Thanksgiving got Rick Roll'd

 

This is a cool video about some of the craft projects at Maker Faire.  These were mostly from teh demonstration section of the fair, which, unfortunately, I didn't get to see much of.  If you watch cloesely, though, they have a shot of our button board.

We're relaxing a bit before Jingle Bash.  Well, that isn't entirely true.  We're both working hard on other things (work, school, family...).  We hope everyone will come out to the Sons of Herman Hall on November 22 to check out the Jingle Bash, it is going to be realy fun.

Maker Faire

Maker Faire 001
Originally uploaded by mycatisfat

Hello everyone, long time no see. We're back from Maker Faire Austin and we had a blast. There was tons to see and do. Maybe next year we'll get out away from the booth more and participate in some of the activities.  You can see my photos of the event here in my flickr pool.

We're listing a lot of new items in the Nerdbomber Etsy shop. Most of what we're listing currently are Book purses and cards. We hope to list more cell phone charms and small zipper pouches, too.

Our next show is the Etsy Dallas Jingle Bash on November 22. This is at the Sons of Herman Hall from 3-10 pm. Buying handmade for the hollidays is the cool thing to do. You want to be cool, don't you?

400 Sales?

We had a small spurt of sales this weekend, making 399 total sales.  Does anyone want to push us up to 400 sales?  If someone reads this blog, makes a purchase and puts,"Nerds Rule!" in the message to sellers, I'll send you a special "400th Sale Spectacular Surprise."  

Ok, so the rules again are:

1. Read this blog. (check!)

2. Purchase the 400th item from our Nerdbomber Etsy store.

3. Write "Nerds Rule!" in the message to sellers.

4. Win!

Nerd Girl

Nerd Girl
Originally uploaded by Little Li

Ok, so it's not really a clear picture, more of a tease. Lisa ordered our vinyl banner and for some reason this makes me feel like we're official. We've got signage! This banner will be gracing our booth at the Bazaar Bizarre in the Austin Maker's Faire. The event is going to be tons of fun, anyone in and around Austin should go.

I've been very busy keeping up with school, so it's been hard to post updates on the blog. I know, it's been a month! If I had updated, it would have been, "Read a bunch of stuff for school. Didn't sew a darn thing."

This weekend I did carve out time to finish up some last minute items (apathy bird pouches and book clutches). They should be done on the weekend then I can get back to reading for school before NEXT weekend.

People who know me know that I'm a worrier. I've been pretty nervous about the BB. We've done shows before, but this will be by far the biggest. Are we bringing enough product? Enough business cards? Are our prices reasonable? What if the weekend is a bust?

The only thing I can really do is my best and learn from this experience. Thankfully, Lisa doesn't get worked up like I do. She'll keep me grounded. We're a wonderful nerdy team. See you at the Bazaar Bizarre!

The Shops @ Funky Finds

You may have heard of the blog Funky Finds, which features tons of crafters from around the world.  They also have fun contests and giveaways.  A companion site to Funky Finds is Funky Town where members can post crafty events going on in their area.  The newest addition to the Funky family is The Shops at Funky Finds.  This is an online venue for crafters to sell their items and for lucky patrons to buy them.

We opened up a shop after speaking with Jessica and Joe at the Show Pony Show last month.  The seller accounts for Shops at Funky Finds are set up on a monthly basis where you get a set number of categories and listings.  As long as you pay the monthly subscription, listings are indefinite, sweet!  As far as ease of buying is concerned, the site works seamlessly with Paypal with the standard cart system.

One interesting thing about searching the site is that if you search by category it will return shops with items in that category, not individual items.  This could be good in getting people to view your whole shop, but does add extra mouse clicking for us lazy types.   The individual shop main page does not show items for sale, but is more like a profile page.  You have to click on the "shop items" button to see what they have to sell.  However, there are ads on the sidebar where shops and items are featured.  When those are clicked on you are taken directly to the shops inventory page.  It's an extra page to click through to get to the products, but it's not overly frustrating. 

What really sold me on The Shops at Funky Finds as a seller, though, is the amazing level of customer service.  I was having trouble uploading my photos and Joe called to help work out the problem.  We got it fixed and it was a fairly simple issue, but he really took the extra step to make sure that I was happy.  It is easy to see that Jessica and Joe want their sites to be useful, fun and functional.  If you haven't already checked out the Funky Finds sites, you should do so now.  They have a lot to offer and it looks like they're only going to get better.

