Monday Motivation

Monday Motivation

Steampunk Costume Ideas for Ladies & Lil' Ladies

The best part about making your own costume is that you have total aesthetic control. The greatest benefit to a handmade Halloween is that you are not inhibited by a limited selection (and do not have to weigh those unappealing options--like deciding between a slutty nurse  costume or a ladybug for you or your child). It seems like most costumes these days for women fall into 2 categories: hyper-sexual or infantile. This is precisely the kind of social issue that drives the Take Back Halloween project. Take Back Halloween is a blog & website that offers up ideas on how to create costumes for women & girls that are not only imaginative, fun, and yes even macabre but empowering and inspiring. Their costumes are based on real women (a smattering of scientists, queens, explorers, and entrepreneurs) and also strong female figures from world mythologies. I've been a fan of their blog for some time, I find its dedication to positivity and multiculturalism refreshing and I wanted to share it with those of you who are figuring out what you'd like to be this Halloween.

Here are some Victorian women--who you could either emulate or steampunk (I offer a couple of steampunking suggestions for each lady)!

1) Ada Lovelace: Aristocrat Scientist & Daughter of Lord Byron

Steampunk Suggestions: "Nowadays she’s recognized as 'the world’s first computer programmer,'" drawing from this fact you create a cool accessory (a fan, necklace, or pair of earrings perhaps) out of an old computer circuit board or if you feel daring--a masquerade style mask made out of computer parts!

2) Carlota of Mexico: Renowned Beauty & Empress of Mexico

Steampunk Suggestions: Carlota was famous for her jewels and in fact Take Back Halloween points out that "(They’re still famous—one of her diamonds sold at auction in 2010 for 1.7 million dollars.)." Steampunking Carlota would be simple & elegant--painting gears over crystal glass beads (which you would then use to make a pair of dangly earrings) or a pearl necklace with a cog/gear pendant & pearl dangling from the bottom. If you feel particualrly adventurous, you might even create a cog & gear crown for yourself.

3) Emma Goldman: American Anarchist & Activist, nicknamed “Red Emma”

Steampunk Suggestions: Accessorizing to look like Emma Goldman is steampunk enough! It's be easy. Pince-Nez glasses, button up boots, & her fantastic Victorian style hats.

4) Jane Austen: Needs No Introduction! Technically she's not Victorian, but regency costumes are fun too!

Steampunk Suggestions: Why not be Jane Austen, Vampire Hunter or Zombie Killer?! Accessorize with not only a deadly pen but a broadsword or stake!

5) Lise Meitner: Nuclear Physicist who discovered Nuclear Fission

Steampunk Suggestions: To accompany your outfit, grab tubes & bottles and fill them up with various liquids & stick a glow stick inside to give them a radioactive luminescence and goggles are a must (laboratory safety after all!).

6) Lizzie Borden: Murderess (hey, it’s Halloween!)

Steampunk Suggestions: Leg-o-mutton sleeves are a must, blood spattered spats, and an axe!

7) Madam C.J. Walker: Self-Made Millionaire & One of America’s first Female (and Female African American) Entrepeneurs

Steampunk Suggestions: My favorite picture of Madame C.J. is of her driving--such an empowering image of a mobile woman--a force to be reckoned with! I suggest some driving goggles, gloves, and a large opulent hat!

8) Susan B. Anthony: Suffragist Extraordinaire!

Steampunk Suggestions: Keep it simple--wear a Votes for Women sash or bring a sign or soap box to stand on throughout the night!

9) Queen Victoria: I'd recommend that you watch the movie The Young Victoria starring Emily Blunt for good ideas

Steampunk Suggestions: This is another costume that is easy to steampunk--you hardly have to do anything or you could re-interpret Queen Victoria into your own steampunk narrative--how about a robot Queen Victoria? You could draw gears on your skin (particularly at your joints) with henna or face paint and make a huge wind up key out of cardboard and run 2 lengths of ribbon on each side of the cardboard pieces so that you could fasten to your back like a belt!

10) Annie Oakley:Nicknamed "Little Sure Shot," Annie Oakley was a force to be reckoned with. She could hit any target no matter how small and was a part of Buffalo Bill's traveling Wild West Show. Annie designed and sewed all of her own clothes for the show too!

