Bruised Wonderland

Steampunk Alice in Wonderland

2009-11-04T08:21:00.002-07:00

Done with me and seven of my friends, including two children. Click on the group shot below to see more picatures.

Better Mechanical Spider Top Hat Pictures

2009-09-01T09:02:00.002-06:00

Just took these at work and thought I would toss them up, as they are much nicer.

Clockwork Spider-Master's Leather Top Hat

2009-08-28T19:47:00.003-06:00

Second leather top hat is now created! This time in black, with a nice high-gloss finish. I shaped it a little more toward what I see as a ring-master style top hat. I'm sure I could find more technical terminology if I was interested in looking.

The real finishing touch on this, though, is the spider-web print hat band, which is nice and subtle and further accented by the metal clockwork spider pin on the side.

Close-up on the spider!
Front of the hat.
Side view on the spider side.
Other side, again with the rivets.

And the back view.

This will be listed on etsy soon, I just am not in love with the photos enough for such a major item. I may cheat and take some nice photos at work.

Plague Doctor - Redux

2009-07-08T09:20:00.003-06:00

So, the original plague doctor mask that I did is off this way. It eventually sold, which was nifty, and led to me creating the top hat. The top hat continue to be worn and be awesome and I even have plans for a second waiting in the wings for free time.

The second go at the plague doctor mask led to me creating a Half Plague Doctor Mask. This was done as a lighter weight version of it. Amusingly enough, the same style of bird mask / plague doc mask shows up in Resident Evil 5. I won't go into the details on the character who wears, so as not to spoil anything, but it is interesting to see how often this particular style of mask shows up.

Now, I am back at creating another full on mask, with a few of the lessons learned from the previous two attempts as a custom piece. It is coming together much more smoothly. Pictures to follow soon!

Steampunk Wrist Braces

2009-04-30T21:39:00.003-06:00

Finished and shipped out this set of steampunk bracers for there wrists. They are done out of a nice brown leather. It has a thumb hole, rests just below the knuckles and goes down the arm. There is a small dart in the leather to give them more shape. Lots of antiqued eyelets. The lacing is black and gold, actually done with crocheted cord. On the bottom side are slots with metal brace bits to keep the wrist sitting properly.

Leather Top Hat

2009-04-21T16:41:00.005-06:00

My latest obsession that kept me from finishing other projects was the leather top hat. Excitingly enough, another project actually for me. I do manage to go for those sorts of projects every now and again.

I did a pattern out of poster board, based off of measurements and such. largely based off of me figuring it out as I want along, to be honest. Once that was reasonably what I was after, I pulled the mockup back apart and laid it out on my leather. I started with just plain old tooling leather.

With pieces cut out, I used wool daubers to swipe on the dye, which let me get a more mottled effect. Which is totally awesome. Once that had dried, I did a quick wet seal on it. Basically running it under the faucet to rinse out any excess dye, then dried everything again between paper towels.

That finished out, I played with options, and decided to put holes along the inside of the brim and the bottom edge of the main body first. Then I riveted the main body piece. I went with the double row of rivets for purely aesthetic reasons. Stitching or even a single row of rivets would have worked just as well.

To stitch the brim in place, I wet down the inside edge of it and then flared it up a little before stitching to get it to sit more how I wanted. From there, I could wet the brim itself and play with shaping until I found the brim shape I was after. Which I actually found rather quickly after first toying.

The top was originally going to have an amount of flare, but once I hit this point, I actually changed my mind and cut back the top piece and re-dyed the edges. I still had to stretch the top just a little to make things sit how I wanted, but the effect on the shaping is very subtle.

I actually stitched the top twice. Once while wet for stretching, then pulled it out and re-stitched to get it tight and perfect.

From there, I used a block out sealing layer. This didn't change the dye much, which is what I was after.

The hat band piece I also did myself. It currently isn't attached quite how I intend to really have it, but I have not finished the hat pin I want to do. By which I mean, I haven't quite figured out what exactly I want for it. For the time being, I am just using a pin to hold the hat band in place. I intend to keep it removable, so that I can swap in alternate hat bands easily if I ever want to change things up a little. Probably I will add some little hook catches for that purpose.

The band itself is some awesome fabric I found at a shop in Hawaii. (Yes, I went to a fabric store while on vacation on a tropical island.) I cut the strip and wrapped it around a semi-heavy bit of craft fuse stuff. I ironed it in place, then stitched the back edge by hand. I also folded over the one end and stitched that to give it a little nicer of an end piece.

And here are the photos.