New Cell Phone Charms

New Cell Phone Charms
Originally uploaded by mycatisfat

Lisa made these really cool cell phone charms recently. I'll be listing them soon in the shop for your purchasing pleasure. Hopefully she'll make more because these are awesome.

I'm listing several vintage items I'd been holding on to. I finally decided to list them and give someone else a chance to enjoy them. I'm very picky about the vintage I buy and sell. I don't purchase flawed or damaged goods, so you can be sure you're getting quality vintage from my shop.

School recently started for me, so I'm working to strike a balance between that and nerdbomber. I will do my best to keep up with listing and making new things.

We're also getting our shop over at Funkyshops worked out. I'm having a hard time with the picture uploads, but that's probably due to my own ineptitude. I will let you know as soon as we have more fully listed there.

Vendor List for the Bazaar Bizarre

The vendor list for the Bazaar Bizarre Austin came out today. The list is impressive, with nearly 60 high quality crafters and artists from all over the country. We are highly honored to be included in this list and are looking forward to seeing all the vendors in person.

I'll be adding new items to the shop soon. Look for a new design that I'm really excited about. We have a lot of new products in the works. I'll be making larger bags and some zipper pouches, too. Lisa will be working on more screened designs and cell phone charms, zipper pulls and button accessories.

We've got a lot going on; the hardest part is keeping up with ourselves.

Buttons!

Buttons!
Originally uploaded by Little Li

Ok, so I've recovered form the Show Pony Show. It was a well organized and fun event and everyone had a great time.

We're still working out our display and we did several things differently. The biggest thing would be the button board. We needed a better way to display the buttons so people could choose what they wanted. This set up worked out well. We're still workong on making it look more professional.

Soon I will begin adding more items to the shop, so check back later today and tomorrow. In addition to that, we just opened a shop at Funky Finds. I will add new product there soon as well. Click on the link on the sidebar to the right to see the shop.

Show Pony Show!

Ok people, it's coming up quickly. The Show Pony Show it THIS Sunday, August 17th. Mark your calendars and clear your schedule if you haven't already. This is going to be a fun event with something for everyone. Crafts, dancing, music, food, and a PONY. They don't call it the Show Pony Show for nothing.

I've had the pleasure of meeting many of the artists and crafters who will be there and not only is their work amazing, but they are friendly and charming people as well. Everyone believes in the handmade movement and the special qualities of lovingly handmade items.

In addition to supporting local artisans, there will be a raffle for items donated by the vendor. The proceeds from this raffle will go to support La Reunion, a local non-profit organization that supports Dallas artists. More information can be found on their website http://www.lareuniontx.org/ .

Don't miss out on the first ever Show Pony Show. With your support, this event can continue year after year. The Dallas Craft Mafia has worked very hard to make this show a success, but we need people to come out. More information about the time and location can be found in the flier posted or on the Show Pony Show website.

sugarcookie.etsy.com

sugarcookie.etsy.com
Originally uploaded by mycatisfat

I like buying zines and comics from etsy sellers because they are usually affordable and extremely clever. Missy from sugarcookie.etsy.com exceeded my expectations on all counts with the four books I purchased from her.

The titles I got were "Cloud Picnic," "Super Paws," "A Ape," and "Kneehigh: Cats I Know." All four are charming, amusing and appropriate for people of any age. This is what most impressed me about her work. It is suitable for children but she didn't write these with children in mind. So often it seems that children's books end up pandering and talking down to their audience. Not so with Missy's work.

"A Ape" in particular captured the attention of my son because of the a/an article confusion. I won't spoil it for you, but it can easily be used as a learning tool for early readers.

"Cloud Picnic" could also be used to help early readers because it has no words. Children can exercise their imaginations and create a story to accompany the illustrations.

"Super Paws" and "Cats I Know" may be more interesting to cat owners because their stories are so true. People who know and love cats will recognize the characters and actions in the stories.

I recommend Missy's work to anyone and everyone. I know I will be back for more.

Friday updates

I've been working on new things for another venues here locally. My mother in law is a fantastic quilter and sewer and has a booth in a downtown McKinney antiques mall. Thsi is a new venture for her and she invited me to contribute some small bags and pouches to her booth. I'll post photos of the whole thing once it's all set up.