Steampunk Suggestions: A steampunk version of Annie Oakley would be fun and rather simple. You could keep the costume relatively the same, and just create a steampunk blunderbuss or rifle. Other ideas are using steampunk gear buttons, like the kind you can purchase at JoAnn Fabrics, in lieu of traditional wood or brass buttons in her costume.

11) Marie Curie: Who wouldn't want to dress up as the first woman to win a Nobel Prize?! Marie Curie is a famous scientist, best known for discovering radiation/radium. A costume of Curie would also be simple, but there are certainly ways to steampunk it!

Steampunk Suggestions: You could 'punk it up with accessories like a steampunk eyeglass or monocle. Props are key--a couple of old beakers filled with glow in the dark liquids would be really cool. You could also paint your costume with glow in the dark paint for a radioactive Marie Curie. It would make the costume a bit more spooky and macabre since Curie died of radiation poisoning.

12) Queen Liliuokalani:  Liliuokalani was the last reigning monarch of Hawaii. According to Take Back Halloween, "She came to the throne in 1891 as a pro-native, pro-woman advocate for her people, and quickly found herself at odds with the American businessmen (sugar barons, pineapple planters) who wanted to annex the islands to the United States."

Steampunk Suggestions: Steampunk through accessories--a steampunk rhinestone necklace and sash!

Good luck brainstorming & creating your Halloween costumes! Check out Take Back Halloween for more ideas!

A Very Steampunk Christmas

It's been a while since I've posted, and I've missed writing (but I do get to do plenty of that at my new job at Tulsa World where I am now feeling quite at home). Although we're well into the New Year, I thought I'd still tell you about this Christmas. It was very Steampunk indeed! My mom sewed me an exquisite Steampunk quilt. I love each of the blocks--the Victorian ladies are part human, part sewing machine & dress form, and sewing notions are strewn about their hair. It's a quirky quilt that reminds me of both my mom (who first introduced me to steampunk and jewelry making) and of my grams (who taught me how to sew & quilt). Each of the blocks is interesting and fun with bright bursts of color. What I also love is that each piece of fabric has a subtle background with quotations about sewing & quilting or just the act of creating things.

This is my favorite block. It sums up the feeling of being in my gram's kitchen at the table, everyone tinkering, sewing, baking, and filling the room with our imaginations, laughter, and conversation. We truly are knit together in love--a love of each other & a love of making things.

My Uncle John (who I lovingly call Uncle Crab) found a neat pair of old goggles for me to steampunk. He is one of my best scavengers of junk. He and the rest of my family send me care packages of flea market treasures. I love getting my "snit supplies" (Snit is his nickname for me).

A tradition of my mom's is to get my brother, Caleb, and I a new calendar every year as one of our presents. A practical gift, but one I look forward to getting every year. My mom always finds us calendars with art or styles we like. She outdid herself this year! I absolutely flipped when I unwrapped mine.

The calendar is titled "Things Come Apart" by photographer, Todd McLellan. Each month is a different object--broken apart and photographed to show its various components. Some were more complex than I had guessed--like a Swiss Army knife! What I love about repurposing old objects is taking them apart, and often I am surprised at the inner mechanics and the sheer amount of pieces. 

My favorite present was given to me by my future mother-in-law. Lory gave me her mother's periwinkle rhinestone choker. Jewelry that's passed down is precious. It's heritage, and I was so deeply moved by her gift. Rhinestones are a love of mine to begin with--when I was a little girl my mom gave me her rhinestone bracelet--it was broken and missing a few of the stones--but I felt like a queen whenever I wore it. It still has the same effect as it did then. I still have that bracelet, and to this day I prefer rhinestones over diamonds.

I won't be a stranger; I have been busy in the studio and wedding planning is well underway. More about that next week!

Something Old, Made New

First off, I'd like to thank my lovely friend Irina. She donated her old jewelry & accessories to me and I have been having a wonderful time re-inventing these treasured pieces. I am fortunate that many of my friends, family members, and fans will occasionally send me things to upcycle. It is the greatest kind of support & it brightens my day. And best of all, I encounter pieces that I might not otherwise come across. So thanks to anyone who's ever donated materials to me. I truly enjoy breathing new life into old objects--especially classic or traditional jewelry. Here's a before & after look at one such piece.

