May 27

Crafts of WonderCon 2011

WonderCon Intro 2If the San Diego Comic-Con is the arena rock star of the convention world, then San Francisco’s WonderCon is the concert-hall favorite. It’s not nearly as big, but much more manageable, and (in my humble opinion) just as much fun.

I attended two days of this year’s Con, where I met numerous writers, artists, and geek icons. My favorite folks to talk to, though, were the hard-working crafters tabling throughout the Con.

Some had made items to promote books and webcomics, others were devoted to selling thier handmade crafts. No matter the reason, though, they were always happy to stop and share a little about their creations.

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May 2

World of Geekcraft

Today is an exciting day at Geek Crafts! Our own Susan Beal, who blogs here every Wednesday, has a new book being released this week. The fittingly titled  World of Geekcraft is making its debut appearances for the Official Blog Tour both here at Geek Crafts and over at  Craft!

World of Geekcraft by Susan Beal

In addition to doing an incredible job with coordinating and designing this amazing book, Susan also was able to contribute several of her own projects. Of her contributions, my favorite is the Star Wars Terrariums. I believe when Susan told me she was making these I replied with a hearty, “Hell, yeah, I can’t wait to see those!” Here they are for you to see:

World of Geekcraft - Star Wars Terrariums by Susan Beal

Our Renee contributed an awesome essay called The Resurgence of Atari and Nintendo.

World of Geekcraft - The Resurgence of Atari and Nintendo by Renee Pickup

Here’s an excerpt:

A big part of the renewed popularity of Atari and NES games lies within the breakthrough idea that it’s actually cool to be geeky. The word “geek” has transitioned from describing someone wearing a pocket protector to someone who is hip, in the know, and totally capable of keeping up with technology. With new video game consoles, cell phones, and computers coming out faster than most people can keep up with, being a geek has its advantages. As loads of average Joes jump on the geek-chic bandwagon, it seems the hardcore geeks feel the need to separate themselves; perhaps wearing an old Atari logo is a way of saying, “Yeah, I was here first.”

And I was lucky enough to contribute a fuse bead portrait of Buffy the Vampire Slayer! Doing these portraits is a long process and I like to do them row by row. Here you can witness Buffy gradually showing her face:

World of Geek Craft - Buffy the Vampire Slayer by Shayne Rioux

Over 10,000 beads later, I had a complete portrait:

World of Geekcraft - Buffy the Vampire Slayer by Shayne Rioux

I know 10,000 beads seems like a lot of work – and it is! – but it’s totally worth it to see the finished product.

Krys and I headed out today and spotted World of Geekcraft in its natural habitat, Barnes & Noble:

World of Geekcraft in the Wild

If your local bookstore doesn’t have World of Geekcraft yet, you can buy it online at:

After poring through the whole book, I’ve decided my absolute favorite project is Garth Johnson’s Planet Commemorative Plates. I’m totally going to make these for my husband’s computer lab.

World of Geekcraft - Planet Commemorative Plates by Garth Johnson

Continue following The Blog Book as it makes tracks to the following websites:

Also visit the official site for the book – worldofgeekcraft.com.

And last but not least, we have a copy of World of Geekcraft to give away to one lucky reader!

Leave a comment telling us your favorite geeky thing by midnight, Friday, May 6th, and we’ll pick a winner at random.