Street Shaman Staff - Part I

2009-03-19T15:27:00.005-06:00

This is an idea that has been rattling around in my brain for a good two years now, if I'm not mistaken. I finally actually had a chance to visit a wood-working shop and pick out the bits and pieces necessary and with my additional free time, I've even started work on it.

I picked out a piece of wood that I liked. I went more for the actual bit that felt right and looked fun rather then worrying much about species of tree. From there, I sat and whittled down the two end pieces so that I could get the handle and foot on.

Multi-piece foot bit. The plastic bit is removable and shows a spike for more rugged hiking and what-have you.

I went with the not quite as practical grip as well, since this is more a style thing.
I used a little epoxy on both bits just to make sure they sat well. Two part putty epoxy, to be more specific. The top piece also has a small screw holding it in. The spike on the bottom I actually drilled a hole, and then actually bolted into it. So that bit seems like it should hold quite well.

From here, I start adding symbols to it and play with how much bark is coming off and all. More photos to come!

Steampunk Cane Part II

2009-03-08T20:48:00.003-06:00

I have taken pretty new pictures!

Copper tubing along the top and brass wire going the rest of the way down. Brass tipped, leather wrapped. I have listed the new Steampunk cane here!

Steampunk Cane part I

2009-03-06T09:36:00.002-07:00

Only an early picture, because I finished rather late last night by which point I only really had the patience to do a quick phone picture.

You can see a little bit of what I did. It includes the added brass tip, copper tubing, brass wire running down it, some leather accents and a fun dial. I'll try and get some better photos and then go into more detail on what I did to create this later.

Wood Shop

2009-03-05T16:51:00.002-07:00

I never really got into wood shop and the like back in high school. Which is almost a little odd, considering I did get into prop building for theater. As well as building set pieces and whatever else needed building. Still, it probably would be handy with some of the projects I find myself leaning into doing. Which is why I trekked out to the nearest decent wood shop and bought myself a few things.

Two big projects to come out of it will be a steampunk cane and my own urban shaman's staff. More pictures to come, almost certainly. Hopefully lots of in-progress photos.

I also picked up some tagua nut, which has a lot of the consistency and look of ivory while being more more friendly to the world. Or such is the theory. It is pretty though. Because I obviously don't have enough projects and methods to play with. Or have recently bought stuff to try glass etching that still isn't even open. Heh.

Slave Bracelet with Tatted Center

2009-03-03T10:10:00.004-07:00

This stems from my continuing need to integrate bits of tatting into various other sorts of designs. Which I more or less blame on how much I enjoy TotusMel's work. Go, spend a few minutes drooling.

Now then. A friend of mine got ambitious after seeing this instructable and has started playing with tatting a bit, which means I have a lovely pile of little medallion thingies to play with. This weekend I found some time to make a first attempt at playing with it and wound up with this.

Which probably could stand some better photo treatment before listing, but it was sort of late and the roomie was playing chess and thus there were less wrists available for stealing. And I can only contort so much for photographing things.

The center piece is of course tatting. It attaches to the wrist piece with bits of chain and two rivets. More of the same chain loops up around the finger. (the chain was cannibalized from a necklace.) And the whole thing closes with snaps. I set three closures on it to give some room for sizing.

As first attempts go, I think it turned out rather fun. I think I can push the notion further. Also, I have some chain ordered that might be better suited for such things then my random dismantling of stuff. Regardless, The combination of elements makes me happy. I am thinking about playing with stiffening the tatting so that it lays a little better. Assuming that it wont just cause horrible problems. Heh.

Another Belt Tool-Kit

2009-03-02T14:15:00.002-07:00

I should probably start investigating some other sources for old tools. The antique shop I like hitting is fantastic, but tend to have only so many tools in the price range I'm willing to spend (and think I can re-sell). The really awesome tiny monkey-wrench will not be making an appearance, as my roomie decided to buy it off of me before I could use it for anything. But I did finish this for an event I'm running with some friends.

It turned out fun. Though I may want to rough up the wood vial a little bit. So that it matches the rest of the piece. Also managed to wound another finger while working on it. Which was less good.

There is a giant wrench and another monkey wrench style thing that should be making appearances before too long. I do love working with this type of thing. If anyone knows a decent source for inexpensive old (at least looking) tools, let me know!

Video Interview

2009-02-06T15:35:00.002-07:00

Technically a little old, but it popped back up and figured it would be amusing to have here.

