I’ve been a very bad blogger lately.

Posted on September 13, 2015
by Beth Lynn

Yes, I know. I fell off the face of the internet again. For a long time, too. A lot of things conspired to tear me away from my beloved blog, leaving The Crafty Nerd looking like a ghost town…

I got a full time job. And it’s the one I’d been hoping for, too. I am now a Senior IT Education Specialist at IT Training! And for the two months that have passed since I started, I’ve been incredibly busy, and loving every minute of it.
Ross and I moved to a new townhouse. In the middle of Gen Con. Which made Gen Con 2015 a bit of a bust, sadly. However, I did get a few good pictures, and plan on hosting my own mini Gen Con at some point soon, now that my games are all unpacked and I’m not tripping all over boxes.
I started my last year of graduate school ever a few weeks ago. It’s been a little rough, socially, because 90% of my graduate school friends graduated this spring, but I can deal with it. I’ve got yarn and motivation. I will power through the next two semesters and emerge victorious.
Crafting itself has kept me away from my blog! Strange, right? Well, I discovered the glory of Knit Picks’ yarn sampler packs earlier this year, and since they came out with Mighty Stitch (a fabulous yarn that deserves a review!) I’ve been cranking out blankets with some of their samplers. Which, of course, leaves less time for blogging.
I’ve also gotten into amateur (ham) radio. It’s an exciting hobby, full of interesting people, and it’s been filling my head with all sorts of project ideas. Like how to mount a radio antenna onto Mia and turn her into a little ham-mobile.

I promise to post more regularly, though, now that things have calmed down somewhat and I’ve adjusted to all the changes to life that July and August threw at me. Expect a post every week from now on!

And I did promise some Gen Con photos, so here they are!

This year’s badge and program book! I think I’ve had smaller textbooks than this year’s program…

My wonderful mom-in-law, Connie, dressed up as Derpy Hooves! I swear, she’s the best mom ever.

My favorite item from this year’s Gen Con haul – a Star Trek TNG science officer sweatshirt! Just need to get a comm badge and it’ll be perfect.

OMG OMG OMG PATRICK ROTHFUSS HUGGED ME AGAIN and tried to eat my brains

And that’s the little slice of Gen Con I got to enjoy! I’ll talk more about games I saw that I want to play in another post. Right now, though, it’s time for me to start crafting some more post ideas!

The Slacker Nerd

Posted on April 9, 2015
by Beth Lynn

I know. It’s been almost a month since I last posted. I swear, I’ve got good reasons for being quiet, though!

Kitties!

Like these girls, Sara (left) and Hannah (right). They’re Steve’s litter mates, and are apparently experiencing selective amnesia and forgetting they’re actually related to the little guy. Steve meows confusedly at them, and they want nothing to do with him right now. Eventually, they’ll all be a happy kitty family again, but for now, there’s a lot of hissing and hiding under couches. (Ross is at home right now, trying to lure Hannah out from under a loveseat at the moment…)

Steve approves of the blanket I’m crocheting.

And there’s been a lot of crafting, too. I keep finding craft projects to keep my hands occupied while I power through Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. I’ve finished a couple of crocheting projects, and I’ve been working on some counted cross-stitch too. My biggest project is one I’m making for my friend Josie, a cross-stitch inspired by the wallpaper in Sherlock’s (of BBC fame) apartment, and it’s coming along really nicely. I think it might be the biggest cross-stitch project I’ve ever worked on – I think it’s going to be roughly 10 by 13 inches when it’s done.

Sketching up stuff for work.

I’ve also been incredibly busy with work, too. I’m about to start writing three workshops and two webinars, and on top of that I’ve been working on blog posts for work as well, and I just got assigned the title of ILS blogger too. All the stuff on my plate, work-wise, is making my head positively spin – but I wouldn’t change it for the world, as I absolutely love both of my jobs.

I’m going to make it a point to post something once a week from here on out. Or prod Ross to fill in for me when I’m super busy. After all, I do love my blog, and my readers, and I want to do my best to keep you all entertained! 🙂

Entering the world of Etsy

Posted on January 5, 2015
by Beth Lynn

I’ve been on such a huge cross-stitching kick lately. I tend to go through crafting phases, where I’ll be incredibly focused on doing one type of craft, and right now, I’m nose deep in DMC thread skeins and Aida cloth.

By alison.anne on Craftster. This is me right now.

