Saturday, March 24, 2012

Saturday Steam 3/24/12: More Sparklies!

It may sound like a contradiction when I say I like my steampunk either covered in rust and rivets or blinding me with sparkly gems, but to quote the Dowager Countess, "I'm a woman. I can be as contrary as I choose."

Now, on to the sparklies!


Spotted by Julia S.; Seahorse Earrings, $36 (but already sold! Boo!) by Hedgerow Rose

I realize these have no gears or cogs or watch bits on them, but they still have a Victorian vibe with those large gems. And I could totally see Captain Nemo giving them to a lady friend. But mostly I just reeeeally love seahorses.


Ok, here's something more on the gears-and-rivets side:

"Wind Up My Heart" $145 by Lost Wax

The little hatch opens! And the heart is filled with a wind spring and gears! Ack! SO COOL.

Another design from the same company:

"Mechanical Heart," $145

I'm really digging that copper patina with the tiny brass rivets; it's perfect for adding a little steam to your casual everyday wear. I think I'd rock this with a white tank top and jeans. And a leather corset.

(Just kidding.)
(It's WAY to hot for leather right now.)
One last piece from Lost Wax, because I could only narrow my favorites down to three:

"Heart Flight," $60

Rivets and keyholes and winged hearts, oh my!


Last month "Nararabbit" (if that's her real name) designed this custom gear ring for her husband for Valentine's day:

That's the CAD design on the left, and the actual ring on the right, which was made with rose gold. Pretty sweet, right? Here's a close-up:
You can get all the specs and more details on the thread here. (And thx to Abbey for the link!)


Jyl A. found a reproduction Victorian locket that is surprisingly cool:



Rotating Locket Trio Necklace, $29
It has three separate lockets! And it rotates!
I'd say the "nifty gizmo" factor alone is worth about thirty bucks, amirite?


Amanda U. sent me a link to Red Peacock Designs, which has lots of nice watch movement jewelry like this:


But they also do some neat things with vintage wristwatch cases:


(Not their steamiest design, obviously, but omigosh so cute!)

I recently snagged a few small wristwatches for $2 each from an antique fair to try something like this. I'd love to fill them with resin and tiny charms or gems or even watch gears, like Red Peacock does, but I think I'd hang them sideways to take advantage of the watch band brackets already there.

Anyway, the moral is: never throw away your old watches!


This next one isn't exactly steampunk. So sue me. :)

His and her anniversary pendants - together they form a heart!

I just love the shiny copper and silver together, and that stylized wing design is fabulous.

Made by DeviantArt member kry1, who has a jewelry store here. (Sadly these aren't available, though, since this was a commission piece.)


I think this next one is my favorite of everything in today's post:

Hot Air Balloon Earrings, $20 at ElainaLouiseStudios
(More colors at her store, & thx to Liz S. for the link!)


Glass hot air balloon earrings! Aren't they AMAZING?! Whimsical and steamy and fun and elegant all at the same time.

Plus, the same shop has these:

Orange and Copper, $14

Mmmm, steamy orange goodness.

She also has a hot air balloon necklace for the sad people like me who don't have pierced ears. [sad face] Although those orange earrings are so awesome I'm tempted to get them anyway and convert them to clip-ons. If only I could find copper clip-on bases...


Well, that's it for today, 'punkers! As always, if you spot a steamy sparkly somewhere, please, send me the link!


[UPDATE: Lisa from Elaina Louise Studios just e-mailed to tell me she can convert almost any of her earrings to clip-ons! She uses these fabulous bases:

They're screw-back, which I've found to be the most comfortable option, and the added spring clip is just genius. Huzzah! My bank account is in so much trouble right now.

24 comments:

  1. Hi Jen.

    I saw your lament that you couldn't find copper clip on bases. Well, here you go. These ones are made to look like pierced, but aren't. cool, huh?

    amazon Pierced-Look Antique Copper

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  2. I love that you don't have pierced ears, because I never had mine done either. Then I bought a backhoe and had to turn in my girl card for an honorary man card. *Sigh* But I WANT that fairy house necklace.

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  3. Another clip-on copper option here: http://www.etsy.com/listing/91471006/screwback-earring-components-copper
    Although they may be a bit shinier copper than you're going for. I guess you could always use gold colored bases and paint them... I like this kind: http://www.etsy.com/listing/59225510/pierced-look-clip-on-earring-components.

