Nerdy tidbits: June 2019

Well, we’re almost at the end of June, which means it’s time for another edition of Nerdy Tidbits! Read on to learn more about the fun nerdy tidbits of June 2019 that didn’t quite fit into their own posts!

A crafty and nerdy tidbit: Picking up cross stitching again

Oh, cross stitch. Back when I was younger, it was one of the first crafts I picked up, along with sewing and knitting. I really enjoyed making cross stitch projects, but was never very good at finishing them. (For example, I’ve got a Sherlock wallpaper cross-stitch project I’ve been working on for my friend Josie’s birthday for… four years now?) Eventually, I told myself that after I finished the two projects I had in progress, I was done with cross stitching for a while. Since I hardly ever finish cross-stitch projects, it seemed like the best idea.

Then I found this pattern, which I thought would be perfect to make for Ross.

A June 2019 nerdy tidbit: Picture of the cross stitch pattern "Evening in the Shire".

So, I bought it and supplies to make it, and I’ve made some pretty good progress on it! I’m almost to the point where I can start all that backstitching. For those of you who are interested to see how it’s coming along, I’ll be posting occasional updates to The Crafty Nerd’s Facebook page – so if you’re not already following it, you should! If you want to make the pattern for yourself, you can buy it here on Etsy.

An awesome tidbit: Captain Janeway monument in Bloomington!

A June 2019 nerdy tidbit: Photo of a Captain Janeway Christmas ornament next to an Indiana vanity license plate that says JANEWAY.

Here’s a Star Trek tidbit for you all! My fellow Star Trek fans might remember that Captain Janeway’s birthday was last month – May 20th, to be exact. In fact, according to the show, she was born right here in Bloomington! To celebrate the occasion, I posted the picture above on Facebook – and it was shared to a group of Bloomington Janeway fans! The Captain Janeway Bloomington Collective is in the process of getting a monument to Janeway built in town. How awesome is that? Fundraising is starting soon, and if you’re curious to learn more about the monument, check out the group’s Facebook page.

An old nerdy tidbit: Echo Chernik’s Auri sketch, and where it ended up

This is an older tidbit, but one that still makes me happy. When I was digging through my Gen Con archives recently, I was reminded of something that happened at last year’s Gen Con: Ross and I getting to look at Echo Chernik’s sketchbook. Specifically, we were excited about the Auri sketch for the Name of the Wind playing card Kickstarter.

A nerdy tidbit from last year: Auri sketch from Echo Chernik's sketchbook.

Here’s the Auri sketch, still in Echo’s sketchbook!

I figured that would be the end of things with that sketch, but I was wrong!

It turns out my good friend J went and visited Echo Chernik after I sent him a picture of the sketch, and he went and bought it. And it was actually in my house at one point. I may have flailed a bit when he brought the sketch over, because honestly, I never thought I’d see it again.

The same Auri sketch from earlier, being held by my friend J.

And here’s the sketch, inside my house! *flail*

Tiny tidbit: I love Bloomington Stitchery

And last, a final little tidbit about Bloomington Stitchery -I mentioned recently that I brought my Starfleet science officer uniform over to them to get it altered. Well, this morning I had the brilliant shower thought about adding pockets to the uniform. Then I realized I should have asked to add pockets to it while I was there. (Cue me facepalming.) Of course, I rambled about it on Facebook, and they said “hey, we might still be able to do that, just email us to remind us!”

I seriously love these folks, and I can’t wait to see how my Starfleet uniform turns out! If you’re in the Bloomington area and need alterations done, you should check them out.

Well, that’s the Nerdy Tidbits for June 2019! Stay tuned for next month’s collection of tiny nerdy stories, which will probably include a lot of Gen Con prep.

Finally got a Kickstarter I’ve been waiting for!

I think I got a little burned out on everything after Gen Con – hence the lack of a post last week.  Don’t get me wrong, I tried to get the last of my Gen Con reports put together, and there’s a start to it in the pile of half-finished blog posts I’m accumulating, but I just couldn’t nudge myself towards getting it done.  I’ll try to finish it soon, though, as there are some pretty cool vendors and artists I want to share with you all that I discovered at Gen Con.

So that this week’s blog post isn’t all just me being down on myself for not posting last week, I’m going to talk about a Kickstarter whose rewards I’ve been eagerly awaiting for a little while now.  Those rewards showed up on my doorstep the other day, and I can’t help but share them with you all, because they’re so beautiful!

Yep, that’s right – the Name of the Wind Art Deck Kickstarter started shipping last month, and I finally got my goodies.  They were definitely worth the wait, that’s for sure.

Now, this isn’t the first deck of cards that’s had artwork from Name of the Wind on them – a deck was released a few years ago (also the product of a Kickstarter, if I remember right), with artwork by Shane Tyree depicting the characters we all know and love. I’ve got the Shane Tyree deck as well as the new ones with art by Echo Chernik, and it’s really interesting to see how each artist envisioned the characters.

From left to right: Auri, Denna, and Kote, with Shane Tyree’s art on top and Echo Chernik’s art on bottom.

The coin that I got as part of the rewards is beautiful – and pretty hefty, too!  I’d be afraid to flip it and accidentally dent a table with it when it lands, haha.

The prints are beautiful, too – I can’t wait to get them framed.  I’ve been especially excited about them, since I love Echo’s work, and it was really exciting to get to meet her at Gen Con.  All in all, I’m really happy with the quality of everything – the cards feel great in your hand, and the artwork is absolutely wonderful.

Now I just have to figure out what to do with four decks of Name of the Wind playing cards. 😛

Gen Con 2018: Day 2

Today was full of cosplay, LARPing, and suppressing fangirl flailing.

First off, Ross and I dressed as Star and Marco today! I look exhausted. XD

We had lots of fun, and it was a good test run for getting Ross into his Star cosplay for tomorrow. Plus, there was a fair amount of people who recognized us (and gave Ross some strange looks when they realized he wasn’t a girl), which made me happy.

I also got to play in my first LARP at Gen Con! Showdown in Sacramento was today, and I had an amazing time. J and Kasi sure know how to tell a good story. I’ll have pictures from the game soon – likely in time for my post-con write-up.

The best part of today, though, was getting to meet Echo Chernik (note: there is some NSFW artwork on her site), the artist for the Name of the Wind Art Deck playing card Kickstarter I backed last year. I really enjoy her artwork, and we talked about the Kickstarter a bit – and then she pulled out her sketchbook and let me look through some of the sketches she did for the Kickstarter.

And yes, I asked if I could take a picture of this page, and she said yes. I am so ridiculously happy that I got to meet her. She even signed a card with artwork for me (she’s doing that for all the Kickstarter backers who haven’t gotten their rewards yet!) – I’m going to have to find a tiny little frame for it.

So, that was my day two! Tomorrow is going to be crazy and awesome – I’m dressing up as Sailor Moon, finally! 😀