Before

What I love about the original piece is its color contrast: the rich red against a muted silver. It's also reminiscent of a Indian style of jewelry.

After

In altering this piece, I wanted to stay true to the multicultural feel of the original. I added two grandfather clock gears, muted silver chain that closely matches the silver in the rest of the necklace, and the large metal cabinet decoration. In lengthening this piece, and by giving it a large textured focal point, it is more of a statement piece of jewelry. The disruption of the pattern is what really transforms this necklace into an one-of-a-kind piece. If you want to transform or update an old favorite, think about changing or even disrupting your necklace's pattern, introducing another color or texture, or even combining two favorites together to form something new!

Labors of Love--New from My Steampunk Studio

It's been a wonderful three day weekend. I finished a quilt, made a beautiful bouquet locket for my cousin's wedding next weekend (pictures to follow in another post), and tinkered around making new steampunk creations. Thought I'd share a few with you! The Airship Mechanic's Necklace is reversible. On one side is a gage and on the other a ruler. Flipping over the skeleton key, you can show off both sides! I love it when pieces are reversible!

A new product for me--rings! These are a fun cluster of gears, tiny machine parts, and sewing notions.

This ring is a chain & gear cascade. I love how each layer falls over each other and a perfect blend of silver, gold, back, and bronze glint off your skin.

And this last ring is a medley of washers & gears! You'll all definitely by seeing these new rings at my next show!

I've also been making more steampunk bookmarks--which is perfect because it's back to school!

I've had this embroidered rose filigree pin for a while and finally the right key came along! Don't they make a cute pair?

And finally, this cool travel pin which I adorned with gears, chain, and machine parts. Perfect for any airship or flight enthusiast. That's a little peek at what I've been up to this weekend.

The Beauty of Collaboration

This weekend my jewelry & accessories were used in a steampunk fashion shoot & workshop for photographers. Here is a selection of stunning photographs taken by the very talented Chuck Coleman, of CCI Agency and Steamers World,  to whom I owe a tremendous Thank You. Chuck captured photos that seem as if they were plucked from one of the many fictional worlds that inspire me! I can't wait to see how Chuck's artistry grows and hope that this will be the start of many more collaborations! Pictured above is the Frankly Scarlet Top Hat, Skeleton Umbrella, Golden Gear Cameo Necklace, and Spring Earrings! Pictured above is the Pocketwatch Bow Tie (a favorite of mine!) and a Royal Steampunk Medallion. Is this chap dashing?

Pictured above is the Time Conductor's Top Hat, Steampunk Princess Braclet, Royal Crest Medal, Spring Earrings, and a Steampunk Bicycle Gear Necklace. Strong, beautiful, and not to be trifled with!

Pictured above is the Steampunk Highlander Hat, Compass Slave-Bracelet, Royal Steampunk Crest Medal, Simply Steampunk Gear Bracelet, and a Royal Steampunk Medallion.

Time for tea? Why I don't mind if I do! Pictured above is the Airship Propeller Necklace, Tim-Traveler's wrist watch, Steampunk Medal, Keyhole Gear Lariat, and the Tick-Tock Bow Tie! Does he look like an Earl Gray to you? (Pardon the pun! It was too delicious to resist!)

This dapper dame is wearing the Aunte Mame Bowler (my mom's favorite) and a pair of dangly gearrings! Isn't she fabulous?!

And last, well for now--I will be posting these pictures and more on my gallery page, is this wonderful photo! Pictured on the gentlemen are two Royal Crest Steampunk Medals and a Royal Steampunk Medallion. On the lovely lady, is the Golden Gear Cameo Necklace, Compass Bracelet, Gearrings, Time Conductor's Top Hat, and of coarse, the skeleton umbrella!

Thanks again to Chuck Coleman, to all of the fabulous models, and to all of the other artists who collaborated to make this shoot possible! Now, off to make more steampunk treasures!

Steampunk Flea Market Finds!

