WIP: Chokers

A day late but here is my latest work in progress piece.  These chokers were actually meant to be finished in time for Paracon but sadly they were not finished in time.  I will probably save them for etsy or sell them at the next con in December.

Something New: Resin Quartz Pendant

I've been playing with a mix of wire wrapping and resin lately.  This is the first of many resin that will be showing up soon.

Everyday Steampunk : Handbags

Today’s daily bit of steam is something  most women (and some men) just can’t do without: Handbags.

 This one is one of my favorites,  I purchased it from Modcloth. .  It’s one of my favorites for two reasons.  The first one is obviously the vintage feel and giant key gives it a steampunk vibe.  I looked around quite a bit before I could find one that not only had the style I wanted but one that was large enough to fit all my little daily items and occasionally my laptop or tools.  It was a little more than what I would normally pay for a purse but it's functional as well as pretty.  It works well for my day to day bag.

The second reason this bag is one of my favorites is that it marks the end of a very bad period I went through last year.  About June of last year I was laid off from my job, and while it was a job that I didn’t like to begin with it was at the time my only source of income.   It was a rough period for me. I had gone from working steadily since high school to being completely out of work.  My jewelry business was not at the point that I could support myself financially on it and a lot of things I had been looking forward to (wedding, moving in with my fiance, ect...) had to be put off.   I didn't like it and hit a really low point emotionally.   Luckily I had the support of my family and friends and after a few months I was able to land a job with a great company.  I've been there for six months now and couldn't be happier.  This bag was purchased with my second paycheck (the first went to some needed bills).  So it helps to remind me of not only that God has a path for me but that bad times do eventually pass and good things are waiting around the corner.

Sneak Peek Wednesday

I've been playing with resin this week.  I forgot how much I love working with the stuff.  Here are a few of the almost finished pieces.  Expect to see more soon.

Something New: Wire Hat

So another week begins and so does another new piece.   With Pensacola Paracon just finishing I thought  it would be fun to do the reveal on a project that I have been working on for a while now.  As mentioned in a few earlier blogs I have played with decorating hats before. 

 Well this time around I decided to see if I could make a hat from scratch.   Now sewing wise I am quite limited.  I don’t own a sewing machine nor do I know how to use one (of which I plan on correcting soon. ) This limits me to hand sewing which I'm not bad at but not too good for big projects. So this time around I decided to give my wirewrapping skills a test and Tadahh: Wire Hat!

The base of the hat is a thicker industrial wire that was leftover from my weeping angel costume from last year.  I formed this into the base of the hat. The thicker wire I could only get to wrap so much to the base was a bit shaky.  I remedied this by using thinner wire to enforce the shape.   I knew I would need a LOT of this thinner wire for what I had planned so instead of getting,  crafting wire I got a spool of gardening wire.  I wound this around the wire base two times to make the wire a bit more firm.  

After that I got to work on the brim of the hat.  This was the most time consuming part.  I would have to twist two pieces together.  This took the longest and I often just took the wire with me.  (I have since learned the drill trick which will be good for later projects)  I would then fasten the wire into half of a heart with a bit of a swirl at the end and attach it to the brim.  I then mirrored the action on the other side of this and attached the middle of the two hearts together. 

  I did this all around the brim.  I then added a drop of solder to the edge of each heart to keep any pieces from scratching or snagging on anything it.  Once the brim was finished I began work on the sides.  I played around with a few different ideas.  I originally thought of doing lots and lots of swirls, a crisscross pattern, I even played around with making giant hearts to match the brim. Finally I settled on a mixed pattern with twirls.  I then added the gears and assorted beads to the mix and attached them via chain.

Finally I took some of the extra pieces of ribbon from my ribbon box and laced it around the top and the bottom of the hat to both add a final touch and to give it a bit of cushioning.

And Tah Dah! Wire hat!  

The entire project took about a month to two weeks.  (I’m afraid I can’t give a specific time as I moved while in the middle of working on this and had to shelve it for a bit.)  I enjoyed the final result so much that I ended up making a full costume for it which I debuted at Paracon.  

I got so many compliments on the hat an even may have a few commissions for them.  I may do a few more of these in the future but for now I am off to the next bit project.  Airship!

Convention Photo Wednesday!

Hello there all!  Another Wednesday has come and time for another Random photo Wednesday!  With Pensacola Comic Convention (aka Paracon) having come and gone I thought we would switch it up this week.  For once I managed to take a plethora of decent photos of most of the amazing costumes.  So for your pleasure.  Instead of a single random photo you get many lovely Con photo's.

My Day 1 outfit.  Made entirely to center around my hat.

Miss Kenzey in her steampunk glory

Our Guild Mistress and beau as a pair of Lokies

Our Guild Starlord, currently missing his jacket.

There's the jacket!

That staff!

Rawr

Sweet assassins creed cosplay

They were happy because we recognized her as Dark Phoenix.

Pretty Fairy Dog

This was a awesome Mad Max

Another Guildie 

This doll made our creepy doll look cuddly.

I was so excited to see this She-rah

Day 2.  Got my picture with the Master!

I may have had a bit too much fun and was arrested by the Gotham City Police.  

Luckily I had a very good and very tiny lawyer.

Oh Commissioner Gordon!

Many a Guild Cat was arrested that day.

The Lokies are finally captured.

I chased this guy down.  Best Darth Vader ever!

This tiny pyramid head was awesome.

I love your nails!

Tess Barnett at her first solo panel.  She rocked it even with the rowdy Steampunk girl in the first row bringing up embarrassing middle school stories up.



These were just a few of the awesome costumes and shenanegans that went on that day.