WoW Engineer's Goggles

2009-02-02T10:40:00.004-07:00

Per special request, I have created engineering goggles from World of Warcraft. The normal version in the game are rather over the top size was, so I pulled them back to a slightly more normal goggle look, while maintaining a lot of the distinctive ridiculous qualities. They make me smile.

These will not be showing up in my shop, as they are specifically for someone. At the same time, I do like trying interesting things, so if anyone else has a specific sort of goggles they want, I'll be around!

Leather Plague Doctor Mask

2009-01-20T10:04:00.009-07:00

The idea has been lurking in the back of my head for a while now. Waiting for me to finally give in and build this particular mask. I attempted to win an alchemy bid for it, but that didn't work out, though the person was quite nice about it. It still seemed worth doing as a fun project. My bruised hand is less a fan of the project, since I ended up hand punching and hand stitching the entire thing. And I didn't make it out of a particularly thin leather...

For those not really familiar with plague doctor masks, they came into being as a result of the plague. There was a common belief that birds spread the plague. Many people think the bird beak shape was to help draw the plague out of the victim onto the plague doctor outfit. The red lenses were to protect the wearer from evil. The beak was typically stuffed with herbs to protect them from the miasma that was believed to carry the plague.

The rest of the outfit adds to the creepiness, with a wide brimmed hat, a long black coat, and a wooden cane. I really, really want to build a hat now too... though I'm not sure I have a proper piece for the brim. I will have to look...

Now, on to progress pictures! I started with the beak piece. Once I had that stitched together, I cut out a piece that would be at plenty big for a face and then cut an upside down T into it to slot in the nose.

Then I went to bed, actually. But the next relevant step was to actually attach the nose to the main mask. I left the large extra pieces in place, so that I had plenty of room to work. Once I actually had all three sides attached, then I trimmed down the extra bits around the nose.

From there, it was an easy step to cut the eye-holes, measures to fit the laser-cut lenses that I have on hand.

I cut a lighter black leather to work as a cover for the lenses. Circles with a hole in the center. It gave it a rough look, but I rather like the whole thing having a rough look. Here is a close up shot of it.

It actually looks better from a distance, though.

Once I was happy with that, I set the other lens. Which didn't work on the first go through. I got more then halfway through before pulling it off and cutting a new piece and re-attaching it.

I trimmed down the shape a little more, finalizing the shape a bit more.

The last touch was to cut slits for the straps, then to stitch them into place and attach the buckle.

It really does beg to have the hat added.... but I still think it is totally awesome.

Ladies Leather & Lace Gauntlet

2008-11-12T21:59:00.004-07:00

Received my second piece of tatting from the fantastic TotusMel Tats in the mail today. If you haven't had a chance before, stop reading and go look at her stuff. Very lovely.

Anyway, I had ordered a small piece she listed, thinking it would be fun to play with. It was larger then I was thinking (possibly because I need a ruler on hand to have any sense of such things.) This wasn't a huge problem or anything, just caused a shifting of my original plans. Which is likely a good thing. As my original plan would still have me sitting at my cutting mat growling and cursing. Instead, I have actually finished a piece. When I should have been writing... but that's ok, there's always sleep time to make up for not having enough free time. Heh.

I wanted to go with a mixture of leather and metal to accent the tatting, because that seems to be one of my fascinations these days. Below is a picture. Little bit rough. As I am attempting to take the picture and model it at the same time. Without having holes punched to really hold it in place properly... I will have to borrow someone to get official pictures taken.

I think it has a nice unique feel to it, something that you aren't going to find anywhere else. I set everything with antiqued brass rivets and added some brass saddle buckles to hold it on. The red leather is a very thin and soft suede from a pillow case I have been slowly cannibalizing. The black strap is from the scrap bin and most of the rest of it is currently someone's new set of goggles. I did a lot of the shaping on the red piece as I went along. Tried it both on my hand and on my roomies smaller hand and it fits slightly differently, but the placement of the straps actually worked for both of us, which was a pleasant little surprise.

Anyway, I am supposed to be writing. Shhhh.

Steam-rings

2008-10-20T10:11:00.004-06:00

Catherinette Rings is hosting a contest to win a fabulous steampunk ring. Click the picture below to check out some of her rings. They are amazingly cool.

You can also check out my favorite ring from her shop. The color combination on that particular piece is fabulous. I might also have a weakness for opals.

I've actually been interested in these since I first saw them. The sort of hose-styling on the rings gives them an amazingly interesting unique texture, and the variations through out the shop in center-pieces really gives them a surprising array of subtle look variations.

Another point in favor of this shop is membership in the Etsy Steam Team. Which continues to be an incredible group of artists producing the coolest steampunk gear on the web.

