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.

5 Things That Make Me Happy

I'm back!  Many apologies for the recent silence web-wise.  I’ve recently moved into a new place with Robert and the past few months have been a flurry of apartment hunting, apartment moving, boxing up stuff, unboxing stuff and gathering furniture which has left my mind and my craft room in a heavy state of disorganization.  Now that I am slightly organized I had been trying to find a good place to start again without spontaneously just adding stuff when the lovely honeyed-rose sent me this challenge which I thought was a lovely way to get started again and back again to the swing of things. 

(Please note that there are no people on this list.  I purposely chose to avoid using people because the challenge was 5 “Things” that make me happy.  Also it is a given that Robert, Gigi and the rest of my family make me happy.  Not to mention that I have been blessed by so many people that it would be impossible to put them into a list of five.)

5.) Being Warm

(source)

A strange one yes, but you see I am very cold natured, even air conditioning makes me cold to the point that I tend to wear flannel pajama bottoms to bed in the summer.  I love to lay in the sun with sunscreen on of course and feel the heat just seep into my body.  I also love the feeling of being curled up in the covers early in the morning, cuddling next to my heater of a fiancé,  a warm bath or that feeling when you drink a hot cup of tea and feel it seep down all the way to your stomach.

4.) Water/Ocean

(source)

As mentioned earlier I love soaking up the sun.  There is no better place to do this than at the beach.  Growing up in Florida I was jumping in the water long before I even knew how to swim.  To me there is nothing more relaxing in the world than laying by the beach and dozing to the sound of the waves crashing in on the sand or lazily floating in the water in either the ocean or a pool.  I feel like it is impossible to be sad or upset when you are in the water.  If I am having a bad day and can’t make it to the beach then my next best option is a pool or even to take a long hot bath and soak almost completely submerged with my hair floating around me.

3.) Solitude

Source

Now I did state how much my family and friends mean to me and I don’t consider myself a recluse. But I do enjoy my solitude from time to time.  When I was in school I often had long breaks between my classes and work.  It was during these long breaks that I learned to enjoy spending time with myself.  Either by eating lunch on my own, wandering through thrift stores, sitting in a coffee shop in a corner booth, or simply enjoying the silence of an empty house. I have even once or twice gone to a movie on my own.  It can be a freeing experience.  I think everyone should learn to enjoy some solitude from time to time. As I get older I find these free moments rarer and rarer and I’m sure in the future they will become even rarer so I savor them as they come.

2.) Stories

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Ever since I was a little girl I’ve been an avid reader.  Fiction, nonfiction or even useless facts that I use to annoy people I enjoy it all.  Even now my book list has about twenty books on it.  “Then why,” you ask “did I put stories and not reading.”  Because I as I began writing this I remembered how I love watching movies and most recently listening to radio podcasts.  Anything that can create and amazing story. I love those books that just capture you and keep you glued to the pages until suddenly you realize that it’s midnight and you really should get to bedbutohjustonemorechapter.  Podcasts and TV series that leave you begging for the next episode.  Movies that leave you on the edge of the seat, biting your lip.  I feel like people tend to over analyze books and movies recently.  In my opinion a good story is based on how you feel while you are experiencing the story.  If you are having fun while watching/reading/listening to it then it’s a good story.  And a good story builds who you are.

1.) Creating

It was a close call between this and stories for number one.  In the end I decided that making things was top on my list.  As mentioned in earlier stores I’ve been doing various types of art since I was a kid and creating something out of nothing always makes me feel good.  I mean it’s amazing when you think about it.  One minute I have a bunch of wire, some beads, a blank page, or a pile of clay, and I can take these things and transform it to something new.  Something that people can enjoy. And though I’ve said it before it has opened up and amazing new world for me.  I’ve met so many friends and learned so much down this path. When people come up to my booth and tell me how much I love my stuff or I see someone wearing something I made, it gives me a wonderful feeling.