MIA one Steampunk Jeweller...

well I been MIA for a while now - not just on the Blog but in life too. Maybe I'm hitting that age where I start to fall apart and then need cyborg parts? ... perhaps not quite yet! Actually its a bunch of kidney related issues but I'm hoping those will pass (ha!) soon.

Anyway, since i've not been feeling well I thought I would do a collage of some of the more recent steampunk jewelry that I've been creating. It's an okay collage - most of the stuff is still up on etsy (http://www.clockworkzero.etsy.com/) right now. A few pieces are going to be up and as of 20 min ago one of them (the flower) is prob going to be sold.

Its been a slow month so far on etsy. amazingly slow. I suspect because all the little things I do to keep it going haven't happened. No real updates, no new work. But now
that I'm feeling a bit better.. its time to get rolling again.

So in the collage starting at the top: Beetle wing necklace, a dragonfly in flight against a large clock gear, one of the cyberpunk Industrial necklaces - this one made from part of a cash register, The Claw (recycled chainsaw blade and a pocket watch piece), lovely unusual patterned brass pocket watch piece with vintage glass drop, a smaller "honeycomb" made from recycled hardware and layers of industrial glue, Vacuum Tube necklace, Dangerous queen's necklace, another vacuum tube necklace but with some longer glass tubes, Pocket Watch Bunny - part of my steampunk Alice series, 3 locket lockets, pretty watch face with brass flowers.

Steampunk Fashion Shoot - Auxiliary Magazine February 2010!

Personally, 2009 ended with a whimper and started with a Bang!
I contracted some kind of viral stomach contagion from TheHusband. First I looked after him, and we thought it was food poisoning. No such luck (!?) - since on the 30th I started getting sick. I won't describe it. Far too horrible.

After 3 days in bed though I had to get my shaking, quivering arse over for a photoshoot that prominently featured my jewelry. I was working with Tasha from Pretty Deadly Stylz who asked if I can provide some of the Steampunk Jewelry for the photos. Since I had spent weeks working on things for this shoot - at least 15 pieces - I figured sick or near dead - I better get there. It was also a balmy -25C out. lovely.

Anyway, I arrived at the location - an artist's studio - and the PhotoShoot was InProgress. There were 2 models, 1 Hair Stylist, 2 Make Up Artists (MUA's), the Photographer, and Tasha - The Stylist. A Wardrobe had been up - Racks of clothes - tables of make-stuff, a small shoe store had been gutted to provide shoes, and of course Lights, Bounces and Set.

Holy Crap, I thought, wtf am I doing here??? Me. artist/jewelry-maker, normal person.
I had brought the cases of jewelry and a bunch of tools to lengthen/shorten/adjust and create-on-the-spot work. Good thing too since I ended up doing a lot of that for the next several hours.

Evidently the photos look Fantastic. We'll find out in February when Auxiliary Magazine puts out the issue. I can't wait!

Steampunk Jewelry in Toronto

So every once in a blue moon I do a Craft show around Toronto. Eons ago when I did them in Montreal they were fantastic. Toronto though has more of a mixed reaction. I'm not complaining though - I always sell something at the shows, even when people around me aren't.

Last week though I had a strange experience. A couple came over to me and asked if Iworked for another person. (Dave?? I can't remember). No, I make all my own stuff all by myself. Sometimes the cat keeps me company but mostly its me & parts.

"But your jewelry is a lot like his!"
Really?
"Well, not really. Your work is very nice."
Thanks!
"We should tell Dave(?) to come and see your stuff. He's going to be Furious. He'll be soooo angry! We should tell him to come see your stuff!"
um... no really. Perhaps you should NOT send Dave(?)-the-Enraged-Jeweler to come see my stuff. I really don't want to meet him anymore.
"Oh it will be FUN! He'll be really upset but he'll get over it!"

