I'm having a huge After Christmas Sale in both my etsy and artfire shops. From now till January 9th every item in both shops are marked 20% off. Now's the time to buy that special item you wanted for Christmas but just didn't get. Or find something unique and unusual to spend some of your Christmas money on. I'll be adding new items throughout the sale so check back often.



The Grand Design on Etsy




The Grand Design on ArtFire

Columbus, Ga. Enquirer, May 15, 1860.

"Who is a Gentleman-- A gentleman is not merely a person acquainted with certain forms of conventionality's of life, easy and self-possessed in society, able to speak, and act, and move through the world without awkwardness, free from habits which are vulgar and in bad taste. A gentleman is something beyond this. At the base of all his ease and refinement, and tact and power of pleasing, is the same spirit which lies at the root of every christian virtue.---It is the thoughtful desire of doing in every instance to others as he would that others should do unto him. He is constantly thinking, not indeed how he may give pleasure to others for the mere sense of pleasing, but how he can show them respect, how he may avoid hurting their feelings. When he is in society he scrupulously ascertains the position of every one with whom he is brought in contact, that he may give to each his due honor. He studies how to avoid touching upon any subject which may call up a disagreeable or offensive association. A gentleman never alludes to, ever appears conscious of any personal defect, bodily deformity, inferiority of talent, of rank or reputation, in the persons in whose society he is placed. He never assumes any superiority---never ridicules, never boasts, never makes a display of his own powers, or rank, or advantages; never indulges in habits which may be offensive to others".

Happy holidays everyone! "Sherlock Holmes" the movie is opening Christmas Day, and I just managed to finish this painting in time.

Completely original painting of Robert Downey Jr. as Sherlock Holmes, looking very steamy (in more than one way), with a curved pipe (even though they won't be using a curved pipe in the movie).

Preview: 



For full painting and details, please visit my entry here.

The painting is available as a limited edition 11x14" print, faithfully and masterfully reproduced by fine arts printers on Fujicolor Crystal Archive paper. The print will be priced for a limited time at $20, not including shipping. It will look absolutely lovely matted in black and framed, making it a steamy addition to your home.  If you are interested, please message or comment!

It was suggested this might be of interest to some of you.

The Etta Diem Attic shop is offering discounted custom design box purses. We have a variety of artwork that is steampunk and dark Victorian in design, including airships and vintage costumes. We have four standard designs for the purses, but the custom made boxes are one of a kind and made from whatever artwork you select from our available portfolios. More information is available on the site. Any inquiries please feel free to poke me at ettadiem at gmail.com. I've made a few custom purses and can gladly direct you to those customers if you'd like to hear first hand what type of style and quality you can expect. Thank you and have a great holiday! Sale information can be found here.

Ladies and gentlemen, as a reminder, the next Chrononauts' Winter Stroll will be taking place on Boxing Day, the day after Christmas, Saturday December 26th. We will be meeting at 1pm in the Smithsonian Castle on the National Mall in Washington, DC.

Dress warmly and in your finest. Though I trust none of you need to be reminded of this, as we will be visiting museums in the nation's capital, do not bring any props or accessories that either are or could be mistaken for weapons or dangerous devices (whether functioning or not). Security is very concerned about things of that nature, and I'm certain we can all understand their position. When in doubt, leave it at home. All you need to bring are your charming selves and your lovely Victorian clothes.

Just listed my personal favorite of the newer ones, "My Steampunk Sweetheart".



This is a gorgeous necklace made up of layers of chains in various textures and tones, combined with a vintage pendant with pearls and rhinestones, a vintage locket with a gorgeous aged patina, and a very cool, very tiny little vintage pocket watch. The back has been removed to show the movement and gears inside, but the front is equally aesthetically appealing and as the chain hangs free, the watch can be worn with either front or back prominently displayed.

Etsy: Your place to buy & sell all things handmade houseofdecay.etsy.com

As an added bonus, anyone who found the listing through this community (or any of the Lj Communities I've posted this in), will receive FREE shipping, if you mention that you found me through one of these communities when you checkout with paypal. I will refund the shipping price for you after I receive the payment.

While not technically fashion, the awesomeness of this in unheralded.

Steam Engine in the UK rescues passengers in bad weather.

Steam Power for the Win.

The most magnificent majesty of multiple meanings will manifest to the masses on the following months in these places of meeting:

Ikkicon - Jan 1st - 3rd Austin Texas

Templecon - Feb 5th - 7th Warwick Rhode Island

The Steampunk Worlds' Fair - May 14th - 16th Piscataway, NJ

World Steam Expo - May 28th - 31st Dearborn

This agenda is subject to change and will notify if done so.

The Lord Emperor would love to know who else may be attending these fine gatherings of the creative elite and endorses you to introduce yourself and converse greatly on matters of non-importance as you carouse till your heart's boil with joy.

The Emperor would also like to take this opportunity to enforce every one of you to have a joyous holiday.

Thank you,

Emissary to the most masterful of monarchs.

Greetings. Longtime costumer, first-time steampunk explorer, etc. etc.

In a search to understand just what makes steampunk costumes steampunk -- outside of actual pieces of faux technology, e.g. brass ray guns -- I've seen certain symbols: cogs, gears, watch faces, watch fiddly bits, keys, locks. To a lesser extent I have seen compass roses, compass faces, clock hands. It's also usual in jewelry in decoration to see coiled wire, with the occasional ship's wheel and (for some reason) the octopus. (All hail the octopus.)

