary school's library in Hayward when I was a kid and try to decipher what people were feeling when they wrote notes in classes, long book reports and even my mom's grocery lists.

I suppose it's only natural that when I saw this, I was curious to see other people's hand-writing, too. If you're into it, feel free to posting a link to what your list looks like:

THE HANDWRITING GAME

1. Your name - Blog Name
2. Your Blog URL
3. Write out: The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog.
4. Favourite Quote
5. Favourite Song
6. Favourite Musicians/Bands
7. Something you say...
8. Tag people for the game

I know it's kind of nerdy (and somewhat optimistic), but I'm really looking forward to seeing some handwriting. hehe

UPDATE: Here's Bettina from icky the GREAT's hand-writing. It's awesome and way slanted - meaning she's in a hurry to get stuff done - like yesterday! *laughs* She's currently work on her thesis for her Masters in Animation and I'm really stoked she did this for me.

I know there probably isn't a good chance that tons of people will do this, but even getting one was awesome. :D

Been in a bit of a funk... need funny videos!

Some disturbing news has kind of... well, disturbed me as of late. So, sincerest apologies to all of my rad readers.

But, to make up for my absence, I've decided to share one of my favourite YouTube vids. And in a time of distress, one can be comforted in knowing that somewhere in the UK, a geek boy is playing a kazoo solo to a Justin Timberlake song.

Ladies & gents: Brett Domino!




Seriously, it's because of this guy that I wanna make a new nerdy cross-stitch with a key-tar that says "Rock On!"

You know what? I think I will. ;) And I reckon I'll send one to Mr. Domino.

This really has cheered me up. Anyone else have any geektastic videos to share? I'd love to see 'em!

P.S. Also love Maru-chan!

Nerdy Cross-Stitch Kits - PREVIEW GIVEAWAY!!!

Tweet

Although I've been working on these designs little by little for the last 6 weeks or so, I'm not completely done with them. These are a SNEAK-PEEK into some of the awesomeness that will be revealed bit by bit to my fans within the next couple of months. :)

Inspired by 8-bit pixel art and a love for anything crafted from needle & thread, I started designing these items in January in hopes of having a whole like done for Valentine's Day 2011.

And as that deadline whooshed past, I started concentrating less on the quantity of my designs and more on the quality.

As a few of the followers on my Facebook Fan Page put it, the designs are a bit simple, but that's okay! I'm excited about just doing something new and awesome. :) I plan on hand-printing the patterns with our screen-printing set up in our basement once I get about 6 kits ready.

 But before that step, how about doing a PREVIEW GIVEAWAY for a lucky follower to win a free kit to test it out!?!

Since this is a BRAND-SPANKING NEW product, you'll be winning a prototype kit which includes:

• A piece of  ivory cotton 16-count cross stitch fabric with the pattern hand-drawn with a washable fabric pen 
• An embroidery hoop to do your stitching
• A needle & all necessary colours of DMC embroidery floss for the pattern

HOW TO ENTER TO WIN:

• Just leave a comment below! :) Easy peasey!

It'd be awesome if you'd spread the word about nerd JERK, but it's not required to enter the giveaway. Also, this giveaway totally includes international customers & fans. I know a lot of people don't do that, but I'd love to be able to see what people can do with some of my new Nerdy Cross-Stitch Kits!

The winner will be randomly chosen on Sunday, 6th March, 2011! 

Until then, look for the full line of Nerdy Cross-Stitch Kits from nerd JERK in Summer 2011.

Thanks everyone & good luck!

The nerd with new hair - From long & wavy to short & sassy!

I sure needed a makeover! Many thanks to Patty & Pauline at Shear Irish!

When I was younger, I was wild and full of dreams. I had only just gotten into the Beatles & Elliott Smith, picked up a guitar and started writing songs. I had yet to really delve into crochet and film history, let alone the art scene in San Francisco. There was a lot to be discovered. One of those discoveries was wearing my hair short and pink. :)

A lot of people know that I just wrap my hair in a bun or a ponytail and go to where I need to be. Probably cos I don't like spending a ton of time on my looks these days. So my friends & fans are always surprised when I show them how long my hair is. I guess one of the subconscious reasons for always putting it up was cos I missed it being short and out of the way.

So, I figured, if that's how it's gonna be, it was time for a change!

Having finally realised that, I decided to book a hair appointment today! My friend & fellow artist, Bettina from icky the great, had had a wonderful experience with Shear Irish in the Parkside, San Francisco last year. I had spent too much time asking friends for hair referrals (or even experimental haircuts! Eeep!) to eff around any longer.

So I check them out on Yelp and found out about their offer for the rest of the month!

1 free Hair Cut

1st time clients only, Mention Yelp for free hair cut with highlight or color purchase with stylist Patty. Trained by Aveda. Exp 1/31/11

Are you flippin' serious? It was like it was meant to be!

