¸¸,:•:*¨¨*:•:,¸¸,:•:*¨¨*:•:,¸¸,.•*•:*¨¨*:•:,¸¸,:•:*¨¨*:•:,¸¸,.•*•:*¨¨*:•:,¸¸,:•:*¨¨*:•:,¸¸,.•*¨¨*:•:,¸¸,:•:*¨¨*:•:,¸¸,.•*•:*¨¨*:•:,¸¸,:•:*¨¨*:•:,¸¸,.•*•:*¨¨*:•:,¸¸,:•:*¨¨*:•:,¸¸,.•*•:*¨¨*:•:,¸¸,:•:*

Would you wear and use a vintage pocket watch?

Wednesday, September 30, 2009

Goggles in the Works!





     My goggles are progressing, bit by bit!  Though I have been fighting a nasty sinus problem which has made me see double for over a week (makes typing VERY interesting/frustrating, and driving even more so), I have gathered the materials together and also started experimental assembly.
     The upper left pic shows several belts I bought at Goodwill for $1.50 each, the plastic pipe part I will cut the ends off of to hold the glass for the lenses in place, and the "washers" to go between pipe threads and glass.  In the upper right pic you can see the circles of glass that I cut and shaped by hand, along with the parts seen in the previous photo.
     The last pic shows the remnants of a soft leather purse I also bought for about $3; the leather is supple and yet sturdy.
     The belts may not be wide enough to use on their own as eye cups, but I may end up using them as a rigid base and then cover them with the thin leather and other accouterments that I have in mind to make these unique.
     I like unique!  =)

Edit:  As I have found inspiration and made progress on these, I decided I might not use the little plastic rings to pad between the glass and the metal ring at all.  The leather will hold the glass in, and it will look better without it.  Maybe.  Hrmm. 

Tuesday, September 29, 2009

Jolly Good Online Steampunk Clothing Shop


This is a shop that has some of the prettiest/most handsome steampunk clothing I have found to date. If all the pieces are available, it is indeed a large variety of finery.  I may have to place an order!!!



Wednesday, September 23, 2009

My Precious Clockwork Pendant and Brass Necklace


This fabulous pendant was created by yours truly a few months ago.  I wanted to create something which was larger than my usual pendants, and that had nothing but pure metal on it.  I fit each piece and gear meticulously, changing their configuration a countless number of times until I was satisfied that it looked as if it could function as a true clockwork.  Every piece is from a vintage clock or large pocket watch; all have the beautiful patina that metal receives over many years' time.

This is currently for sale in my ArtFire shop.
You can click and buy it; there is no signing up for anything if you already have a PayPal account.

I value this piece highly because of the sheer number of hours spent perfecting its' design, and the fact that the materials used are rare and possibly even one-of-a-kind in this day and age.
I am fairly certain that absolutely nobody is mass-manufacturing any clock parts of this quality anymore.

Go to DreamSteam's ArtFire Shop to view more pictures, read a more detailed description, and to purchase this wondrous and quality piece of steampunk jewelry art.

~ DS




Monday, September 21, 2009

Domo Arigato, Mr. Butterflyboto


I have been intrigued by the designs of American artist Mike Libby for a long time.  He acquires dessicated insects and adds watch and clock parts to them to create tiny robots!  The beetle pictured above is my personal favorite.  Many of these fascinating fauna can be purchased from his studio web site -- Insect Lab.
Although I try not to create knock-offs, the sale prices of these make me consider scouring my yard for dead insects!  The price of one robot can range from $600 to $2500.  Here, buggy buggy buggy....

Thursday, September 17, 2009

Crania Mechanica

Monday, September 14, 2009

Who is that Masked Madman?


Clockwise, from upper left to lower left:

It's that time of year again! A day soon cometh when all steampunks-at-heart can break out our imaginative retro-futuristic creations and collections and wear them, carry them, and even use them without receiving strange looks from the uninitiated populace. 


Here are some innovative masks which you can purchase on the wonderful Etsy, or use the ideas to spark your own creative endeavors. As for me,  I am going to attempt to make some goggles to accentuate my own Halloween party attire; it is still in the materials gathering stage now, but you can bet that if they turn out well enough, I will share them here.  


In the meantime, rejoice! And get to making the best steampunk outfit ever!


Friday, September 11, 2009

From The Ashes -- 3D Resin and Copper Airship Pendant







                                                        This is a stunningly rustic pendant I made many months ago.
I wanted to create something from raw materials that would have an unmistakably steampunk aura.
The base is sheet copper and copper pipe, with a weathered vintage Soviet airship airmail stamp as the background image and several watch gears resting inside a domed sea of crystal-clear jewelry resin.
The process took many hours and much experimentation to perfect the patina, but I am thrilled with the final product!
It is currently for sale in my Etsy shop.

It's A Small ... Steampunk World? ... After All



It seems that information regarding a possible new video game leaked to the public. *gasp*
This one allegedly involves the designer of Deus Ex and Disney working together to create a post-apocalyptic version of the Magic Kingdom.