I got a lovely care package from my family in New York today. In typical care packages, most people find their favorite sweets and little trinkets & edibles. Mine, however, are filled with machine parts, cuckoo clock innards, and flea market finds from my whole family. It's really wonderful to get one of these packages and it often results in holing myself up for the next few days and creating lots of new steampunk pieces. There are so many great finds that I had to share them with you! The first thing I found inside was this dainty little bracelet. Clearly it belonged to a lady named Margaret and was a token of her love of Everett. Margaret & Everett sittin' in a tree...K-I-S-S-I-N-G. Pieces like this always make me wonder--were they ever married, or did their love had some torrid end? Another treasure I unwrapped was a broken pocketwatch. Some pocketwatches are engraved with a maker's seal or brand. The most fascinating tidbit of history is that this pocketwatch is stamped with the word "Remontoir" which indicates that this watch is powered by a mainspring on its own. Before 1860, even pocketwatches had to be wound with a clock key. Another wonderful detail is that the clock is engraved with the original owner's name--a Mr. Irving Abel. 

My godmother found this next piece, a silver & pearl pin with the words--"Ais Urites Es Usaugu" written on the front. The pin features a women standing underneath a tree by a lake at sunset. I had searched for a translation of the words to no avail. I believe they are a Latvian dialect & that the woman under the tree is Zeme māte, or Mother Earth, a figure in Latvian dainas (or folktales). If anyone has come across this before, please let me know--I'd love to pick your brain.

My family, knowing my love of old photos, sent me a tintype photograph of 3 young ladies. I am assuming they are sisters. There is no information about them scrawled on the back. I am left to ponder what their names were and what their lives were like. Here's a close up of the sisters.Among other flea market treasures, there was a whisk-holder which I am happily converting into a business card holder; a wooden puzzle piece of Oklahoma; and some vintage jewelry to upcycle.Another piece that sparked my curiosity were the Springfield Street Railway Co. coins. The company, originally called Palmer and Monson Street Railway, operated out of Springfield, Massachusetts and changed its name in 1901. The coins are from anytime between 1901 and 1927 (when the company stopped its operation and changed to the bus system). A fare was 5 cents. More about the Springfield Street Railway Co. can be found in Albert Sutton Richey's quantitative study, Traffic and Operation: Springfield Street Railway Company published in 1917.

Well, I am just bursting with ideas & creativity--can't wait to upcycle these incredible pieces of history!

Happy Mother's Day! or, The Story of How My Mom Saved Christmas

Happy Mother's Day everyone, but most importantly to you Mima! You are my best friend, my greatest collaborator, and my biggest source of inspiration. I love you so much. This post is dedicated to you, to Grammy, and of coarse to all the mammas out there teaching their daughters & sons to grow up believing that they can achieve, imagine & create anything.

It may sound kind of silly or corny but moms to me are real-life superheroes. The feats they accomplish, the disasters they avoid, and the sacrifices they make in silence for their children leave me with a sense of awe and humility and an unshakable faith that people are good.

In the spirit of Mother's Day I am going to tell you a story (one my mom never tells) and it involves 2 rings. When I was in elementary school and my family was living in North Carolina (in a little town called Supply), my dad was laid off from his job. It was close to Christmas and work was hard to find. We were poor and it looked like we weren't going to be able to have a Christmas at all. We didn't have the money for a tree or presents. My brother, Caleb, and I didn't know this until 10 years later when my mom let it slip when we were talking about class rings and how significant and important they were. We asked my mom if she still had hers and that's when we found out that she had hocked it along with her engagement ring so that she could buy a Christmas tree and some presents for the both of us. That's the story of how my mom saved Christmas--and in truth, our childhood. Caleb and I grew up happy--we were never really poor because we had (and have) what we really needed--love. So hug your mom extra tight because you may not know just how much of a superhero she really is.

Rainy Saturday in the Studio

Rainy days are wonderful--perfect for naps, reading, and working in my studio creating all kinds of steampunk jewelry while watching a frightening amount of sci-fi movies & television. Suffice it to say--rainy days are something I look forward to. I just finished reading the last book in Cassandra Clare's Mortal Instruments trilogy--Clockwork Princess. I rarely review the books  that I read for fun on my blog (I save that for my academic life) but I will make an exception for this last book because I want to encourage you all to read it. I won't spoil Clare's carefully thought out and brilliantly executed plot--so do not fear reading this modest review any further. As an ardent bibliophile, the epigraphs to chapters & the poetry & fiction quoted fervently by the characters creates a story informed by a kind of meta-narrative. Though anyone can enjoy Clare's exciting trilogy--it is the well-read person of Victorian literature that is rewarded (for it helps clue in the reader as to characters' true feelings and establishes another layer of Clare's already vivid world--a literary one in which she situates two of her main characters, Will and Tessa). Not only are Will and Tessa voracious readers--but literature becomes for them a language, or shorthand in communicating with one another. Literature is also a coping mechanism for both characters--when faced with moral ambiguity or great challenges both imagine themselves as other characters and then pose the same obstacles & questions to the characters they imagine so that Will and Tessa may arrive at answer/action.

Literature also offers comedic relief. Here is one of my favorite passages from a Clockwork Princess (which pokes fun at a very strange, and often overlooked, instance in Charlotte Bronte's Jane Eyre):

"Mr. Rochester never courted Jane Eyre," Tessa pointed out.

"No, he dressed up as a woman and terrified the poor girl out of her wits. Is that what you want?"

"You would make a very ugly woman."

I laughed out loud when I read that. Not only did I enjoy the book's humor and literary play but also its subtle feminism. Tessa is a sturdy, complex character who is not defined by the love triangle in which she finds herself (and also might I add--there is no obvious choice--as a reader I was rooting both for Jem & Will). Tessa does not stand idly by while others fight and indeed she rescues herself throughout the series. More importantly, on a more miniscule level Clare's writing does not undermine the strength of her character--despite at times when Tessa falls into the role of damsel or love-interest because, in the words of her suitors, "She did not belong to Will--she was too much herself to belong to anyone, even Jem--but she belonged with them" instead. The novel vilifies the objectification of women (represented by the villain & his thoughts and actions toward Tessa) and champions gender equality & love based first and foremost on friendship and respect. Besides all that--it is one of those trilogies that will keep you up until the wee hours of the morning reading.

As a result of this fantastic story--and vivid steampunk world--I have been so inspired and been creating all kinds of new pieces. Here's a little of what Clare's book inspired & what I've been making this rainy Saturday.

Rhinestone, Washer & Gear Necklaces--I have had steampunk weddings on the brain now for a while.

And here's a pair of gearrings--for that sweet bookish someone in your life! I've also been working on some new displays (will reveal more in my next blog post so stay tuned--until then here's a sneak preview)!

What have you been reading? What do you do on your rainy days?

Saying Goodbye to Popu

Sometimes words fail us--as beautiful and powerful as they are they still sometimes fall short of summing up our love for those we care most about. My grandfather, Popu as we call him in our family, passed away on Monday. He was a great many things: a veteran of the Korean War, a milkman (when such a profession existed), and later a truck driver. He wore blue coveralls for most of my life--I never saw him in much else and he drank his coffee in a cream white mug with a border of pale blue around the lip--a gift from one of my uncles. He whistled all the time and his laugh carried with it a lightness that could only infect those around him with happiness. And best of all whenever he talked about his & my gram's first date his face lit up with the memory. What I remember best was his constant tinkering. He was always fixing or fiddling with something up in the barn. My niece and I'd favorite thing to do when we went for walks was to visit Popu up in the barn. We took a walk up to the barn today to visit Popu and remember him.

I can't tell you what Popu means to me--the words don't come out right. And there's a knot in my throat. But perhaps I can show you. I need to, because without him, I would not be the tinkerer I am today or the person I am and will be. My own studio space is very similar--it's by a large window and there are jars & drawers filled with things for tinkering, for fixing, for making. My favorite part of Popu's barn has always been his drawer of doorknobs. My mom has always loved his jar of paintbrushes. Popu gave me so much. He gave me something so special and so important--my name. I may not believe in much but I believe in the power of names. A name is like a sturdy bannister--it guides you along to who you will become. My mom named me Samantha because Popu nicknamed her Sam growing up and she always loved it. It was because of him that she chose it and there was a time that I hated my name (in Kindergarten, I wanted to be called Christina instead) but today I am so grateful and proud to be called Sam. It feels like a sturdy name and a beloved one. I will miss Popu everyday and I can only hope to make him proud. Thanks for letting me share what little I could find the words to express. 

Hope Your Halloween was Spooktacular!

