Hello peeps!
its been far too long since I posted. Not that I've not had 101 things I've wanted to say, but mostly because that thing called Life has kept me busy. wow. really busy. In non-steampunk jewelry news:

- my mom was really sick for a while. Very sick with pneumonia it turns out. She's feeling better though, and is now heading off to Vancouver. It was a rough few weeks though, and it has made me think a lot about the health of both my parents.

- i'm sick. (yes, i see a few heads nodding)
Sick with a cold or something. TheBad is also claiming some icky-ness. He blames a coughing child at the gym who was trying to extract a lung.

- I've put aside some special Vacuum Tubes I got last week or so for some Speshul People. I think you know who you are.

- I did a goth/cyberpunk/steampunk sale a few weekends ago that went crazy well. I'm impressed how many people know about Cyberpunk. It is always fun to meet people who read SF. My heart!

- there's been a few orders on etsy - more than i would have guessed. It's been keeping me busy.

- A boyfriend of a friend said he might be involved next year with a Cyberpunk version of MacBeth. And he really likes my stuff. And well.. we shall see, but it might be that I'll be doing some costuming kind of stuff.

- I have some ideas that are crazy. really crazy in my head. sculpture almost. Very retro-sf.

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

and now.. for a little story.
so in my various trips around town I ran into an older gentleman who works in a store. I was wearing one of my Vacuum Tube pendants - and he recognized it for what it was - and the chain too.

After a few conversations over a few weeks he said, "hey.. I was going to take some things to the smelters - but I think I'll bring them in for you instead."

"Cool", say I.

Weeks pass. One day I'm in the shop and the old gentleman gives me a few EPROMs! wow! So I now have a few special computer chips to develop into jewelry:




Now since i work in a geek shop - everyone here knows what it is! But maybe some people don't. An EPROM - Erasable Programmable Read-Only Memory, is a type of computer memory chip that retains its data when its power supply gets turned off. EPROMs have a transparent fused quartz window on the top of the silicon chip which permits UV light inside during erasing. They used to cover them with foil to prevent erasure.

This one was made in 1982.. as it says. A bit before Gibson's Neuromancer (84) but around the time that Blade Runner came out. Thus, the name I gave it, "Memories of 1982".

I'm not yet selling them until I know if i can get a few more, and what shape they are in. Eventually I hope to. And i might be getting some with gold prongs too.

so, I've been scrubbing tubes and working on some of the jewelry on my lunch break. It means that this weekend you might see a few of them becoming available as I complete them. I dug through the ones at the shop and picked up some great tubes. They are all about the same size - 2inches or so long. Each one is pretty different.

I've got one posted on the etsy site now but I will have another one up soon. On Sunday I'm going to be testing packing materials.
oh. and here's some earrings I made out of magnetic fuses:


don't blow a fuse eh?
they got gears, and all kinds of stuff.

all of course up at etsy:

www.clockworkzero.etsy.com

enough!

Just so you know I have a life outside of steampunk jewelry design, I thought I'd tell you I had lunch with my dad. Dad is one of the bestest people in the world. He's been away to Florida for months - and I've missed him terribly. In other news, TheBad had food poisoning. It wasn't nice. He's better. 

I also got to look after a cat - one of the smallest cats I've seen - drop by and feed her and play with her.  She was so cute I could have kept her... but I suppose TheCat would eat her.  You never know when you are dealing with TheCat.

And there are flowers outside, buds on the trees, and a rabbit hopping around our back yard. Its either a domestic escapee or someone lets their pet wander. Kind of funny to see a rabbit since we live in the middle of a city. 

back to work!

While working on the commissions I've got lined up - I need to sometimes take a break.  There's two I'm doing at once - that are planetary in design.  It's kind of funny but one is much like a moon - all silvery with "lots of craters" = which are really just some very interesting "jewels" - 3 I think - that aren't like other jewels I've seen in watches - which are usually rubies.  These ones I suspect are actually quartz crystal. 