I also need to get into gear and keep making things for the upcoming Show Pony Show. The vendor list is up and it is a wide range of top quality crafters. I had the pleasure of talking to Tara last weekend and she is working hard to make sure this is an awesome event.

I'm Baaaaack

I just returned yesterday from my trip to Oxford, Mississippi for the Faulkner Conference. It was absolutely nerd-tastic. It was infinitely more amazing than I expected and I'm more than a little sad to be back here in Dallas.

If you are also stuck in Dallas, you can come see us at the Show Pony Show in Deel Ellum. We'll have new items as well as some of the old favorites. So you should come check it out, it'll be really fun for everyone.

Line Jumper?

Ok, this is a bit off topic for the blog, but I'm interested in people's opinions. Jer and I just went to see "The Dark Knight" (it's great, you should see it) and our theater has the ticket window outside the building. I bought our tickets before hand, but had to pick them up at the window.

There is one of those rope maze thingies outside the ticket window and if no one is in line, we normally bypass the maze and go straight to the window. Today as we approached there was a woman with about four kids winding through the maze. They weren't to the front when the teller called for the next person, so I went and handed her my card to get the tickets.

Mom didn't like this and she started griping to me about cutting in line. I asked her what she wanted me to do, quit what I was doing so she could go? She said yeah, I should go to the back of the line. As the teller handed me the tickets I said they were prepaid and she didn't lose her spot then we walked off. It took about 30 seconds for the whole incident.

Jeremy thought the whole thing was funny. I don't think I was in the wrong, but only because I was just picking up tickets. So is there a difference? Here's the sticky part, if we had been purchasing tickets, I would have done the maze thing. Is this a grey area, or is line cutting line cutting no matter what the circumstance.

Oh, and this is just another instance where Jeremy and I are out and some woman comes up and starts yelling at me. Jeremy never jumps in; he says I can handle myself. Don't ask about the Wal-Mart parking lot.

(Jer just asked me if I wanted any watermelon. I said yes and he handed me HIS bowl. Is that wrong? Offer me some, but not my own, just a bite or two of his? guh.)

No posts in a while

apathy bird 021
Originally uploaded by mycatisfat

So I haven't posted in a while, but I have a good reason. I've been darn busy!

There has been a lot of sewing going on over here. I made lots of these Apathy Bird pouches, so there should be plenty for everyone. I also upgraded some pouches that I'd already made. They are being listed now, too.

I've also been taking care of family things and preparing for a trip this week. I'll be gone most of next week, so any orders placed after thisThursday will be mailed next Friday.

We applied to the Show Pony Show that will be going down next month. We'll know in a could of days if we were accepted. I'll make another post about it then.

OMG OMG OMG

We already love LOL cats and icanhascheezburger.com, in fact I often give LOL cat images in my feedback on Etsy. But now my love ahs been firmly solidified because Sonya from icanhascheezburger featured our Apathy Bird pouch in her Storque article. Would it be ironic if I said that I was really excited about this?

Happy Etsyversary!

I had no idea it was Nerdbomber's three year Etsyversary until the lovely muchachaK convo'd me to say congrats. That just goes to show how well I keep track of dates.

It's been a good three years on Etsy. If there is one thing I've learned, it's that you get out of it what you put into it. The times when I was less diligent in making new things and listing, sales and visibility went down. When I'm very active on the site, sales go up. It is my goal to keep Nerdbomber active and visible not only on Etsy, but in other venues as well. We're slowly but surely branching out.

There have been many changes to Etsy and to Nerdbomber in the past three years. Everyone is progressing and we're all looking forward to three more productive years selling our fine wares. Now go buy something and help me celebrate!

Things have slowed down just a bit for me. I've been working on personal projects, giving lessons and nursing an overworked right arm.

I am continuing to list new items from my stock, so please keep checking nerdbomber.etsy.com. I have several patterns worked up for new bags, bu tI won't be able to complete them until my arm is recovered.

Until hten, you may also want to see the latest shop I'm drooling over: magicbeanbuyer. Her little Plinis are tres adorable. I wants them. I wants them all.