This coming Sunday I'll be at the TRANZAC - a little space just south of Bloor Street, at 292 Brunswick Ave. I'm going to have a bunch of new work there. I love the vibe at these craft shows - its always amazing to meet other crafts people.

Somehow though I'm not sure I'm looking forward to meeting Dave(?) though. If you hear about an incident at a craft show.. think of me.

some Steampunk Earrings...

I don't make a lot of earrings. No idea why - probably because they are a bit of a PITA for me personally. Or maybe it was the trauma of all the ugly earrings I wore back in the late 80s? hm. So when I make earrings I really try and come up with something pretty, and unusual.

Anyway, one of my most popular designs are simple and elegant. They are the ones I call my "Silver and Black Star earrings". I have had more compliments on these ones then just about anything else. They are, for me "steampunk earrings" but... I suspect they are just the perfect combination of elegant and classic. Maybe one day I'll make a few variations but right now they are my fav. The black star-gear washers are a lovely matte black - which works well against the shiny silver discs. I love working with sterling silver - but I just wish I could afford to use more :)

The next pair of "steampunk earrings" are really much more (IMHO) Cyberpunk. I often wonder if cyberpunk though is as popular as steampunk. I love it. That modernistic slick look, which is to me much more MATRIX-BLADERUNNER oriented then the gear-driven, brass and watchparts look of the steampunk jewelry. This pair of earrings will be quite limited in their run. Alas! sigh. I think they are very difficult to find - the main component being the Magnetic Switches - which are Just Super cool.

I'll have to dig up some other photos somewhere of some of my other earrings. :)

Steampunk Jewelry Explosion... the Aftermath!

holy crow. I've managed to complete more new pieces of jewelry this past 2 weeks than I have in months. Most of it is a steampunked style of jewelry - pocket watch pieces, gears etc. And of course a few pieces of "cyberpunk jewelry".

With the weather halfway decent I could finally take some photos. Thats the problem with a Natural Light obsession. Cloudy dark days don't do it for me. Bright sun also has its own problems. Today looks like another good day - bright and flat skys.

What does this all mean? Basically I've been working like a fiend to get new designs up to Etsy. I do not know if the Shopping Holiday craze has decended or the sporadic marketing attempts I've been doing.

In the past week I've almost had 30 items up on etsy. For me that is a HUGE number. I custom make all my designs... so its just me sitting there in my little crowded room, trying not to drop tiny gears on the floor where they'll get lost in the cracks. This should be easy but it isn't. :D I work a few hours every day for my brother - doing that driveway thing - but when its done - in theory I've got a few hours to make some steampunk earrings, some necklaces and work on some weirdo sculptures.

In reality:
5 hrs for my brother: 9-2pm. or so
1 hr for: lunch, minor cleaning: 30 min. shower, dressing, more minor cleaning: 30.

Suddenly it will be 3pm.. emails. Posting stuff. Shopping. Making dinner.
Wait! the light is great.. take those photos!
Wait, another email from someone re: steampunk jewelry!
Wait.. wait.. wait..

Next thing I know it will be 5:30 and I've CREATED NOTHING... but dinner.

So to get 28 pieces of jewelry up on etsy is an accomplishment. I don't know how other people manage to list 50 or 100 or 200 things. omg. They prob work full time at it. Or have a co-op or something. Listing 28 pieces is for me an EXPLOSION of jewelry.

But now .. I've had sales. The last 2 weeks have been almost as busy for my store as the time that I had the article about my work and etsy in WIRED Magazine. I'm tripping over myself to make sure the work gets sent out promptly and well packaged. and now i've gotta plan for 3 craft shows in Dec!

rains it pours. make hay while the sunshines. It will likely be very quiet in January!