Not wanting to waste another minute, I called and left a message to schedule an appointment. The lovely Irish owner, Pauline, called back within a half hour to fit me in that afternoon.

When I told my friend, Rachel of Battle Against Boredom, that I wanted to get back to my roots and dye my hair pink, she told me there was nothing like getting your hair professionally coloured. "It's like the greatest thing it the world!" I was told.

So when I went in for my 12:30 with Patty, I had already my made decision to let her do whatever she wanted to with my hair. :) There were little bowls with pastes, brushes & foil involved. It was odd to be stuck under a set of heatlamps. I imagined that what eggs feel like sometimes. But Patty & Pauline were very reassuring about the process.

All in all, I finally got my groove back! Having formed a brand for nerd JERK involving lots of bright colours and awesomeness, I sure had let my personal awesomeness go by the wayside! 

With freshly purchased vintage-inspired 50s librarian glasses and a thrifted old cardigan, my new hair packed the perfect punch!

• Side swiped bangs (for future emo moments)
• Textured curly layers (so that I don't have to style it)
• Shorter in the back, longer in the front (reversing bad 80s mullet effects of an ill-advised self-haircut a few months earlier had caused)
• Chunks of HOT PINK within the layers (for a subtle punk look)
• Grey hairs gone wild! (in my quest to achieve the Rogue from X-Men bangs look one day!)

Great fricken day to drop some cash & see some seriously awesome results! Thanks so much to Patty & Pauline for helpin' this nerd get some rad back into her life!

New Year = New Awesomeness: Goals for Motivational Inspiration in 2011

Custom Red Fox Animal Scarf
by Social Squitten - $100 USD

We all make ourselves a bunch of promises at the beginning of every new year, hoping to emerge better people with stronger willpower and follow-thru. But this year, I'm just gonna state the facts: I'm gonna be awesome-er.

Traditionally, there will be lists of items that we makes to measure our progress. And while I'm a big believer in lists, I'll be the first to admit that I often lose that sheet of paper with all my goals written on it some time by the second week of January. Therefore, I have no choice but to put my list into cyberspace.

Keeping in mind a few things I've learned from some inspirational guru somewhere along the time, I know that in order for these goals to happen, they need to be S.M.A.R.T. ones.

According to Wikipedia, there are many versions of S.M.A.R.T. goals, but for the sake of this blog post, here are the definitive words I'm going to choose:

SPECIFIC: Something that I cannot get away with vaguely alluding to.. such as previously promised awesomeness.
MEANINGFUL: If I give a crap about it, chances are it's gonna get done.
ACTION-ORIENTED: Things only happen when I put them in action. So enough talking - more DOING!
REALISTIC: I'm not going to be King of the World (Master of Geekery is quite enough, thank you), but I know that a certain level of greatness is attainable. Why not reach for it?
TIME-BOUND: With a deadline looming, there's always something to word towards. It's one of my favourite motivators!

Some of my S.M.A.R.T goals for 2011 include:

Orange Luma inspired by
Super Mario Galaxy
by nerd JERK - $46 USD

- Reach 50 items or more listed in my Etsy Shop by the end of January 2011

You guys may not know this, but I have a TON of new amazing products that I've been selling out at craft shows in San Francisco since the end of June 2010. Yeah -- I know -- why haven't I posted it yet? Well, cos it didn't make it past the craft shows! And I had to keep remaking everything... for another craft show... and remake to photograph for Etsy... until the next craft show showed up. So THIS TIME, I'm gonna photograph these suckers FOR REAL! And you're gonna get to see them and swoon... like I do when I make them!

- At least 3 regularly scheduled blog posts a week by March 2011

Another tidbit of knowledge that's only been floating around in my atmosphere is that I have 5 freakin' topics for 5 days of the week that I wanna post... all the time!!! And I've been trying to be better about lining up interviews, giveaways, Etsy Seller tips, Geek Chic Guides and New Stuff Sneak Peeks that I haven't actually gotten around to posting them as much as I'd like. While I may not get all 5 for everyday of the week, I can start with 3 regular posts. And have YOU hold me accountable!

HELLO Convo Calculator
iPhone & Gadget Case
My Tutorial on CRAFTzine.com

- Work towards more reader-based feedback on the blog - 2 to 6 comments per blog post by June 2011

I hope that you all know that I love hearing what you have to say. And I also hope that you know that what you say actually affects what gets posted here. It would be my dream that I could have guest posts and relevant advertising , etc on nerd JERK: Inspire Your Inner Geek, cos guess what? There aren't enough geek blogs representing out there. But it all comes from you. For example, I'd like to start doing more simple Tutorials & Recommended Reads, but I don't know how people are gonna react. Tell me what you want and I'll try to make it happen!

- Make between 5-10 items per week for my inventory for crafts shows 4 to 10 months in advance!

