Day 19: Decorating my Creative Space with Inspirational Reminders

I thrive in space filled with organized chaos - it's the only way I can feel comfortable creating new awesomeness.

In the back room of a thrift store almost a year ago, I found a sewing machine. It was mint and cream colored and the wood was light and scratched up. Some drawers opened and were filled with even more treasures. Other drawers were missing handles; their treasures would be revealed later on.

Like any hipster looking to furnish their new space, I ran to it, claimed it by leaning on it (after taking pictures of course) and excitedly texted Roger. He needed to come now - I'd found the most perfect desk in the universe and it had to be mine this second. Nay - 30 seconds ago! 

I'm sure he rolled his eyes as he drove over to arrange the purchase. 

I was too busy clapping my hands, bouncing up and down, grinning ear to ear... 

you know how I get.

Then it sat in our living room for a year. We tried to make it desk-y, but failed over and over again. Mainly it just collected mail and dust.

Then today I noticed I hadn't done any real work all weekend. I turned to Roger and asked him to clear off my desk.

I got a face that was less than enthusiastic, but he lovingly obliged. 

We put away various pieces of crap from the last year and I got to decorating my creative space.

There's a tiny window I can look out where all I can see are leaves waving in the wind. Seriously - I don't even enjoy nature, but this is bloody gorgeous.

Sunlight through moving leaves with tiny birds flitting in and out of view seems something straight up outta Disney, yo! Nevermind the f*ckin' scampering squirrels! *dies of cute*

Little tokens of inspiration displayed on my window sill:
(right to left)
My lil Clyde, randomly thrifted chipmunk, Apple Hi-Chew from my bishop,
tiny vase with fake sakura blossoms, Ferdy the Felted Fox by Katy Kristin

The window sill proudly displays why I'm even creating. Clyde the Orange PacMan Ghost was one of the first things I've made and will be the first nerd JERK Crochet Pattern I debut in June. I know some of you are pretty excited for this. It's gonna be a minute (probably the end of June), but it's happening, dagnabbit! 

I gave Clyde as a gift to my autobio comic hero, Jeffrey Brown, back in 2009 at a comic convention for his son. I also left him my first comic book, Harry the Hipster Busts a Nut, to check out. I asked him to let me know what he thought of it, mainly because I didn't have much confidence in a comic I'd done in 24 hours. But he was gracious and wrote me a thank you card with a sketch of him and his son playing with my toy, which his son affectionately named "Orange Face." 

As my renewed entrepreneurial hustle is due to my own tiny son, Ellie, I wanted to look at "Orange Face" so he could remind me that when Ellie grows up looking at this in my space, there will be a meaningful story to go along with it.

The thrifted chipmunk is of no consequence. ;D I've just always felt he ought to be on my window sill, begging to go play with those other squirrely mo-fos.

The Hi-Chew is kind of a big deal. For those of you who know-know me, you know I'm LDS. Lately, I haven't been the best representation of a traditional Mormon. In fact, it has been said that I'm a bit of an "Oxy-Momon." I totes own that - I've never been traditional in anything I've done. But I also think that gives me some unique perspective in my beliefs. Something that LDS folks really like to focus on is service to others. My bishop gave me his favourite Hi-Chew to let me know he loves me and believes in me. I was super hungry, but I didn't eat it.

I kept that candy as a reminder that no matter how hard it gets and how much I f*ck up,

I still have someone who loves me.

Ferdy the Felted Fox was made for me as a gift from my good friend, Katy Kristin. I've always admired her art (even before I'd known who she was. She draws all the hand-painted signs back home at the Westlake Trader Joe's) and just worshipped the way she captured cute. So when she made me a bright red fox with a tiny mint collar complete with a teeny jingle bell, I just about bawled my eyes out. 

I have community of lovely supportive humans who want me to succeed.

This book is also for them.

This Book Nook is filled with stuff I love...

My tiny house is basically all cooking stuff and books. Any wall that has space for a shelf is taken up by a shelf & filled to the brim with old friends. Over the last year, I've organized the shelf immediately to my left with my very most favourite books (a separate blog post all on its own), but it seemed only fair to have a reference section on the desk for cool shit I would need to look at over and over.

When I saw Real Artists Have Day Jobs by Sara Benincasa on the shelf at Rediscovered Books (click link for Staff Picks) in Downtown Boise, I just about whizzed myself. 

The struggle of combining the 9-5 with creative business-ing is f*ckin' real, my blog-bros.

