#steampunk
I finished the book Seven Blades in Black by @SamSykesSwears a while back and wanted to knock out a rendition of the awesome characters within.
So here’s Sal, Liette, and the cantankerous murderbird Congeniality!
If any book needs an anime adaptation…just sayin’
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Version 2
Hello everyone! This is my latest creation, a tiny flying ship with three figures working on it. There is a steersman at the helm, a lookout on the top looking through a telescope and a stoker shoveling coal into the steam engine. The flying machine has been made out of tiny watch parts and the entire scene has been bulit inside a vintage pocket watch case. The front has been closed with a piece of glass from an incandescent bulb that I have cut to size. Enjoy!
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Hello everyone! This is a private commission I made, a miniature robot inventor’s workshop. It is made primarily from watch parts and contains a good deal of tiny objects, tools and details. I built it on a pocket watch case and closed it on top with a glass dome. Enjoy!
Also check my Etsy shop to see some of my other creations:
www.etsy.com/shop/MicroJewellery
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A magical city sits on a floating cloud while traveling through the night sky. The scene has been created inside an antique silver pocket watch and the miniature city is made out of watch parts which have been turned into tiny buildings and houses. Enjoy!
You can find this together with my other creations at:
www.etsy.com/shop/MicroJewellery
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Here’s my latest miniature world! I find the library to be a powerful image, a symbol of our accomplishments as a civilization and an archive of the scientific, literary and spiritual knowledge of man. Enjoy!
Available, along with my other creations, at my Etsy shop:
www.etsy.com/shop/MicroJewellery
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Hello everyone! Here’s my latest miniature world, a miniature apothecary made inside a tiny Victorian era pocket watch case. It was a lot of fun creating all the fine details, such as all the bottles, jars and containers of varying sizes and materials. The pocket watch is made of pure silver and adorned by a beautiful design while the front has been closed with a watch crystal. Enjoy!
You can find this, as well as my other creations, at my online shop:
www.etsy.com/shop/MicroJewellery
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My latest creation, an ultra-tiny robot inventor’s workshop made inside a watch case. The inner diameter of the watch case measures 1.6cm or 0.6’’. All the tiny robots have been made by assembling many tiny watch parts. The inventor is holding tools while working on one of the robot’s inside. Fitted with a chain and closed with a piece of glass on the front, it has been made as a wearable necklace. Enjoy!
Available at my online shop:
www.etsy.com/shop/MicroJewellery
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I have been slowly building this piece for a while now. It is one of my most intricate pieces on this scale and I am really excited about how it turned out. As you can see, it is a tiny Victorian library in which I have added a great amount of fine detail, including an armillary sphere, a telescope, a sextant, hand-painted paintings, globes and books and much more. I have used tiny watch parts in building many of these details. It is closed with a piece of glass which I have cut and ground down to size from an incandescent lamp, giving a clarity and curvature unusual for pocket watch crystals. Enjoy!
This is also the link to my Etsy shop:
www.etsy.com/shop/MicroJewellery
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A rocket traveling through space, passing by stars, planets, comets and other celestial bodies. The rocket is made with watch parts and resin has been used as a medium to create the space. I am quite satisfied with the result. Enjoy!
Available at:
www.etsy.com/shop/MicroJewellery
This one was fun to build. It is an ultra-tiny robot workshop with a man hard at work building and repairing robots. It is made almost exclusively from tiny watch parts. Some of the features, such as the tools on the table, are a little hard to discern. I took most of the pictures without the glass but the final piece is closed with a piece of glass on the front. Enjoy!
Available at my Etsy shop:
www.etsy.com/shop/MicroJewellery
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A set of ultra tiny tools to be used in a miniature scene I am making, made entirely from small watch parts. The ruler is in centimeters.
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My latest heart.
