The Lady Nerd, Author at The Lady Nerd

Lord of the Rings Clock

April 15, 2020 by The Lady Nerd 3 Comments

“I wish it need not have happened in my time,” said Frodo.
“So do I,” said Gandalf, “and so do all who live to see such times. But that is not for them to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us.”

After too many days of miserable quarantine blues, my roommates and I desperately needed something to pep up our spirits. My birthday came ’round and we opted to do a craft project based on a Hobbit clock tutorial my roommate found on Imgur! We’re an artistic lot and Lord of the Rings is one of our most beloved fandoms. What was originally meant as a birthday gift from my roommates became a group project for all of us to do. We are most pleased with the results and so I thought I’d share with you all!

In case you would like to make one for yourself, here is how we did ours:

Materials we used:

Clock (we used this one from Amazon)
A high quality map print of Middle Earth (whatever area you like best!)
Sharpie
Pencil
X-Acto knife
Spray adhesive
Parchment paper
Gold gel pen
A good cutting surface

Build steps:

1. Take apart the clock. Save the paper backing.

2. Use the glass from the clock to choose which section of the map you’d like to use.

3. Draw a circle in pencil using the paper backing from the block as a stencil on the map print.

4. Cut out the circle with an X-acto knife

5. Place the circle cutout on the circular glass facing

6. Draw marks at the approximate number markings of a clock (12, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11)

7. Write out the hobbit meal times on parchment paper in pencil

8. Trace over the words in gold pen (the original tutorial called for gold leaf, and it looks incredible! But I didn’t have any, so we used a gold gel pen)

9. Tear them into strips to look more organic

10. Spray adhesive onto the back of each piece and place them onto the circle cutout (we guessed when “Afternoon Tea” or “Second Breakfast” might be)

11. Put clock back together

12. Hang it on the wall and enjoy with a pint! Then check the door. Dwarves might be coming to dinner.

Dorothy in the Woods of Oz

November 19, 2019 by The Lady Nerd 2 Comments

Originally I bought this dress for a girls’ trip to an apple orchard where our ringleader wanted us all bedecked in matching gingham dresses. Me being me, I had to do a geek twist on it (shocking, I know!). One character immediately springs to mind with gingham – Dorothy Gale from the Wizard of Oz. And seeing as how this year is the 80th anniversary of the 1939 film, there were too many layers of appropriateness to ignore.

Alas, while the roadtrip didn’t happen, I still had this Dorothy-inspired outfit begging to be worn and photographed. But where does one do that in the cold November day? I wracked my brain through Munchkin-land potentials or Emerald-City likelihoods. But I kept coming up short.
As I mindlessly scrolled through Pinterest, I huffed and looked out the window. A canopy of fall leaves greeting me, turning hues of gold, marigold, and ochre.

That was it!

The yellow brick road!

Except in the trees. Not the ground. Eh, it’s not perfect, but Dorothy has her head in the clouds, right?

After a batting of eyelashes at my roommate and a bribery of tea later, we packed up to go to a park almost literally in our backyard, the Dunwoody Nature Center. We arrived to chilly temperatures, threatening to fall by the minute. In normal clothes, I would’ve noped out of it real fast, but photoshoots tend to bring out a stubborn will of IRON from me that will not be defeated by the elements. (Though I did have the sense to bring along a suitably matched coat. I’m not completely hopeless!) So onwards we went, happily snapping away amid the flora, occasionally interrupted by screaming lines of children running to the playground. After traversing the winding paths, thinking better of laying down in wet leaves, and no longer being able to feel my fingers, Catherine and I called it a day. Steaming hot cups of chai awaited us at home to toast our victory of a shoot well done.

You can see just how cold it was by my very red fingers…

Photographs: Catherine of The Gluttonous Geek
Dress: Amazon
Coat: Hot Topic Beauty and the Beast collection (Belle coat)
Panythose: Amazon
Shoes: Walmart
Basket: Goodwill
Flowers: Our house

New Hair, Who Dis?

