Steampunk.
Think Victiorian futuristic sci-fi.
Also think of steam engine power, watches, goggles, pearls, brass, steamboats, lace, airships, time travel machines... Yeah, steampunk is a little hard to explain.
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(Jules Verne's books are considered some of the first steampunk stories.
Random fact: did you know that there was never any mention of a hot-air ballon in Around the World in 80 Days? Wonder why the illustrations always have it.)
The "official" definition of steampunk is "a sub-culture based on a genre of science-fiction set in Victorian times, when steam was the main source of machine power."
For a better idea, I'll steer you towards:
(Please view at your own risk. Some people do take the "punk" part of steampunk seriously.)
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When I first told Mom about it ("Hey, Mom, I want to see if my brown skirt looks steampunky!"), all I got was a blank stare and then a cautious glance. I guess the "punk" part threw her for a loop.
I'm not a very "punky" person. :)
But I love Steampunk! I'm especially fond of the aesthetic. It's very Neo-Victorian. Sometimes it is also very Art Nouveau, which makes me doubly happy.
(For those who don't know, the Elvish look from the LotR movies was based on Art Nouveau styles. Hence the extra happiness. Because anything Elvish is Awesome.)
I always do a very bad job explaining what Steampunk is, and I've managed to get pretty weird looks from some of my friends and especially my parents' friends.
Oh, well. I'm not here to give a lecture on the origins and styles of Steampunk. I'm just here to say that I've been making some Steampunk jewelry and crafts!
All those watches and necklaces and nicknacks and gizmos on Etsy and Artfire really got my creative juices flowing.
Handcrafted Steampunk items are characterized by repurposed old jewelry, gears, brass, lace, and keys. And a million other things. (By the way... almost all Steampunk things are handcrafted. It's part of the charm, I think).
I've actually been making so many steampunk things (and more to come, when I can get the rest of these old watches torn apart) that I have an entire category in my Shoppe for it.
Here's some of my very first steampunk creations:
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| Mine, my own, my precious. Made from the watch face from one of my grandpa's old watches. |
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| Trinkets! FOR SALE at my Shoppe! |
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| The watch case from the watch face shown above, with a bajillion charms inside and out. FOR SALE at the Shoppe! |
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| At the Shoppe |
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| Yeah, the Snitch is more HP than steampunk. Oh, well. |
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| An old watch I found in Grandma's basement. I fixed it, so she let me keep it. I have a whole blog post on it, { HERE } |
And I will have a tutorial on the design above-- very, very soon!
Really random:
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