Hello!

My name is Claire, and I am the founder and lead artist behind Nerd Scouts.  I am a fiber artist, and the product that Nerd Scouts offers is miniature, wearable art pieces with nerdy designs that are inspired by science fiction and fantasy literature, pop culture, television shows, and movies. Here are just a few examples:

My Origin Story:

I was just a little girl of 7 years when I saw Star Wars for the first time... It was in the late 90's when A New Hope was re-released in theaters for their 30 year anniversary. Within seconds of the iconic opening to A New Hope, I knew I was hooked. I sat on the edge of my seat the entire film, staring at the screen with wide eyed wonder, quickly darting my eyes back and fourth from my mother to the screen as if to say, "Are you seeing this?!" It was amazing. I had never seen anything like Star Wars and I knew, I was in love. My love for Star Wars has not waned in the least, if anything my adoration for all thing sci-fi has grown exponentially throughout my life.

Though my love is everlasting, my predilection for being a nerd wasn't always something I was eager to declare. I have vivid memories of being bullied and rejected at school, I'm still continuously harassed by people on the internet, and the self loathing I felt for obsessing over the things that I do is unrivaled. I grew up feeling embarrassed, ashamed, completely isolated, and cut off from my classmates. I knew I didn't want to give up the lifelong friends I had made in a galaxy far, far away, but it wasn't for another decade or two that I realized the most logical thing to do, was to embrace my nerdy-ness wholeheartedly.

Throughout my school years, I tried desperately to be accepted into the cool kids group (and by cool kids I mean the guys who would play Magic The Gathering at lunch and build killer robots with the robotics club). Despite my attempts, they never accepted me into the group, and I was once again feeling displaced and alone. I finally found my solace in Art. When I walked into the art classroom my freshman year, I got the same feeling I did the first time I heard the Star Wars theme music for the first time (also I think Mr. Stephens, the art teacher, was playing the Star Wars soundtrack at the time). My eyes lit up, and I knew I was home.

After finishing up college years, I had to figure out a life plan. I wanted to combine my obsession for nerd culture and my love for art. So, I spent an afternoon, as I often do, thinking about what life would be like in other universes. I thought about what skills and knowledge would be useful, or complete nonsense, in fictional lands. I always thought that my wealth of knowledge from my years as a Girl Scout would come in handy in an apocalyptic world, so I continued my train of thought and pondered... if scouting existed in Westeros, or Middle Earth, or a galaxy far, far away; what sorts of things would be in the handbook? What merit badges could you earn?

That is when a creative firework went off in my head. I should make merit badges inspired by my favorite stories! Genius! And thus, Nerd Scouts was born! I wanted to make a product that would appeal to groups of people who are proud of the group and culture they are a part of. I wanted to make a product that could spark up conversation with a stranger about Dr. Who, or Jurassic Park. I wanted to make a product that would let people feel like they aren't alone, that they have a friend in me, and that they have a safe place to go whenever they want to.

Alrighty...that's the story...now the badges! As of right now, I have over 100 different merit badge designs that you can enjoy, and I continue to create new designs every month. Every single item in my shop is hand made, by me. However, I want to expand the product line to offer you a number of new items at a variety of price points. I want to introduce a line of stickers, machine made badges, greeting cards, t-shirts, and so much more!

I have put every spare penny I have into Nerd Scouts, but as a working artist, I just don't have the start up capital to do all the great things I have planned! Which is why I have decided to offer great badges, art prints, shirts, and other great items via this crowdfunding campaign so that I can keep them coming in the future.

Though Nerd Scouts is not a physical scouting group, I do have faith that as more people get in on this, the community will grow as well. I can just imagine the excitement walking down the street and spotting someone with a Nerd Scouts design on their backpack or jacket pocket. I’ll know that that’s my people!  Being able to represent my nerdy self with a cool piece of paraphernalia is something I would have loved as a young person, and I believe that other people want this too!’

Financial Break Down:

I am asking for $2,000 dollars to start out. I believe that with this little jump-start I will be able to invest in cool new products that will help me create newer and better badges!

In order to make the best badges possible, I will need the following:  

Wacom Tablet: $500

Printing costs for limited edition art prints, cards, stickers, etc: $500

Machine Embroidery: $500

Tabling at Comic Con's: $100+ per convention

Website hosting: $150 a year

Adobe Creative Software: $100 a year

Stretch Goals:

Desktop Computer: $1000

Custom Lapel Pins: $500

Booth Banner for Conventions: $200

Display Racks: $150

Packaging for Products: $200

Professional Embroidery Machine: $7,000

If my goal isn't met, whatever amount I do raise will go into purchasing my items from the above list from the top down. The most important item is a Wacom Tablet; a digital drawing pad to assist me in my digital art creations. My ever-expanding product line relies on the purchase of this tablet.

If you like the badges, please share my story and campaign on your social media platforms! It will make you feel good and allow more people to see the awesome projects that I have started and that BackHer is presenting!

To contribute to the campaign: go here

You can follow me on:

Twitter: @Nerd_scouts

Instagram: @Nerd_Scouts

Online at www.NerdScoutsHQ.com

Thank you for your time, and May the Force Be with You.