I’ve even jumped into the world of making my own cross-stitch patterns. I’ve had some mixed results with that – some images just don’t translate well to a cross-stitch pattern. But some stuff I made has come out really, really well. And I thought to myself, “Why not put these out there for everyone?” Why not, indeed?

So, I resurrected my Etsy shop for the umpty-millionth time.

I’ve sold a wide variety of things in my Etsy shop, under a wide variety of names. It used to be called Bee’s Crafts, then Dreaming Pixels Crafts, and now it’s The Crafty Nerd’s Closet. I’ve sold punch embroidery pillows through there, and plain old boring pillows made with Sailor Moon fabric. I’ve tried to sell Doctor Who scarves out of my shop, with no success. I even tried selling the mess of scarves I’ve made through there – nobody seems to want homemade scarves, however. But I think I’ve stumbled on something people will actually want to buy.

I think.

I’ve currently got a bunch of My Little Pony patterns up, and one lone Sailor Moon pattern. I’ve got some scooters in there, too (I’m pretty sure my followers will recognize Mia and Scooterlou, haha), and a couple of little finished objects too. So far I’ve sold one pattern. I may have very excitedly started creating more patterns once that first one sold – someone actually wanted to make something with my Crescent Moon Wand themed pattern that I put together at 6 am one day before I went to work (and ended up getting in late because I was flailing about, trying to finish the pattern).

One of the awesome things – and potentially bad things – about Etsy: finding more things to make. Sure, you can find all sorts of “vintage” things there, and handmade objects for your every need, but finding patterns, stuff to help you make things yourself, now that is what I’m excited about. I may have found six or seven little cross-stitch patterns that I want to make that are all coffee themed. At this point, I’ll likely end up covering every wall in cross-stitch projects. And I have no problem with that whatsoever.

Oh, Etsy, I get the feeling this is going to turn into something resembling my relationship with Pinterest – I visit you for what I think will be two or three minutes, and then hours later I’ve found nine things I want to do and am still sitting in front of the computer in my Rainbow Dash bathrobe, needing to leave for work in ten minutes, heheh.

Go check out my shop – if you’re a fan of The Crafty Nerd on Facebook, you’ll find a code for 15% off any order. (And if you’re not a fan on Facebook, well, what are you waiting for? 😛 )

I mean, come on, how can you say no to that face?

A crafty, nerdy holiday

Posted on December 28, 2014
by Beth Lynn

Ooooooh, shiny. (And yes, that is a fob, from Teddy Ruxpin way back in the day)

The holidays were definitely crafty and nerdy here! With the slowdown in work, and the complete lack of classes, I’ve been a crafting maniac – not only making cross-stitch objects (which is my crafting focus of choice lately), but also making some patterns, too. Aside from downloading the trial versions of some cross-stitch pattern maker programs and feeding in images I wanted to turn into cross-stitch projects (and receiving some mixed results), I’d never really made actual patterns. So, after taking a suggestion from my friend Kendall, who said I should make a pattern that focused on Sailor Moon’s Crescent Moon Wand, I came up with this!

Please excuse the watermark – it’s the same image I used for my Etsy store listing!

I’m actually working on stitching it now, and it’s coming out pretty well – I’m collecting progress shots as I go, and I’ll share them with everyone once it’s done! It’s actually really exciting, stitching a pattern that I created from scratch. I threw together the original design (initially just the moon wand, the ribbon, and some text) in Illustrator, then when I pulled it into PC Stitch I added the little hearts and sparkles and such to make it look a little more interesting. I’m rather happy with how the finished design turned out, pattern-wise. (Interested in making one of these for yourself? Snag the pattern here!)

I also had a very fun holiday, with some awesome presents from Ross and his mom – I got some Sailor Moon Figuarts figurines, which are awesome, and a Twilight Sparkle decked out in winter wear, as well as some Lil’ Bub socks, among other things. I had a nice, quiet holiday, and it was just what I needed after the craziness of the past few months.

: Twilight Sparkle, ready for some snow!

: Sailor Venus and Sailor Moon really like the Bub socks.

: Season’s Greetings!

: Sailor Venus, looking cheery.

: Some of my friends say this looks like Sailor Moon’s “ooh, shiny” face, heheh.

: Steve does not share my enthusiasm for the holidays.

The Somewhat Depressed Nerd

Posted on November 21, 2014
by Beth Lynn

I’m sure most of you can tell, by the lack of posts over the past month, that all is not well in Crafty Nerd land. I’ve been struggling with a bit of depression lately, brought on by a number of things…

Yeah, this has pretty much been me over the past month.

