that look like this,

make comics magnets from WOGC,

and have snacks and lemonade. I was planning to make cupcakes (my favorite book party treat) but changed my mind – now it will be cheesecake brownies, which seem a little more summery! I love those too.

(so picture brownies here instead…)

You can also work on your own crafts, check out lots of projects from both books, and find all kinds of good treasures in the by-the-pound bins and on the tables there. I snapped up all the wool squares to make this patchwork throw from one of those bins, and it’s one of my favorite things I’ve ever made.

Pendleton has also graciously put together a tote bag of prizes for someone at the party to win! My MLCQ publisher, Potter Craft, sent me this handy canvas satchel for the gift bag. I put copies of both my books and both of the craft kits into it, and handed it over to Pendleton to see what they might want to contribute. So far they’ve added a bunch of colorful carded wool, a spindle, fat quarters of lots of different plaid wool fabrics, buttons and zippers, and it sounds like there’s more on the way!

Also – Aimee of the Woolen Mill Store was nice enough to do a little interview with me about my new craft room, my favorite designers and artists, and how NOT to baste a quilt. Thank you, Aimee!

WOGC + MLCQ Book Party!
Saturday, August 20 from 2-4 pm
Pendleton Woolen Mill Store, 8500 SE McLoughlin Blvd, Portland
(free!)

Someday I will proudly be displaying the finished project in our rec room (I have a crazy idea to frame it, which may or may not work, but I’m trying it for sure!).

A few other book updates…

Yay, Etsy has shared Garth Johnson‘s fantastic Planet Commemorative Plates project on their How-Tuesday feature! You can get the full project instructions and details over there. I’d love to see yours if you make them, please add a photo to the WOGC flickr group.

And my awesome publisher, Chronicle Books, is giving away a copy of WOGC to commemorate the end of the epic Harry Potter movie series.

Just leave a comment on their post by 8/11 with your suggestions for coping in a post-HP world, and you could win the book and craft your own tiny HP costume for your favorite baby or toddler. Love the ideas so far – my favorite is “Immediately leave your house, find puppies and kittens (accio them to you if need be), and frolic with them in a field full of flowers and rainbows.”

I’m excited that a feature on the Star Wars Terrariums will go up on CraftFoxes soon too. For now, you can see some lovely preview photos from our terra-crafting session on Katelyn’s Creo Photography blog. There’s some other good terrarium news to share soon too, I’ll keep you posted!

Finally, WOGC has gotten some nice reviews lately! Special thanks to Jane Ritter of the School Library Journal for her post last month. I loved making things in high school, and it is so cool to imagine my book on a school library shelf.

Beal’s introduction declares, “We’ve come a long way since ‘geek’ meant a carnival sideshow freak,” which sets the playful tone of this book. To celebrate the geek in all of us, the author has pulled together 25 projects from a variety of crafters organized by difficulty starting with “Not a Jedi Yet” (easy) to “Warp Speed” (advanced). Each contributor includes a “best geeky memory” that often highlights a video game, Star Wars or Star Trek, or an early computer memory. Each project lists the necessary items and includes clear, detailed instructions. Accompanying photos add to the fun.

And my favorite book review of all time is courtesy of Andrew Mouet, 13-year-old expert of awesome and cross-stitcher extraordinaire (check out his take on the Mario Magritte project):

According to Charlie McConnell, a geek is made up not only of flesh and blood, but of awesome. I agree with this. Geeks are awesome. So is this book, World of Geekcraft. It has lots of awesome projects. Some are difficult and need time and effort to complete but if you use time and effort, the projects will come out beautifully.

Get this book if you want to be awesome.

I was totally amazed that they listed me on the marquee – huge thank-you to Powell’s for the kind support for a local book. The event is at 4:00 in the Pearl Room upstairs, and everyone who comes by can make a POW! ZAP! Magnet, or take home all the stuff to make one later! I’m also bringing lots of book projects, so you can try out the LOST Tin-Can Telephones or hang out with a Tribble.

Here are some of the super-personalized comics magnets people made at my last few WOGC events… first, at Maker Faire,

and then last week at WebVisions!

Thanks so much to everyone who came out to get their book signed or hang out and craft!

ps: I got to visit the mothership, Chronicle Books, while I was in San Francisco too. Thanks for the awesome display of World of Geekcraft and Vintage Craft Workshop right when you walk in – that was a great surprise!

On Saturday, I’ll be at Maker Faire with World of Geekcraft! I haven’t been to Maker Faire since 2007 so I’m beyond thrilled to finally make it back, especially with my little Yoda and my littler Harry Potter in tow.

I’m doing a panel moderated by Diane Gilleland at noon, Crafting Your Online Presence, which should be really cool – I’m very interested to hear what everyone else has to say.

And then you can make a POW! ZAP! Magnet from World of Geekcraft with me at 2:00 – both events are in the CRAFT: Magazine area and totally free! I’ll be signing books afterwards if anyone wants their own copy!

PS: I’ll also be doing a Modern Log Cabin Quilting event at the Bobbin’s Nest on Thursday, and all the info is here – please come say hi and sew a quilt block with me if you’d like to!

Thanks so much to Torie and my stellar book contributor Cathy for inviting me to be part of the whole extravaganza!

You can get a brand-new POW! ZAP! Magnet kit with World of Geekcraft,

or a quilt block kit with Modern Log Cabin Quilting.

I’ll be at the author booth from noon to 1:30, and then Heidi Kenney and Cathy Callahan will be signing their books, too! Excited that several of my Portland contributors will be there too – can’t wait to show off some of their book projects…

Shayne Rioux wrote a fantastic post at Geek Crafts that spotlighted Garth Johnson‘s Planet Plates, my Star Wars Terrariums, Renee Asher’s Atari + Nintendo essay, and Shayne’s own Buffy the Vampire Slayer portrait – painstakingly constructed from more than 10,000 fuse beads!!

