Using a lifelong love of Crafting and Design to build a small nerdy business
Welcome to my little nerdy shop! My name is Maureen, and this is my story!
I have always been a creative person, mostly in that I just loved to make things, learn how to make things, see what I can do. I had sketchbooks with drawings of Invader Zim and Dragonball Z. I'd draw on desks in school, paint on my arms, cover my notebooks and book covers in doodles, blank space meant potential!
I was also obsessed with making designs on the computer. When I was around 6 my Dad brought home a computer and my brother made a happy face in letters and seeing it printed it out just burned into my mind with amazement that a computer could do that! When ads started appearing for Toy Story, a completely computer animated movie, my love was solidified.
I would be on the computer every chance I got from then on (to the dismay of my parents sometimes). I'd make little animations with paint and movie maker, build Harry Potter websites on Geocities (yes, I'm that old), make covers for my anime fan club, I just loved seeing everything I could make. When I graduated high school I already had a decent portfolio and decided to go to school to get my degree in Graphic Design.
While there I started working at Joann Fabrics, where a whole new world of crafts was now in front of me. I started combining the 2 worlds to make unique designs, build out fun ideas, and just see what was possible. Flash forward to being out of college, getting married and find myself making things but then not knowing what to do with them, I started OuterNerd.
It started as a was to have a creative outlet after long days of corporate design to now trying to build a business and support my family by making design that show my love of gaming and nerdy culture, support positivity and mental health, and even just bring a little happiness to people.
