EPBOT

You guys, I've decided I need to learn leather-working. And yes, Emily L.'s sending me a link to these amazing steampunk bags MIGHT have had something to do with it:

Awwwwesome. These are by Iza of Iza's Art Shop over on DeviantArt, but lucky for us some of them are available on her Etsy shop.

I don't see that style listed right now, but this next one is!

Oh, and remember how I talked about making a hip bag that hangs from a belt by two straps? Well, check this action out:
 Those clips are genius: you can add a strap, or clip them to your belt loops! (Or make smaller straps to hang off your belt.) So cool!

Hit the links up there to shop, gawk or both.


Next up, Erick H. found the most astounding reproduction light bulbs:


These are from Ferrowatt Productions, which sells more styles of old-fashioned filament bulbs than I've ever seen. That one on the right is called the "Ball-O'-Fire," and I totally want one. Or maybe a dozen. (Hit the link to see a vid of it in action - flickery goodness!) Of course, you have to "request a quote" for all of Ferrowatt's bulbs, so I'm pretty sure that means I can't afford 'em. Poo.


For you Whovians out there, Norma E. spotted a fantastic steampunk sonic screwdriver:



And while we're at it, how about a steampunk K-9?



 Desiree spotted this delightful "K-1889" by James Richardson-Brown, and when I went to grab the link to his gallery, I found he'd made a gold and black version, too!


I stumbled across Nerfenstein Blaster Mods & Props by way of SuperPunch, and this gamer girl is my newest hero. In addition to making amazing homage blasters to games like BioShock and Portal, she also has a healthy steampunk obsession. Check out this Tesla she made, inspired by H.G. of Warehouse 13:


You can see more at her site (link above) or her DeviantArt page.


And finally, the original steampunk computer guy himself, Datamancer, has made a new laptop that goes beyond breathtaking:


If you've never seen Datamancer's other work, do yourself a favor and go check out his site. (If you've ever drooled over a steampunk keyboard, odds are he made it.) I still have a less-than-half-done keyboard tucked away inspired by his work, but if I ever win the lotto I'm totally commissioning one from the master. :)


Seen something steamy this week? Then show me the goodness! Link me up in the comments or over on Facebook!

I decided to start compiling all of your awesome Epbot art in one place, so this post will be the new gallery. Please excuse the formatting; Blogger is not thumbnail-gallery-friendly. (Grr.) Click any pic to embiggin, and if you have Epbot art to share, please send it to me at Jen {at} Epbot {dot} com!

By Caitlin T.

By Sean Boyd

By Miranda A.

By Paula H.

By Kayla B.

Jennifer's tattoo!

By Trish

By Carrie H.

By Ashley

By Mandi W.

By Genevieve L.

By Amanda R.

By Christine E.

Duct tape bookmark by Diana

By Dyani

By Shellie

By Ashley

By Isabella A.

By Jordan

By Hilary P.

By Rose T.

By Carrie H.

By Stephanie K.

By Elsie, age 10

By Renee

By Marilou

By Tristyn C.

By Ginni

By Jodee Rose

By Erin N.

By Marilou (tutorial here!)

By Victoria G.

By Kelli

By Dyani

By Keren

By Janet M.

By Beth R.

(See Part 1 here.)

It's always fun to see the costume trends at Dragon*Con. I think TARDIS dresses edged out Dalek dresses this year, and there was a veritable plethora of Katniss and Lady Thor cosplay.

The Lady Loki in the middle here is probably the most subtle I've seen, but I love her 1940's style; look how the feathers in her hat mimic the iconic horns!




And these ladies are wearing costumes based on artist shoomlah's "historical Disney princesses":


This group looked like they just stepped off the set of Hook - the Captain even looks like Dustin Hoffman!
Granted, I don't remember the Crocodile looking quite like that...but the rest are straight off the movie screen!

This pumpkin head guy was incredibly tall and skinny; if he stood still, it was hard to believe a person was in the costume: [UPDATE: per the comments, he's the Pumpkin King from Nightmare Before Christmas, aka Jack Skellington dressed as a Scarecrow.]
I think John said those two on the right are from Skyrim. They were so big, it was actually hard to get a decent photo of them together. [Correction: they're Protoss Zealots from Starcraft. Thx, guys!]

I believe this is a steampunk Vader on the right - the only one I saw all weekend:
The Stargate guy on the left stood like that for so long he could have easily startled the heck out of some people. When he removed the head piece some time later, I saw that he was a white-haired elderly gentleman, probably in his sixties. This makes me ridiculously happy. :)

I didn't see many Furries this year, but at one point there was some kind of meet-up in our hotel lobby. I've never seen a head with light-up eyes before, so I had to grab this shot. Plus, the jaw was articulated!
 I'm told The Penguin was one of the contestants on SciFi's Face-Off, a show I still desperately want to see. It's easy to see why he was on the show - that makeup is insane!


A cute steampunk couple, and the best Labyrinth pair I saw. (Another pair actually won in the Masquerade, but from what I saw, I think these two were a bit better. And yes, that's a girl cosplaying Jareth!)
This Totoro was so good you'd think he came straight out of a theme park:

A few days ago I found some fun in-process shots of this costume, too. Check it out: the guy inside is wearing the whole thing on a backpack - you can see the straps and overall structure here:



I'm probably biased because I love Peter Davison so much, but isn't Lady #5 on the right adorable??
(Btw, did you guys know David Tennant is married to Peter Davison's daughter? C'mon. That is AWESOME.)

And now, the prettiest steampunk Jessica Rabbit you ever will see:
Why, yes, she IS hitching up her skirt to show me her bullet garter in that second photo. See what a persuasive photographer I am? ;)

I was going to guess Halo on the left, but I'm pretty sure that's wrong. A little help?

[UPDATE: Turns out they're from Mass Effect. Thanks, guys!]
{HEYO!!} Sorry, sorry. I'm ashamed of myself, truly. (But I love the Zelda in the middle!)

I was thrilled to spot a lady Ironman - and one that didn't feel the need to add impractical boob armor, at that:


And finally, this Dad and his two sons really stole the show in their crazy-impressive robot suits:


At least one of the kids won the kids' division in the masquerade. I was curious why the red kid's suit was advertising the "easy" button from Staples, so I did a little research. It looks like the dad runs a Robot Costume company, so I'm guessing that suit was corporate sponsored. (Now there's a trend I hope doesn't take off: corporate sponsored cosplay?)


Regardless, the dad's suit was definitely the most impressive. That screen in the middle had a constantly moving pattern, and the suit itself looks like something straight out of The Transformers: