Some more Gen Con Costume time! Wicked Witch of the West Steampunk monkey sculpture

I am a huge Steampunk fan, well your reading Lady Gizmo's Dirigible so you probably already figured that one out.  Since my last long post was about costumes I thought I would follow it up with a tad bit about another Gen Con (gaming convention) costume.  I decided I wanted to be the Wicked Witch of the West, but Steampunk Style!  So I started putting some black clothes together and made a bustled skirt.  I decorated a hat I got from Walgreens.  To make it more Steampunk I added a buckle, black and silver brocade fabric, and tulle.  Below are pictures of my final piece.  I thought it was a lot less cutesy than its original form.

 The second part, which was the most consuming, was to make my flying monkey construct.  I decided to make it out of wire and other parts to give it a steampunk feel.

The first step was to get some wire at the hardware store that was bendable enough but would hold its shape.  I also went up to my craft room and got some thinner picture hanging wire to tie the joints together.  I happen to have a whole box full of Steampunkery so I brought down, a gauge, radio tube,and findings for the eyes.  I also found some plastic floral picks that were suppose to be peacock feathers.  I decided these would work for my monkey's wings.

The most time was spent in this project sculpting the wire frame.  I looked at some pictures of monkeys and flying ones from Oz.  I decided to make the face first.  It is mostly a process of making shapes like ovals to support the body and face.  The legs and tail are twisted wires, which I found to look very Steampunk. The wings were made with a curved wire as the base, at this point I used the floral picks as the feathers and wrapped the wire from the picks around the base wire.

I next spray painted it a brassy color I found at Walmart that was supposed to look like pounded metal.  It looked a lot less shiny and fake than other metallic sprays.  It is a Krylon product.  After doing the spray painting I decided to fill the monkey's skeleton with cotton cloth I had.  I did this because trying to flesh the outside with metal sheets did seem to work.  And without anything filling the skeleton it got lost.  So more spray painting, to coat the cloth. 

Next I added details, these where the little parts I found in my craft room.  I used the radio vacuum tube and gauge together to make it look steam powered.  I gave it its eyes and used a metal circle with a chain on it as a monocle.  On the top of its head I glued a mini top hat I had made earlier.  This will be covered in my next post.

Here is the final piece:

I learned a lot about wire sculptures in this process.  First you should have the proper tools, wire cutter, pliers, etc.  Second it takes plenty of time and patience.

Etsy Quandary Solved!

Hello all, I hope this Friday finds you well.  This will be a fairly short post, but I wanted to let other people know that I have opened an Etsy account under the name PhoenixArtFeathers.  I also have a facebook page: Phoenixartfeathers Shop on Etsy.  Please check these out for more art!

I also opened a deviantART page under the name Ladygizmo1249.  I will be posting on there as well.
Below is a coupon for one item at 10% off in my Etsy Shop as a thank you for reading my blog!

Stay tuned for today's broadcast: Firefly Costume- Kaylee Style

Warning : The nerd in me is about to show!  My husband and I have the privilege of going to Gen Con this summer.  To those of you who have no idea what that is you should check it out, especially if you love games.  (http://www.gencon.com/)  Any ways I got it into my head that to make myself a costume from Firefly the television series.  I'm going to be the lovable mechanic, Kaylee! 

Picture courtesy of: http://mariuscorner.blogspot.com/2011/08/30-days-of-female-awesomeness-day-2.html

She happens to be my favorite character and the one from Firefly that my friend determined I was the most like.  So here is my chronicle of my costume and some diy thrown in!  

