Steampunk Jewelry, Part 2

  
My friend Courtney reminded me today that I haven't posted anything new here for almost a month. Mainly, this is because I haven't had any new crafts to post about because I have been working so hard on getting ready for my first show at Soonercon (a comic convention in Oklahoma). I was making pendants (refer back to my first post about this topic) and my life exploded steampunk.


     Everyone in my family kind of jumped on board, from helping me take apart watches to coming up with new things to make steampunk-esque. My grandfather had a huge collection of keys, including some awesome skeleton keys, so those began to feature prominently in my work.

     Today was the first day of the convention and it was an interesting experience (shout out to: the guy who bought my very first piece; the girl who picked out my mother's favorite; and the little girl who loved the shiny, bling-ed out keys- thanks!) I will be putting up a page devoted to my work, so check back later for more on that.

Steampunk Jewelry

A sample of the pieces, right before they are baked

    As promised, I have a new craft for you, based on a steampunk aesthetic. Basically, this is a brass/metallic look including gears, sprockets, wires, etc. Steampunk is based upon an alternate version of reality; an idea of how our world would have developed differently if Victorian England had relied more heavily on steam power rather than developing electricity. There are tons of sources out there to describe how this look came about, so check some of that out for a better explanation. 

My craft zone for steampunk jewelry projects. You can see clay, embossing powder, as well as tools (in the soup can)

     My mom keeps checking out books on this aesthetic used in crafting and one of my really good friends recently went to a steampunk/scifi convention in Dallas that really got me into the idea. Especially when it comes to costuming and jewelry, I love make-believe and whimsy. This craft lends itself well to the beginner. Gathering all the little tidbits is probably the hardest part of the whole creative process. Luckily for me, I am a compulsive craft/object hoarder, so I often have lots of junk lying around dying to be played with and put in a project.

Vintage Goggles, meet Steampunk

                                     Steampunked!

 I got these vintage WWII era goggles at a flea market a couple of years ago. I thought that they looked really neat with the green glass inside the frames. Unfortunately, they were a little ravaged by time and most of the fabric on the sides was ripped off. That was a total bummer, but I figured I could always repair them if I needed. Then, I kind of forgot about them, thinking they made a cool vignette on my shelves.

    Recently though, my friend told me she needed a costume for a steam punk convention that her boyfriend wanted to go to around New Year's time. This gave me the incentive to take another look at the goggles, to see if I actually could repair them. After toying with them for a little while, I realized I wasn't going to save any of the fabric because it was literally falling apart in my fingers. I unscrewed the frames from the goggles and stripped all the fabric off of the wire and started fresh.