New Nerdy Newness

The newest items in the Nerdbomber shop are these really cool market tote bags. I made them from the Charlie pattern over at Burdastyle.com. Burdastyle is cool because the patterns are open source and they allow you to sell what you make. There is also a cool community willing to offer advice and comment on user creations. Burdastyle also shares a building with Etsy and they collaborate on a variety of projects including this video where they make *gasp* the Charlie bag. I plan to make several of these in various styles. I like the banana one and am anxious to see how it goes over.

I also have several of my own patterns in the works. It is illegal to use commercial patterns (Simplicity, McCall's, Amy Butler, etc.) for resale purposes, so it is important to know that all the items we sell on Nerdbomber are our own creations unless otherwise stated. For example, I clearly note that the Charlie bags are from the burdastyle pattern. All the other bags on our site are my own patterns. Isn't that special?

Anyhoo. Look for new things. Look for old things. Just come and look. Then buy something. You'll love it. I promise.

Iron Man FTW

Ok, so it's taken me a while but I've been busy. Last week my family saw Iron Man as a reward for my son's kindergarten graduation. I've got no frame of reference for Iron Man, no cute back story about my dad and after school cartoons, so I went in not sure what to expect. In fact, I thought Iron Man was one of the X-Men, and was wondering why he got his own movie. I'd heard that it was TEH BEST SUPERHERO MOVIE EVAR OMG!!!11!! but that's what people had said about nearly every superhero movie in the past eight years, so I didn't pay it much heed.



Let me say first that the most striking thing about this movie is how realistic the special effects are. Things that we know are impossible are within the realm of suspension of disbelief because they LOOK so real. Which brings me to another point, the violence is also very realistic (barring the last robotic suit battle which came off as pretty corny). That issue disturbed me because people were getting mowed down by machine guns and my son was laughing like something funny happened. This says more about the nature of violence as entertainment in America than the quality of the movie.



I'm a big proponent of taking a movie as it is and so it won't come as a big surprise that this won't be getting any screenwriting awards. The dialogue is predictable and suitably lame (especially during the big final battle which as you may have guessed I found disappointing). At one point I could swear I heard the baddie say "Ice try." This could be a mistake on my part, though.



Robert Downey Jr. Does an amazing job playing Tony Stark. He revels in playing the philandering Stark and pulls of the lovable jerk flawlessly. Even his revelation and turn of heart seem genuine in a movie where so many other things are just plain silly. The change comes when he realizes that his weapons have been confiscated by nefarious characters and are being used to evil ends. He decides, after some prompting by a throwaway character, to redeem himself and rectify the situation post haste. This scenario would be a groaner if not for the near perfect blend of cockiness, naivete and genius Downey gives Stark.



It's hard to stand out next to that kind of performance, even in a summer action flick. The other actors did a fair job, but couldn't compare to the obvious glee Downey exhibited in his role. Jeff Bridges was distracting for me personally for two reasons: he just looks like a nice guy and I kept seeing The Dude. Gwenyth Paltrow's character was all right (except for her lame name, but that was established long before the movie) until she has an "ooo shiny!" moment and had to run in stilettos.



It may seem like I'm being hard on this movie, and I'm not trying to be. It was fun, exciting and much better than most of the other super hero movies of the recent past. I suppose the only thing I was left wanting were some surprises. We all know the good guy has to win in the end, but we don't have to follow the same predictable formulas every time to get there. It's worth seeing if you haven't seen it already.

Fontstruct : Totally awesome website of fonty goodness

So, while perusing the web last week I found this lovely website: fontstruct. Skeptical at first, I signed up and started making a blockular font. Cut to: 5 hours later.... Still working on the font... even though it was a really basic font, I couldn't stop putting the blocks together. It's like Legos for adult designers.

This site is amazingly easy to use and perfect for making that 101th pixel font that you REALLY needed. The impressive amount of blocks that you can use makes fontstructing fun to do. Whenever I would be thinking "I need a block shaped like..." and then I would find one. You can do some interesting things with blocks and not even try! The only problem I found is that I wasn't sure about the scaling of the font. Should I make it small, or large? That's just me I suppose. Some people having way too much time on their hands and make full scale blackletter fonts. Which is just amazing and ridiculous at the same time.

Some of my favorite fonts are:
Tight
Teatral
Luchador
Brickd

Awesome. If you are really cool you will go build a font. But you don't have to, I understand. Mine isn't done yet (and is lame) but I will let you know when I make a non-lame font. I will have to think of a way to nerdify my font more-so than it is now.