I know - another heart. I still love making them and, at this time of year, I get a lot of requests. Each is unique - sometimes on purpose, sometimes to cover up an accident - drill scratch, hole in the wrong place etc. The heart itself is vintage - new old stock from the 1970s - a lucite core with a thick copper plate. They are still available but, eventually, I’ll have to find an alternative. I’d love to find similar wood hearts - that could be hinged with a secret internal compartment. If anyone knows where something like that can be sourced - let me know. Dimensions would be 1 ½ inches wide/high and about ¾ of an inch deep so they could be cut and hollowed out.
The next one I’ll be making will be a bit different - a central “window” with a flashing red LED - with batteries that can be replaced. It will have to be a symmetrical design with a feature taking up that much real estate on the heart. I’m starting it tonight and I’ll post a video of it to show the “flash”.
SS Cicada
I don’t know where I got the idea for a dirigible cicada miniature model but here we are. Falling asleep with my YouTube queue probably with videos on the recent 17 year cicada cycle followed by the use of airships during WW1 must have blended together in my subconscious. I enjoyed creating the last insect - the custom bee - I had to do another but this was too large for a piece of jewellery.
So I worked on each separate section, hoping it would all fit together in the end. That’s always the scary part - will the wings fit on the body? Will the scale of everything maintain the illusion of an actual, albeit fantastical, airship once joined? Unlike very clever model scene makers I don’t work with a scale ruler. As I don’t fabricate or cast metal there is no real point - I’ll still have to adjust a part in my collection to fit.
I started with the wings - they bring everything together and set the scale. Like the last piece - the body is a brass screw electrical terminal. The abdomen has two main parts - the high copper piece with a grill and a lower section made from a cut out earing drop I filled in with resin. The wings are also filled with resin and a very light dusting of green and gold mica.
I’ve been making miniature nebulas lately so that is where the glass “hot air balloon” came from. It is fitted with a vintage brass bead cap, chains, tiny brass drops and internal details. While I was searching for pieces I came across the hand blown green glass bead with a swirl pattern. I had to incorporate it but it was difficult to do so. Adding a piece to one side of a symmetrical design alters the way it hangs. The swirl on the bead is matched with the black swirled disk hanging under the balloon.
She has wrapped wire legs with metal crimps, two brass and steel “propellers” affixed to the front, one large rear flag and bunting on the secondary “balloon” tether. Everything attached is done so using screws and very rarely, glue. I have no idea how many separate components I used but it would be well over 100. I’ve been working on and off for a week - probably about 40 hours not including the time sourcing parts, taking photos and writing this. The rigging was a nightmare. The chain at the back, connected to a “U” shape piece is the ship’s anchor.
A friend who is a genius wood worker turned some gorgeous wood bases for me. I think it’s Jarrah. It has four brass legs on the bottom. The hanging mechanism consists of a filigree disk, a vintage brass corrugated bead and assortment of brass rods, copper and brass tubing and beads. The top section pulls out so it can be packed for shipping.
One final surprise. I left a hole in the body for a tiny green LED light. It is difficult to use - turning on by pushing the light into a battery. But it could be used on special occasions to show her off. The battery type is a bit exotic but available online.
I’m thinking about entering her in a local art competition before putting her up for sale. I hope you like her.
I had a client recently ask me to make a steampunk mechanical bee for her and gave me a photo of a tattoo for reference. This is the result. The wings were a problem as I wanted them light. I ended up cutting down two brass pendant bases and filling them with UV resin. They then had to be sanded back to the brass and finally polished. I was aiming on transparent but the frosting works. Her body is an old brass electrical terminal cut to fit. Her wire legs are threaded through the body for security. The crimps are for effect and to stop the feet scratching if worn as a pendant.
She also contains an assortment of gears, pinions, screws, bolts, rivets, an electrical probe is her “stinger” and her wire antenna do rotate. I hope the client likes her but if not I’ll try again. I’ve already had interest so she will sell either way.