Steampunk Telescope necklaces and a craft show in Toronto

I've done a lot of new work for the Craft Show tomorrow: 557 Queen Street West in Toronto - its the Underground Craft Show. It is one of the 2 shows I've signed up to do.

so for the Underground Craft show I've been making and making and making stuff. Steampunk jewlery. Cyberpunk Jewelry. Geek jewelry. Lots of jewelry but almost no sculptures. No time. I am thrilled will a lot of it. If people come to the show tomorrow I suspect they will see some of the best work I've done - and some of the most unique. Still will the rain and crap weather I really worry. Maybe no one will show. In which case I'll have work to photograph and place on etsy.

A few pieces are up there now - but these of course may sell tomorrow... My new Favorite: a mini steampunk telescope necklace! and of course the Steampunk Russian Pilot necklace/brooch (it can be both).

I'm really thrilled though that my beetle wing necklace sold - the 5 wings. It has probably more hearts then almost anything else. Over 30 I think. I'll be working today on a 2nd one too.

But.. this craft show thing stresses me out. I've done so few - and they always go well - but i fret. Plus I worry mostly about money. Its the independent artist dilemna. Do I sell online or do shows? Do i try and get into shops? Because the work takes so long to make, and its just me sitting here in my chilly room full of watch parts, machines, gears, glass and remains - it means I'm a one woman shop. I honestly don't know how people manage to keep 100 items in their stores on etsy.

And, this has been a learning curve! I never realized how competitive the Craft Show market is in Toronto - and between now and christmas I've got only 2 small shows lined up. Part of the reason is that I didn't know that 10,000 jewelers would apply and secondly, to be honest, it was partly cash. I needed to pay for the tables - and had a serious cash crunch due to some confusion with my "pay". (yes there are quotes there). So rather then sign up with bouncing cheques I didn't sign up at all. Now of course I have the cash - but there is nary an opening in sight. sigh. Next year I'll be better!

Before and After Photos - taking good photos for Etsy

So I have to admit I did a long stint helping review work for Stock photography - in a now sadly defunct site. It was a real eye opener. After you have seen 300 photos of a bunch of carrots your eyes glaze over... and then some clever bugger comes along and sends a photo of a bunch of carrots and you say, OMFG look at those carrots!!!

That's the secret of a good photo. I'm not even close to achieving that.. but I learned a lot of tricks Even when i take a great and interesting photo - I still get emails from customers saying: Oh is so much better in Real life!

I try not to spend too much time ditzing around with photos. If I spend 4 hours playing with photos - and i still pay myself - my jewelry would be Much More Expensive. And to be honest I feel its not fair. A customer isn't buying a photo. So I try and limit my "ditzing around time" to about 30 min. Less if I can. Usually I have 2 shots I might spend more time with. As well I try and use all 5 photos. Photos help sell the work.

After having sold nearly 140+ pieces - this equals about 700 photos just to etsy. Thats about 350 hours of photo time. If I was working a 40 hour week that would be over 8 wks. 2 months of work. And that won't count all the didn't-make-it photos. The ones with the hairs and dust and omg-is-that-a-fly?? on the shots.

You really want to get as close to a good photo right from the start. As important as it is to take a good photo there are a few BASICS. This little article won't help much for someone who has no idea about photography. You'll have to check some other sites to help with that.

BASIC THINGS TO CONSIDER WHEN TAKING YOUR PHOTOS FOR ETSY:

• 1. Exposure. If your photo is over-exposed there is not a lot you can do to correct it if all the highlights are blown out. For me personally its easier to correct under-exposure. The more over-exposed the photo is the harder it gets to correct.
• 2. Centered - for Etsy and similar sites its really vital that your product is centered. Oh sure it can be artistically placed to one side. It can come at a slant. But if you are cutting off a section of your work or say the really pretty beads aren't show then your customer won't see them. You've got just a few chances to grab their attention - so if part of your photo is missing - chances are good they won't click to find it.
• 3. Large as Possible - You want to fill up at least one of your photos with the product. You might not get in all of it - but get the bulk of whatever it is - in the center and Large!
• 4. Focus. - in focus not blurry. Did you use a tripod?
• 5. Minimal Shadows - yes. sure daylight is great - but direct sunlight causes shadows. Shadows create distortion. In the tiny thumbnails people review the shadows will look like part of your work. Use a bounce. (another photo term for you to look up). A bounce will help minimize the darkness. I have used: pie plates, pot lids, pieces of paper - as well as a store-bought Bounce. The paper works fine.
• 6. WHITE. Anything in your photo that is white should be white. Are your whites white? If your white beads look GRAY or Yellow.. you need to get a photoshop-type program and adjust them. This is critical. If your customer thinks the beads are yellow and gets white beads they won't be pleased. I won't click on any photo of anything where the product looks gray. Brighten it up.
• 7. Straight... this depends on the shot but a good example is the huge number of shots we use to reject because the horizon was crooked. I like things that are straight in the photo - especially if I suspect the person was trying to make it straight.
• 8. Background. I prefer neutral backgrounds. Not too fancy. If i have to spend 40 minutes dicking around with "composing a background" - say one of lace and a pretty book etc. That is 40 minutes I could spend writing, making new jewelry, sleeping. Because these are product shots you want a good, interesting background - but not one that distracts from your work. As well if I create a photo with a book, some lace, pretty flowers - I will make sure I use that in several product shots. But here's the catch - I don't want all my pieces to have the same look. Thats why I will often use layers.

EXAMPLE -- I took this yesterday. To be honest I wasn't in the mood for taking photos, so they are kind of not my best shots. Perfect for this post though...

BEFORE:
1. underexposed. I was being lazy and didn't set up a tripod. Hand-held at 1/30 F2.8 ISO50

2. crooked - I should have spent a bit more time laying it out. sigh.

3. strong shadows. Not terrible - but I didn't use a bounce - see above: lazy. grey.

4. bland background - bland but one of my fav's. it has a lot of black spots but I knew i'd be correcting and adding in a layer.


AFTER: time - 22 min

1. exposure fixed. used - brightness & contrast.

2. straightened (still not perfect but not bad. It is straight and cropped square. My only nitpick would be that the chain is more exposed on the left. shrug).

3. shadows minimized. Cloned out most of the strong ones and dodge out others.

4. background was okay but I added a layer of texture. I did this because I use that textured paper a lot and want something different. Plus - this is a "mechanical" piece. The original background was subtle and organic. I wanted something a bit more textured. In a larger version - clickclick on it - the On-Off switch looks 3d. It does stand a bit forward of the chain so thats okay.

5. cropped - this will be the main photo in when I upload the photo. I look at the photos reduced to 30%. If they look interesting when they are tiny .. thats great. Sites like etsy want squares. Since I was a bit lazy I added some of the background to the right side of the photo. Really I should add a bit more to the bottom so it is centered - but I've hit my 20 min time limit. This will be the main photo in the Etsy upload.

one thing I did that isn't the best is along the left side of the switch it is a wee bit blurry. Thats an editing issue I will correct. later. maybe. but because there will be 4 other photos I won't worry too much. This recycled necklace is made out of different electronic elements. Steampunk jewelry 0r cyberpunk jewelry or maybe just some real geek jewelry. And yeah, the switch does work. :D

Do let me know if you liked this article!

Cheers
Zero

jewel beetle wings and other steampunk things

I spent a part of yesterday drilling out beelte wings. They really look fantastic. Plus.. i love drilling things - funny but true. I even made myself a version of this necklace ::GASP:: = something I rarely do.


The colours are really stunning. I never thought I would wear chrome green.. lol. its GREEN but how amazing really. Depending on the light there is hints of yellow as well as hints of an incredible blue.

I have been really busy this weekend. I even got a fanpage up on Facebook - shocking but true! so far a few of my friends/ ex-coworkers have joined which is kind of fun.

Commission the win! Clockwork Beetle in Flight

Well, turns out that the guy had gone on vacation for a few weeks. I am so relieved!