While I've only thumbed through and read random snippets, it's hilarious and perfect for my specific set of circumstances. Chin up, mon'amie - we can make things happen slowly, but awesomely. ;)

I already talked about how f*ckin amazeballs Big Magic by Elizabeth Gilbert is in a previous post. I won't prattle on much more - except to say it gets even better and makes me wanna be a better human.

When I was in the middle of a consultation with my new client, Rochelle Cunningham, I was checkin' out her amazing little house. One of the things she had on her desk was "The Writer's Handbook." When I picked up her self-published paperback & started flipping through, I found several quotes that spoke to me. I had no idea it was a book full of daily inspiration for writers of all levels. THAT'S the kind of thing my mom would love... so now I love it.

Here were a few that jumped out to me:

"In writing, you must kill all you darlings." - William Faulkner

"Stories may well be lies, but they are good lies that say true things, and which can sometimes pay rent." - Neil Gaiman

"Writer's block is a fancy term made up by whiners so they have an excuse to drink alcohol." - Steve Martin

AND MY FAVOURITE (not only cos I'm a geek, but cos I'm emo-ish):

"Make it dark, make it grim, make it tough, but then, for the love of God, tell a joke!" - Joss Whedon

Working happily in my cozy corner of cuteness...

Then there's Austin Kleon's Steal Like an Artist (cos what creative human's desk is complete without that?!) and a thesaurus-rex so I don't bore you with the same words over and over.

Yes - I'm aware that thesaurus.com exists. But perhaps you didn't notice the Polaroid camera post-it dispenser? Maybe you're not familiar with my obsession for ancient "tech"... so I'm not gonna judge. But seriously - you started it.

ANYHOOBITY -

I've also got my cute felt coaster from my sister from another mister, Rebecca Saylor, so I don't cause any additional damage to this poor ol' machine's surface and some tiny coloured pencils with trendy AF shades. It's a good time.

As you can see, I'm happy here. Like, SUPER happy in this tiny place. Surrounding myself with meaningful awesomeness actually made me work for the last 3 hours without complaining (which is almost unheard of)! 

More writing, more researching, more exciting/relaxing time ahead!

Love and hugs, home skillets.

- Steph

Not the only JERK in town - Soda Jerk Dillon

Since it was his last shift, I made Dillon sign his comic.
I totally realise this was wholly unnecessary, but he was a good sport about it.

Sometimes (and I hesitate to admit this) it's hard being the only JERK in town. And by that, I mean that humans often refer to me as "nerd JERK" and not my given name.

So what a relief it was when I walked in and saw Dillon at The Ice Cream Bar and someone referred to my new buddy as a "Soda Jerk."

It was obvious I was among friends.

What made it even better is that when Dillon had met on my previous visit to this 1930s style handmade soda & ice cream establishment, I had let him know that I thought this place was so cool that I might wanna do a comic about it.

So with my pen & notebook in hand, I started into The Ice Cream Bar's one year anniversary celebration.

What I didn't know was that it was my new friend's last shift ever. :(

That was until he told me... Good thing I keep my word and thought to bring my comic stuff (and that was just a failing Micron 08 & a shitty Daiso notebook).

Had to fix his name, cos he was tooooo effing nice to correct me on my spelling.

Today my friend Loun and I had "the best damn root beer float in the world" (Dillon's words) and a scoop of PB Rocky Road. I was trying to draw his hat while watching it through the mirrors in the joint when I heard my name. He was calling us over to the bar.

We chatted about it being his last night (I'm not gonna lie - I was pretty brokenhearted about it since he was way cool). I had given him my card last time, and he mentioned that he'd gone onto my website. That was damn cool of him.

He even said he wanted to order my comics and mentioned telling the owner that she ought to commission a comic about their unique shop. I was touched - and truth is, I would do the comic either way, cos the place is rad.

Here's a little more about Dillon:

I was gonna change his name, but hey! It's my mistake, so it stays in its pure form.
All facts were fact-checked by the man in the comic.

We sat at the bar for a while, having our waters refilled and chatting with him between customers. He made some rather interesting drinks with tinctures and extracts - he even tasted them as he was making them, which really impressed me.

As I was inking his bowtie, we geeked out about Mario Kart 64. He even combed his phone's pictures to show us his customised controller. It was such a good time being the gang of nerds in the corner.