If you were my close and personal friend this past year, you saw how nutty and sleep-deprived I gradually became. I started throwing old fun exercising habits to the wayside and gave into a lot of caffeine and late-night fast food runs (doesn't help there's a 24-hr McDonald's around the corner from my house!). But one can let oneself go in more ways than just weight & health... like sanity. When all you have is 2 weeks before your biggest show yet during the holiday season and your average amount of hours of sleep per week is around 10... total!? You've got issues. Now that's it the slow season, I'll take my time to bulk up on the rad items without killing my wrists (cos I make everything myself) and without as much caffeine. And, hopefully, I'll be able to post more Sneak Peaks at my studio as well!

In keep with some of my goals, I want to let you know that I'll be featuring an Awesome Artist Feature of Amy Ng from Social Squitten and learning about the wonder world of thrifting in the City, living in SF and making the raddest scarves on the planet by hand. Make sure to stay tuned for that on Monday morning. :)

And it'd be great to hear from you: What are some of your goals this year? What kind of dreams will you dare to make come true?

Geek Chic Guide - "Nerd is the Word"

Just saw that I was in this awesome treasury, and I believe (but I could be wrong here) that it was titled based on my item!

HOORAY!

Check out these rad finds curated by wereaboutvintage!

'NERD is the WORD !' by wereaboutvintage

I'M A MAN adult siz... TheMonkeyCanno... $19.00	HOLIDAY SALE - nerd is ... NerdJerk $12.80	Vintage navy blue Conve... dahlilafound $44.00
Pi is Infinitely Tasty ... franticmeerkat $3.50	NERD Mug (IN STOCK) Sc... mudpie2 $	Nerd Glasses Mens or Wo... naomicayne $19.00
GEEK recycled-wood sign WilliamDohman $	Vintage Shuron Woodgrai... LUXoutlet $	12- Things On Sticks Joosycardco $15.00
Windows Blue Screen of ... BareTree $16.50	Under the Microscope. S... toybreaker $30.00	Digital Print of illust... momoma $7.00
Vintage GRANDPA style k... BetaPorHomme $42.00	NERD Bowtie and Glasses... theboldbanana $12.00	Four Letter Pillows - C... shopdirtsa $65.00

Generated using Treasury HTML code generator by Whale Shark Websites.

Re-Tooling the Site

Yes, it's that time again...

I've got to re-tool the Etsy Shop so that it reflects more of my awesomeness rather than everyone else's fuzzy feelings that are had from Nintendo inspired geekery.

Which is too bad, since I'm a big fan of making things like that.

The new banner up top shows just one part of the new look. I'll finally be making those rad geeky calculator holders for gadgets (I put my new fancy camera in the BOOBS one, spelled 80085). The two prototypes that I had made look something like this:



Classy, right?

Well, I've thought of a new one: The Calculator from HELL! And it'll have flames on it. Which is relatively rad.

I know there are a ton of people that do gadget pouches, but I'm pretty stoked on my designs since they use rad buttons for the buttons on the calculators.

Also, I'm going to finally make the typewriter Post-It holders. :D They'll come in about 4 colours. They'll also have buttons for keys and come with a Post-It pad to start ya off right!

The new Nerdity Notebook designs are taking a little longer to come up with that I could like. I'd ended up finishing "Spike" the Punk Cactus with a Mohawk (or as I like to call him: "Mohawktus") and Indie Kitty is pretty much finished.

Spike/Mohawktus is going to be screen printed onto pretty awesomely soft shirts with a raging neon pink mohawk. We're hoping to sell a lot of the new items with custom designs this way. :D

If you missed them on our Facebook, then you can catch the concept design sketches right here:




So, as you can see, I've got a lot going on. :D Whew!

Plus, my boyfriend, Roger and I are about to take a trip up to Portland, OR for my birthday on Thursday! Right now we're planning what we're going to do for Friday, Saturday & Sunday... It'll be my first real vacation in a while to my favourite place in the whole wide world! Would love to hear some ideas from people that know the area.

We joked about gettin' married at the famous VooDoo Doughnut cos, yeah, you can really, really do that, but since he nevered proposed with a Cracker Jack ring, it might be jumpin' the gun a little bit. ;)

Plus, sugar has been making me feel MIGHTY weird lately (as in my vision goes out of whack and everything gets ultra lucid) so I think I'm going to only have ONE doughnut... and that's the one I wanna marry... The "Memphis Mafia"..! It combines the ultimate tastiness trifecta: bananas, chocolate & peanut butter! UBER BONUS: It's in fritter form!

Probably contains the amount of calories that would be used to power a street lamp for 3 days but *shrugs* I don't get to eat those but once a year and I'm sharing the one I get...

...maybe.

*narrows eyes*

Would you share a banana fritter (think apple, but replace it with potassium-laden goodness) with cinnamon baked in, topped with peanuts & chocolate chips and striped with a dash of peanut butter & fudge glaze?

Only if you were sane.

Well, here's to hoping lots of working out gets done, lots of blog posts get finished and tons of items get posted before I leave on the 20th!

Rock on!