Needlebinding and Ivory Carving

2008-09-28T18:52:00.004-06:00

My friend recently discovered needlebinding while working on a persona for a fun local group. Well, local to her, not quite so local to me. Anyway. My help was drafted for the creating of a needle for her to use. Originally I was just going to do one out of wood, but I've been looking for an excuse to play with carving ivory, as I have not tried it before. Mostly inspired by the leavings of mammoth ivory that you can find on eBay fairly often. I continue to have a deep love of odd bits of stuff for inspiring creations. It also helps that my friend is big on mammoth's anyway, so this was obviously the most awesome version possible of the needle.

Here are the two side of the finished product. Learned a lot about how to work with the material and only nicked myself once. Which is pretty good considering the level of exhausted I am today. It's a little odd in that it was a semi-wedge shaped piece, so it isn't quite even, but I think it will work. And hey, for a first attempt, I think it looks pretty good.

The Etsy Steam Team

2008-08-06T11:11:00.003-06:00

In my continuing need to immerse myself in all things steampunk I managed to find the Etsy Steam Team yesterday and managed to join up! I needed more to build into my latest crafting craze. Especially since it continues to be working out pretty well as a crafting craze to be pursuing. This group has a fantastic collection of various crafters listing some really fantastic stuff on Etsy. If you do a search for 'steamteam' you can pull up related items Check out the homepage:

Air Pirate Pouch

2008-08-03T21:51:00.003-06:00

Air pirate pouch that was requested. Brass rivets. Twist clasp and a cool burning on the front.

A nice addition to the goggles I've been working on lately. Check out new goggle listings on my Etsy site.

My Apartment Smells Like Leather

2008-07-29T13:54:00.002-06:00

At least when there aren't fumes off of spray painting of goggle lenses. Continuing to stock up Cracked Looking-Glass Crafts over on Etsy. Fortunately the new roomie does not disagree with the smell of leather. I have been cranking out the strange leather goods, from goggles to cuffs to pouches. Of course, last night I took a break from that and instead worked on a cuff for the technophile in someones life. I need to learn patience and keep my picture taking to daylight hours so that I can steal the bedroom made of windows for lovely natural light. It really makes for better pictures. May also be getting into reenactment gear, or at least doing a few custom orders of it. Still need to do some pricing first. Ah the madness of creating a second job for myself...

Brass Goggles

2008-07-22T12:36:00.003-06:00

My new addiction has become steampunk. As such, my need for goggles has steadily been rising. Finally, I tracked down enough ideas to actually pull them off.

Just a quick picture from the phone. Better pictures will be on my Etsy site later tonight when I get it listed. The frames are actually spray-painted brass, but are actually metal at least. Lenses are a nice acrylic-plastic and sturdy with car-window tint added to get them tinted. I used leather, antiqued brass eyelets and a brass center-bar buckle. (For the record, I love the nearby Tandy Leather store I found). Hopefully more sets to come with some odd additions, though I want to start with some plain sets. Also listing a set with silver frames on Ebay currently. Just to see what happens.

Other then that, a few trade and gift items and planning to stock up the store. Will make an effort to write a little here as well off and on, though most of my attention has shifted to my writing blog. In my defense, I have been rocking out that particular project with many posts.

Santa

2007-12-20T23:51:00.001-07:00

I felted up a quick Santa as a exchange gift for work. We shall see what people think.

Yay Halloween!

2007-10-31T23:26:00.002-06:00

I love an excuse to dress up. Also, the jacket work I did for my costume turned out so well. The pattern is burned in and then colored with oil pencils.

I think I might start rescuing old leather jackets for rebirth through decoration.
I also worked up a set of stakes, which you can see hanging from my belt in this picture.

I sawed a thick dowel rod into sections and then sharpened them by hand. For the record, if you ever need to deal with vampires? Break a chair or something. Actually carving a piece of wood down to a point sucks.

Getting back into the swing

2007-10-15T12:20:00.000-06:00

I think I am back on the crafting kick again. Which is good. Idle hands make for mischief and mischief makes for violent roommates. First, I have actually finished a bracelet (picture to come) that suffered some minor damage due to cat attack, but should be easily repairable. Second, I finally sold something on my etsy. In fact, I sold multiple somethings. To multiple people. I intend to get items shipped off today, as they are apparently intended as gifts. This is very good for kitties self confidence. It also gives me more motivation to get things listed again.
In the vein of getting back into the swing of things, I am plotting some crafting how to posts. Probably to go along with some nifty do-it-yourself medicine bag sets I have been planning to put together. In general, expect some actual posting. Especially since I now have some idea of how to actually get anyone to look at this page.
Technorati Tags: Crafting

Craft-Mania

2007-04-13T16:54:00.000-06:00

My apologies for the semi-lame photos. Just wanted to do some quick ones and post them up for now.