July 23, 2019 by The Lady Nerd 3 Comments

So I might have done something recently….

I’ve been holding on to my long dark locks for years due to things like work (because even though I was standing in for a green haired character, on my days off I’d get called in on other shows for long brunette actresses), modeling, and costumes. Truth be told, I don’t know what it’s like to not be a brunette. Different colours and short hair have been reserved for wigs. As much as I think short hair complements my features, I had short hair in highschool/college and was not keen to return to that look. I felt if I returned to short hair, I’d look immature and un-chic. It’s been a very interesting time for me lately realizing how much of one’s identity can get wrapped up in their tresses.

Fast forward to broke Briana in June.

Moolah showing up in the form of a hair salon show (more photos on that in an another post). I decided to throw caution to the wind and let them do whatever they wanted. Ohhh I was NOT prepared for what ensued! After I got off the emotional rollercoaster of that 10 hour haircut (cut, bleach, dye, style all while working on other models), I ended up with this.

Short. Copper. DIFFERENT.

Behold the short red pixie cut! While I’m still getting used to this drastically different look (and realizing no, I can’t take it off before bed. Silly costumer.), I did this photoshoot with Justin Baker to try to feel it out. It’s growing on me (ah ha, hair puns…) I’m rather liking the edgy, yet carefree feel it has. We’ll see what looks come from this over the next while!

What do you all think of this new look?

International Women’s Day 2019

March 8, 2019 by The Lady Nerd Leave a Comment

In celebration of International Womens’ Day, I thought I’d share a entirely female-collaborated editorial between local Atlanta store Coco & Mischa, jewelry from Canned Goods, photographer Astrid Kallsen, and group of lovely lady models, including myself. (This was actually the second part to the Femme Florals shoot I posted a few months back.) Now if only the temperatures would go back to the warm 70s goodness we shot these in!
Photography: Astrid Kallsen
Wardrobe: Coco and Mischa
Jewelry: Canned Goods
Other Models:
@itsnikki.g
@nomibowie
@mirandalindseymerrill
@channysteele

Firefly Inspired Blanket Fort

February 15, 2019 by The Lady Nerd 2 Comments

As a self-proclaimed lover of blanket forts (I mean, seriously, who doesn’t love a good blanket fort? The whimsy! The coziness! The fun!), I had to up the ante for Valentine’s Day. But me being me, I couldn’t just build a normal blanket fort. Oh no, I had to go themed.

The idea came from my intention to wear my Inara cosplay for a V-day date (bless my boyfriend for putting up with my antics). Red, alluring, exotic – a perfect February 14th combination, right? When deciding what to actually do for said holiday, we both settled on blanket fort real fast! But how could I combine the two?

Welcome to Fort Madrassa!

Thanks to friends lending their saree fabrics, teapots, and a quick run to Home Goods, I amassed a large bin full of blanket fort building goodness. However, I’m the first to admit I’m not the best at coming up with mechanics of fort building. But then, what better couple exercise is there than building a blanket fort? Come to find out, Ian is quite good at it! So without further adieu, here’s how we did it!

Materials we used:

twine
duvet covers
pillows & seat cushions
sarees
small clothespins
breakfast tray
teapot & cups
string lights
LED tealights
lantern

Build steps:

1. Picked out the best spot in the room for a two person-sized fort (which happened to be in the middle of my room against a large wall).

2. Laid down a few comforters, stacked for bony butt comfort.

3. Strung up sturdy string in a long rectangular stretch across the majority of the room (All credit goes to Ian for this. I struggled for a while trying to figure this part out. Bless my other half for his left brain-ness.) The string was wrapped around strong anchor points across the room.

4. Laid saree fabric across the back wall and then put a curtain of string lights over it.

5. Draped saree fabric across the rest of the string around the room. (Saree fabrics work SO well for this as they’re designed to be quite long for proper Indian styling. Makes for great dramatic floor pooling.)

