Steampunk Design Competition October 20, 2010 09:56

An Exhibition of Innovation, Invention and Gadgetry, Opens October 22^nd

Steampuffin’s 1^st 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 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

Art of Crafting 101 December 18, 2009 15:12

Sometimes it is good to make a big mess.

Stay very busy and keep your workspace full of ideas. Sometimes if you let them all live in close proximity with one another, they will get cosy while you are gone and something new will be born in your absence.