A miniature wool felted Cthulhu on a dice bag

Canine in a leather pouch/medicine bag.

Fairy, somewhat more whimsical medicine bag.

Kokapeli medicine bag. Which would, I suppose, make it more of a fertility medicine bag.

Key Chain Cthulhu

2007-04-13T16:45:00.000-06:00

Cthulhu in key chain form. Currently being tested for durability.

Cthulhu

2007-04-02T23:52:00.000-06:00

Wool felted evil.

More Fried Leather

2007-02-08T03:29:00.000-07:00

First, on the left, we have my triangular... dealie. I wanted to play with the lighter thicker leather, thinking in term of a heavier sort of belt pouch, but then also went with the unusual shape and thus ended up with a relitevely small spaced pouch. Oh, and I still haven't come up with a decent idea for a top on it. Well, I have ideas. But none that I love, and those I haven't finished. I may put I-Ching coins in it.

This, I am QUITE fond of. This is the dice bag for my good friend Marty. The symbol on the main body is for the country of the character whose dice will reside in it. The top flap is his initial/insignia (the actual person, not the character.) May put something on the backside eventually as well. Though for the moment, I am VERY happy with it.

My New Toy

2007-01-30T04:33:00.000-07:00

Bought myself a discounted burning tool via use of a coupon and much driving around lost. This is my first attempt. Started out planning to try something that didn't go so well and instead just played.
Not precisely great work, but it's fun and I deffinetly picked up a few things about how to handle it that I might as well have learned making SOMETHING rather then just charring some leather.

Felted Dolphin

2006-12-24T19:45:00.000-07:00

Here is my first Dolphin. White belly. Mixed silver and a nice turquise to get the color for the main body. He's for my little sister. I'm pretty happy with how this turned out. Concidered adding eyes on it, but I honestly don't know that it would have added a whole lot to what was already there.

Continuing Giftage

2006-12-20T03:36:00.000-07:00

Looking forward to finishing up the last of Christmas gifts. It'll be nice to work on a few non-Christmas presents.

And here we have a larger dream-catcher. The dangly bit of stones hanging off I really quite like, but don't show up well in the picture. Mostly crystal and tigerseye. A few feathers. The web is a little off in one spot due to having to patch together multiple strands of the artificial sinew, due to the whole not being able to keep such huge quantities on there all at once for the larger one of these. Still like the look.

And here is a bracelet for my mother. Jade center, crystal, amber, tigerseye, onyx, hematite and silver with some unusual clasps I had hanging around. Nothing overly fancy about it, but the type of thing I like to do with a bracelet.

Sunday, lazy Sunday

2006-12-18T06:22:00.000-07:00

Slacked off today. Spent all day playing video games, and visiting with friends. Of course, I'm actually pretty close to finishing my Christmas gifts out at this point. Finished a second dream-catcher for my Dad Saturday night, which I should probably get a photo of as well. Went simpler on it then on the first and rather like it better for that I think. Meh. I still have one more to do, as I sort of promised it, even though the other person has likely forgotten at this stage. I just bought a larger ring for it... and am not overly excited at the prospect of wrapping the silly thing. Of course, I bet it'll look awesome when I get it done. So it goes.

Pi Mouse!

2006-12-16T03:43:00.000-07:00

Another new wool felted present. Part of the dormouse collection that I have been making for friends. Somewhat thicker and larger then most I have made, but I wanted the standing look. And of course the marking is what makes him.

Tonights Exploits

2006-12-15T05:22:00.000-07:00

Here is the dream catcher I put together tonight for my brother. Wrapping the ring in the suede leather is actually slightly more time consuming then actually weaving the whole net portion. Still, one more Christmasy gift finishified.

Also, since I was snapping photos last night, I snatched back a bracelet I made for my good friend Marty from him long enough to take a picature. I'm quite happy with how it turned out.

That'll probably be more then enough for tonight. Though I do intend to make a dream catcher for my dad and a bracelet for my mom. More to come, possibly with further babble about it.

First crafty thing

2006-12-14T06:33:00.000-07:00

Just finished him. First attempt at something more intricate. Hand felted from wool, tigerseye chips for the eyes. I think he turned out cute.