    Huzzah for non-pierced ears, BTW!

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  4. Oh! I have that rotating locket! I've had it for years, after stealing it from my mom. A friend of mine calls it my time-turner.

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  5. Why don't you have pierced ears? Why don't you just put your big girl panties on and go get it done??? ;-)

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  6. Wow! Thank you for the feature in your blog along with these other beautiful jewelry :D I found the link from my shop's stats :)

    Yes, sadly, I wouldn't make more of the Cupid's Wing pair but I do take commissions to make whatever design you want (as long as they are doable, of course. lol!)

    <3
    Kharisma.
    Popnicute.com

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  7. I saw this the other day and immediately thought of you. Not really sparkly, but still steamy and cute, so you'll still like it:

    steampunk owl

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  8. jen,
    i thought you might like this iphone case
    -kate

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  9. Check out Steampunknation on Etsy - it's where I buy all of my steampunk necklaces and bracelets....LOVE IT!

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  10. LOVE the seahorses and the hot air balloons!

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  11. Ooooh! I needed sparklies for my DragonCon costume. Thanks!

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  12. (First off, I get that opening bit now, cuz I finally got around to watching Downton Abbey, woohoo!) Between your Saturday Steam posts, taking my boys to see Hugo in 3D, and viewing several Steam Powered Giraffe vidoes, all in one weekend, I feel like disassembling an old clock and making something pretty and sparkly and steamy out of it. Only one problem: all my clocks are digital. *sigh*

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  13. You're promoting clip ons? THANK YOU! *Hates needles and loves the look of wearing earrings*
    I'm going to have to start my Christmas list a little early this year...

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  14. I found a pair of earrings at Kohls last night on sale for $18 that had beads just like the hot air balloon glass beads, but different colors. They weren't designed like hot air balloons, but I bought them so I could reuse the beads to make my own balloon earrings. :)

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  15. MUST HAVE THOSE SEAHORSE EARRINGS. Now. Commencing now.

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  16. Lovely choices - you are very, very bad for our budget. I agree about the glass hot air balloons: whimsical, steamy, fun, elegant, and hence perfect!

    (Neither here nor there, but also I feel the need to point out the serial commas WITH an Oxford comma, thangyouberymug. We've been naming all the commas in Comp I, and whenever I teach this section, I get them completely stuck in my head.)


    ~ Haiku Joy

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  17. You have seen the TARDIS wedding ring, right?

    Just Google it :)

    Adrienne

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  18. Just be careful with old vintage watches that glow in the dark. they have tiny bit of radioactivity and are less than healthy to play with when open. look here:
    http://www.epa.gov/radtown/antiques.html

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  19. I want to thank you for introducing me to steampunk - through Epbot I've developed quite a liking for the style, so I was really excited when the theatre group I'm in this year said that the fairies in our production of Iolanthe (a Gilbert & Sullivan musical) would be dressed as Victorian Steampunk Fairies! Our show is this weekend, so if you happen to be in Durham, NC, come see us at the Carolina Theatre. If not, watch this http://youtu.be/Mo-9zs7zGrU excerpt from our final rehearsal - although not all of the steampunk hats and bling were done at that point.

    -jklGoDuke

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  20. I found these http://www.chapmanjewelry.com/Ear_Savers/ear_savers.html a while back, for a friend, but she says they can be a bit difficult to use.

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  21. Hi! I LOOOOVE your blog. Especially the steampunk jewlery. So I found this website and thought of you. http://www.fairyglen.com/steampunk.html
    The first item I think you'll want is the I heart steampunk t-shirt with the mechanical heart. Then scroll down slowly to not give yourself a heart attack. (I would be very very sad). There are eight steam guns as well as much cool jewlery.
    Please keep feeding my geek/steampunk needs. I need to send some steampunk book titles to you too. Someday when I'm not too busy reading your blog...

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  22. Thanks so much for the info on the three-sided locket. That's even better than what I had in mind to get someone for a gift. You can add "personal shopper" to your resume!

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  23. Nuts! Redpeacock crashed as I was checking out with my bridesmaid gifts *sad panda*

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