Fun Stuff Friday!

Three fun things!

First direct your attention to the right of the screen you may have recgonized the avatar image from this blog post Fun Stuff By ArtSnark.

To reiterate, that awesome portrait was created by the most talented Stacey Merrill of Art Snark on Etsy Check out more of her impressive work at ArtSnark.etsy.com

Second order of funness!
Direct your eyes to the left of the screen,that Vote For Me ad is about a casting call competition that I've entered Solace in please take a moment to vote for her please vote daily and on all of her pics!

The third thing is a brand spanken new item which is a fall back entry for the current Etsy Steam Team contest which is "Seam and Steam: A Challenge of Metal and Cloth!"
This is the Sweetheart Cuff which was brought into reality by the teaching of Corrie Sullivan aka Corrie Hill Designs on Etsy


This cuff was hand sewn by your truly, there's a second one in the works and my master entry for the Steam Team challenge. I'm a sewing friend thanks to Corrie's class!

Greek Nouveau Chandelier Earrings

New to the Shop Greek Nouveau Chandelier Earrings

Elegant and ornately detailed these earrings remind me of something the ancient Greeks would fancy. The faceted bronze czech glass fire polished bead stands out delightfully as it is captured between two brass watch gears and then framed by a pair of simple white beads. These earrings with their steampunk flare really embrace a new take on an Ancient Greek look hence they are named Greek Nouveau. These earrings measure 1.25 inches (3.1cm) in length from the bottom of the brass ear wire and are .5 of an inch (1.2 cm) wide.

These took me a bit to piece together and I am loving how it turned out. This is the first time I've used gears as bead caps and the fine detailed look they give is amazing! Although I doubt I will be making another pair of these specific earrings, I do look forward to utilizing the gears like these as bead caps in more of my creations.

Revenants

Two new items in the shop today! Actually they are slight variations of each other but I'm very pleased to be upping my game as it were with higher quality items. Both of these earrings feature gemstones of the feldspar group of minerals sunstone and moonstone.



Stunning and elegant these earrings have their own story to tell, as they honor the cross culture mythology of butterflies, which are believed to be the souls of the deceased, by having a haunting air of ethereal art nouveau, combined with antique mechanical elements. On top of that these are graced with genuine sunstone gemstones which glitter in celestial brilliance.

The name of these earrings was choosen based on mythology dealing with butterflies click here for a link to a page about it.

Here's what Merriam Webster has to say about the word Revenant:
" * Main Entry: rev·e·nant
* Pronunciation: \ˈre-və-ˌnäⁿ, -nənt\
* Function: noun
* Etymology: French, from present participle of revenir to return
* Date: 1818
: one that returns after death or a long absence"

As you can see this word is from the 1800s to give the earrings that much deserved steampunk flare.

Fun stuff by ArtSnark

Etsy Steam Team member and talented artist ArtSnark is doing a few portraits of Steam Team members. She took this pic


ran it through the inspirational gears of her artistic aesthetic to create this!



To say that this portrait titled "Trust Me" is pretty friggin cool is an understatement! I can't wait to see what else she creates from the other Steam Team members so keep tabs on her blog ArtSnark's Artifacts: Art & musings for the eclectic soul,
and now that you've had a taste of her work check out some more in her shop! ArtSnark.etsy.com

So Sleepy -_- zzZzZzZZZzZzZzz

I have succeeded at not getting done what I had wanted to get done today. What has been done is taking my car to the shop and it's going to be a shiny new radiator for Jeepness. Yes I named my Jeep Wrangler her full name is Jeepness of Fury =D and I figure cars are like large mechanical pets, you feed them, clean them and take them to the Mechanic Doctor when they are sick. Which means Jeepness is having surgery omg my poor car!
Now enough of my insane banter from being very sleepy, I tend to research my items pretty heavily and fill my brain with useless knowledge which I shall from this day forward share with those who may so happen to stumble upon this blogamigigger.

I recently wrote of acquiring my grubby little paws on a fabulous lot of watch parts with are cases, bands, movements, watch makers vials, amazing tins, and other fun things. So most of the intact movements I will be selling and I like to know what I selling so I've been doing research on the brands and the history of wrist watches in general which I found out women were the first to wear wrist watches or wristlets as they were referred to at the time, where as the watches were decorative pieces more like bracelets and even as I've found brooches with the watch set upside down so the lady could peer down and not have to fondle with her bosom trying to peer at the time. The reason behind why women lay claim to wearing the first wrist watch has been said to be because of the women's rights movements and women moving towards being in the work place. This essentially began in 1848 when the first official Women's Rights Convention convened and push ahead in the 1920s with the 19th Amendment allowing women to vote.
Men later too on the trend starting with the first world war. Here's what a site on the history of the Gruen Watch Co has to say about it,"Most men saw wristwatches as being extremely effeminate and continued to carry pocket watches. Things began to change after the military on both sides used wristwatches during the First World War. When huddled in a muddy trench or flying an airplane, a wristwatch proved to be much more practical and convenient than a pocket watch, and was easier to protect from damage. This helped to remove the wristwatch's feminine stigma, making them acceptable for men to wear in civilian life. However, most manufacturers, including Gruen, were careful to call them "strap watches" since "wristwatch" still sounded effeminate to male customers."
Those are the interesting tid bits I found out today and I look forward to getting the movements up on my Sacred Supplies shop tonight.
Here's a list that I worked up of the brands to expect:
Bering Watch co
Benrus Watch co inc
Beverly
Bulovia Watch Co
Englin USA
Etna Watch co
Glycine watch co
Gruen Watch co
Harman Watch Co
Helbros Watch Co
Klasons Watch Co
Liban Watch Co
Libela Watch Co
Louis Watch co inc
Mildus watch co
Rensie Watch co
Royce watch co
Winton Watch Co