Usually the way I work is horrifically scattered (ask theBad) with bits of various things under construction all across the desk.  I can't really concentrate on just one thing at a time.  Or I can - for about 5 min - before my brain wanders off.  It means sometimes I'll have 4 or 5 pieces underway - and no telling which will get finished first.  (usually, if it involves a lot of glue - those take the longest). 

So while working on these almost done pieces (you know who you are! I suspect)... I was able to complete a necklace... using a vacuum tube.  I love vacuum tubes... they are just the coolest piece of old tech.  This particular tube is only a bit over 5cm long - just about 2 inches...  but I've got another BIGGER one that I can't wait to start.... soon!  sooon... 

Anyway, I designed a "hardware" chain - using various bits of standard, modern hardware - but I think it works.   It's kind of nice to make something that isn't clock/ watch related.   I've posted it up at etsy




What else.......


oh yea :D

The Gallery asked if I'm interested in becoming a permanent member - ie: can they represent me.
Well, shiver me timbers.  

I hadn't actually thought about - you know - my jewelry as being "art" but the gallery owner seems to think it is more art than jewelry.  heh.  He was quite flattering about it.  quite. 

So... a gallery...
there's a small month members fee - which is much less than most galleries charge... so I'm really considering it.  I don't have to go exclusive with them - which is what a lot of galleries ask  - -- so I can keep work on etsy, do private commissions, do whatever.   It would mean that I would then also get 2 other shows this year ( if i can ... seems like I might need to train a small child to help me soon at this rate).

I am wondering if I can do 2 more shows though - seriously.  but then.. how often do people get asked to become members of a gallery?  in the end the show went better for me than I expected.  Next time I don't have to worry about framing costs etc...  which really makes a difference in profit-to-costs.  

I still don't feel like "an artist".  I don't know if I ever will.  but its kinda cool anyway.

Hi y'all!

The home computer decided to have hardware issues on the weekend so I didn't get a chance to update. Thanks for the questions about it (you know who you are!).

It went really well. The day was bright - not quite warm but not the frigid it's been for months - which was a good thing because people were out walking around. After this long dreary winter it was chill and refreshing. Quite a lot of people came out - friends from work who made the trek - and a few new friends too. It was really lovely.

There were 4 other jewelry artists there - I think a 5th that showed at the very last minute too. We didn't get to really see her or talk to everyone... it got really busy. There must have been around 100 people that came through, which was keen.

I had two sales. :D Which was great! One from someone who was walking by on the street and rushed in then stood there looking confused. I went over to see if I could help her - I thought maybe she was looking for the Director - but nope, she was looking to buy one of my pieces. :D keen.

I also actually now have a few commissions. That is super cool. I much prefer commissions to be honest. I made a pair of earrings for chronicpaint 's sister :D  (thanks for coming dude!).   There's another pair of earrings with amethyst set to go into the mail.  I've also got a brooch for another friend, mmarques
and another commission from 2 others. 

I've been thinking about the commissions and realized that what makes them so cool is that sometimes things just seem to come together and hopefully by working with some one and seeing what they like - still it was a really nice feeling seeing someone just come in off the street and buy something.   I suppose that a commission is like -- getting to know a friend.

I really don't know how the other artists did to be honest.  I couldn't tell if they sold much - but my overall feeling was - not a lot.  I do hope they did well.  I just suspect that the show wasn't as well advertised as it could have been....  AND the TTC was broken........... which was a bit chaotic.  So rather than having the constant flow of people disembarking right outside the door - there were the occasional shuttle buses passing.  There will be photos.. just not right now...   need to get that home computer up and running etc. :D

Two Days til the Gallery show.


This Saturday
Ben Navaee Gallery
1111 Queen Street EAST
3-5:30 pm*

Looks like it might be starting a bit later than I was originally told -  3pm!
ARG!! 

I'll be there earlier I suspect anyway... fretting.  doing stuff.  I've only got 20 people to tell about the time change.