Seasonal affective disorder tends to kick my butt during fall, as the days get much shorter and the nights get longer. I’ve found a couple ways to fight it (walking when it’s nice out, putting natural light lightbulbs in my office, working on things I enjoy), but it still keeps dragging me down.
Divorce also tends to mess with one’s emotional health… and I am going through one now. It’s rough. Not going to lie.
I’ve been swamped with work, too. There were a few weeks where I’d have three 12-hour days in a row, and I’d just go home and pass out. That’s not much fun at all.

All that combined has been dragging me down quite a bit. I’ve got a few craft projects I’m working on, though, and I have ideas for new blog posts, and it’s turning out that next year’s convention season is going to be absolutely ridiculous – so I have lots to talk about. It’s just getting the words out there that’s the problem lately. I even dropped out of NaNoWriMo this year – and that’s saying something, because I absolutely love NaNoWriMo.

So what am I gonna do about it?

Pinkie Mode ACTIVATE

I’m going to channel my inner Pinkie Pie, as best I can. I’m gonna do the things that make me happy, like coding in XML and crafting and watching My Little Pony. I’m going to ride Scooterlou! YES, the very same Scooterlou I sold to get Mia – you can read the whole story on my other blog. I’m going to decorate my tiny little Christmas tree with lots of little ponies. I’m going to work on my epic costume for next year’s convention season. And I’m going to encourage myself to be happy. [emoji smiling cat face with open mouth]

What I’ve been up to these past few weeks

Posted on September 19, 2014
by Beth Lynn

“Hey, Beth! You seem to have fallen of the face of the Earth entirely! What the heck happened?”

Yes, I’m sure that’s exactly what you’re asking right now. Yes. So I’ll tell you what I’ve been up to, in glorious picture format!

Sleeping kitty = such cute

Taking pictures of sleeping cats! Because kitties are cute, and I now have one living with me. His name is Steve. He likes to watch Battlestar Galactica, enjoys kicking the carpets in the bathroom around, and his favorite pony is Pinkie Pie.

WE ARE IN THE FUTURE

Playing with my new smartwatch. Bryan says it’s a fad, they won’t last, but honestly? I love it. I partially justified the purchase by saying that it’s research for when I re-write an old NaNoWriMo novel for this year’s NaNoWriMo. Since it’s set in the future, I gave the characters wrist communicators, and, well, HERE IT IS ON MY WRIST RIGHT NOW. Granted, it needs a cellphone to work with, but we’re getting closer!

Getting a jump start on Christmas crafting!

Punch embroidering, because I haven’t done it in years. I’m making a couple of Christmas stockings, and then I might see if anyone wants to commission me for anything, because gosh do I enjoy doing this and I forgot how fun it is. Plus, it’s getting harder and harder to find punch embroidery stuff (apparently the place I shop from online is now the ONLY online store selling punch embroidery supplies!), and I may as well do it while I can, right?

I love Digital Libraries.

Doing homework. And yes, my most recent bit of homework involved reviewing an online digital archive of comic book art. Have I mentioned how much I love library and information science? Because I do. I really do. 😀 My next bit of homework, for Representation & Organization, involves writing a script of how a typical grocery shopping trip goes, and then comparing it with the actual process of shopping in order to spark discussion about mental models and how they match up to the actual process or task that one is trying to complete.

On the banks of Racquette River, with its banks of blue, stands our honored Potsdam College, stirring sight to view…

Drinking lots of coffee and feeling rather homesick. This is the time of year I really miss Potsdam – even though the stupid lack of sunlight and the near-constant dreary grayness made my seasonal affective disorder crap way worse than it needed to be… I miss the trees changing color, the nights getting downright chilly, and the hint of winter in the air, even in September…

Yes, this is pretty much a tiny Chun-Li.

Getting minis ready for painting! It’s been entirely too humid out to prime minis, but that doesn’t stop me from scraping off the extra plastic bits and filing the rough spots down so I can prime and paint when the weather is good.

And that’s what I’ve been up to, in illustrated form! Now that I’ve settled in for the semester, posts will occur more regularly, and I do have some exciting things in the works! Have an idea for a topic you want to see on the site? Leave a comment on this post, and chances are, I’ll cover it. 🙂 I’m always looking for new crafty and nerdy things to talk about.