It has been a truly wonderful week! I met one of my very favorite Steampunk authors, Gail Carriger this past Saturday. Thanks to Nimrod International Journal for bringing Ms. Carriger to T-town. At her lecture,  I learned what inspires and influences Carriger as an author (Gothic Romance, in particular Lewis's The Monk and Radcliffe's The Mysteries of Udolpho) and what Steampunk as a genre borrows from the Gothic. Carriger herself is as delightful and sincere a person you could expect. More often than not you wait with baited breath to meet an author you truly enjoy or admire only to discover that as a person, they're quite egotistical, terrible, etc.  Carriger graciously allowed those in attendance to interrupt her talk with questions & comments. She generously (and preparedly, much like Alexia herself--armed & ready) gave advice to hopeful genre writers. After her talk, I waited in line for her to sign the manga version of Soulless and to give her some of my jewelry creations that she inspired. I was so nervous--I hardly said anything (I get so tongue tied sometimes!) and while I didn't get to see her open my gift, she did blog about it so I know she liked it! Inspiring me as always, I had come up with an artful & steampunk way of wrapping her gift and as a result, I now have several ideas for steampunk gift wrapping. DIYS to follow soon in December!

Halloween was fabulous! For the very first time ever, I had trick-or-treaters and boy was I ready! A couple of friends came over and we ate pizza on my stoop armed with 2 brimming bowlfuls of candy (the good stuff!). I had chalked the sidewalk, lit up the steampumkins, put on my steampunk costume (a space rustler) and decorated my door with ghoulish scenes! It was a blast!

Today, I've been sipping tea (tea cup pictured above--it has a square bottom! I have never seen one like that before, now I am obsessed. Must find a square bottomed tea cup to call my own!) and doing inventory. And I am proud to announce that you can now find Bohemian Romance Steampunk Jewelry in Oklahoma City at the OKC Dwelling Spaces!

I have another exciting announcement, I will be adding a new element to my blog--fashion. "Style Me Steampunk" is a series of blog posts about how to incorporate steampunk into your daily wardrobe! So stay tuned, lots of exciting DIYS and blog posts to come!

Hope your Halloween was spooktacular and to those of you in New York and New Jersey--stay safe! xo Sam

The Pocket Watch Bow Tie

I am bursting with pride right now--I have made what I consider one of my best creations--The Pocket Watch Bow Tie. Even though my fingers are riddled with pinpricks and sore from fiddling with metal for the majority of today; and even though my back and neck feel as if they will remain craned over horizontal surfaces forever & never straighten out again...I am so unbelievably happy.

It's moments like these that I am grateful for the people in my life that helped me develop my imagination (seriously,  thanks Mom & Grams). I love what I do and I love what I make--which is often why it is so hard to sell certain pieces. This one has a a little bit of my soul in it, a whole lotta love & whimsy, and a touch of what makes great art--joy.

Hope everyone has a lovely Sunday. Drop by my booth at Indie Emporium this Friday and Saturday (and remember the fashion show is on Saturday @ 8pm, get there early)--there's a ton of new jewelry and accessories--esp. for you gents.

Well, I am heading to bed where I will certainly be dreaming up more fantastical creations!

Take a Stroll through a Steampunk Garden

Take a stroll with me in my family's garden. There are subtle steampunk elements infused throughout the lush pachysandra and fragrant  lily-of-the-valley and get some ideas for your own steampunk garden! Here is the house, sheltered from the summer sun by large trees. Stones line a path along to the driveway off to the left which takes you past an antique water pump (painted forest green) with a tin milking pail hanging from its spout. Water pumps are a frequent fixture in our garden & yard--and are painted a variety of colors, from forest green to deep purple. Old farm equipment is also good for decorating your garden--the piece on the left was used for pulling tractor chains. You can leave the old equipment rusty for a more vintage look or finish it with a coat of paint to complement the colors of your flowers or other flora. Another great piece is the metal sphere inside of (or sometimes on the outside of) a globe (pictured bottom right). Birdbaths are also a must!