Ever feel like you're doing a tango in a minefield?  No?  hmf.
Right now I feel like I've got 101 things going and 10,000 things that should be happening.   I should drop by the gallery - today or tomorrow - and talk to the director.  I should go home and do shopping 'cause TheBad is at work, and food always needs to be eaten. 

I should write descriptions of my pieces, put together a "What is Steampunk" blurb for the show, get packaging, photograph everything for Saturday, label it etc.  Maybe I can do some of that tonight.   I should email 2 people about commissions - tomorrow.  Tonight : make more jewelry.  See if i can finish some new pieces... try and come up with some spectacular *something*. 

It doesn't sound like much but it *feels* like a lot needs to be done.  Maybe when I am at the gallery I'll feel more in control of everything - doing the set up - or at least seeing how it will be set up.  I'm just feeling edgy and restless.   I ended up taking tomorrow off work - a vacation day - so I can get more stuff done.  :D   I think it will be the best thing.   Do a bit tonight, do more tomorrow.  Panic later.

I've not got a lot of stuff up at etsy.com right now but I will be pulling it down for the week and hopefully it will do well at the show.

damn.  I'm not accustomed to be nervous but i seem to be. I'm fretting over this Gallery show. 
i need to chill.

I'm one of those people that at any given time have Things on the go.  This week though .. should be madness.  I've got so much prep work to do for the show on Saturday I feel completely dizzy just thinking about it.  Ideally I'll be able to photograph everything before it goes on sale.
I really have no idea what to expect.  I've handed out cards - told dozens of people.  etc.  Having done gallery shows in the past (yeah.. watch part jewelry in Montreal in '92,  masks from 1989-95, and  more recently a Photography  show ... a  few years ago),  I know nothing  ever goes smoothly with the physical displays.  The jewelry is supposed to hang in frames...   Hanging stuff in frames can be a pain.  sigh.... something always comes up.

Anyway.......
I'll have to edit a photo or two of me in my Tux with the Tails.  By some miracle I found some great pants - 2 pair.  One with stripes and one just black set.  Looked awesome.  I won't tell you how many I tried on before I found them.  Wore a tux shirt with the collar open...  and made myself a really nice brooch.  And wore a simple set up of the Terminator Brooch. :D

The Con went well...  i gave out some cards, but I'm not good with new self-promotion.  there was a fantastic discussion on Steampunk Fashion that went well.  What was cool was the presenter mentioned LiveJournal.  Alas there were issues with their slideshow - but they still had a great turnout.  
and...
well I entered a Flash Fiction contest they had and came in 3rd!  I'm kind of really pleased because I don't hand-write things very often.  (never).  And we only had about an hour to come up with something.  I wasn't around to find out about it on Sunday but my friend called to let me know.  As well, someone at Ideomancer said I should brush it up and send it to her - which is a real honor, even if it is a 200 word piece.  So I guess I should add that to my List of Things to Do.

I'll leave you with 2 new pieces I finished on the weekend that are up on etsy:
  and

The one on the left is Pirate inspired... and the other.. well. i just like beautiful faces.  The numbers are just fantastic!

Well.. I bought the Tuxedo Jacket!   I'm pleased silly about it. 
::does a little Punk dance::
it was made in the 1920's (possibly 1930's) ... but the style itself is unchanged since the late 1880's.  It's got TAILS!

I'll try and get some photos tomorrow at the Con and I'll post one.

Now I must find a simple white shirt and a pair of pants that fit Just Right.  Oh the problems of the Shape of The Pear!  I've also got a small-ish waist and a Larger booty.  Also: need a white shirt.  That should prove less challenging.

As well in the Pleased Department

- I've got some new LJ friends!  this is very cool.

I got business Cards!
they screwed up the font though, and took an extra 2 days - so they gave me a discount.  I've never had business cards before - personal ones - and its really kind of cool.  They are super simple, but hey.. its my first ones!  Pleased silly.

And thanks to gods and little green fishes:
its friday!  Hurray!

