Steampunk Display

 

So this past weekend I was thinking it would be nice to have a lamp with a steam punk theme. I went online and looked around and I just couldn't see myself spending 100.00 dollars or more on one. Many are handmade and very creative. They are all kinds with clock faces, dials, gears and pipes.

I wondered maybe I can make one??

 

 So, I was at Tuesday Morning and found this gear type candle stick. Its pretty heavy and very realistic with the gears on the base and on the top section. It was on sale for 7.00 so I brought it home.
I looked around and these pics are what I came up with in the end product.

 I have several charms, gears, beads all strategically placed with glue onto a wired sphere I had in my garage. I have two of these wired spheres and they originally were for garden decor. The sphere has three butterflies extended by wire to imply they are flying around the sphere. I place gears and time clock faces on the wings.  The detail is hard to capture in these  photos, but its quite layered with pieces.

 As you can see I kind a stayed monochromatic with my bead colors. I like the whimsy of the black and white spirals (like candy), and the other smaller beads are also either solid white or solid black with tiny crystals for reflectiveness.

 At the top of the sphere I even placed a wooden knob that I painted black to appear as a lamp topper. It kinda looks like a top hat now that I think about it. Once I was done with adding all the charms and such, I then wanted to add lights. I have several mini lights that I use throughout the year for celebration decor. See below for lighted photo.

 The photo below is with the sphere mounted on top of the gear candle stick and then lights attached (battery operated) and turned on. I carefully tied down the lights, I tried to place them to minimize the exposure of the wire from the light. At the top you can see the butterflies each have a light as well. The light strand is pretty easy to work with and very malleable, so I think it turned out OK.

 Here are some closeup shots of the sphere so you can see more detail. It only took me a couple hours to pull this piece together. I'm pretty happy with it. Its small enough to not take over the display table and yet large enough to makes its presence known.

 I made the light/lamp to compliment my display area for my pendants. Along that thought, I also made display trays to hold the pendants. I found these boxes, sold as a single box, one piece is the top and the other is the bottom of the box. Also at Tuesday morning, on sale for 8.00 but I bought this a month or so ago and not initially for this idea. But turns out worked out great.

 The boxes are rather large, about 17x14. I covered each one with fabric on the inside and the outside.
I then made an enclosure piece that is removable. This piece is made of chipboard, using my card stock and embellishments I created a steam punk type background.  The box below has the word TIMELESS spelled out in the center using keyboard letters. I placed gears beneath each letter for dimension and theme. I then used glossy accents to add clear layering effect to each letter. If you notice, the bird in the photo is from the 30inch tree that stands between the two boxes, I found this at Home Goods for 12.00, it has several branches and heights and a couple birds as well. This piece works great for hanging pendants.

 The second box in the display has a door theme, with hinges and door latch to boot. I place strips of a coordinated card stock at the top,center and bottom of the page for definition. I placed stamps randomly on the page and I cut out the word in letters to spell IMAGINE. On the right of the page at the end of the center paper strip I added three layers of metal embellishment for the door key hole. Both this box and the first one are resting on iron easels I have at home that I use for various decor. It works better placing them on the easels. I will have to figure a way to secure the boxes to the easels. I will probably use Velcro.

Well that's what I was working on this past weekend. Thanks for looking and I hope this sprouted some ideas of your own.
Take Care.

I have been working on several other pendants and wanted to share them with you. Some of you have expressed an interest in purchasing them, and I can't tell you how humble that makes me feel. As you may know, I just stumbled onto playing with resin because I wanted specific steampunk type charms for my 8x8 scrapbooks I make.  All these pendants come with a 30 inch chain, which varies based on availability.  I hope you enjoy viewing these and if you have any questions you can email me at bellaluzdesignz@yahoo.com.

I have two different sizes that I have been working with, this is the smaller version. This is about 1 inch in diameter and are either in silver , bronze or gold. I work from inspiration. Most of the "charms" that I place inside each bezel are from items I either make or have collected over the last year or so.  Some items I cut, ink, distress or make from clay. The background I also distress, color or stamp. Every item in the bezel including the background is sealed and layered into the bezel one at a time and I wait for each to be completely dry before I layer in the resin. The resin layering and setting process is key to ensure the final desired outcome is achieved.

 

 

 This pendant below is a silver car with pearls and crystals. It may be a little hard to see. Its great how some of the pendants bring out stories and ring in memories from some of the ladies who have seen them. I love hearing about them. I have also been inking my charms so this car is also two toned in blue and copper in another piece I have sold. I have a pink version in the pocket watch bezel further down in this blog.

 

The next pieces are my 2nd style of pendant that is reminiscent of a vintage pocket watch. I actually love this style and its my favorite to work with. The size  of the round section is just about 1.5 inches in diameter. Then of course is the added feature top section for hanging. This bezel is in bronze, gold and a white silver. I have played with the shading of this metal surface and have altered it on some pieces using ink, glaze and gilders paste. Its been a lot of fun.  The bezel face is another section that has so many ways to adorn. I either handset each single crystal as seen in this first piece below or I encrust it with tiny beads. The beads version is further down in this collection.

The bezel below is the bronze version that I inked and stained to produce a vintage patina. The color is now more black. Sorry I don't have a photo of the back on this one, I will try to include back shots in future. The back actually is also textured in the metal itself.

The bezel on this piece below is also originally bronze that I patina'd to a mossy green. Love this piece and not just cuz green is my most fav color., lol

The bezel face on this piece has reflective foil pieces that  I cut up and placed different shades blue. At the top of all these bezel type pieces I place a color coordinating crystal. The contents in this bezel is one of my favs, since its in the steam punk variation. It has gears, clock face, bird with a crown and a silver charm in the form of glasses. Love! Oh and I also love blue. :)

This is Paris in pink! Many layers to this one too, but honestly all these pieces are layered and made from my heart and I take lots of care and time to achieve the final outcome of each. The bezel face is a combination of citrine crystals inlayed by hand and a layer of pink glitter on top. This color combination really intrigued me and works quite well together.

Here below is the beaded cluster on the bezel face in three different pendants (I used seed beads, selected multiple colors, and mixed them together) . I really love texture and working with different mediums.  This cluster's look and feel is pretty cool. The dimension and feel is great. The look reminds of very tiny flower bouquets I see growing in the wild. (see example below).

The seed beads on this bezel face below has three different bead types. One of my hobbies is photography and being able to capture it in this piece and into what I am working on today is wonderful. The content in the bezel has gears, flower and camera charms. I painted the camera and placed a crystal in the lens. The contents in all these pendants are small, but as you look closely into each one, you will find a story.

The bezel below is encrusted with copper beads, three different colors and shapes. The content is filled with a large clock that I glittered with red and placed a metal flower that I inked in a copper color. I added a smiley face to the left and the word create on the upper right. The bezel is gold color.

 

 Well, I have been working on doming some new pieces, so next time I will hopefully have a variation to show you. I hope you enjoyed viewing these. Have a great day and god bless us for each day brings us a fresh start and new possibilities. :)