61 Levels Later… (or, eight months with HabitRPG)

Posted on August 7, 2014
by Beth Lynn

Started out as a lowly warrior, back in December…

How many of you remember me posting about HabitRPG, the to-do and habit building site/app that turns your life into an epic adventure where you can earn experience for taking the dog for a walk? Well, if you can’t quite remember it, here’s the post I wrote.

I’ll admit – when I first started using HabitRPG, I was thinking “oh, I know me, I won’t stick around for long. I’ll use it diligently for a few weeks, and then stop.” That’s usually how it goes with me – but not this time. Oh, definitely not this time.

Logging in day after day, checking off my to-do list and daily habits and getting experience for them, well, the novelty did wear off after a little while. But then I went on some quests. I fought Vice and got some pretty impressive goodies such as a staff that makes my awesome Mage just that much awesomer. I conquered The Spirit of Spring, The Hedgebeast, and Octothulu and earned quite an impressive menagerie of pets. And most recently, I banded together with all the citizens of Habitica to fight off the Dread Drag’on of Dilatory. The quests are definitely one of the things that keep me coming back.

And I can play with friends, too. There’s two ways to do this – you can have a party of people you go questing with, or you can create a guild and participate in challenges. Either way is a great way to keep yourself coming back. There were some days where I was feeling lazy, and didn’t really feel like logging in and marking my stuff off as done… but then I’d remember I was part of a quest with my party members, and if I didn’t log in, they’d take damage, and I didn’t want that to happen – which motivated me to get off my butt, get stuff done, and help fight off whatever boss we were tangling with at the moment.

From lowly warrior to epic Mage, with a Mantis Shrimp as my pet!

Now it’s been around eight months since I got an account and started leveling up my little character. And in those eight months, I’ve developed some good habits. No snacking late at night. Walking every day, and taking short walk breaks when I’m in the office all day. Making sure I actually eat breakfast AND lunch each day. Keeping hydrated by making sure I drink enough water. My habits and daily tasks are constantly evolving, too. When the end of August comes and classes start up again, I’ll likely be adding tasks to make sure I get my homework done. And with the new house, there’ll be new chores too (I expect to be vacuuming a lot more often, given I’ll not only have carpeting pretty much everywhere, I’ll also have a cat!), and of course I’ll need to get into the habit of doing them regularly. And I know HabitRPG will help me with that!

So, if you’re already on Habit, look up the guild The Crafty Nerds. It’s the official guild of The Crafty Nerd (you’ll know you’re in the right place if you see Scooterlou as the guild leader, I mean, come on, who else would name their character after their old scooter but me), and I’d be happy to have you there! And if you’re not, why not join up? It’s free, it’s easy to get the hang of, and will definitely help you build some good habits. Plus, the retro art style keeps things fun, and the wide variety of quests to do, pets to collect, and people to meet in the Tavern will keep you coming back.

Why I haven’t been all that crafty this summer

Posted on July 29, 2014
by Beth Lynn

I know, I know – I’ve not only been slacking in the blog department, I’ve also been slacking in the craft department. The last crafty thing I did was make Ross that Rainbow Dash t-shirt back in May. “What’s up with that?” you ask. “I thought this was The Crafty Nerd, not just The Nerd.”

Well, I’ll show you what’s up, my friendly readers.

Can’t exactly craft when all my craft buckets are in the middle of a pile of stuff…

Yep, The Crafty Nerd (and Mister Crafty Nerd, and Ross, and our other housemate Gina, who is also crafty and nerdy) is moving. And because of the joys of moving (packing, filling up a storage unit, and waiting for the new house to be ready), I haven’t had access to my craft supplies since… oh, June? It’s a sad existence. Not to mention pretty much all of my My Little Ponies are in storage as well (see the box under the trash can, at the back of the unit? Yeah, all my Build-a-Bear ponies are in there, as well as some other pony plushies), and my office isn’t very fun without them. Plus, I’ve only had my laptop for computering for most of the summer, and the poor laptop’s decided to give up on its battery, which is frustrating. Grr. My poor NyanMachine – you can see it there, on top of a small dresser, just gathering dust and waiting to be used to craft blog posts.

So, all my crafting has been put on hiatus, aside from one crocheted blanket and the Cupcakes Pinkie Pie cosplay I’ve been stalling on all summer, simply because I lack the motivation to get it done (and every time I think of something I could add to the costume, I realize it’s in storage and let out a sigh).

