All the latest

Hey crafters!
Sorry it's been such a long time since I updated here. There's lots going on at the HQ. First off, I am honored and delighted to be featured in The Star Trek Craft Book published by Simon & Schuster. Angie Pedersen and her team at Becker Mayer did a great job putting it together. There are so many awesome crafts and I'm proud to be a part of it. It's available now, so click the book cover below to purchase yours on Amazon.

My crafts are featured on pages 84 and 85 and there's a nice "Personal Log" on page 75. Thank you to CBS and all involved in this project. Here are some shots of my sleeping masks featured in the book. Hope you all get plenty of rest while you look geek chic.

 

Glue Guns and Phasers' Mary Czerwinski was also featured on StarTrek.com in a nice interview.  They featured our Borg Cube Tissue Box Cover in honor of Best of Both Worlds coming out on Blu-ray in April. Click the image below to check out the awesome coverage. Big thanks to StarTrek.com for reaching out to us. 

In other news, we have been invited back to the annual Star Trek Las Vegas convention (August 8-11) at the Rio. We will leading another crafting workshop on Sunday morning for those who get there early as supplies will be limited. This is our third year doing crafts at the convention and we hope you all can join us again. I can't say what the project will be, but it's something both men and women can appreciate. Here is the photo posted on the Creation Entertainment site. We look forward to seeing all your smiling faces. 

Lastly, I know we haven't been that regular with our videos, but more are on the way. Each episode we'll be featuring a guest crafter. This is a bit different than our usual format, but I think it will be a great way to feature other fans. I am pleased to announce that our next video will feature costumer and cosplayer, Connor Bright. She has done costumes from The Hunger Games to Disney princesses. She's a Star Trek, Doctor Who and Batman fan who will be joining us at Star Trek Las Vegas as well. Welcome aboard, Connor! 

Mary will also be leading her annual, Trek Girls panel at Star Trek Las Vegas, tentatively slated for Friday of the con. She was also invited to join Jarrah Hodge at Geek Girl Con (Oct. 19 & 20) in Seattle to talk Star Trek & Feminism. Lots of exciting projects on the horizon. Stay tuned for more!

Episode 3: Home Decor From The Collective

Episode 2- The Halloween Show

We know you all procrastinate when it comes to Halloween costumes. If you're in a bind and need to come up with a cheap and quick Trek costume, we have just the thing for you. Introducing, "The Ghost of Redshirt." Happy Haunting!!!

Super Simple Starfleet Sharpie Mug

Here's a ridiculously easy craft you can do with some simple supplies. I chose to pay homage to Captain Janeway with my Sharpie coffee mug, but you can do any design or quote you like.

What you need:

Cheap white mug
Dry Erase Marker
Black Sharpie Marker
Template
Oven

Step One:
Locate a plain white mug. I got mine at the dollar store. I found a cool angular one that perfectly fit the delta shield shape.

Step Two:
Find the combadge of your liking online. Print it out. I used the Voyager-era combadge. Cut around the edges.

Step Three:
Stick your combadge on the side of the mug with some double-sided tape. Trace around your template with a Dry Erase Marker. This will make your design mistake-proof. If you mess up, just wipe away with a paper towel and start over.

Step Four:
Go over your design with a Sharpie for a lasting effect.

Step Five: 
Handwrite your favorite quote. I chose Janeway's "Coffee. Black." But, you could easily go with Picard's "Earl Grey. Hot."

Step Six:
Bake your mug in the oven for 30 minutes at 350 degrees. This will ensure the design stays on without smudging or scratching off. Remember, to use an oven mitt when taking it out and do not touch the design until it fully cools off. You might want to avoid putting it in the dishwasher just to be safe! Hand wash only.

Decoupage Next Generation Heels

I made a big splash at Star Trek Las Vegas sporting these homemade decoupage heels on the "Trek Girls Panel." I wanted to give you guys a brief tutorial on how to do your own. I chose TNG because of the 25th Anniversary being the con theme. However, you can choose any cast as long as there are comic books available that you don't mind cutting up. My original plan was to do some old Gold Key comics from the Original Series, but they are harder to find and would pain me to cut up (not to mention, pricey!). This was a first attempt at this project and a bit rushed as I did not acquire all the supplies until just days before leaving for Vegas. Note: all of the images on these shoes came from just one comic book. The book cost me only 50 cents at a used book store. The one I bought was from DC and Malibu Comics. It was called "Prophets and Losses" and was a TNG/DS9 crossover book. I opted to stick with just the TNG imagery from it, which made it even more challenging. Just wanted to do a quick shout out to my friend, Andrea, who did a Star Wars version of these that turned out beautifully!

Steps and Supplies:

High heels or the shoes of your choice
Star Trek comic book
Mod Podge (I used the outdoor variety)
Nail Polish (in the color of your choice)
White nail polish
Glue (optional)
Paint Brush (optional)
scissors
alcohol (not the fun kind!)

Step 1:
Apply alcohol with a rag to the bottoms of your heels to allow the nail polish to adhere better.

Step 2:
Use your white nail polish and brush to apply a primer to the bottoms of your shoes and heels.

Step 3:
Let dry for an hour.

Step 4:
Apply your colored nail polish directly on top of the white you just painted on. I used 'command gold' for mine. This may require a few coats, but remember to allow your shoes to dry in between coats. You also may need 2-3 bottles to cover the bottoms of your shoes. I bought mine at the Dollar Store. You can use your paint brush, but I preferred using the nail polish brush that came with it because I could be more precise. It took longer, but the coverage was even and cleaner around the edges of the shoes.

Step 5:
Cut out pieces of the comic books with great imagery on them. Remember to break it up with text bubbles, words and faces. Ships are also great, but keep in mind size limitation as shoes usually don't have a huge surface to cover.

Step 6:
Using glue or the Mod Podge, adhere the pieces in whatever design you would like. Then, Mod Podge over the top of the design to seal it. You can apply more than one coat. I glued pieces to the shoe itself, platform and heel, but that's up to you!

Step 7: 
To be absolutely sure your shoes aren't sticky, I would give them a couple of days to dry out. You'll know they are ready when the glaze is no longer tacky feeling.

Quick tips!
Store in a cool dark place. I had them in the trunk of the car on the road to Vegas and the Mod Podge became tacky again and the shoes stuck to each other. Luckily, Mod Podge makes it easy to repair torn pieces.

If you want the look that I created, you need to use really high heels. The higher the slope the more the color on the bottom of your shoes will show.

Also, when you are seeking out comic book pictures, bigger pieces look better and will require less work. I had one comic book to work from so I ended up having to piece together lots of little pieces, which ended up being really time consuming.

You can Mod Podge anything. It's such a versatile product. I plan on doing flower pots, belts and picture frames soon too! I hope you all enjoyed this tutorial. If you have any questions, leave me a comment below.

Here's me wearing mine on the StarTrek.com Trek Girls Panel at Star Trek Las Vegas. Stylish gear for an away mission, no? Thank you to Michael Nguyen for snapping this pic of my shoes in action!

Our First Video!

Brandi and I made this video a year ago, but for whatever reason it never got posted. We wanted to share it with you as we are getting closer to Star Trek Las Vegas. We will be hosting our annual Glue Guns and Phasers crafting workshop in the Brasilia Room at the convention on Sunday, August 12th at 8:10 am. It's early, so bring your coffee and a positive attitude as we make an all-new craft honoring the 25th Anniversary of The Next Generation.