Headed to GenCon 2013!

Posted on August 14, 2013
by Beth Lynn

You guys, I am so incredibly excited.

You want to know why?

This is my FIRST convention that I’ve attended as an actual, legitimate blogger. Sure, I don’t have press passes or anything, but still. I’ll be taking lots of pictures for a purpose! 😀

Instead of just dashing around to take pictures with all the ponies I can find, like last year.

So, yes, The Crafty Nerd is going to GenCon 2013! This is not my first convention – and definitely not my last. I’m coming super-prepared this year, with three costumes, and I’ve even got a hotel room close to the Indianapolis Convention Center. I’ve signed up for a couple of events, and plan on wandering around and taking LOTS of pictures, like I did last year. And I’ll be posting all those pictures at the end of each day of the con, with as much commentary as I can put together after a long day of convention going.

If you’re attending GenCon this year and see me, don’t be shy! I’ve got pictures of the costumes I’ll be wearing (which will conveniently be posted here the night before I wear them), so feel free to say hi if you spot me! (And if you catch me on Saturday, when I’m dressed as the Fourth Doctor, tell me you read the Crafty Nerd and I’ll give you some actual Jelly Babies!)

Tomorrow, I’ll be rocking my Pinkie Pie costume, with some modifications – instead of the cutie mark t-shirt I’ve got in the picture above, I’ll be wearing a yellow tanktop. I’ll still be carrying around Plushie Pie, and exuding cheer and smiles! 😀 So if you’re in the Indianapolis area tomorrow, and attending GenCon, say hi! 😀 And keep your eyes peeled here for the next four days, for lots of pictures and convention-related fun! Until then, enjoy a handful of photos from last year’s GenCon!

: The Fourth Doctor found a Dalek!

: Pinkie Pie and Princess Bubblegum, rocking the pink. 😀

: The Fourth and Eleventh Doctors!

: Pinkie Pie with Princess Luna and Fluttershy!

: A rather awesome Lady Dalek attacks the Fourth Doctor.

: Fourth Doctors exchanging Jelly Babies!

The Crafty Nerd finds a new hobby

Posted on August 11, 2013
by Beth Lynn

It’s not terribly often that I take up a new hobby – especially one that I can easily incorporate my nerdiness into. (Or actually encourages my nerdiness.) However, a couple of my friends are also into this specific hobby, and it piqued my interest…

Yes, that’s right – I’ve picked up the fine (and expensive) hobby of painting minis. And it turns out I’m actually pretty good at it, too!

When I first heard about mini figures, it was through some friends who played Warhammer 40K – that was my only exposure to minis for many, many years. All I knew about it was that it involved lots of tiny figurines, and the game wasn’t quite my thing, so I largely ignored it. Then a friend of mine reintroduced me to the hobby last year – it turned out minis weren’t just used for Warhammer, they were used in lots of games – like Pathfinder, Dungeons and Dragons, and more. I admired his intricate paint work, but didn’t think I could manage such tiny details. Continue reading →

You know you’re nerdy when…

Posted on August 7, 2013
by Beth Lynn

Oh yes. We all have our moments when we do something and then think “Yikes, I’m nerdy!” Here’s a little list of my nerdy moments – feel free to share yours in the comments!

You know you’re nerdy when…

… you write a love note to your husband in Python code – and he responds back in Python as well.
… you spend an entire weekend (or two or three or four) working on costume pieces for a convention.
… instead of cutesy little knick-knacks decorating your living room, you have a K-9 bobblehead, a couple of large My Little Ponies, and a bunch of Princess Peach figurines all over your entertainment center.
…your desk at the office is covered in noticeably more action figures than, well, everyone else’s.
…you’re on edge, waiting eagerly, for an important announcement regarding one of your fandoms. (Doctor Who fans, you know this feeling well, what with the announcement of the 12th Doctor recently! And the My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic fans, don’t tell me you don’t eagerly await the announcement of when each new season will start, haha)
…you get excited about getting a package of USB cords in the mail.
…most of your t-shirts come from places like shirt.woot, Teefury, Threadless, and RIPT – simply because there’s no better place to get nerdy shirts (I swear, most of my non-work wardrobe consists of Doctor Who shirts thanks to sites like them)
…you get excited when you figure out a way to nerd up an otherwise not-incredibly-nerdy craft project. (Princess Luna crocheted cape, here I come!)
…you get excited by the smell of new books. Or new computer parts. Or new action figures.
…you get so into a hobby (playing a new video game, reading the the newest book in your favorite fantasy series, learning to paint minis) that you forget to eat lunch… and have to be reminded to eat dinner.
…you have more computers in your house than you do people. (Or laptops, or cellphones. I think the tally here in the Crafty Nerd House is three desktops, three laptops, two tablets, and four smartphones, two of which are not in active use. And it’s just me and Mr. Crafty Nerd here.)

And these are just the ones I’m guilty of – again, if you have your own nerdy moments, share them in the comments! I may add them to an updated version of this post. 🙂

Beth’s Awesome Picks of the Week – July 7th – 13th, 2013

Posted on July 9, 2013
by Beth Lynn

I’m going to shift the focus of my weekly roundups to include not just awesome crafty things, but awesome craft and nerd things in general! This week, I’ve got a whole bunch of things for you guys.

