Steampunk Saturday - Yes, I'm one of THOSE people!

So let me start this post with some nostalgia and a bit of insight into my childhood and what has molded my personality (if you want to skip this part, I don't blame you!) I was a weird kid, from the beginning. The first movie I remember seeing in the theater was Star Wars,
I was three. I wrote my first vampire story at age four, I dictated it to my grandfather who graciously wrote it all down. Starting in about the 5th grade I fell in love with the Victorian era, and carnival freaks. I was a member of SCA (Society for Creative Anachronism) in high school and was thrilled about a summer job at Medieval Times (didn't quite give me the historical interaction I was hoping for though). Also, back in the day, there was no Hot Topic. You had to work to find the alternative stuff; they didn't sell Dr. Martens at Shoe Show.

Where this is all leading to is that I'm a little behind the times on my alternative fashions; had I the resources during my youth I would have been SOOOOOO Steampunk! (Did you hear that? It was the sound of my husband groaning with annoyance and displeasure!)
If you're not familiar with Steampunk, there's a very clinical and brief definition on Wikipedia that will help. If you are familiar, and hate it - too bad! If you're familiar and love it, and I butcher your beloved genre with my crafty attempts - get over it!
A couple of weeks ago I was at the Rings N Things Bead Tour in Norcross. I had seen the little canister of gears in the catalog and had flipped through but wasn't ready to make the leap.

I also kept flipping through this Steampunk inspired jewelry book.













I was getting lots of inspiration but no courage until I found this free tutorial by Christi Friesen. I figured I had lots of clay from previous crafty mishaps, I now had the gears, and I was feeling bold and was ready to share with the world my Steampunk interests!
I made a practice heart earlier in the week that I was pretty proud of. So today, I sat down and worked on my Steampunk hearts that will be made into necklaces.

I bought some more polymer clay; I'm still a novice and don't know what brand I prefer yet so I went with what was on sale at JoAnn's this week. I also found some really fun findings that were on clearance (I love the brass monkeys!)

I forgot to take pictures of the process, but here's how they turned out. Some I like better than others, and actually the first one I made earlier in the week is my favorite.

(before and after baking)

I'm kind of disappointed about this one:

The clay was a really beautiful deep crimson color and I mixed a little black. When it baked, though, it turned really dark. Maybe it will lighten up as it cools. I guess it's still cool in the darker color, but I really liked that red.
I also made a beaded necklace that I would categorize as Steampunk because of the colors and materials: red lampwork beads with blue dots and copper accents, copper beads, and really funky blue cat's eye beads. I was stuck with the lampwork beads (long mother-in-law story) and was in the Steampunk state of mind when this happened:

The question now is whether to put them up for sale now or save them for Dragon Con in September. The folks at Titan Comics are always very generous about letting me sell stuff at their booth, but Eric thinks I should go ahead and put them in the shop now. Maybe I will, and maybe I'll make some more Steampunk gear in the meantime. I've been really inspired by these awesome cuffs on Etsy (I could totally wear, I mean make something like that!)

So, if you're at Dragon Con this year I may not be on the safe side of the table, I may comingle with the weirdos and actually blend in; 'cause guess what! I AM ONE OF THOSE PEOPLE!