So i have been working my fingers to the bone - well sorta.  I had that pinched nerve that ONLY now has stopped bothering me.  It made it painful to do anything for a while.   I did though go to my fav. vintage store a while back and they had put something aside for me.  (well, kinda hidden it under "other stuff")...  so I finally made up this brooch on the weekend:  "The girl with gears in her hair....".  It's almost me, except I've usually got glue in my hair along with gears.  ;)


There's better shots on the clockworkzero.etsy.com site


There's a Science Fiction Convention in town this weekend and i'm planning on attending....
here's my problem...

what am i going to wear!!!

Normally, I'd go in a pair of jeans and whatever.   But i have business cards (ready at 4pm!).  and there will be a Steampunk Fashion forum .. and I MUST be there.  gods...

gods and green fishes.. what am i going to wear???

I've got goth stuff.  And a lot of Normal clothes.  BUT....
i also have my eye on a tux.  as in a Tux with Tails...

a tux with tails, a white shirt...  Lots of my jewelry. 

I went to a great Vintage shop last night and looked at the jackets.   i'm not going to go for Victoriana Frills.  gods.  I tried on one piece that looked great - a long long tailed tux jacket that's actually a "Mourning Jacket" that looks like a Tuxedo.  long tails.   What do you think?   With enough jewelry .... would that work?  I mean it isn't going to be High Steampunk Fashion.  but I think it would be ultra cool...  even if it isn't all brass goggles and Victorian.

or am i going to look like a crazy person in a tux jacket at a Con?  
but hell... considering some of the clothes I've seen at Cons...well.. will it even get noticed?

and.. maybe i could wear it to the gallery opening.  would that be cool or crazy?  or both?

I'm trying to convince TheBigBad to shop with me tonight.

Yes, you heard it here first. heh.
Looks like I'm going to be doing a gallery show at the Ben Navaee gallery on April 5-11th.  It's on Queen Street - one ttc stop east of Pape.
So.  There will be an opening... SATURDAY APRIL 5th.  Book that day on your calendars and show up if you are in Toronto.  Tell all your steampunk loving friends - all your industrial goth buddies - and tell your mom.  And dad.  And your pet monkey.  There will be snacks... maybe wine... music.   A real, proper art gallery opening.  They are expecting - hoping for around 200 people.  Maybe I'll sell something.  :D   or at least work on some kind of reputation as a steampunk jewelry maker. 

I dropped by the gallery on Thursday night.  To be honest I was expecting him to look it over and say, "well... it isn't exactly right"  or "I don't think it will fit with the rest of the jewelry we're showing".  Stuff like that.  Instead he honestly seemed to like the work, which was quite exciting.  He even liked the photography of the work... and since I know he does photography shows I got a look in my eye.  One show at a time though.  First the steampunk jewelry show.  We can worry about the rest later.  (so if you are a photographer - you might want to come and check out the space - because as far as gallery owners go - and I've known a few - he was very approachable).

Seriously though folks, if you know anyone who might like the jewelry that lives in Toronto - tell them to come out.  It will likely be the best chance they'll have to see a large collection of it.  I'll have the steampunk earrings, steampunk necklaces and lots of new brooches.  There's the industrial stuff - i hope - and there'll be some great one of a kind things.  Likely, I won't get to do any other shows again for a long time.

Looks like I'll have to temporarily close down my clockworkzero.etsy.com site for the week and put up most of the work there.  Ben seemed pretty positive... his biggest concern would be:  can you make enough.
sure.  why sure I can.

i gotta get busy.

Looks like I'll be showing...

new post coming soon.

So in my little heart there is a strong affiliation with Cyberpunk. I read Neuromancer in the 80s and got hooked by Gibson. I then spent all my time reading Cyberpunk - which sorta lead to Steampunk.