Evolution of Gaming

This is an awesome podcast by my friend Andy and a friend of his that delves into the history of gaming – Andy and Jason play all sorts of video games, on their original systems, and talk about all sorts of gaming stuff. The podcast updates twice a week – and I think my Super NES will be powering one of the upcoming episodes, so stay tuned! I’m enjoying the heck out of this podcast.

Perler Bead TARDIS Tutorial

Ever wanted to make a TARDIS? Well, here’s a tutorial that shows you how to make one with perler beads! I love playing with perler beads – it’s just so awesome to assemble a picture or something and then iron over it to melt all the beads together… it’s oddly satisfying.

My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Comics – Treasury Edition

For those of you who collect the My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic comics, or for those who are just fans of the series, this is a must-buy. I picked this up at my local comic book shop last week, and the My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Treasury Edition is packed with all sorts of awesome things. It’s got a line art only edition of the first comic in the front, which is especially awesome to look at for this art nerd, and it also has a collection of every different cover variant for the first couple of comics – the original variants, the Hot Topic covers, the one made especially for different comic vendors – all nice and large and in bright colors. The book is definitely larger than the comic books – it’s about 9 by 12 inches – and the art is awesome. You can likely find it in your local comic book shop! (For more information, check out this article from Derpy Hooves News.)

And that’s it for this week’s roundup – feel free to let me know in the comments if there’s something you think I should feature in next week’s roundup!

Second Doctor Who Scarf!

Posted on June 21, 2013
by Beth Lynn

Well, it only took me six months to do it this time – I finished my second Doctor Who scarf!

The scarf turned out pretty well, although there were a couple of hiccups along the way while making it, including…

It turns out I used the wrong size needles. for some reason I figured that I’d be using the same size needles as I used for Bryan’s scarf, but nope. I was wrong. I needed a size 9 needle – and used a size 6, and didn’t realized I was using the wrong needles until I was about five rows away from done. Not even kidding. Being a bit of a perfectionist, I may try to make a new one in the correct size… is that crazy?
Crocheting the edge was a bit tough, especially on the side that had all the color changes. The pattern didn’t exactly explain how to do it (“slip stitch crochet on right side only” is not quite enough detail – where the heck am I supposed to put that slip stitch?). I ended up just single-crocheting around the edge on the right side – it made the edge a little more obvious, which I was fine with, but I don’t know as it’s entirely show-accurate… The worst part was trying to wedge my crochet hook through the color changes – that side’s a bit messy because of that. It’s not horrible, but when it comes to my craft projects, I’m a bit of a perfectionist.
I am really sick of doctorwhoscarf.com changing their patterns every year! This happened when I was working on Bryan’s scarf, and it happened this time too – I inevitably lose the pattern somewhere, and then go to look it up online, and it’s completely different. While the change wasn’t so drastic with Bry’s scarf (it went from just a list of colors and rows to a graphical pattern), the change on my scarf was much harder to deal with – the maintainer of the patterns switched from counting each rib as a row, and listing the amount of ribs on each color span, to counting each individual row and therefore doubling the amount of “rows” in each span of color. It really threw me off, especially when I did my counting. Next time I do a scarf, I’m going to get in the habit of printing out a couple of copies and sticking the extras to my bulletin board, so I don’t have to switch to reading a pattern in a different format.

Aside from these issues, making the scarf was fun, and it kept me occupied during many long chilly nights of TV watching and gave me something to do while sitting through family gatherings and classes. I’m kind of sad that I’m done with it… and I’m considering taking on the task of making scarves for friends, should they want one. I’m starting to question my sanity, with that last bit, haha, but there’s nothing so soothing as knitting a nice, long, Doctor Who scarf!

Costuming: Beth’s Amazing Steampunk Outfit

Posted on May 30, 2013
by Beth Lynn

Well, I’ve been meaning to make this post for quite some time – and now that I’ve actually got the time to do some photographs of the smaller details and put everything together, it’s time for me to actually put all this up! Have a look at what I’ve been calling the Amazing Steampunk Outfit!

Continue reading →

Random Nerdy Adventures!

Posted on May 29, 2013
by Beth Lynn

I know, I know, I’ve been neglecting the blog horribly over the past week. Blame Python. More accurately, blame three days of intense Python-learning for a class. I feel pretty darn nerdy, though, cramming so much Python into my brain in so short a time! And I just finished and submitted the final exam – while my brain is reeling from cramming so much code into it, I do feel rather accomplished. Plus, Python shares similar syntax to PHP, which I’ve been learning on my own,

So, in lieu of a rather involved post, I’m simply going to share some pictures from the past couple of days – expect a more exciting post when I get my brain back later this week!

First off, I found a TARDIS night light! I’m rather fond of it. It does a good job lighting the way from the bed to the bathroom in the middle of the night. And it’s the TARDIS.

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Book review: Anything Goes by John Barrowman

Posted on April 22, 2013
by Beth Lynn

I’m going to preface this review with the following: I need to read more.