I wanted to invite him over to play N64 before he left town, but I ended up rationalizing against it for some reason. I mean, I'd only met him once before and he was taking off. He was probably busy and stuff.

I imagine he was like "Why are you asking me to take this picture?"

Well, I won't say that I'll never go back to The Ice Cream Bar, cos I was there last night and Alex made us a totally legit Pistachio Milkshake of DOOM with Wild Cherry Whipped Cream (YUMMMM!!).

But I will definitely miss Dillon. San Diego, you'd better know what you're in for: a whole lotta deliciousness from this Soda Jerk.

From one JERK to another:
Dillon - you had better send me your address. I owe you some comics. And if you're down, Loun and I would love to play some Mario Kart with you when you visit SF.

Question about Revisiting Comics - APE 11

Some things heal with time.
From ...You Don't Have To Be a Dreamboat
An unfinished comic about a guy I knew

Yesterday I got a letter in the mail from Justin Dutta of Comic-Con International, letting me know that THEY know "that [APE 11] is very important to [me & my] company."

And, dudes, don't get me wrong, I'm stoked!! I had given up hope on participating in Alternative Press Expo this year as an exhibitor, as so many of my friends had already been given word of getting in such a long time ago. But I'm still kind of dumb-struck again this year...

Have I drawn anything new? NOPE! Have I done ANYTHING remotely comic-y? Nuh-uh. I've been getting by on the two 24-HR Comics I've done. And I haven't even put the new one for sale yet... a year later. :( I'm gonna just take a chance and call that a COMIC FAIL.

So that had me thinkin' about the body of work I've already got from 2008...

Elevator Boogie in an Art Store
From ...You Don't Have To Be a Dreamboat

It's called "...You Don't Have to be a Dreamboat" and is based on a dating experience I had that year with a foxy hipster. Yeah - we've all been there... right?

Anyway, I drew "..Dreamboat" kind of like a diary: it helped me cope with my excitement, lows and uncertainty surrounding this affair. While it's 3 years later and I feel very happily "married" (seriously, the only thing missing is a certificate), I'm wondering if I could get the story right in time for APE 11.

I thought redrawing the whole thing would be best, as I drew this comic a) on the bus, b) in miniature (like Jeffrey Brown) and c) as a beginner in comics. As time went on and I drew more panels per day, I progressed in my style. My current drawing style is a bit awesomer than all this.

What do you all think? If I re-draw it, I might be able to get 24 pages done by the end of September. If I don't, would it be acceptable to print a rough draft?

          What would YOU do?

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. :)

It's Finally Happening - About Upcoming Craft Shows

When one first starts a business, one often dreams of they day that the business takes off. It's scary, thrilling & impressive all at once.

When I started Nerd Jerk, I started referring to myself as a founder of a small business right away. Well, it started out as "Master of Geekery" but, hey, fake it til you make it, right?

Well, today was the day when I got back to congratulatory letters of acceptance to two of the three artist shows I've applied to.

EEP!

In a lot of the small business owner or craft business owner books that I've read so far, they prepare you for craft fairs & shows. I must admit that I've read the "What Happens When They Don't Pick Me" part a little more thoroughly than most "Masters of Geekery" since I wasn't sure how much of a market there was for my products.

I mean... I've got a LOT of products that I'm working on. It's scary to think of how many irons I have in various fires, really. But, as it turns out, there is a market for my products & there is a demand for quality crafts from people who have a passion for producing them!

Yay, Nerd Jerk! :D

The first artist fair that I'll be participating at as Nerd Jerk is Market SF. They're a new weekly market place for local artists to find patrons in the Mission, truly embodying the whole "Support Local Artists" spirit. I was approached by Christina from FinchDesignsSF as a potential vendor for Market SF. The first show is June 19th & since I'm currently working on a custom order, I couldn't realistically have enough inventory ready in time to make that deadline. But I'm going to be selling at the second show on June 26th at the Blue Macaw bar located at 2565 Mission Street (between 21st & 22nd) in San Francisco! If you're local & can make it, the show will be from 12 noon until 6 PM. It's an intimate venue with a DJ & drinks, guys. San Francisco weather has always been unusually kind to the Mission (especially in the summer), so please come down!


