Chrononaut Mercantile
Steampunk Belt Buckle October 21, 2010 07:55
One of our favorite items, our steampunk belt buckle is a relief casting of the inner movements of a clock. This solidly constructed buckle will be a favorite over the course of many years. Fits a 2.25" belt, available in antique copper, brass and pewter.
Made exclusively in the US for Chrononaut Mercantile.
Steampunk Design Competition October 20, 2010 09:56
An Exhibition of Innovation, Invention and Gadgetry, Opens October 22nd
Steampuffin’s 1st Annual Steampunk Form & Function Design Competition brings together outstanding Steampunk design innovations, details the design process and promotes the role of the Steampunk designer/craftsman. Along with recycled items, all Steampunk design solutions are primarily built using authentic Victorian (1850s to early 1900s) objects, salvage items, clothing and antiques that incorporate modern technology and have specific functions for modern day, practical uses.
Heather and Jeff will be at the opening reception on October 22, 2010, from 5 pm to 11 pm at The Charles River Museum of Industry and Innovation. Admission to the reception is free and light refreshments will be served. Required reservations may be made by calling 781 893 5410 or by emailing info@crmi.org.
One of the items on display will be a beaded ipod made by Heather using 24k gold plated glass beads and antique french cut brass beads.
Steampunk Festival March 17, 2010 18:22
Saturday, May 1st, 2010 at the Charles River Museum of Industry & Innovation - 10:00am to 4:00pm.
Chrononaut Mercantile is excited to join many other talented vendors and artists at the Charles River Museum of Industry & Innovation. Jules Verne meets modern technology during this daylong festival at the Charles River Museum of Industry & Innovation at 154 Moody Street, Waltham, MA 02453. Enjoys hands on activities, interactive exhibits, vendors, live music and more at this event celebrating everything steampunk!
Learn more about who will be there on their Facebook page.
Steampunk Insects by Mike Libby January 11, 2010 16:06
I wrote to Mike Libby of Insect Lab to ask if we could link to him from our steampunk page, but as soon as I started trying to choose just one image from the site it became impossible. I would like to add that he is our neighbor from across the pond, as it were, being right next door in South Portland. I first ran into his work one snowy winter a year or two ago at a craft fair up on the East End. It must be the cold Maine winters that inspire such delectable work. Feast your eyes!
2009 Longhorn by Mike Libby of Insect Lab
Green Rutelidae by Mike Libby of Insect Lab
2009 Small Hopper by Mike Libby of Insect Lab
If you can't aspire to extreme wealth and own one of each, you can also buy lovely prints of these creations with which to decorate your shadowy den. Having seen them in person, I can assure you that they are lovely.
About the making of steampunk guns January 9, 2010 10:21 1 Comment
Interview with Mr. Artimis Lebeau McPhearson about the making of steampunk guns.
I wait for my muse to speak to me, often it is in places like Toys-R-Us or while surfing E-bay looking at replica fire-arms. Once I see something I think can be used to start as a modification I buy it and bring it to my underground workshop (basement), and start to draw up plans, have a cup of coffee, maybe a sandwich.
Usually I will start to place pieces of PVC pipe and use that as a base start of how the gun will look. Once I have a solid idea of what I want, it becomes a game of "find the missing pieces" which usually involves several trips to the local Goodwills, Salvation armies and consignment shops, as well as back to Toys-R-Us, Walmart, Target, Dicks Sporting Goods, Sports Authority and Taco Bell.
Once most pieces have been found, the original gun will be taken apart. I then decide if the gun worked in some way (airsoft, nerf) if it will remain working or be made static. The gun will then be cleaned, lightly sanded and primed. Once dry the pieces are separated into piles of various color paints to be used on them and the paint job continues, as do trips to various aforementioned places... Burger King might be added to the list. I also clear coat the painted pieces as a final step.
Any parts to be added will also go through the take apart, clean, sanded, primed and painted routine. Once all the painting has been done, then comes the building, or the "how the H$ll will I get all of this stuff to look like I want it to" process. I get creative in ways of how to make parts fit together, using things in ways that they were never meant to be used.
Once the final assembly is completed - all parts are put together, added on, stuck together, combined as required - I touch up any areas of paint that need it, clear coat the final product, and pictures are taken for my own records of what it is I just built, how I built it, and possibly why I built it. At this time I am finally free to come back to the surface world (i.e. out of my basement workshop) and rejoin the human race.
Artimis Lebeau McPhearson
Next interview - War Hammers
Fun with steampunk guns. January 2, 2010 15:13
We had a delightful day of photography today with a gathering of friends who passed the afternoon executing one another, engaging in firefights, and murdering each other in a variety of ways.
These modded steampunk guns will be up on the Chrononaut Mercantile site in the next couple of days. Don't forget to join the mailing list to stay up to date on all our weapons of destruction!
Hungarian Steampunk Fashion December 30, 2009 08:18
Some photos from our friends in Hungary. I've included links below to their deviantART pages so you can see more of their work. I am going to start putting money in my dinosaur piggy bank so we can go and visit them some day!
Flamara Halvorsen (Judit Farkas) and Ghoulina von Royal (Ildikó Licenciás)
Photos by Rodian
Clothes by Ghoulina and Flamara
Make-up by Ghoulina
thy fair jewels of my gold and of my silver December 19, 2009 08:34
Somehow they look even more otherworldly and enticing in this case. It must be our friend Nick, of Heller Custom Woodworking, who makes even a simple display case look this good.
Szt!mpank - a magyar steampunk blog December 16, 2009 14:46 2 Comments
So we don't really know what they are saying, but everything seems to look more like an international spy story when it is in Hungarian. We're excited to have traffic on our site coming from our friends over in Europe.
Click over and check them out. With words like "elforgatásával" and "szerkesztője" you can't go wrong.
Flea Market Adventures December 15, 2009 14:04
There is little we enjoy more than digging through piles of really old stuff, talking to the picturesque vendors (and believe me, you haven't experienced picturesque until you try backwoods Maine), and generally making trouble among the flintlock pistols and farm implements.
Our latest installation of trouble-making brought us these old tintype photos:
A tintype (or melainotype or ferrotype) is a photograph made creating a direct positive on a sheet of iron metal that is blackened by painting or enameling.
These ladies are especially lovely. (I am going to look like them when I grow up). We found these courtesy of Gerry Maxim, whose booth can be found on Saturdays and Sundays at Fort Andross, a beautifully restored textile mill on the Androscoggin River in Brunswick Maine. Look for new Neo-Victorian, pseudo-Piratical and faux-Fae inspirations as we interpret all of our new loot.