First up was finding the coveralls.  These are fairly easy to locate on Ebay.com, so a I bid on a pair.  The only suggestion I have on these is to make sure that they are the right size, especially if they are in men's size (which they will most likely be).  I had to take mine out a little because they were a little tight at the hips.  Luckily I had extra fabric from the sleeves I removed, as all of her's are sleeveless.  This was a fairly simple process with a little bit of sewing the edges under by hand.  This can be done on the machine as well if you have one.  If you are extremely interested in making your own from scratch there is one pattern I found online: ://images.patternreview.com/sewing/patterns/kwiksew/3389/3389.jpg

Next you will need to embellish your coveralls.  On Kaylee's iconic coveralls have a heart patch above right pocket, a large bear applique on her left knee and an aqua flower on left side of zip above waist band.  She also has Chinese characters written on the pants at varies points.  And of course lots of stains from being what she does best, a mechanic!
 Below are the symbols from her coveralls and the meaning and location.
Left Leg (on pocket):

• 平 ping2: calm, peaceful
• 出 [ upside-down ] chu1: go out, exceed
• 幸 xing4: good luck, good fortune

If that IS 出 chu1, it doesn't make sense here by itself. Perhaps it's from 出入平安 chu1ru4 ping2an1: may you have peacefulness/sound health in your comings and goings.

Left Leg (below pocket and teddy bear):

• 爱 [ Traditional: 愛 ] ai4: love

Right Leg (below heart and pocket):

• 喜 xi3: happiness

above information courtesy of the fantastic website: http://fireflychinese.kevinsullivansite.net/resources.html

Once coveralls were achieved I needed to find an appropriate Kaylee shirt.  She wears a variety of long sleeve tops with a few short sleeves mixed in.The important thing when selecting a shirt is finding something pink or purple, floral, and potentially Asian in style. I found mine at a thrift store, but there are many on ebay.  Also make sure to check your closet.  You may luck out.  

Next I grabbed a blue brocade jacket on Ebay. You may have to search a bit for this one.  If you want a very close reproduction this there is one on http://firefly-cargobay.com/shop-products/accessories/ for $100.  You may be able to make one for less See my Pintrest for ideas for pattern and fabric: http://pinterest.com/ladyjelly5/kaylee-firefly-costume-for-gen-con/

Thank you Garbo Antiques for an awesome transaction!

I picked out some pink flip-flops at Walgreens that seemed to fit the character, though if you want to wear boots she also wears work boots in the show.

In the pilot episode of Firefly Kaylee has a parasol that is white, yellow, green and red swirled. Here is my rendition of this:

I also made a necklace that she has on in one of her cast photos. If interested in having your own Kaylee Frye Necklace I have these in my new Etsy Shop: PhoenixArtFeathers

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I also made made her cigar box with strawberries.  A similar one will be on my Etsy in the future!

Lastly I decided  to make a tool belt with a belt and some suede I formed into pockets.  This is a great place to put her tools and anything I need to carry around.


I hope you enjoyed this! I will post pictures from Gen Con in the future.

For Kaylee-esque costume props check PhoenixArtFeathers via Etsy for more Firefly costume things!

Etsy Quandary

I've been musing for awhile on making an Etsy shop.  I am not quite sure if I have an audience though.  So I will put this out there.  If enough people ask me to start one or want made to order product I will open one.  I need to know if it will be worth it.  Here are some of the things I do:

-Crocheting: Fingerless gloves, scarves, hats
-Sewing: Costumes, refashioned clothes, etc.
-Bags and Purses
-Jewelry (both clay pieces and found art)  I always use glass beads
-Painting Miniatures for games such as Warhammer and Warmachine.  Willing to get minis you choose and paint them to specifications (I also do fancy basing!)
-Dice bags
-Beaded flowers
-Collage- boxes, mirrors, etc.
-Upcycled home decor: using a variety of things to make unique pieces!
-Magic the Gathering game life counters
-Many miscellaneous projects as well

I make to order!   I have had the chance to sell items at a couple of shows as well as a art shop.  I am looking at expanding my base of operations.   I will get pictures up of some of my projects as I go on so you can see what I do.

Now with advertising aside :) Please also note that I am willing to delve into new horizons and always am interested in suggestions for new projects. I don't want this blog to be a shameless promotion, but as way to share with you dear reader some of the things I find most satisfying.  Oh,  I also love to see what others are doing.  So please share!  Happy creating!

Art Muse-Upcycle those old clothes into an awesome bag!