Post-GenCon, though, I promise there will be loads of crafty stuff. And while you all wait, I can at the very least post some nerdy stuff and share some fun craft tutorials! Until then, be patient – I promise I’ll make it all worth everyone’s while! 🙂

Coming out of nerd hibernation

Posted on April 29, 2014
by Beth Lynn

Yes, I’ve been quiet lately. It’s that time of year – I get swamped with class projects that are due and random work obligations to take care of – but after the end of next week, well, it’s the start of my summer vacation. And we know what that means.

That’s right! SUMMER FUN TIME. And this summer, I’ve got some big plans. Hopefully they’ll result in more posting! Here are my fun summer plans:

I’m going to read as many books as humanly possible. There are so many books I’ve wanted to read over the past year, but have been either so exhausted that I pass right out during prime book-reading time (which is just before bed), or I just simply don’t have the time at all. I want to keep a running tally of what I’ve read, too – and I’ll be doing that on this page.
I have a new costume I’m putting together for GenCon! I unfortunately didn’t get an early enough start on the Toothless costume I was thinking of doing, but I’ve got plans for something else – I’ll be going as Rainbow Dash one day for GenCon! More specifically, I’ll be doing a tamer version of Rainbow Dash from a not-exactly-kid-friendly story involving cupcakes, as well as a much more kid-friendly version of RD as well. Ross, also known as Rainbow Factory Dash, is going to be my partner in crime, and he’ll be debuting as Pinkie Pie. (Not sure if he’s going to be a manly Pinkie Pie or what, though) Actually, Ross and I changed our minds – GenCon will be the last hurrah for Rainbow Factory Dash (albeit an unpleasant one, haha) and I’ll be going as the creepiest Pinkie Pie to ever grace the fandom. I also need to do some tweaking to my Pinkie Pie costume to get it ready for Indy PopCon in a few weeks!
I’m going to finish up all those crafts that are stashed in a corner of my room. Yes, I will finish the new version of the Season 18 Fourth Doctor scarf. And that second Downton Abbey themed shawl. And the scooter counted-cross stitch pattern I’m gonna turn into a pillow.
I’m going to spend some time working in Codecademy with some of my Information & Library Science buddies! My plans: finish the PHP curriculum, maybe learn some Ruby, and refresh my Python knowledge.

Yeah, it sounds like I’m going to have a busy summer – all that plus two conventions, plus who knows what else – but it all means I’ll hopefully have all sorts of fun stuff to talk about on the blog! I’ve missed posting, and I hope you guys are ready for all the cool stuff this summer will bring! 😀

Grad school, blogging, nerdiness, and other things

Posted on January 22, 2014
by Beth Lynn

One of the classes I’m taking this spring, Digital Humanities, has a blog posting component. Which I’m really excited about. As I’m learning while doing readings for my Digital Humanities class, blogging is a really big part of the field. A lot of information gets shared through blogs, and it’s really interesting to learn about. Not only that, but digital humanities in general. It’s got my inner art history nerd peeping out again to see what sorts of projects I could work on that tie Art History into Digital Humanities… so many things to learn this semester!

I’m also taking Gender and Computerization, which so far has proven to be an eye-opening look at how gender plays into various parts of the computing/technology field. Some of the topics discussed in the class so far have given me even more ideas for research projects. Might even talk about them here, although they’re so very nerdy and not exactly crafty. Who cares? Someone out there may find my ideas/realizations interesting! Plus, research!

Oh, and I get to make a website for Information Architecture for the web. Which is always fun.

Speaking of fun! I installed Ubuntu on my laptop last night! It’s my first experience with Linux. I’m enjoying it so far. I’ve got a bit of experience with Unix from my studies in ILS, using it when doing programming in Python and Perl, stuff like that, but this is the first time I’ve jumped in completely and devoted an entire machine to a Linux based OS. I actually enjoy the fact that sometimes it takes a little bit of tinkering to get stuff to work.

I might make some more grad-school-oriented posts this semester, not sure. I mean, most of the stuff I do in grad school is considered pretty nerdy, and I love sharing the things I learn with others, maybe getting people to discuss things on the blog…

Oh. Unrelated to anything except my previous post: I saved a pony from certain death last week. The weather here has been exceptionally chilly lately, though, so I’m going to have to get creative if I want to hit my step goal this week and save another pony. But if I do hit my goal… I GET SOCKS.

And yes, I really am excited about socks. I mean, come on, socks are awesome. Especially fun socks, like the robot-cupcake-unicorn socks I’m wearing right now. 😀

Alright, enough of my disjointed rambling. I’ll hopefully have a more well-formed blog post for everyone next week.