6.Kept them in place with small coloured clothespins (while they broke easily, they come in large quantities. Bonus OCD points for getting coloured ones that match the sarees. Because I’m THAT person. 😅 )

7. Piled an assortment of pillows on the back wall for maximum lounging.

8. Brought in my breakfast tray, covered it in small, washable scrap fabric for tea and noms. (Inara tea from Adagio Teas, not pictured – our favourite Indian dessert, anjeer katori from a local Indian store. Balu shai is a close second favourite.)

9. Made a second sitting area in the front with floor cushions and strategically placed candles for ambience (why? Because WHY NOT.)

10. Finishing touch of a runway made out of saree fabric and candles. Because, as we’ve established, I’m extra. And I wanted to spoil my boyfriend with pretty. (He’s actually quite a romantic himself. I thought candlelit dinners, wine with a bath, and romantic music were only preferred by those of the female persuasion. Oh was I wrong!)

11. Add in a Firefly-themed playlist, two steaming cups of tea, and a whole lotta love and VOILA!

Firefly themed blanket fort achievement unlocked.

Pretty in Pastel

January 28, 2019 by The Lady Nerd 2 Comments

I can’t tell you how excited I am to share this shoot! Normally I’m a very sleek, black, spy chic kind of gal. But part of the fun of being a model is getting to try out different looks, different characters. This particular one was probably the most different look I’ve ever done! Pastels are the antithesis of my usual palette (she says as she washes her almost entirely black laundry load). So when my make up artist and stylist friend, Dustin Sean Lazenby and photographer, Richard Scalzo pulled this get-up together, I was a bit hesitant…

Then they put the wig on me.

I was hooked! So off I went, prancing my buttermint pastel self to the front of the camera, grinning my head off as I went.

Speaking of grinning, I know many of you have mentioned how you’d like to see me smile more in my pictures. While I joke that I only have two modes – model face and derp face. The truth is I’m quite self conscious of my smile (I’ll spare you my wah wah whiny details), and feel it comes out looking really wonky in photos. But you better believe if I get a photo where it looks normal and pretty, I’m going to post it! I feel so spoiled by Richard in this photoshoot because I got not one, but multiple attractive smiling pictures!

When I got these final edits, I was having a sick day in bed, feeling rather rotten and dumpy, having been in the same PJs for days (depression is a jerk), unwashed face, hair, weight gain, etc. Getting these pictures in my inbox turned my whole day around!

I hope you enjoyed this Honeydukes-tastic look!

The Struggle of Staying On Brand

January 18, 2019 by The Lady Nerd 12 Comments

Brand Identity.

That’s a business-tastic word that gets thrown around a lot these days in the blogging world. I’m still trying to figure out exactly what that means for The Lady Nerd. The easiest summary is to say “oh! Geek fashion! Every post, outfit, photoshoot, etc. should be geek related. Duh.” But then I can’t do things easy, can I? (If you’ve followed me long enough, you’re likely to be nodding your head emphatically.)

Even this photoshoot I did last year, I struggled to fit it into my “brand”, grasping at any fandom character it might remind people of or else it was just a random outfit picture of me. (The look became known as “Hipster Jessica Jones” at the photo shoot out, but it still doesn’t quite fit. So I’ve struggled to post this trying to figure out if it’s, you guessed it, ‘on brand’ or not.)

I share a lot of different things on here and social media as The Lady Nerd has shifted from being simple a cosplay pseudonym to being well..me! My brand is me. It is what I offer from cosplay photoshoots to geek fashion styling to modeling art to travel and film set adventure diaries to vulnerable conversation of being a disabled creative. Unfortunately that doesn’t always neatly fall under a fandom lately.

So what’s a gal to do?

Honestly, I don’t know yet.

My initial goal with The Lady Nerd was to be a influencer bridge between the nerd community and the mainstream fashion community. But there have been many obstacles to that. And honestly, after years of trying to make it happen, I get the feeling that’s not something my readers actually want to see.