Often I have people notice a project I did and tell me they really like it.  When I tell them I made it, they seem amazed.  "Oh, wow.  I am not crafty at all" They respond.  What I want to tell them is that they can do it too!  Most projects need a little inspiration, some time, and of course patience.  Don't be afraid to experiment and yes sometimes even fail.  When you see project ideas on this blog, other blogs, pinterest, etc you are not seeing the failures people had but the successes.  Don't be discouraged by failure, because only through failure do we learn.

With that said I wanted to share a project I did recently.  When I was at Walgreens a couple of days ago, a cashier remarked on how much she liked my purse.  Well, the fun thing about this purse is I made it.  It is made from a skirt and scarf I liked but couldn't fit into.I love up-cycled or refashioned clothes.   Unfortunately I don't have construction pictures, just the end project.  However I will try to explain what I did for your benefit.  If you have any questions about making one yourself let me know!

Materials:
-A-line short skirt (though a longer skirt can work if you are willing to cut off part and hem it.

-lining material (I used an old scarf with a design I liked)

-long strip of fabric or as I used a belt for handle

-Needle and matching thread

-Plastic insert for bottom (i used some plastic from a reusable grocery bag.  I am sure you can find something  suitable at the craft store to help the bottom keep its shape.  even cardboard would work)

Directions

Step 1: Prepare the skirt.  Turn the skirt inside out.  Use pins to pin the bottom, leaving about 2-3 inches on each end.  (this extra allowance will allow you to fold the sides so you can give the bottom dimension).  If you don't want the bottom to have this dimension don't leave the couple of inches, simply pin the bottom across.

Step 2: Sew across with a basic stitch, leaving the 2-3 inches on each end.

Step 3: (skip if want a flatter bag and also skip 4) Fold up the ends on either side so the bottom sits on a right angle.  Pin and sew across.  This sewing should form a T with the main stitching across the bottom.  The bottom should look like this when finished:

Step 4: Cut a piece of that plastic to the width of the 2-3 inches you left on each end.  The length of this piece should equal the length of the bottom of the skirt. I wanted it to stay put so I stitched it to the fabric with a heavy duty needle.

Step 5: Okay set this piece aside and move on to the lining fabric.  I used a scarf so my upper edges would be finished.  I cut the piece to the same size as the skirt both front and back.  Next I stitched up the sides of the material. so it was the same shape and size as the outer fabric.

Step 6: Because I wanted to give the bottom of the lining the same dimension as the outer bag, I cut into the scarf on either side to the 2-3 inches allotment I used earlier.  Now fold the corners as you did before and sew.

Step 7: Attach handle to the bag on inside on outer fabric.  Make sure you sew across this band lots of times to strengthen the stitching to hold weight.  If you are using a strip of fabric that doesn't have finished edges you can sew the edges as you want at this point to give it a more finished look.  I used a belt from a sweater so it was already finished.

Step 8: Combine both the lining fabric and outer purse together.  I had a finished top edge on both so I simply put the lining inside the bag with wrong sides together and  right sides facing out.  The strap should be sandwiched between the two layers.  I stitched across the two, after I pinned them together, with a basic stitch.

Yay! The bag is done.  The best part of this is it is reversible!  So you have two purses in one.

If you are interested in doing something a little more fancy you can always add embellishments, pockets, or embroidered stitches.  Have fun, be creative!  Remember to not be afraid to experiment!

The start of my adventure in blogging....

Hello all! I hope you are having a fantastic day as you read this.  I would like to take this opportunity to introduce my blog to those who would like to spend some time with me.  I love art in its many forms.  I always seem to find myself with paint or glue on my hands, sometimes even smeared across my face.  Now I am not an official professional, but I have had lots of wonderful experiences that  allowed me to explore my creativity.

My purpose here is to share some ideas and tips for the vintage enthusiast as well as those who are nerd crafters. Lots of my projects will have a Steampunk theme or Bohemian elements. I use a variety of different mediums and techniques. I you ever have any questions or need help troubleshooting feel free to contact me at lgizmo1249@gmail.com.  Happy creating!