He bought the 2nd Clockwork Insect I made - and I'm posting it off now.

=======================

In the meantime I was feeling quite geeky. Must be missing the old tech support job or something. So I was playing with EPROMS. I'm making a series: Dancing Cybermen - of brooches. Not just brooches but Super Geek Robot brooches - and turning those old EPROMs into jacket pins. They are just........................so uberly geeky.

They kind of dance too = jiggly legs and arms. So you know - an EPROM is a Erasable Programmable Read-Only Memory, is a type of computer memory chip that retains its data when its power supply gets turned off.

And this one is an intel made in 1982!

Steampunk Jewelry - new work finally!

Steampunk jewely - finally some new stuff! lol.

This little piece is my snake goddess - steampunk meet goth!

I've been swamped lately and then had a sudden burst of creativity. It happens - I don't know if other artists feel the same way - but all of a sudden everything started coming together. I created 3 or 4 new necklaces... all steampunk. :D

I love making steampunk jewelry - and combining new and very old materials. I lucked out and found a few very nice pieces.

I've been absolutely stunned at some of the prices work is going for these days - some is quite cheap (but then you get cheap looking stuff). But MY GODS - some of it is so very overpriced that I almost fell over when I saw the Cheap Looking Stuff that was so very over rated. It was stunning.

I'm sure I'm opening myself up to some possible flames... but holy gee some of it looks....... terrible. But then I guess it is just my tastes aren't that common. I'm sure there will be some people who think my own work looks like crap too. :) heh.
maybe this is how old jewelers felt when they saw knockoffs and chrome and plated materials? Did they think, "omg who would buy that?" and "are you joking?" Come to think of it: my dad gave me the same look when I showed him my work. :D

Steampunk book coverings - Works in Progress

Well, went over to my friend's place yesterday to "sew" the book covering for the Simon and Schuster commission for Scott Westerfeld's new book, Leviathan

I've chosen two materials - and likely will go with the first one... Its a nice faux-suede, a bit heavier than the other colour. There's a camel-brown (not really beige - but sorta!) and a green. The green - sort of an olive military green - is quite nice but a bit lighter. I had cut the patterns out - and drawn lines where I needed to sew.... but since i've no machine - I had to go to my friend's place to do it.

Of course going to a friend's place means coffee, lunch and more coffee. We're both photographers so I spent time reviewing her latest work, giving opinions on her jewelry designs (great idea but it will be tricky!) - and talking.

We finally got around to sewing around 4pm. The first, lighter material - was easy. The second one (camel colour) was ................ well. Looks like i need to learn to mark patterns better. After 2 shots we had it done.

I'm a bit nervous. The book covers are pretty exact. Its what they wanted - as far as I can tell. And I detest the idea of them being floppy. So they are snug. How many books will they actually fit? No idea. In my mind they likely won't be used all over the place. Come on, if you won a prize that is covered with silver and gears - how often would you tote it around? Maybe a few times - to show off? How many times would you put in other books? Maybe once or twice.

I think this will look so fantastic that someone will just simply leave it on Leviathan and adore it that way :D

Anyway, the covers got sewn. Now comes the FUN part! For me sewing is Not Fun. but anyway.... i'll be laying out some ideas and sending it to the people at Simon & Shulster Canada and seeing what they think. If it all looks good............. then away I go!

Steampunk Jewelry on WIRED Magazine - Etsy, Technology & ClockworkZero's steampunk jewelry

So there's this Geek Magazine i've read for the last decade: WIRED has a very positive article on ETSY. For all you etsy people out there - do take a look. Share it around - its nice to have some super positive ETSY articles - and WIRED is so well read. Consider yourselves as part of the revolution!