Yes. A steampunkish, dark vision of Disney World. Maybe. Someday. Aren't rumors fun?

In the meantime, enjoy the drawings and sketches of these brilliantly twisted minds.

SP Disney

Wednesday, September 9, 2009

Reactions

Unfortunately, the "reactions" feature does not seem to work. At all.  Hasn't for months, at least.  Oh well.

Apologies to anyone who actually did click and vote. I appreciate the effort!

Removing it.  Bummer!

Pocket Watch Robot... continued

I am going to make a concerted effort to continue work on my poor little pocket watch robot. Things have gotten a bit crazy recently, and it got put on the back steam generator, as it were.

The last big thing I did was completely strip all of the paint off of the entire piece.
Yep.
After weeks of painting and finger-crossing that it would cure up, I finally decided to start over.

Good thing, too, because when I removed the paint, I discovered that the very first layer was still wet and gooey! Grr.

With more than a few choice words, I finished up sanding and scraping, then added a coat of the only real metal primer I had, which is rust-colored. I hope that does not bite me in the butt later.

Soooo... I need to look at the main part again, and decide how to proceed, paint-wise. The the paint on the pieces for the arms and legs seems to be fine. If I want to stay with that color. *sigh*


Here is a link to what it will almost look like (picture taken after the very first coat of paint, before I stripped all of the several layers of paint off and started over) .  There are no embellishments or joint pieces in this pic.

Pocket Watch Robot, take one

SteamWorks Steam Powered Toys!

I totally thought I had posted this a while back!
This is a site dedicated to the works of a very creative and mechanically adept person who converts and creates machines that run on steam.

Here is a link:    CrabFu SteamWorks


The centipede is my favorite. here is a link to the video of it in motion.
Steam Centipede Train

Enjoy!

Thursday, September 3, 2009

My Possible Pendants


DreamSteam's Pendants


These are photos of various pendant combinations that I assembled one day when a client asked me to make her a custom piece. The weather has been exceedingly humid here this summer, so I have not made anything out of resin recently for that reason. As fall approaches, my thoughts have turned back to the miraculous and challenging process of making these beautiful pieces.

Steampunk Name Generator




Just for fun, here is a link to the Steampunk Name Generator "a generator of names and titles for those who may have temporarily misplaced their own,"  on Brass Goggles.com.
Hopefully it will bring a smile or even a giggle. =)

Les Machines l'Isle - Verne and DaVinci Tribute Museum

















When I saw this, my reaction was "OMG!!!"
and "I wish I could be there!"
To quote the creators of this wonderland:

“A team of machine builders have set up their workshop in the industrial warehouses of the former shipyards, at the heart of the Ile de Nantes. The designers let their imaginations roam from the treetops, the savannah to the ocean depths, building a bestiary of living machines to populate this area under redevelopment. The Great Elephant, the Marine Worlds and the Heron Tree are urban sculptures open to the public. Like doors to the world of dreams and magical journeys, they give this island a mysterious feel as if we were back to the time when the vessels set sail to travel around the world.” -- François Delarozière and Pierre Orefice

There are several beasts that people can climb inside and control in the Gallery section of the museum, including a crab, a manta ray, and a squid! In the Workshop, visitors can watch builders working to create astounding new creatures and devices.

The video shows demonstrations of the massive mechanical sculptures and creatures including the elephant. This 12 meter high, 8 meter wide creature regularly carries 49 passengers inside its' balconies and indoor lounge on leisurely excursions around the site of the former shipyards on the isle of Nantes.

If I ever make it back overseas, I am so going there!

Steampunk Tree House -- FOR SALE!


http://www.steamtreehouse.com/

If you have a large amount of flat, crane-accessible (!) space in your yard and probably a huge amount of spare cash, you can rent or even BUY this gargantuan sculpture to make your next steampunk-themed party wildly memorable... and possibly irk your neighbors, too.

As they mention, there can be only one... err... they say there is only one of these in existence.
Click on the image or the link to go to the Stempunk Tree House home page for rental information! Or at least to see more pictures taken during its' construction. Drool.

Tuesday, September 1, 2009

Chronophage -- Time Eater Clock


I realize that this has been circulating the web for a very long time, but I wanted to include it here, for anyone who had not seen it yet. It is too incredible to miss!

Doctor John Taylor invented and designed the clock. "The Corpus Clock is a large sculptural timepiece that has been invented to pay honor to John Harrison, pioneer of Longitude and inventor of the esoteric clock mechanism known as a grasshopper escapement. The Corpus clock has a diameter of 4 feet and 11 inches and is valued at about £1 million."

Here is a five-minute video of the artist describing how the clock functions, and why... in the DARK! Oooo. (Trust me, it is much spookier in the dark.) Warning: this contains spoilers on how it is constructed, so if you want to keep it a mystery, then don't watch the video. =)

I read somewhere that the inventor did not want to sell it for any price, and would not make another one. I don't blame him a bit! And besides, such amazing one-of-a-kind pieces should stay that way to preserve the mystery, don'tcha think?

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