Captain Claire (Nerd Scouts)

Ta da!!

Come on guys! Tis the season!! Click here!

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.

Remember when you were a Brownie, and you collected merit badges for the most random things ever? It was awesome because the badges were triangles, so you made circles after a while. Except I didn't because I was an awful Girl Scout. Anyway.

I am thinking of forming a new group called the Nerd Scouts, and over the past few days in Bristol, I have scored basically all of the merit badges. Behold:

The I Spent A Lot Of Time Stalking Dead Church Founders Merit Badge

As soon as I got in to Bristol, I headed toward the John Wesley Chapel. John Wesley is the founder of the Methodist church, of which I am a member, and this chapel is the oldest Methodist church in the world.

Outside of the church was a statue of John Wesley, or as I like to call him, J-Dubz. We're pretty much BFFs.

The chapel was staffed by these two adorable old men. I love them. They watched my suitcase for me, which is sort of like saying, "Kate, be my fake granddaughter!"

And that's not creepy at all.

The church looks like my grandparents' church, St. Barnabas Episcopal in Maryland. This makes sense because they were built around the same time, and Wesley was actually an Episcopalian--he never joined the church he accidentally founded.

Fun facts are why I earned this merit badge.

I also toured the museum upstairs, where Wesley used to sleep.

I felt my heart strangely warmed when I saw Wesley's bedroom, but that might have just been the greasy breakfast I had...

(That was a truly hysterical Methodist joke.)

The I Ate Lots Of Meat Merit Badge

Strictly speaking, this isn't nerdy, but it was rainy in Bristol, and I still had my suitcase. Instead of touring around museums I don't really care about with a killer suitcase, I stopped for lunch. I intended to eat somewhere uber-cheap, like KFC, but I ended up in Gourmet Burger Kitchen, which is only cheap (7 pounds for a meal). I'm obsessed. The burger was SO GOOD, and I'm an American. I know greasy hamburgers. I especially appreciated that I could get corn on the cob instead of fries, and they grilled that corn, and it was good. Amen.

The See, Mom? Sometimes I Do Normal Teenager-y Things Merit Badge

After lunch (which was in Cabot Circus, a fancy mall), I couldn't decide what to do. It was still rainy, so sitting outside was out. I had my suitcase, so shopping was out. I decided to hit up the movie theater.

Now, in a "normal" summer, where I am living at home and working up at the church, I spent a great deal of the summer at the movies. Movie Tavern has student tickets for $3 on Mondays and Thursdays, and Cinemark has $5 tickets if you go to the first showing. Denton also has a $2 second-run theater. If you don't buy food (which I don't), this is a pretty cheap way to entertain yourself. I love movies and dearly miss my Netflix subscription, which does not work in Europe.

All that to say that as I walked past, I suddenly really, really wanted to see a movie. The guys at the front desk very graciously kept my suitcase for me, and I popped into The Five-Year Engagement. I know it didn't get great reviews, but I found it hysterical. I also really appreciate that the Brits have like 20 minutes of commercials before the trailers. Brits, unlike Americans, also sit very quietly through these commercials. It's perfect.

The I Make Poor Choices When Picking Hostels Merit Badge

My hostel was 45 minutes from the city centre. I had like 30kg worth of luggage with me. It was in a sketchy neighborhood. People weren't wearing pants.

Sister: So, it's a family decision, we like your hostel friends' ideas of not wearing clothes on our bottom parts. So we threw out all your pants.

Me: I hate you.

The I Love Old Things Merit Badge

I took a day trip to Bath, which I am in love with. Bath is a cute little town where the Romans had a temple and hot springs. It was called Aquae Sulis, and it was really interesting.

I studied Aquae Sulis in Latin, and visiting it means I've visited all of the main places discussed in the Cambridge Latin Books: Pompeii, Rome, and Bath.

And if that doesn't qualify me for the Nerd Scouts, I have no idea what will.

The Sleeping In Public Places Merit Badge

Self-explanatory.

The Regurgitate Information For Everyone Else Merit Badge

You're not a nerd if you only live it once.