Clive Thompson who wrote the article bought one of my steampunk/cyberpunk vacuum tubes last year. Although I'd read his stuff for years I didn't know he was The Clive Thompson. Months and months later he contacted me and said he'd like to mention my work in an article. I was thrilled - but thought it would be a lot less - something minor - and he said in April maybe.
Except it is NOW - LOL omgbbqwtfomg I've had a few sales.. and so much positive little emails from strangers. It's been great. Now i've grabbed somehow a little bit of web fame.

If anyone here DIGGs stuff or Stumbles - can you do me a fav and stumble/digg the article? please? pretty please? shugar?

So chances are good .. i'm quitting my day job.
what do you think of that?! craaaaaaaaazy

Time Crunches a Steampunk Jeweler's Brain

Finally! an update.. but not a huge one. Time crunches my brain, but I'm planning on changing that. Although I've been working on a time traveller device that would allow me to actually go back to the days when i had more time to make jewelry, the device is sadly missing something vital. All it does is just sit there! ;)

So I'm thinking of quitting my day job. The one that pays the rent and bills, and making this a full(er) time venture. its madness. The economy sucks. The sales are a bit slow. but my well paying job... sucks. i get home so depressed and sad, usually with a headache. Sometimes with a migraine.

Between my husband and I we will... be okay if i quit. They won't give me a leave and there are no other positions in the company now. They are asking us to work longer hours (without pay), dress up in Business clothes (no idea why), do more and more. The end result is some hard misery.

So although it seems madness, I told my supervisor this week I'm going to leave the job in April. I'll be doing some hours for my brother, helping people set up web stats (something i'm really good at), and basically... making steampunk jewelry. crazy but true.In other news!

I finally finished my Steampunk Bee design, and I'm really happy with the elements. My husband suggested the price, but I think its a bit too high. I'll be eventually changing it a bit to something slightly more affordable I hope. I love bees........... i should do more bees! And i will too.

So here's the photo. Let me know what you think. There's a few more photos up on etsy - my clockworkzero.etsy site: steampunk bee



The silver bee has been adorned with some simple gears taken from a vintage watch. She is connected to these absolutely gorgeous pocket watch pieces by faceted iolite set into sterling silver. Iolite is a pretty stone - a blue grey colour. I've also added some tiny iolite beads in between the links.

Now the pocket watch pieces are just incredible. It took a long time to find a nice pair that both had some damaskeening (that is the patterning in the metal) and the elaborate engraving. They aren't quite a matched set - since the engraving is a bit different - but they are almost a perfect match in size. Do have a look at the close ups I've provided - since they really show off the fine quality. As you can see these pocketwatch pieces come from Waltham pocketwatches. Based on a guesstimate and a comment from the watch repairman that I got the orignal watches from they were made around 1900-1920 or so.

Steampunk in Toronto!

wow, a long time since i have been here.. i'll be better at posting in 2009. most of my posts go up to my livejournal. Anyway...t hings are going like crazy in the Steampunk Jewelry department. I'm really excited to see how Toronto is growing into loving Steampunk. Yay Toronto :D

I spent the holidays working on some new designs and finishing some special projects.One of the nice things that happened was that my jewelry got used in a photo shoot. I had no idea what to expect though, so it was rather difficult to get all excited about it. Anyway, I got a few of the photos yesterday. I'm totally amazed. They were a lot better than I expected or hoped for.

there's a bigger version on my Flickr. anyway, its thrilling to see my jewlry being worn :D

CREDITS:
ClockworkZero (steampunk jewelry): www.clockworkzero.etsy.com
Tasha (stylist) pretty.deadly.stylz@gmail.com and http://www.modelmayhem.com/708099

Bella (blonde model) http://www.modelmayhem.com/208464

Elyse (purple-haired model) http://www.modelmayhem.com/698146

Jenni (make-up artist) http://www.modelmayhem.com/193703

Starkers (wardrobe) http://www.modelmayhem.com/402135

And Danielle King (photographer): http://www.modelmayhem.com/593390 and www.danielleking.ca