No steampunk garden would be complete without gears! Pictured on the bottom below are two large gears painted mustard yellow and hidden in the deep foliage. Painted, they offer a hint of color that accents the yellow of the leaves. Above is another gear, unpainted, to match the Northwest Engineering Company metal sign. Antique metal signs & business plates are another great way of giving your garden a steampunk feel. Here you can see the placement of the birdbath, globe sphere, and water pump in relationship to the landscape. Also, antique bathroom fixtures make wonderful planters. Worn out tools are another fantastic source for garden decoration. Here we've used an anvil and a large rusted-out wrench. It's perfect to place along steps. Among my favorite parts of our garden is the birdhouse structure my uncle made for my grams. He constructed it out of an old hayrake (the top) and a wagon wheel--both painted forest green. From the old blades hangs grams's many birdhouses & feeders. Pictured right is an important feature, every garden should have its own magical creature for the kiddos! Ours is an Ent. What I love about our garden & lawn is the variety of flowers, plants, and trees. My Uncle John is the landscaper & gardener in the family and if you are looking for gardening tips to recreate a Victorian-style garden, check out Old House Journal's summer & spring issues for gardening tips. This OHJ article offers some advice on planting Victorian flower beds. Thanks for taking a stroll with me! I am certainly enjoying a reprieve from the desert-heat of Oklahoma here in New York. Hope you are staying cool wherever you are!

Thanks Stranger!

Thanks to the stranger (a Dwelling Spaces shopper) who gifted me two wrist watches. You brought a smile to my face and truly touched my heart. I am not able to thank you in person so I hope  this will do. Thank You. Thanks to you, and many others who have found me at shows and dropped off bags of broken watches & wayward bits-n-bobs. I have been shown such kindness & support as an artist and it keeps me going. New from my little Steampunk Workshop:

Monocle-Goggles for the Traveling-Reader among you!

Steampunk Countess's Emerald Monocle-Pin.

To fashion to your evening gown or vest, and the monocle unhooked when needed.

I've been on a bit of a monocle kick lately, more inventions are in the works. Of course that does mean I will have to put down Dead Iron at some point...very difficult to do. I recommend it highly though I am still mid-way through its pages.

Meet Tulsa Author of Dangerous Fugitives, a Steampunk Novel

Steampunk fiction is exciting to me & inspiration when it comes to creating new pieces. Join me next Tuesday night, July 17th, at Youth Services in Tulsa (located 311 South Madison Avenue) from 7:00 to 9:00pm! Let's support Tulsa's very own Steampunk author, Emily Hedgecock! The information below is from the invitation I received: Emily will be on hand to give readings and personally sign copies of the book at Youth Services.  Be among the first to get a copy of one of the hippest debut novels of the year!

About the author: E. A. Hedgecock is actually  Emily "Danger" Hedgecock who was born and raised in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Dangerous Fugitives is her first published novel. Emily is a past recipient of multiple Tulsa City-County Young Author awards. Last October she traveled to Washington, D.C. to see her award-winning play, Handspeak, performed at the Kennedy Center for the Arts. More about the book: The artists in Dangerous Fugitives are all on the run from a government that wants to squelch unsanctioned creativity.  In a steam-powered universe where the combustion engine never caught on, the militaristic leaders of one continent, Erivale, have banned self-expression in all its forms and sent out monstrous machines to control the populace. When their artistic pursuits are discovered, Victoria the Writer, Nicola the Dancer, and Felix the Actor must escape into the vast desert of the Nothingness. After two years they are picked up by a rogue airship manned by the famous Frierson brothers, handsome Bernard, sour Alexander, and one-eyed Princeton.  The young rebels resolve to take down the machines and reinstate creative expression.

Busy that Night? No worries, you can purchase your copy of Dangerous Fugitives on Amazon in both print and kindle versions!

Liberate Ulysses: My Steampunk-Joyce Project

Liberate Ulysses

Liberate Ulysses is a “global dialogue & multimedia celebration for Bloomsday,” a day that pays homage to Irish writer James Joyce’s masterwork Ulysses. My passion for Joyce extends beyond my scholarship & continued reading of his works. For the past three years I have challenged myself to create pieces inspired by his texts. This year I am fortunate to be a part of Liberate Ulysses’s celebration. Last year, Liberate Ulysses lauded the novel through Twitter (a call-to-arms was issued asking those around the world to tweet an aspect of an episode that they felt was representative of that chapter). This year, to commemorate Ulysses coming out of copyright, the novel is being lionized through various artistic projects inspired by the novel. For a list of the projects, click here.