There is another class of symbols that don't seem to be drawn upon for steampunk identifiers: the square and compass, the sun, the moon, scales, or the phoenix -- which are all masonic symbols. Freemasonry was a prestige club in Victorian England (or so I understand) and it seems like these "symbols of devising" would fit in with steampunk. But so far I have not seen any. Has anybody run across any of them in their steampunk wanderings?

(Also... has anybody seen Illuminati symbols worked in to steampunk costumes, like the eye in the pyramid?)

Thanks.

Greetings my fellow steampunks,

I pray that this missive finds you all in the rudest of health and the highest of spirits despite the seasonal chill that blights this land. And possibly the Americas too, I am uncertain. I had high hopes that this new technology would find a way to end the cold winters of my youth, but regrettably they continue unabated. Global warming my left foot.

But it is not environmental policy I wish to discuss with you all today. It is the orient. I believe at some point in the not too distant past, our very own J.D. Falksen wrote a series of articles relating to steampunk across a variety of cultures, one of these I believe was Japan and China. Sadly I am unable to locate a copy of this essay, despite my best efforts. I do wonder if one of my fellows would be able to send me one of those hyper-links to this work? I would also be very interested in hearing the thoughts of others on this matter, whether they be in essay format or less formal manner.

Seasons greetings from England,
Professor Zarkov

Want a little more "steam" in your coffee? Introducing the Royal Vacuum Coffeemaker.

But more than a vacuum...what really sucks is that they're out of stock until Summer of 2010.

I hope this is alright to post here. I'm sure there used to be a steampunk place to buy and sell, so please feel free to remove if i've done the wrong thing

i'm posting this here because I have made a gorgeous dress that i'd like to sell, and it looks like it would fit it nicely in the steamy world.

Etsy: Your place to buy & sell all things handmade SilkOrchidCorsetry.etsy.com

Been a little lazy and just pasted widget thing. This will link you to my etsy shop and you will be able to look at my other things. some of you may even be into lolilta as well.

if you're not intereted in buying the dress, i hope you've enjoyed the picture, there are a few more pictures in the listing as well.


Thank you for your time, and i hope that my post has made some people happy

Hello!

This is Psyche Corporation [of Gilded Age Records]. I finished a new song ("Institute") last week, and it's probably the most steampunk song of my upcoming album. If you feel like it, take a listen! It has a ticking clock noise and other amusing percussive noises. Lyrics are under the cut, and the song can be heard at http://myspace.com/psychecorp Just scroll down the playlist and click on "Institute". I tried to make it go to the top of the playlist, but myspace keeps thwarting me, so it's at the bottom :/

More info on Psyche Corp. at http://www.psychecorporation.com

..and here's a picture to be decorative:
[photo by Steward Noack]
larger version also under the cut..

( lyrics for Institute )

The hype has been around for a while but I have finally caught up with the dvd of Colin - the zombie movie allegedly made for £45.
Colin has two major claims to fame. The first, as I stated is that it was made for only £45. I think this may have been a bit of a stretch. Even if everybody involved game their time for free and you dont count the cost of the camera, editing equipment or any other factors which would cost money if you had to buy from scratch, £45 is still a little hard to believe. I dont mean that to be a criticism of the film - its very good - I just doubt the figure they claim as total costs. The fact is that if they spent £4,500 making this film that would still be a massive achievement as it really does hold its own as a feature film and the makers should be proud of it whatever the costs.
The second claim to fame for Colin is probably more interesting. It has been proclaimed as the first film told from the zombie perspective. On a technicality, "I, Zombie" was a film which did this some years before but that had a very different premise as it featured an articulate man who had been infected slowly deterioration into zombie-ness. Colin by Comparison takes a man who rapidly descends into Romero style zombie-ness, and then continues his story. As far as I know it is the first film to do this and it does it very well.
The fact is this home-made film is really very good. It has a tight story and characters you empathise with and there is a good proportion of Hollywood output that cant boast that.


This week I have been mostly reading: The Samurai Film by Alain Silver

Today is the last day to enter our corset giveaway. We draw tomorrow night. I guess you have a day and a half really. No matter, you should enter. It's really just a Twitter follow and a post to do so. Not alot of effort for a very cool prize. Secondly, ClockworkCouture.com is upgrading you to Express Overnight Shipping free of charge until tomorrow morning at 10am on orders totaling $200 or more. You can still get items in time for Xmas. Okay, I gotta go pack, Happy Solstice to those like me, who opened presents today *yay* Now back to work with me. :) And uh, here's an Hare Force Pilot

Gonna Xpost to steamy stiches but no place else.

EDITED TO ADD: Drew Carrey also knows the joys of Von Slatt's creations. He tweeted about it today. 

DrewFromTV

Fantastic Steam-Punk PC. Hand-made, of course. http://bit.ly/8M5cRU

 

i_hope_that
For many of us, the holidays can be kind of rough. If you're searching for a network of understanding friends, this ultra-nurturing community encourages you to express your heartfelt wishes and offer other members encouragement and acceptance. Not for the terminally snarky or emotionally-challenged, this is a good-spirited place to lend comfort and support.

diygifts
Feeling crafty? If you've got a few last folks on your holiday gift list, this is a great place to seed your creativity and generosity. You'll also discover wonderful DIY tips to decorate your home and entertain guests. Offering a no-frills-no-skills attitude that welcomes the cash-challenged and arts-phobic, you're sure to get ideas and make friends in the process.