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!

PopCon 2015: A Very Late Report

Posted on July 30, 2015
by Beth Lynn

I have been so ridiculously busy lately that it’s not even funny. With two conventions within a month, and moving during one of those conventions, plus finally getting a full time position at IT Training (wooo!), I haven’t had much time to actually post about my fun experiences at Indy PopCon last month! So, here are my thoughts, in no particular order, along with some photos!

The biggest thing about PopCon this year was getting the chance to meet one of my favorite actors. He’s been in Star Trek, Breaking Bad, Invader Zim, and My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, to name a few of the many things he’s been a part of.

Yes. Ross and I got to meet John deLancie. And I completely forgot how to form words, haha.

I ended up having him sign one of my favorite Discord-centric issues of the My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic comic, and I think pretty much everyone I know who’s a Star Trek/MLP fan hates me a little bit for getting to meet him, haha. (Although if you guys want to hate me more for meeting famous people, remind me to tell you my Ian McKellan story…)

Anyhow, we also got to see plenty of lovely cosplayers, including Yamino of Yamino Cosplay/GeekGasm Boutique! She was dressed as Faye Valentine on Friday, and Morticia Addams on Saturday – both very well done costumes. You should check out her Facebook page and Etsy store – she’s done some amazing costumes!

I also had the pleasure of running into one of my awesome IT Training co-workers, Rachel of the Five-ish Fangirls Podcast!

And yes, we were both dressed as Pinkie Pie on Friday at the convention. I also attended part of her My Little Pony panel, and she did a great job with it! I’m hoping that The Crafty Nerd and The Five-ish Fangirls can get together to do some nerdy awesomeness later on. 😀

Overall, PopCon was even more awesome than last year. They were still incredibly organized – even when the line to meet/get photos with Markiplier ended up being a mile long. Photos and autographs with media guests were just as organized as ever, there were all sorts of interesting panels, and they upgraded the badges for this year too to nice plastic ones!

All in all, I was incredibly pleased with PopCon this year – and I can’t wait for next year!

And, of course, here are a number of awesome cosplayers and other nifty things I saw during both days of the convention!

: I found another Pinkie!

: This Pinkie even had a party kart.

: Steampunk Pinkie Pie, which turned out pretty well for a costume I threw together in a week…

: Punk Sailor Moon was one of the most awesome costumes I saw.

: I love the signs at PopCon, they always make me giggle!

: Rachel as Applejack, and me as Steampunk Pinkie!

: John deLancie, talking about a new Star Trek mobile game he’s working on.

: A tiny little Belle!

: Pinkie Pie and Belle! I found them working at the same booth together, heehee.

: Indiana University – Purdue University of Indianapolis’ School of Informatics & Computing did an AWESOME cosplay photo wall!

: YUB NUB. These were some awesome Ewoks!

: One of the best Lumpy Space Princesses I’ve seen.

: Okay, Navi, you have my attention.

: I do believe this is Gage from Borderlands. 😀

: Steampunky Pie.

And now… to get ready for GenCon. Which is today. Ross and I are leaving in ten minutes, in fact. AND PATRICK ROTHFUSS WILL BE THERE. *flail* So, expect the annual Gen Con Report over the next few days! It’s going to be… interesting this year.

Convention season is upon us!

Posted on January 23, 2015
by Beth Lynn

Ohhh, it’s the most wonderful time of the year… no, not Christmas! It’s the very beginning of convention season! My favorite conventions are announcing their dates, opening up pre-registration, and in the case of Indiana Comic Con, the convention itself is rapidly approaching!

Oh my gosh this is SO EXCITING

This year, I’m planning on attending the same three conventions I did last year: Indiana Comic Con, Indy PopCon, and GenCon (of course!) And aside from knowing that I’ll be Pinkie Pie, I have no idea what I’ll be cosplaying!

I mean, I’ve got some ideas. Some of them are more feasible than others…

Ross and I were thinking of going as Rainbow Dash and Pinkie in full Grand Galloping Gala gear – however, this could get expensive. And I want to be able to do it right, and look absolutely fabulous, you know?
I could just buy a Star Trek: The Next Generation era scientist outfit, dye my hair red, and go as Beverly Crusher. Because she’s awesome. Maybe Ross could be Data… maybe… his hair might be a little too long by then, though.
There’s always LazyPie and LazyDash – wigs, sweatshirts and jeans. I feel like I’m cheating whenever I wear that combination of clothes, though…
… I have wanted to do “Good Morning Pinkie Pie” – with a tousled wig, my Rainbow Dash bathrobe and slippers, some ridiculous pink pajamas, and a coffee mug. I’m envisioning Ross doing something similar as Rainbow Dash but with his Star Trek TNG bathrobe. Which could be amusing. This could be a thing. I’ll have to think about it.
My steampunk costume could always use some love… I keep adding things to it, too. It’s going to look pretty epic, whenever I get the chance to wear it again!

And aside from costumes, there’s a wealth of panels to go to at every convention. I’m going to try to find all the My Little Pony themed ones I can, and enjoy the heck out of them! Last year, there weren’t many pony-related things at PopCon and Indiana Comic Con (although I did get to buy a page from the Twilight Sparkle issue of the My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic comic book micro series at Comic Con!), but there were some things at GenCon that I wanted to go do. Sadly, the lack of a hotel room (rooms sold out crazily quick last year for GenCon!) made it hard for Ross and I to make it to later events – we ended up driving from Bloomington each day, an hour and a half-ish trip, and by late afternoon we were wiped out and ended up dragging our tired selves home around 5 pm. While I’m not sure if we’ll be getting a hotel for Comic Con or PopCon, I’m gonna try my hardest to get a room for GenCon so I can provide much better convention coverage than last year!

I’m definitely excited to get the chance to see some of the guests at ComicCon. There’s a ridiculous amount of stars coming, including….

Carrie Fisher (known better as Princess Leia! OMG)
Jenna Coleman (Clara from Doctor Who)
Jason Momoa (Khal Drogo! *swoon*)
Billy West (who hasn’t he voiced?)
Paige O’Hara (the voice of Belle from Beauty and the Beast)

Needless to say, Indiana Comic Con is looking to be pretty exciting. I hope it’ll be a better run convention than last year! Meanwhile, I’m eagerly awaiting the guest lists for PopCon and GenCon. PopCon is currently asking for suggestions for guests on their Facebook page, and I suggested Lil’ Bub – I love Bub, and she’s from Bloomington! And she’s way better than Grumpy Cat. For GenCon, I’m really, really, really hoping Patrick Rothfuss comes back. I have more things I need him to sign. Like a card game I’m working on a review for, and my Kindle. And more books of his. Plus, he’s just an awesome guy! I’m wondering if other authors I might know will show up – I’ll have to wait and see who gets announced!

So, in short, I’m really, really excited for this year’s convention season. It looks as if it’s going to end up being exciting and fun-filled! I’ll share updates on my convention preparations as things happen – especially if I figure out what I’m wearing and build new costumes!