Shayne said, “The coolest part of making the fuse bead portraits is seeing the faces emerge as I go row by row.” I would certainly agree with that!

And here she is with her finished portrait on the page! Awesome. She spotted the book at her local Barnes & Noble – very cool.

Geek Crafts is giving away a copy of the book to one lucky commenter! Just leave a comment mentioning your favorite geeky thing these days, by Friday, May 6, and you’re entered to win it.

I was also so happy to see the lovely post on CRAFT: today – one of the very last ones written by outgoing editor-in-chief Natalie Zee Drieu. Natalie is a lovely friend and a super-inspiring crafter and writer herself, and I was so grateful for her awesome quote on the back cover. I’m thrilled that my dear friend (and wedding officiant, and WOGC contributor!) Diane Gilleland has just come onboard as the new editor at CRAFT: and I am so excited to see all the cool things she has in store for us.

CRAFT: is also sharing a project from the book – the POW! ZAP! Magnets! Just visit the post to download a free PDF with instructions to make your own. (I’ll also be teaching this craft at Maker Faire, and giving away free kits to make your own at my Powell’s, WebVisions, and Crafty Wonderland events!)

So, here’s the whole blog tour if you’d like to follow along! Huge thank-you to everyone who’s signed up for a day along the way.

I’ll be posting more project peeks and extras over at the book site, World of Geekcraft, and if you make anything from the book or want to share favorite snapshots, I’d love it if you added them to the book flickr pool! Thank you again to all my amazing contributors, who I’ll be spotlighting more over the next few weeks as well.

See you at Crafty Wonderland on Saturday!

First, this Saturday, April 30 – I’m donating two signed copies of the book to the Guardian Games Fundraiser for Japan, 11am – 10pm! Stop by anytime for games and tournaments galore (full list below) and the chance to win tons of raffle prizes, including the book.

Proceeds will go directly to help the people of Sendai, Japan get food, water, medicine, and clothing. All gamers welcome to come join in the fun. Donate time, money, or prizes and earn raffle tickets. Pay an entry fee to a special event and earn raffle tickets. Raffle tickets for playing games, winning games, teaching games, buying games, donating money, donating prizes. Open board gaming all day with the opportunity to get raffle tickets as above.

$5.00 entry to most Magic events except drafts. They’ll be $15 ($5 donation, 3 packs draft, 1 pack prize pool). Saturday night draft grand prize is $100 donated in winner’s name by Guardian.
Warhammer 40k 1500pt tournament at 2pm
Magic the Gathering tournaments: Standard tournament at noon Draft at 6pm 8-person drafts, EDH, and Standard flights all day! 4-person mini-masters all day!
BattleStar Galactica boardgame at 6pm
Pirates Games hosted by PDXYar all day long *Sealed Pirates at 1pm *Savage Worlds RPG with Sven Forkbeard at 4-7pm

On Saturday, May 7, I’ll be signing books and shopping for treasures at Crafty Wonderland, 11-6 pm at the Oregon Convention Center. I’m going first from noon to 1:30, with free kits to make your own magnets for anyone who buys or brings a copy of the book, then superstars Heidi Kenney and Cathy Callahan will be signing their books too!

In the meantime, I’ve gotten some peeks at the book out in the world which has been so cool! Powell’s has a nice display at both entrances (it’s 30% off as a new favorite, too!)

Rachel spotted it at Booksmith in San Francisco,

and Jenny saw it at Kinokinuya in LA. Awesome.

PS: If you’re looking for a signed copy of the book, I donated two to the Raleigh Tornado Fundraiser shop, which is raising money for the Boys & Girls Club of Southeast Raleigh after the storms that killed 22 people in North Carolina and left many more homeless. I’d be so grateful if you or a friend who wants the book chose to support their fundraiser, thank you!

It’s packed with easy and even kid-friendly Star Wars-inspired crafts to make, from a Bossk Bean Portrait to a Cuddly Bantha, and I got to do a super fun interview with Bonnie about the book and her awesome day job at Lucasfilm over at geekcrafts.com today!

Speaking of the Star Wars Craft Book, I was thrilled that the books were paired up for a great review in the April/May issue of BUST (along with Cooking for Geeks, which I have to get for sure). Thank you so much to BUST for the shout-outs for the Oregon Trail + Mario Magritte cross-stitch patterns, Vintage Sci-Fi Book Cozy, “Marvelous Machine” Steampunk Pendant, and Harry Potter Baby Costume projects!

And Lonny Magazine picked World of Geekcraft for their Lonny Library feature in the April/May issue too, spotlighting the d20 Deluxe Earrings, Trio of Tribbles, and Secret Message Quilt – thank you so much!

First, I’ll be signing books at Crafty Wonderland, Portland’s biggest and most amazing handmade sale, on May 7th! Would love to see you then… anyone who picks up a book will also get a kit to make your own POW! ZAP! Magnets!

Then, I’ll be coming to the Bay Area for Maker Faire… I can’t wait. I’ll be doing a craft demo on Saturday, May 21 to make your own comics magnets, so everyone who stops by can make themselves one!

Back in Portland, I’ll be doing an event at WebVisions on May 26 – see tons of book projects, meet some of my awesome Portland contributors, and make a magnet for yourself!

And on June 5, I’ll be doing a Powell’s book event with my Portland contributors too.

You can preorder it from Chronicle, Powell’s, Barnes and Noble, Borders, and Amazon.

Much more (resources, photos, project extras, and more events!) coming soon… see you at Maker Faire!