Oh, That's Right!

I'm self promoting in this post and there's nothing you can do about it. Was that too confrontational? Too bad! Whatcha gonna do? Stop reading? Ok, don't do that. I'll be nice. I love what you're wearing today. Is it new?

I wanted to talk today about some things I have in my shop that, for whatever reason, don't sell well. I'm proud of all the products I make but some of them just don't seem to fly off the theoretical shelves.

Take these for example. I think I've only sold one wrist pouch on Etsy since I started listing (and relisting) them a few years ago. I recently sold several at a craft fair, so I know they don't completely suck. Why don't they sell? Is it my photos? The shape of the bag? They are very functional; I use mine quite a bit. They also look great with 1" pinback buttons on the color field at the top of the pouch.

Another item that just sits and collects digital dust are the crochet flower pins. They're cute and bright and funky. Who doesn't love that? They have really cute buttons in the center, that's a huge selling point. They make a bold statement on a jacket or bag and $6 isn't a huge risk to take on something as awesome as these pins. Maybe I should photograph them ON something.

The last item I wanted to highlight is something else that sold well in person, but hasn't done so great online. The Tshirt Totes are really bold and eye catching, but have flopped on Etsy. I thought people would like them for market bags or everyday totes. They are fully lined and interfaced for extra stability. I also have to comb the stores for just the right shirts to use on these bags. I have to find ones that are funny, bold, and in excellent condition. It isn't easy.

So in this post I've had a few mood swings: from confrontational to nice to whiny. I'm not usually this erratic. Or am I? Any way, if anyone has any ideas why these things aren't flying off the site, let me know. I'm always interested in suggestions.

Speed Racer OMG

My dad grew up in the 60s and was a big Speed Racer fan. He was the youngest of three children who had but one television in the house. In the race for after school television shows, my dad, much like his hero Speed, had to use cunning to make sure he got to watch his favorite cartoon. He set his sister's clock back an hour so she missed the Monkees and he and his brother could watch Speed Racer.

I didn't grow up watching Speed like my dad, but I saw the love he had for the series and enjoyed the few episodes I did see. I am familiar with anime and Speed Racer was really America's first introduction into the genre. The action, drama and plots are over the top, the colors pop and we are taken to a fantastic world that we want to be a part of. A lot of people feel nostalgia for these kinds of beloved shows (evidenced by the popularity of Comic Cons and Cosplay) so contemporary reworkings of favorite characters rarely lives up to standards. For evidence of this in Speed, look no further than the vomit inducing tragedy that is Speed Racer the Next Generation.

So my 6 year old son and I went yesterday to see the new Speed Racer film by the Wachowski brothers and I thought that at least it would be a fun kids film. I'd heard a lot of negative press about the movie, namely that the CG was poor and it was just too much, like a hyperactive kid's sugar rush. The film was completely over the top insane and it was perfect.

You can tell watching this movie that it was made by fans who understood what Speed is all about. They took the heart of the anime and punched it up, taking it to the brink of what film can do. It was like watching a live action comic book. The edits work much like the panels in graphic novels and it takes a moment to get used to how the film tells the story. In the beginning flashbacks are woven into an intense action sequence that the younger members of the audience might not completely get, but it serves to establish an essential drama in the rest of the film. The edits are jarring, but for a reason.

I don't want to get into the plot too much for a couple of reasons: one, fans of the series already know the plot. The Wachowskis were smart enough not to deviate from the original story. Two, it's very simple: Speed has to win the race fair and square. Everything that falls in between are details that are easy to geek out over, but aren't necessarily what makes this a movie to see.

What most impressed me was that it was intense in every respect without being too much. It's weird to talk about restraint in a movie like Speed Racer, but it could have so easily been cheesy. The sweetness wasn't sappy. The sincerity wasn't forced (or insincere). The action was crazy but believable in the world of the movie. The bad guys were bad, but not too goofy. The comedy was slapstick, but not the kind that makes you groan.

One thing I did find distracting: Susan Sarandon's boobs. I had no idea she had such huge knockers. All the clothes they had her in made her boobs look really big and it was hard to look away. Did they do that on purpose? Oh yeah, and one of the bad guys says, "turd" twice, which is my all time most hated word. It hurts me to even type it. Ugh.