Over the years I’ve gone on a journey to see the magic of the everyday. I had my head too much in the clouds, lusting after a life of seemingly unattainable class and status. But a geek version! Surely that’s doable, I’d always say to myself. Well….not exactly. But sometimes one has to try their darn hardest to make it happen on their own terms to learn from those mistakes and find something new. So now, I am in transition to something new.

I’d love to hear your thoughts, dear readers, on what you would like to see from me. What does “The Lady Nerd” mean to you? What comes to mind when you think of those three words?

Photographs:

Why It’s Okay to Fail at Fashion

January 16, 2019 by The Lady Nerd Leave a Comment

A Merry Christmas?

December 29, 2018 by The Lady Nerd 2 Comments

I have a confession to make.

I was not at all in the holiday spirit this year. Not religiously, not secularly, none of it. If anything, I’ve been avoiding it. I didn’t decorate at all. I haven’t gone to any special services. I haven’t attended any parties. It’s been just another day. Just another month. Not to say that I’m not glad others having a good time and I am incredibly grateful for the gifts sweet friends and family have blessed me with this year, but it’s like watching a TV show from a far. It doesn’t feel real (Though nothing specific has happened to set this off. I truly can’t place my apathy this year outside of neurons misfiring in my brain).

Depression is a very real thing for many come the holidays. It can be due to a myriad of issues from work problems to family issues to just the sheer overplayed holiday songs that you’ve heard for decades that make you want to punch a wall (unless it’s Carol of the Bells. Who doesn’t like that epic movie-sounded piece?!). For some, like me, it’s simply chemical imbalances that like to go off at the most inopportune times.

So alas, I have no pretty pictures to share from this year, no special outfit or photoshoot. But I shall leave you with fun pictures from a couple years ago when my mental illnesses hadn’t reared their ugly heads yet. It was a truly lovely day when a couple friends and I volunteered as our superhero alter egos at a local children’s hospital. That year I was able to give of myself physically to make others smile during the holidays. (You can read all about there here. Of course we had to step outside afterwards for some super shenanigans. I’ve not shared these before, so please enjoy!)

Every holiday season has its ups and downs for everyone. One year may be delightful and the next dismal. During these holidays, remember those who suffer silently and be kind to yourself if you’re one of them. The holiday season is for you too. <3

Photographs: Chelsea Patricia Photography

5 Things I Learned About Blogging Professionally in 2018

December 24, 2018 by The Lady Nerd 7 Comments

As 2018 is drawing to a close and I have more time than I care to admit to contemplate the year, my thoughts turn towards this blog, my brand, and the effects of attempting to make this my business. There;sJSF

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(Well then. That was my roommates’ cat, Moosie, saying hello while simultaneously headbutting me for pets. There’s a reason his nickname is Admiral Rib-splitter.)

During the break between filming seasons, I dedicated myself to The Lady Nerd brand to try to accomplish my aim of turning this into my job. So, I started writing this particular post thinking I’d do two different sections: The Good and The Bad. But upon writing, I realized that for every success, there was a setback. For every failure, there was something learned that I very much needed to know to succeed in the future. Hard to put that into two distinct categories, eh? So I’m going to try one of those catchy “5 Things I Learned About Blogging Professionally in 2018” and like science, throw it at the wall and see what sticks (brownie points to whomever gets that reference)!

1. Figuring out the Dreaded Instagram Algorithim

We all hate it. We all covet it.