Also just in, I got a full table at SF Zinefest for Nerd Jerk & friends, so I'm pretty stoked about that. Jesse Reklaw of "Slow Wave" fame (and also recently one of my new personal heroes) is going to be the big baller artist there, so I'm pretty excited. He remembered me at Indy Euphoria 2010 in Sacramento in January from when I'd met him back at APE 09, so that's was pretty awesome. I owe him & his partner, Andrice Arp, some gifts from Nerd Jerk, so I'd better get on that before the show on September 4-5! :) I missed my last two deadlines of Christmas 09 & Groundhog's Day 2010.

Meh.

Anyway, it's all pretty exciting & exhausting thinking about it, but I'm hoping that I get a chance to REALLY work on my products & my brand and show just how bitchin' I can be.

Right after I finish this Cuddly Pyro from TF2, though. :) (I'll update pictures on this soon)

Doodles

I've been carrying around a little notebook to sketch out ideas for a while now and the only time I ever put pen or pencil to paper is when I'm bored at a restaurant! My boyfriend has a phone with which to search the internets & I got stuck with a "Note To Self" booklet that I draw in.

Well, at least it helps me try and come up with new design ideas.


One of the reasons I haven't finished the Nerdity Notebooks is because I couldn't figure out how to decently draw a Rockabilly Raccoon! It all sounds swell & dandy until you have a pencil handy!
(...balls)


And Pirate Turtle sounds sooooo much more awesome when you're got trying to do them in Ninja Turtle Style... but, you know.. like a PIRATE! hehe The original idea was to think of something rad & do the opposite. When I actually had the chance to make something, I got overwhelmed with all the possible ways I could frak it up.


This was my initial submission idea for the June issue of PAPERLINKS.oRG but since I couldn't figure out whether or not it was going to look right... and the fact that Urbandictionary.com told me what "junebuggin'" really was, I just never finished it. Plus, later on, my boyfriend pointed out that this was more like jitterbuggin'...


I was attempting to work out how to draw a cute vampire drinking from a juicebox (filled with blood) when I just couldn't get his look down. Instead, I started drawing aliens. And since they would do their best to blend in, my guess was that aliens would wanna look like they just stepped out of Urban Outfitters. Luckily, the clothes would all fit.


Drew a few more attempts at the Nerdtastic Flamingo today and when I failed, I ended up doing the next one on the list: Hipster Owl. But when Roger pointed out that hipsters are vegans, he added that it would be nice to show his support of the lifestyle by walking a mouse.
I spent a lot of time on that plaid. ;)

Good times.

Motivated Schmotivated

Gee - Remember all that talk about getting off my butt to get things done since the only way to show things can get done is by doing it?

Hehe

Well, instead of doin' a ton of blog posts that not only sounded motivational, but rather interesting reads, I ended up spending time with my awesome sister and her boyfriend in San Francisco last week.

When I had to go and sit down to do some blog posts that I'd been thinkin' about doing all week, my face looked something like this:



Incredibly attractive... I know.

But on the plus side, my sister & I had a lot of bonding experiences.

Yesterday, I ended up doing a ton of gardening and felt rather accomplished. SO much so that I thought I outta conquer that whole "How I End Up Makin' a Comic in a Couple of Days" post. Although I'd had a feeling that it would be relatively EPIC, I had no idea how many freakin' references and back story there were in making a 10 panel comic.

And that got me to thinkin'... How much of that story do you guys really wanna know ANYways?

With having rocked the garden pretty hard and forgetting to eat while asking my boyfriend to get back on task (was supposed to be workin' on his work bench for his screen printing business instead of cleaning 3 year-old paintball splatter that'd decorated our garage door), I felt like I might accomplish almost anything. And then I tried tackling the beast-of-a-post for 1.5 hours.

Things That I've Learned From This Experience or MOTIVATION 101:

- Eat something before takin' on big projects. Your friends will thank you.

- Make a list of what needs to get done. This is like a shopping list, just more prioritized. You can even make sub-bullets of awesomeness needing to be addressed so that you don't forget why these things were important.

- Set time goals. Preferably used for the highest priority items so that no matter what, you have addressed them. An example of this was transplanting the plants between 3 PM and 8 PM in order to still have enough daylight to do so.

- Have a Plan B, C & D for next time. It's not always going to happen the way you'd like it to. Having a plan for getting it done no matter what is what'll help get you through.

Lather, rinse & repeat this process.

Simple, yet effective, folks. Having lists = achieving boy scout-esque preparedness status. Feeling like you're prepared can also help you stay on task.

Today my list looks like this:



And since I'm almost done blogging, I think I've got a pretty good chance of getting the rest of it done.

Holler.