The Geekerye is a lovely little shop on Etsy that specializes in jewelry representing a variety of fandoms. The shop owner, Rose Brown, customizes these pendants with just about anything you could want. How about your name in Gallifreyan? She can do that. How about something from Supernatural or Sherlock or The Hobbit? She can do that too. Take a look at her shop, and be sure to head over to the KC Geek Corps Facebook Page to enter the free giveaway!
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Many of the Sherlock fandom crafts I see pay homage to his iconic damask wallpaper, or his signature coat and scarf. I like this project because it steps outside that, with a hat tip to the first episode, “A Study in Pink.”
Angela put together these cute earrings using “growing” sponge capsules and candy sprinkles! Because who doesn’t need more sprinkles in their life??
I also like that she made them based on a challenge issued by her daughter – crafty mom superpowers to the rescue!
Any Band Geeks out there? My husband played trumpet in his high school marching band, and continued as a member of the University of Wisconsin Marching Band. Now my daughter is following suit, playing his horn in her school marching band. Over the past 20+ years, I have attended and cheered at many a band performance, and developed a definite soft spot for those musical type geeks.
So I am pleased to toot the horn (couldn’t resist the pun) of a local Kansas City duo who is making some pretty cool things out of retired band instruments. Hangups in KC has created the Band of Angels Retired Instrument Jewelry Collection, crafting unique handmade items such as clarinet key earrings (pictured above), guitar string bracelets, and a necklace from repurposed violin wood.
These ladies are passionate about their craft and their commitment to using repurposed materials. I love their brand vision and message, and that they are giving new life to retired band instruments in a unique way. And bonus – they give 30% of every sale from the collection to Band of Angels, a non-profit that collects used music instruments and makes them available to kids in need so they can join band and orchestra programs. Nurturing future generations of band geeks is something I can get behind!
For Christmas, I gave my daughter one of Hangups’ ornaments made from a retired trumpet mouthpiece. She thought it was pretty cool, then when she heard it helped other kids get started in band, it became an even more meaningful keepsake. Band mom win!
Are you a Band Geek? What instrument did/do you play?
As an early Father’s Day gift this year, I took my dad to an author Q&A session with Jim Butcher, author of The Dresden Files series of books about Chicago’s first (and only) wizard private investigator. I prepared for the session by listening to a couple of the books (they’re narrated by James Marsters, who plays Spike on the “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” TV series), and really enjoyed them.
Butcher has a distinct voice in the books which also really came through at his author event – the Q&A session was very entertaining. About 500 people showed up, and the questions were quite varied. He talked a bit about his own background in martial arts, and how that played into Det. Karrin Murphy practicing aikido in the books. He also talked about his writing process, how he uses strong outlines, and never feels like he backs Dresden into irretrievable corners, because that’s the opportunity to do something really creative and interesting. Based on the three books I’ve listened to, I’d say he’s succeeded at that!
I saw only a couple of cosplayers at the author event – one woman (not sure who she was dressed as – it wasn’t Det. Murphy) and one pretty spot-on Dresden. If you’re looking to cosplay as Dresden, you might be interested in this shield bracelet project (pictured above) by SilverMoon Dragon. I love the layered look with the cloth strips, chain and coins. She also made an awesome crochet “Bob” from the Dresden Files – be sure to check out her other Dresden crafts on her blog.
Have you read the Dresden books? They’d make a great addition to your geeky to-read list!
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Stay in touch with your away team with these fantastic Star Trek ComBadge Earrings. Tally Heilke provides a full tutorial on her blog. Not exactly a typical Father’s Day sort of craft, but suitable for me, since my dad was the one who initiated me into the world of Star Trek.
As a scrapbooker with a basement full of paper stash, I was intrigued to see the earrings are made out of cardstock! Plus it’s an excuse to break out some power tools! <insert Tim Allen-esque grunting>
Are you planning any Star Trek cosplay for upcoming cons? These would be the perfect accessory!
Links of Interest:
Being a fan of all things Star Trek, I was pleased to find this write-up on designing a Bajoran earring by Patrick Hassel-Zein.
If you’re familiar with Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, you would have seen Major Kira almost always sporting a Bajoran earring on her right ear. Ensign Ro Laren also wore one on Star Trek: The Next Generation.
On his webpage, Patrick provides a little historic look into the Bajoran earring, and then offers some suggestions for designing your own.
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