Star Box II
Well I enjoyed making the first solar system box - I had to make another. This started as a basic pine box. I stained it, swapped out the hinges and latch, created the “windows” and covered them with mesh and brass frames. You can’t see it but there is a lock washer (it looks like a reverse gear with internal teeth) in each porthole illuminated by mounted LEDs. The six sides are covered with riveted struts, brass features and vintage cut star cabs. The central orbit field has a solid metal ring and twisted wire frame with brass claws. I created tiny brass winders over two vintage gears with round cut outs. Two different kinds of alarm clock winders are located on each side. There is also vintage brass knurled nuts on the sides. Finally there are 3 brass star cutouts above the hinged side.
The planets are driven by an internal wood disk with embedded magnets. I also did a similar thing as the last piece - drilled holes in the lid and disk sitting above 4 LEDs. As it spins the “stars” twinkle. The lights and motor have separate battery packs with switches. Sorry, I’m still not clever enough to rig a single battery pack and external on/off switch. Next one….
I’m really enjoying this foray into these larger projects. It’s my inner prop builder coming out. Unlike the last one - this one will be for sale in my Etsy shop.
Well I’m sitting in hospital unexpectedly - nothing too serious. I was going to post this last night but I was in too much pain.
So this is a proof of concept. The word “magical” is used far too much but that was my ambition. Something of unknown use and unknown provenance.
Proof of concept is the build I make all the mistakes on - motor too fast, planets too large and high, LEDs wiring wrong and ugly battery packs. Internally this might not be saleable quality.
The video isn’t great, sorry. When I get home I will take some still photos of all the decorations and detail. It was inspired by those magnetic ballerina jewellery boxes from the 1960s. She would dance around a mirror when the box was opened.
I initially covered the neodymium magnets and attached the planet on a post. Wrong. They fell down, stuck to each other with such force they ended up broken. So I’ve gone for simple using the magnetic force to hold the metal spheres. I will include several spare magnets and planets.
I hope you like it!
Steampunk
Still playing with my little LED lights and tritium. I found these great paracord beads - expensive but totally worth the money. Beautifully turned brass with “windows” - three vertical holes interspersed with a long window around the whole bead. I sealed the holes and poured resin into the center and embedded the LED leaving the connector post exposed so the battery pack “clutch” can turn on the light.
The top photos are “BlueBot” with a domed cap making him look a little like a certain famous robot that I can’t mention because I don’t want a trademark strike. It can be worn without the battery pack and brass ring. Unfortunately the photos make the light seem much brighter than it is in reality. It just gives off a blue glow.
The middle photos are a design I wanted to revisit with a blue tritium stick in a glass vial and silver tone sleeve. Very cyberpunk. I combined it with a horizontal post hanger with mechanical bits and pieces.
Final piece is a little “Green rocket”. The top has a small silver tone stepped cap on top and serrated exhaust funnel over the battery pack. It can also be worn without the battery pack. Again, the photos don’t convey the light well. It gives off more of a green glow and isn’t that bright in reality.
The LED necklaces are on long chains to be worn mid length. The battery packs are very secure and the batteries can be replaced easily. I’ll list them in my Etsy shop. Etsy doesn’t let me sell tritium (I don’t agree with it but their sandpit - their rules) so if you are interested buying it - drop me a PM. It’s US$125 including shipping/tracking from Australia.
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What a dapper chap! I was inspired by a few posts and popularity of my LED experiments in design. Found an old skull charm, gave him goggles and cobbled together a top hat from an XL brass eyelet, some cut brass tubing and walled setting. I attached it at a slight jaunty angle. Couldn’t resist installing a tiny LED within the skull set in resin. Like my other pieces it’s powered by putting a small clutch battery pack on a small post. The whole piece is set on a stick pin so it could be worn on a cravat or dress coat. Unfortunately, the LED has made it very difficult to photograph accurately. The light seems too bright but in reality it’s just an eerie green glow. Perfect finish to a gentleman’s outfit who dabbles in the macabre and dark arts. The batteries are easy to replace.
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