The elusive high-rolling number game on social media. The magic key that supposedly opens the door to paid sponsorships and a glamorous life as full-time Blogger Boss. The numbers talk like money; the more followers you have, the more legitimate you appear, the more desirable you become. If I weren’t trying to make TLN my business, I could care less about the popularity contest of numbers. Alas, that integer is everything for the moneymakers. I’ve had an Instagram account for three years and just now, as of today, hit 5K followers. I don’t know if I would consider my methods successful considering most business won’t even look at you for sponsorship if you have under 10K, sometimes 50K. I tried the 3-in-a-row Instagram aesthetic (as professional folks making a lot more than me say that it’s not a smart business move to not have a signature, consistent aesthetic). I’m way too diverse for that! I’d like to think that one of the beauties of my content is you never know what I’m going to post. It could be a sleek, magazine-level urban editorial right after a derptastic wolf hood shoot or a job diary. Whether this has actually been good for social media engagement is an entire other story. (It makes my OCD so happy though!) But I wanted to keep up one specific habit for TLN for a whole year (mainly to prove to myself that I could keep up a habit (any habit!) for a whole year). Et voila! I did it! Debating continuing though….

Then there was intentional Audience Engagement (duh, that’s the polite thing to do anyways. Now sometimes I can’t manage more than a <3 due to disabilities zapping my energy or being too busy. But even though it hasn’t helped my numbers, it’s the nice thing to do). And then Everliker, a Google Chrome app that likes into the hundreds range of particular hashtags you put in. I like the concept as due to my wrist injury (and let’s be real, busyness), I can’t like everything I want to out there. However, it’s not increased my followership any. So I don’t know how helpful it is in the end. But I have to focus on the positive of upward momentum.

2. Sponsorship Struggles

2018 started off with a bang as I scored my very first sponsor ever! After posting my Bride of Frankenstein photoshoot, PinupGirl Clothing contacted me about doing some photoshoots for them in exchange for their lovely clothing. As I own a few of their pieces, I was excited to accept and raced off to do the first post.

But the sponsorship had an unexpected consequence, one that I dearly need to figure out how to correct (or at least streamline) in hopes of future prospects. I don’t do regular outfit shoots, as is common with most lifestyle bloggers. A lot more goes into my shoots – from planning each specific clothing item and accessory to fit the character or fandom in the particular style I design for it, find a photographer to fit the style photoshoot I want, and then finally a location that fits it all. Sometimes that can happen quickly, but a lot of times that can take months to bring together. That can be due to things like me being too poor to afford said clothing (medical bills are such a joy….) to schedule conflicts. I honestly don’t know how other bloggers do it. But I’m determined to figure it out.

3. Blog Writing Rollercoaster

An odd thing I discovered this year was just how bland my writing has become if I don’t have a specific story to tell. Writing stories comes easily (although sometimes laborious). Writing blogs to go with photoshoots with no story = much harder. I think I write too much and then not enough other times. I have not figured out a balance yet. But it is something I need to master ASAP as it’s led to me not posting blogs for weeks or months. This year I’ve been trying my best to write more blogs and more consistently. I don’t know how much it’s helped, but baby steps!

4. Trying to Master the Content Schedule

I’m so very glad that I made myself a schedule this year, despite the fact that I barely stuck to half of it. Oops. But boy, the times when I posted on the day I had something scheduled, man it felt good! Being a geek, I based my schedule around various fandom premieres and anniversaries. But in reference to earlier subheadings, I’ve had a hard time keeping up with all of it. I honestly don’t know how other bloggers and Instagrammers seem to hit every holiday, premiere, and anniversary. But I’m learning! I’m better at it than I was last year. I plan on doing another Content Schedule this coming year, knowing full well I won’t accomplish a fraction of it. But seeing it more like a guideline than a rule book I think should help tremendously. Less stress is a good thing!

5. Energy

Blogging is a full time job. Vlogging is a full time job. Heck, even social media management can be a full time job. And when someone has a brand like this, you have to do all of the above and more. Hustle in the name of the game. And hustling requires energy. My #1 downfall. Of EVERYTHING. A lot of this is due to my disabilities. The rest is due to learned bad habits due to said disabilities. But it keeps me from hustling, from doing all the things needed to make this my job. I’m rather convinced at this point that if I had more energy, I could accomplish so much! On days where my body and mind decide to cooperate, I get SO much done! So, I’m doing my best to better my health to accomplish this goal.

Photographs: Diego Gonzalez