A Gardener’s Chronometer with Natural Magnetic and Medicinal Powers:
“Taking its measurements from the Moon and the Earth’s magnetic field, this fashionable device guides the Steampunk Gardener to the ideal location for planting all kinds of medicinal herbs.” Or so says the legend…
When I talk about the funky fashion trend that is steam punk, I usually describe it as ‘Leonardo da Vinci Meets Edward Scissorhands’… but the fun pendant pictured above is more of a ‘da Vinci meets Victorian Gardener’ piece.
There has been a lot of hullabaloo about Steampunk Jewellery lately. So I figured I had better get around to making this piece which I actually designed quite some time ago. It’s called a Gardener’s Chronometer.
I first talked about Polymer Clay Steampunk Fashion Trends back in April 2008, and can’t believe it has taken me this long to get this latest piece completed!
But as the saying goes… better late than never. It’s a very cool and functional (I wish) device made with:
- A vintage silver serving spoon.
- Two old watches from my Dad.
- A wire and felted paper butterfly.
- Antique copper filigree from a Victorian stain glass lampshade.
- And … two handmade flower beads made with polymer clay (of course).
So what do you guys think of this steampunk pendant? My husband and my kids think it’s a bit out there… in a good way mind you. They are so supportive of my ways!
I am jumping up and down! I absolutely love this piece. Thanks so much for sharing this marvelous design. You are the best!
You are a riot !!! I love the piece. I recently made a Steampunk necklace and my 17 year old daughter and I had many humorous conversations about this whole Steampunk thing. She had a god laugh as I described Steampunk to my 55 plus year old friend; okay, I had half of it right. But I got the best laugh when she said Steampunk is about things from the early 1700’s! Really, I didn’t realize the United States colonies were so industrialized before we became a country in 1776 !!! I got the best laugh good on that one and it does concern me if she is paying attention in her history class.
I like the addition of color to the piece. It took me a while to understand what steampunk was, but now that I do, I like the style of it. The color adds contrast. Nice job!
@Susan: Thanks so much Susan! I love it that it made you jump around! :-)
@Anna: Hehehe I know, makes you wonder if they ever are listening in class. Glad you like the piece. It was super fun to make!
@The Bead Dreamer: Thank you! I like my pieces more when there is a little drama to them! Thought it would be fun to put a burst of color in this mostly metallic piece. Thanks for noticing!
Polymer Clay Central has sponsored a Steampunk Challenge for Feb.. Vote for your favorite entry at http://www.polymerclaycentral.com/chall_feb09.html
Gold luck in the Challenge Anna! Your Fish Necklace is really funky! I can see you worked very hard on your entry and was thrilled to finally give you some support after all you have done here for everyone! I hope you win!
I had never heard of steampunk before. I read your piece. That is something I will have to try. As I said before, I am a packrat and I hardly toss out things, especially if they can be incorporated into my clay somehow. I can be found in the fishing dept.,hardware store, scrapbooking section, paint aisle, I look everywhere to find things for the clay. I have already got some old watches from the thrift stores, ones my husband has trashed. He was in the military in Desert Storm and was injured and had to be medically discharged cuz he could not perform his job as aircraft mechanic. So he went thru alot of watches. And I kept them all. HeeeeeeHeeeeeeee Lynn Watts
I looked for Steampunk at an architectural salvage store, I found a few cool keys but but most things were too big. I did find some neat old drawer pulls I am going to try and bend into a bracelet along with some PC. Good luck in you scavenging. I hope you husband recovers physically, mentally and spiritually from his injuries.
Sorry guys to take so long to reply to your comments… its been getting pretty busy around here!
@Lynn: I am a bit of a pack rat too, and have kept boxes of old jewelry and stuff for just these occasions. It is nice that you have a bunch of your husbands old watches. You can make some real cool stuff with those! I am sorry to hear about your husband’s injuries. I agree with Anna and also hope for his recovery in all aspects physical, mental and spiritual.
@Anna: You are probably right about the architectural salvage stuff being too big. You may find better luck with old mechanical items with smaller parts inside, like old radios, old wind up toys and clocks, anything that may have gears inside. Also fuses, transistors, stereos with knobs and wires could bring you so great finds! Thank you so much for all the support and kindness you are spreading on the blog. It is a pleasure having you around!
This steampunk piece is fabulously wild! If anyone thought steampunk was a phase, well, it’s still going strong! You see it all over the place. It’s quite a fun way to play with vintage things, and works wonderfully with polymer clay. It’s going in different directions, too. There are different types of steampunk now (I can’t remember the names — I’ll have to look ’em up and come back with the info.)
But what I wanted to mention was that Cindy has created a Polymer Clay Tutorial — Silver Spoon Bails for Jewelry [VIDEO].
Since Cindy used a spoon in her steampunk piece, I thought you all might want to know about the tute! The link will take you to a video preview of the tutorial, as well as comments and feedback on it from members. There are discussions about where to find spoons, how to bend them, and some beautiful examples, as well. Check it out, if you haven’t already. Have fun!