Lately I've been infatuated with Richard Morgan's post-cyberpunk writing. OMG. When I first read "Altered Carbon" I think I did a dance of joy. then of course I had to get everyone I know who reads SF to read it as well. Poor Cin and Nous! But of course... they are smart people and loved it. :D

So anyway, I've had it in my mind for a while to make some Cyberpunk Jewelry. I looked around and saw some crazy-nifty stuff, but nothing that felt right for me. I wanted something that didn't look too much like I'd dismantled a computer. I'm not into circuit board art. :D I have been working on the idea in my mind.... a combination of steampunk and cyberpunk.

finding the right look just wasn't happening. I was looking for something post-industrial and heh... not too "chippy". Alas, I'm not going to be able to make a lot of it.. at least until I get more inspiration...

Anyway, those who know me know I'm a fan of Terminator2. And well the first one as well ... and then the series! I love the series... great dialogue. It's intelligent. The main chara is not a bitch.. but knows what she needs to do. Nice. Sharp. Anyway, I was digging through my stuff and had a revelation...
and this is what I came up with :D

all I could think about when I was making it was, "what would zero do the Terminator parts"? lol.



and to top it off... inside this shiny case is a tiny part engraved with the letters: S F - science fiction?! (well it stands for slow fast - where 99% of the pieces will say: F S. I just happened to find one made with SF. :D hehehe)

So, good news, I found some more airplanes.  And despite still coughing due to bronchitis, I managed to get up some photos on Flickr and on the clockworkzero.etsy.com site!  I'm feeling tired but kind of accomplished.   That brings up the total to a whopping 9 items on etsy.  ha.  Considering how many people have listed I've got a long way to go.   

This has got to be one of my more favorite pieces of late:
link.... with more photos...
The Pilot's Compass

Basically, it is a old Art Deco watch case. I bought a few non-working not-in-good-shape watches and salvaged this from a 1930's watch.  Originally this was a man's watch - though its much smaller than most men's watches now.  A style from a different era.  Women's watches were tiny tiny back then.



I made a simple chain to compliment this piece.  Have i mentioned how much I hate making chain?  but sometimes... its just worth it.  I hope.



Next I started a Solar System!  Heh.  I used one of my lovely  lapis lazuli beads for this piece that represents Earth. Man, Lapis is expensive! Blarg.   Circling close is a tiny silver (steel) gear moon. Nearby a garnet represents Red Mars.  And here's the Steampunk Clockwork Spider Pendant.  Itsy Bitsy.. well.. not really so itsy.  The pendent is about 3.8cm across.... about 1.5 inches.  This piece is made from an old pocketwatch. 

Descent of the Spider:                                                                                                     Clockwork Spider Pendant
                                                           


So that's it for now folks.  I'm going to spend the weekend Not Coughing!  wish me luck

Well, I've been sick for a few days. Missed work - almost unheard of! Didn't die though, so that's good. No Zombie Clockwork Zero... yet.

I did though get the chance to set up an Etsy.com account and load up the photos. I put up 3 and took a break. When I came back to it an hour later I'd made my first sale - a lovely pair of earrings. Quite a shock though - getting a sale before I even realized it might happen. I had to scramble around and figure out what came next.

Today I get to visit the post office and ship out some wonderful commissions and the Etsy.com sale.

so, there isn't many things up there yet.  ClockworkZero.etsy.com - which i'm pleased to note also works with www.ClockworkZero.etsy.com
heh.  that's the geek in me talking (look! "A Records" w/wo www!). 

I'll make another post later with some new pieces of work.  meanwhile there's another commission I've accepted which I have to work on later.

eek.  I'm sneezing.  I might just have to head home early today. 

Last night I was tearing apart some old clocks and I can still smell the grease - at least in my imagination - since I swear to you all I've showered! ;) It was a few old travel alarm clocks that I'd picked up, the folding kind. You could smell the age in them: that scent of dust and stillness, old machined brass and hints of rust.

It made me sad tearing apart these clocks. They must have been made in the 1950s. The one from Taiwan though looks newer and is terribly made. There was a lovely German travel clock and one from the UK. The one made in China was a beautiful piece of gears and machined parts.

