April 18

The Golden Compass in Cuff Form

Love this cuff—it reminds me of The Golden Compass (Northern Lights in England, apparently), which, as far as I’m concerned, is one of the greatest books ever. Love the whole damn His Dark Materials series, in fact. I didn’t read them till college, but I was besotted. I read the next two volumes post-graduation, while commuting, and kept missing my bloody stop on the subway. And occasionally crying on the train while reading The Amber Spyglass. So brilliant. Have them on my shelf now; must reread.

Oh, right. So, yeah. I like this cuff because of that whole convoluted backstory.

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March 10

WHO likes Steampunk?

Steampunk owl

Slowly but surely, I can feel myself being drawn into all things steampunk, the literature, costuming and now adorable mechowls!

This little guy reminds me of Bubo from the original Clash of the Titans. Monsterkookies has managed to create an amazing owl that looks for all the World like it’s make completely of metal bits but he’s actually polymer clay! This just blows my mind.

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March 7

A Clockwork Earring

I have a confession: I really don’t do steampunk. I don’t know why—I think it’s visually appealing, reminds me of Jules Verne and Firefly (both good things), and I get the rationale…I guess it’s just not for me. Maybe it doesn’t quite fit in with my overall personal style, which otherwise seems to encompass a helluva lot. Even with that disclaimer, I wouldn’t mind adding one of these babies to my jewelry collection. In fact, I like quite a few of the wearable geegaws and doodads in Jynx’s Box—they clearly convey the steampunk aesthetic (steampunkery? steampunkness?) without being so over-the-top that you couldn’t wear them without looking costumey.

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February 17

Friday Roundup: The year of the dragon

It is the year of the dragon, and as a recently birthday’ed fire dragon myself, I wanted to delve into all things dragon for this week’s round-up. First up from Olga Farberovao, I bring you this touching father-son moment. Check out this firey poppa welcoming his new addition:

This made-to-order toy was crocheted out of mohair yarn. His eyes, nostrils are needle felted. The egg is made by wet felting wool.
Continue reading

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January 25

Beautiful Balloons

In case you don’t know, Jen of Cake Wrecks fame has a newish blog, Epbot, which is devoted to a variety of things crafty/steampunk/sci fi/Disney. (Dunno where the woman finds the time to run both blogs, but she does it somehow!)

For Christmas 2011, Jen and her husband, John, opted for a steampunk tree, which was a multi-step process that involved making/customizing ornaments—gears, test tubes, snowflakes, all kinds of things. But my favorites are these fabulous mini hot air balloons, for which Jen has helpfully provided a thorough tutorial. I know the holidays are over, but given that most of us don’t have the apparently boundless energy of Jen and John, I thought it might be a good idea to start crafting now so we’re ready for next year….

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