I’ve fallen into a sad habit of watching too much television lately. Sure, there’s lots of wonderful television shows out there! Doctor Who, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Farscape, Firefly, Archer, 30 Rock, Mad Men… but I used to read so very much! When we moved to Bloomington, I signed out a giant stack of books and read through them in a week!

So I’m going to challenge myself to read more – and I’m also going to talk about the books I’ve read, too, in hopes people discover new books to read. And I’m going to start with a favorite of mine. (A favorite that I should really buy my own copy of.)

Anything Goes by John Barrowman

This was an incredibly quick read! And an incredibly enjoyable one. If you’ve watched Doctor Who or Torchwood, you’re familiar with John Barrowman – he plays the incredibly awesome Captain Jack Harkness in both shows. (He’s also in Arrow, but I haven’t seen that yet – I don’t have cable, and live off of Hulu and Netflix, and missed out on the start of it, sadly) This book tells his story – from when he was a kid, to his experiences as a teenager, all the way through to his time on Doctor Who and Torchwood.

Continue reading →

The Best and Worst Parts of Being A Nerd

Posted on April 19, 2013
by Beth Lynn

Being a nerd sure seems like a lot of fun. You get to play lots of games, go to conventions, watch all sorts of awesome movies, and so much other stuff. However, with great awesomeness comes great responsibility, and occasionally great downfalls. This was actually one of the most requested topics on a recent poll I posted on The Crafty Nerd’s Facebook page, and I’m going to go into what I feel are the best parts, as well as the worst parts, of being a nerd.

This is what happens when I’m in full-on nerd mode. This picture is ancient, but even now, 13 years later, I still do this when I get fangirly.

The Best Parts of Being a Nerd

You get to dress up in fun costumes on days besides Halloween! I’ve dressed as Princess Peach in March, Pinkie Pie in August, and all sorts of other costumes for fun occasions. Plus, if you’re skilled enough at it, you get to make those costumes, too. I think the best part is making the costume, and then putting it on and marveling at all your hard work come to life.
Games. SO MANY GAMES. Board games, video games, tabletop RPGs. Fluxx, Cards Against Humanity, Dungeons and Dragons, Final Fantasy, Super Mario Bros., Munchkin, the Ace Attorney series, and those are just the ones I can list off the top of my head. There’s always something fun to play, something to stimulate your brain with.
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Tiny Review – Vanellope von Schweets talking doll!

Posted on February 21, 2013
by Beth Lynn

I will proudly admit that I am a huge fan of Wreck-it Ralph. I’m pretty sure that’s no surprise at all to anyone who follows my blog. I’ve got quite a few Wreck-It Ralph figurines – there was a set of them I received as a holiday present from a close friend, and there’s a couple of Vanellope figures I picked up, and I’ve also got an awesome Wreck-It Ralph poster – and a Vanellope plush as well! I’m eagerly awaiting March 5th, when the DVD comes out – of course I’ve got it preordered. So, it shouldn’t be a surprise to anyone that when I found out Disney made a talking Vanellope von Schweets doll, I had to have one of my own.

It took a while to actually track one down – before the holidays, every Disney store I visited was out of talking Vanellopes. I visited three stores in two different states, and no luck! (I did manage to get the plush Vanellope in Syracuse, NY, however, so it wasn’t entirely a waste!) Then, when I finally did find a talking Vanellope…

…she was $50.00. And talked a lot about getting her hair done, and had some ridiculous hair extensions. Granted, yeah, this was the Toys R Us version, and not the Disney Store version I’d initially been looking for, but I was definitely shocked by the $50 price tag. I’m not going to lie – I almost bought her, but realized $50 would also buy a lot of My Little Ponies, and talked myself out of the purchase at the time. I’m glad I did, because I found the version I was looking for on the Disney Store’s website, for half the price of the crazy hair-extension version, and I had a 25% off coupon too! So, I picked her up, because it was a lot easier for me to justify dropping $20 on a talking doll instead of $50. And on my sick day at home earlier this week, she came!

I’m not going to lie, I de-boxed her almost immediately. I am a horrible toy collector, I de-box all my toys. It saves space, and honestly, why collect if you can’t have a little fun with your toys? So yes, I freed her of her box (which was a very nice box, definitely made for displaying, if you’re into that) and instantly started poking her to make her talk. She says around 10 different phrases, and they’re all straight from the movie, I think – definitely in Sarah Silverman’s voice. I recorded her talking a little bit, for those curious…

She’s definitely nice and loud, as you can tell, and she says some of her catch phrases from the movie. (Bryan and I are a little disappointed that she didn’t make any doody jokes, though. Yes, we are apparently eternally 10 years old, haha.) She’s put together really well, and stands on her own pretty well too. She’s got a lot of styling product in her hair, though, and some parts of it are tied into place – I guess that’s to help it keep its style? I’ve got no idea. I do know, though, that I thoroughly enjoy this Vanellope doll, and I’m definitely glad I picked her up! If you collect Disney memorabilia, or loved Wreck-it Ralph, you should definitely get one for yourself – you won’t be disappointed!