Sometimes I leave the springs in the barrels. You can inflict great damage to yourself getting the mainsprings out. They are usually steel springs wound very tight - that will fly across the room spraying old oil - and scaring both me and the cat. I'll have to take a photo of some of the mainsprings so you can see how beautiful they look. I need to figure out what to make with them since they are quite large. Perhaps I'll make something crazy.. I'm thinking of making clockwork dreamcatchers with them. We shall see. They would look awesome in a window. now i'll need to figure out how to make the idea work.

So that's all. The etsy site should be up Sat. that's "the plan".

LOL.
okay, now how often can I make a subject like that? My incredible writerly-friend of many talents has outted me. Thus I feel compelled to make a post. I could have called it: what I did on the weekend...

First: The Steampunk Bee Necklace: which took many an hour to construct. You can click on the link and see the bigger size on my Flickr.


then there were the crazy bunch of earrings:
The theme in 2 pairs are Steampunk Dolphins. Well, steampunk jewelry with dolphins:

along with these:

I love working with that mix of materials: stainless steel, base metals, sterling silver, etc. Ever so much fun. Drop me an email at: zero.space at my gmail.com addy (i'll assume you can figure that addy out)... or here at lj.

I'm in the midst of setting up an etsy store this weekend. then the prices will probably go up. sigh. but it will be fun anyway.

So it was a fairly busy weekend. Not just for jewelry but for almost everything. anyway, while looking through a little bag of vintage brass findings I've had for years, I came across a few things that I knew would be perfect. Two of these brass findings became the "wings". The stinger on this is a sterling silver dangle with a lovely peridot.

TheBad made me promise not to sell it for a month or so. I suppose it will go up on Ebay when I figure out how it works. I think I'll try and sell some other things there first. Some time soon when I have more pieces I'll be setting up that etsy account as well.

I've got this idea of designing a series around a steampunk mechanical garden. This would be one of the insects that would dwell within. She's got a beautiful green stinger. I'll post another shot with her wings open later.



====
and that's the mood icon for creative?
gods. well... it looks like my hair did this morning.

Goodbye little steampunk brooch. I feel we hardly had a chance to know each other. I know this is very silly, but i usually have a while to admire my own work. This though, got bought very quickly and is now winging its way southwards.

When you spend enough time making something.. does it seem silly to miss it?

I've completed a few pieces I have been working for about a week. 2 "winged" pieces - that actually are already sold. I'm pleased they've found good homes, though the brooch, "Black Wings of Time".... well that one I feel like I barely got a chance to know. lol. I know thats rather silly - but I liked them both. Oh well, thats what photos are for.

This tiny steampunk brooch is about 2.5 or less inches long. I'm guessing here since i can't find a ruler around. I've got one somewhere... just need to find it. Anyway, the center was an older button I have kept for years. The pewter-color of the insect matches well with the button and the watch back. The antennae were parts off a broken Balance Wheel... a very delicate yet vital. I didn't break the balance wheel though - when I took apart a few of the watches they were broken. This way I can really feel like i'm re-using every part.

The Coat of Arms of Clockwork Insects:

Hello my friends! thanks for joining me. :D
TheBad said last night: I'm really glad to see you've found some jewelry that you really enjoy making. So very true. I'm thrilled with it. I took apart a few watches last night - and they were in terrible condition. The parts were rusted out and some were very oily. blerg... and.! there is one i can't figure out how to take apart. Looks like someone once tried to repair it and ended up stripping the screws. sigh. One of them is also rust/crusted sealed.

So you guys all know - if there is anything you want - send me a note - here or via the LJ email or in a private message. Whenever it is i finally get around to selling stuff it will probably be more expensive on etsy or where-ever. They charge fees. And since i've known most of you all for a dogs age, well just let me know. Arrangements can be made and I can put things aside.

anyway, I should post some photo. How about these... Industrial looking yet Steampunky. So? Industrial Steam? Anyway, a good mix.