My Liberate Ulysses Project: To Create Steampunk Jewelry Pieces Representative of Each Episode

Without further ado, here they are:

Stephen “peered from under his shaggy brows at the manuscript by his elbow and, muttering, began to prod the stiff buttons of the keyboard slowly”

“He watched through peacocktwittering lashes the southing sun”

“Confession as clockwork” or as I like to think of this piece, “Agenbite of Inwit, Inwit’s Agenbite: Clockwork Confessions”

A Mourning Pin to Pine for Paddy Dignam

I found that of all the episodes, Nausicaa was the most interesting in terms of clock imagery & preoccupation. Both Bloom and Gerty ponder on & about clocks. Bloom fiddles with his watch chain and realizes that his clock has stopped (just after eight) and Gerty thinks of gifting Bloom a clock which reminds her of the one on the mantel: “white and gold with a canary bird that came out of a little house to tell the time of day.”

Not only is this a challenging episode to read, but it was difficult to try and represent it justly. I luckily happened upon an antique cigar cutter at the flea market which lead me to the idea of representing the episode through its simplest, and most central, action–birth.

Eumaeus was another challenge for me. Its techne lent me many ideas, this was the first that I thought of. Circulation is not only about blood, but in a city–circulation is electricity (the wires literally connecting spaces) and a computer’s circuit board is the circulation of information.

In Calypso, we get the description of Molly’s garters: “Night sky moon, violet” and in Penelope we finally have Molly thinking: “Id let him see my garters the new ones”–which of coarse, Bloom already has.

I hope you enjoyed these pieces. It was both challenging and entertaining to make them. Check out my blog next Bloomsday, I create something new every year! Joycefully Yours, Sam.

Tribute to My Amazing (Steampunk) Mom!

This is my mom, and she is also a Steampunker. Below you see her dressed up as an archeological explorer. She has a wide brimmed hat (good for those hot, sunny expeditions), antique pearl studded goggles (which she made herself), leather pouch (for collecting rare finds), and her fossil brush (attached on the other side of her belt). You can see where I get my imagination from!

I count myself lucky to have a mom that supports and nurtures my creativity and imagination. She taught me how to make jewelry & was the person who first introduced me to Steampunk. Just wanted to introduce you all to my biggest source of inspiration, my mom.

Go get mushy today & give your mommas some love! Happy Mother's day everyone! xo Sam

Inspiration Begins at Home

Happy New Year everyone! I would like to share a bit of my childhood home with you which I realized (over the holidays) is such a source of inspiration for my steampunk creations. So, welcome! One of the things everyone notices immediately is the vast number of antique sewing machines stashed in every corner of the house. I have never counted them, it would take a while, but my grams collects them. Some are encased in large, ornate wooden desks and others are tiny and fit on the fireplace mantle! Here is one of my favorite sewing machines--an 1882 Singer with gold embellishments. I grew up with the whirr of sewing machines and have (as some of you know from seeing it at Indie Emporium 2 years ago) an old Singer sewing machine of my own! Other antique sewing ephemera litter the house and among the most treasured are these crazy quilted pincushions (made by my mom).

In the living room hangs my mother's family crest (carved by my Uncle Jeff). The crest of the Crawfords--a shield with small trees (my family resided in Scotland and lived near the species of tree etched into the shield), a helmet, and adorned with looping scrolls. Below reads "Stant Innixa Deo," Latin for "They Stand Supported By God."

Upstairs you can find just as many old-world marvels, wooden ships, medicine jars, and water basins.

Scattered about the house are old clocks--ones whose chimes I can still hear if I close my eyes at the start of a new hour. Pictured left is a doll hand sewn by my mom. Her name is Cordelia, the Victorian Lady. She has a high collar and lace embellishments on her dress and a marvelous green sash. Her jet beads set of her jet hair amassed in a Gibson Girl bun atop her head.

The last treasure I will share with you is a painted picture of a ball. It rests in our living room. I can almost hear the rustling of the ladies' dresses as they are sashayed past by their beaus and the merry music of the orchestra.

These are just a few of the inspirations I have found around home. What are yours?