This is a movie I will definitely see again in the theater. I don't remember the last time I had so much fun at the movies. If you go in looking for flaws, you can probably find them, but that's true with anything. Go in open to the fun and you won't be disappointed.

Pengcath is watching you pee

One seller whose shop I like to peek in on from time to time is pengcath. Although I haven't actually made a purchase from this shop yet, it's on my list of things to do.

Her shop has lots and lots of really cute illustrations, water colors, cards and stickers. Her work has tons of charm and is executed with a whimsy that isn't sickeningly sweet. Most impressive are the cats. This is a woman who gets cats and it shows in her art. Her work is very expressive and you can see the personality of her subject come through. I can only image the wonderment that would be aroused by actually having a piece of her work.

She's got a wide variety of products to appeal to all sorts. So what are you waiting for? Go check it out. She is found online and in B&M stores all over. For all the information you need to find her work, visit her site at cathypeng.com.

Book Review: The Zombie Survival Guide

I'm not afraid of zombies, but I do have a feeling of high anxiety about them. Anyone who knows me knows that I can't watch zombie films, even during the daytime, without going into a state of paranoia about the iminent zombie uprising.

Part of my anxiety comes from a legitimate (I feel) concern about a fast spreading viral pandemic. I think we kind of tune out just how many people there are in the world milling about to spread diseases around. The zombie craze feeds into this fear of the unstoppable virus that overwhelms vast populations in a short amount of time.

I had been eyeing this book on the store shelves for some time but didn't buy it because I told myself it was silly. But when Lisa gave it to me a few days ago I was actually releived to have it in my hands. At last I would know what to do when Z-day arrives! I knew pretty well what not to do from watching movies. Anything those guys did ended in disaster.

This book really helped dispell those lingering anxieties I'd had about the zombie invasion. Author Max Brooks' treatment of his undead subject is so clinical and matter of fact, you almost forget that the topic is quite grotesque. He demystifies the zombie myth, even going so far as to name the virus which causes zombification. This guy wrote a whole book about zombies and he isn't worried, so why should I be? It's a bit like when you were a kid and were scared of garden snakes until your dad got out the encyclopedia and made you read whole entry on garden snakes. Or maybe that was just my childhood. The point is that once you know all the details, whatever you were scared of isn't so frightening anymore.

Brooks' tips aren't all practical for immediate application, though. I won't be building a ten foot high concrete wall around my yard any time soon. That isn't a huge problem, though, because Brooks offers several options and scenarios for self defense against the living dead. He goes through weaponry, travel, home defense, and many other issues that may arise with the undead.

If you, like me, get uneasy on the topic of zombies and are the type to peek out the window to check for zombies in yard before letting the dogs out at night, then this book may help to relieve some fears. The textbook style of the book may be a turnoff for some readers. The book doesn't revel in its subject, but rather takes a distanced and decidedly unfunny perspective. You may want to flip through it first before making the purchase.

Buttons

Buttons
Originally uploaded by mycatisfat

New things are in the Nerdbomber shop!

Book Clutches and Tshirt totes are being added daily.

I am also adding new zipper pouches, patches, flower pins and buttons!

Coming soon will be cards as I get them photographed.

Welcome to the Nerd Jungle

I was going to do some awesome rehash of Gun 'n' Roses lyrics, but my creativity totally just took a walk. ANYWAY.

Junior Nerd here (or N.I.T.) with a report from NERD HQ... things are looking good. Head Nerd Karen has some most excellent updates in the shop. And there are always more on the way.

We are working on more designs almost daily. I am going to give you a TINY hint... robots. It's a topic we have never dealt with as nerds, but something that is very much near and dear to our hearts.

We also have some awesome new book clutch designs coming soon, and some new and witty pouch designs. Huzzah!

Now I am going to take a brief moment to discuss a shop I just found (like less than a minute ago) but heart FOREVER!

Zygopsyche Oh what glorious mounds of cute fluffy plushness. I have a yearning (and/or burning) desire to swim in a pool filled with the delicious puffballs. With a lot of sales and excellent feedback I know I will be purchasing from this shop soon. Probably a momma sized guinea and a bunch of baby sized ones. My own guinea family. Love!

And now I will leave you with Womby the Sauntering Wombat

*saunter saunter*