Etc. Etc. Etc....

We were talking about the use of the shiny tape for Steampunking over on the Greenleaf Forum and Deb mentioned that she had seen someone using it over rough surfaces.  I went to the site and looked.  It had some interesting stuff, none mini. 

I used a couple of cog wheels glued to other things and proceeded to try it.  I haven't put any kind of color on them yet, but they were a lot harder to make look good than the ones that were scribed into.  It is another possibility for the way to use the tape though, so I decided that you should see what it does.

I am thinking that another use for the waterproof tape would be to run it along all of the seams of the roof to give it some extra holding power.  I'll let you know if I do it.

Oops! I missed a piece of blue tape.  I took all of the tape off and it's a miracle!  Everything held together... I am holding my breath.

The Terrible two are resting after the long ordeal of holding the roof together.  I have to commend them for their stick to it attitude.  They did sit there for a couple of hours, until I whispered something about cookies and bug beer in the kitchen...So much for the roof... Let the shingles fall where they may!

I have to get busy and start staining shingles. I have a bottle of vinegar and steel wool stain out on the porch.

Right now, the wind is coming up every once in a while and I don' want shingles scattered all around the back yard, so I will probably wait until tomorrow to do that part.

You know how I like to use natural dried things for plants when I can.  One of my Succulents just bloomed and I waited patiently for these to dry on the plant.  There are more coming...I am thinking that, with a little bit of help from paint, these would make some nice tulip like flowers.

I am going to wait for the rest to dry and then the experimenting will begin.

I am off to put my feet up and read a beadwork magazine for a couple of hours. Back to work tomorrow.

See you then.

Another Cog in the Wheel...

Zar grabbed the box of cog wheels this morning and went to work.

He whistled a happy tune and used them on everything he could find.

First it was the kitchen sink.  I never have liked the plain legs on the sink, so I was happy to let him fancy it up.

He did the sides and the front of the legs.

Tessie Ooh-ed and Ahh-ed.  she likes anything more, if you add glitz.

 Next, he went to work on the stove.  A fancy ring at the top of the stove pipe and then some burners for the top.

He seems to favor the copper cogs.  I kind of agree with him.

By this time, Tessie's oohs and ahs had turned into a bad case of the "I wants". 

So, after Zar finished putting cog wheels on the end of the bolster pillows and the arms of the couch, he went to work on something for Tessie.

It's amazing how well those two get along the week before Christmas...

She now has the fanciest pogo stick in town.  Cog wheels decorate the front and it's the only one that I know of that has a rear view mirror.

Today accounts for 15 of the cogs....Only 75 left.  At this rate, they may last until Christmas...I have to go warn everyone that this is going to be a cog infested Christmas.

See you tomorrow.

Lock Her Up or Lock Her Out!!!

I woke up at my usual 3:30AM with and idea.  Normally I sleep until at least 4:30.

I thought of an idea for the lock on Tessie's Tower Room.

Steampunk!  If I run into trouble, Zar is always there to help...

I got this far and then started harassing him.  OK....So I gave him a cupcake.  I was desperate.

I struggled for a couple of hours.  He had it done in 32 minutes.  It helps if you know what you are doing.

I figured that, if I was going to have to cover the lock, I might as well have something interesting to look at there.

Don't ask me how it works.  Zar is diabolical.  He never tells secrets that could be stolen.

When he was finished, he tossed Tessie the key and left....

There is only one problem...Neither Tessie or I can get inside.

He left out a bit of information....Not how it works....Where's the keyhole???

The door handle is just above his hand in the photo, but the two of us can't figure out where the keyhole is located.

Altogether now!  "Zar!  Come back here!!!"

Today is Amare's second birthday party...In two ways.  He is two and since most people couldn't make it during the week when we celebrated, we are having a picnic in the park today.

I finished the sweater, except for sewing the underarm side seams.  No worries about matching the stripes. 

This yarn is Lion Brand Amazing. It has no rhyme or reason.  It just drifts from one color to the next.  I love working with it.

Since we have to go to the party at 2:00PM, I guess I had better start stitching.

See you tomorrow.

"Walk This Way!" At 4:17AM?

This is what I woke up to this morning.  Yes.  You read right. 4:17AM. 

I was nice and cozy under blankets and cats.  The weather here is terrible.  No storms. Just cold!  For the next four nights it is supposed to be in the mid 20s. I have all of my patio plants in the house.  How do you do it if you are faced with this kind of weather all winter?  ICK!

Anyway, the sink and the keyboard are finished and Zar and Oz decided to try the keyboard.

I repeat.  At 4:17AM!  They were blasting the roof off with their version of Aerosmith's "Walk This Way".

Tessie, bless her heart, tried to stop them...Didn't work. 

They segued from that to "Dude Looks Like a Lady".  At(all together now) 4:20AM! I took photos to prove it!

I threw the clock at them and they took the hint...Oz left.

Twenty three minutes later, Zar started using the sink....Did you know that a Steampunk sink makes fearful noises when the hair dryer is turned on?  It does.

I went and took a look.  Zar was trying it out....The hairdryer at the top was going full blast.  He had a safety razor in one hand and was turning the pages of Sherlock Holmes on the built in book stand with the other.

Why did I move the Clockwork Cottage into the bedroom???  I know there was a good reason at the time...

When it got a bit lighter, I took photos of both instruments.

I have to get that living room cleaned out.  Maybe, if the keyboard isn't in the bathroom, Zar won't be tempted to play it in the middle of the night.

Did I mention that Zar is now happily dreaming in his warm cozy bed...I am up for the duration.

I do hope that the cold spell has nothing to do with the erratic behavior!  I can't take three more nights of early morning rock concerts!

See you tomorrow.

A Trip to the Steampunk Emporium....

I went into town for a few needed items this morning. 

Whilst waiting for my breakfast at Brawley's, I browsed through the book to the left.

I have had this one for quite a while, but it is always fun and inspiring to look at.

If you are going to do anything Steampunky, you need to look at this.  There is not a lot of written information in it, but the photos are all in color and as it says....There are a thousand of them!

I wandered from store to store as they opened.  Mind you, I started before five, so I have to plan strategically.  Which store opens when and which ones stay open twenty four hours.

Anyway, I got home about 10:45.  You do the math....

No time to do any minis yet. The last store I hit was Joann's Fabric and Crafts.

They were having a terrific sale on a lot of stuff.  There were jewelry items that were 50% off and these Tim Holtz scrapbooking items were all 40% off.  Then adding to that discount, I had a coupon for an additional 25% off of everything, including sale items and clearance.  What a haul!

The book that Zar and Tessie are setting on is also a Tim Holtz item.  It is a stack of scrapbooking paper that has a very aged look to it.  It has old maps, advertising, some blueprints, and newspapers.  The nice thing about it is some of the paper has been reduced to full pages of  2" squares and the designs have also been reduced.  Thus, I have a lot of stuff that can be used in the cottage.

I probably won't use the key escutcheons and keys for that, but the gears and the swivel hooks will definitely be found somewhere in the cottage.

Last, but not least, I shouldn't have left the book out with the scrap paper bookmarks in photos that interest me...Zar and Tessie found it.

I am begging Zar to keep the sink that he has in the bathroom.  He is standing firm on the idea of a sink like this one! 

It is complete with all the bells and whistles.  There is a temperature dial, a fan for blow drying your hair, a large light...I have only one question of the maker....Where's the mirror?  How is he going to shave without looking at himself?

Maybe that's my out.  "Gee Zar, you don't want that.  It is impractical...You will cut yourself if you can't see what you are doing."

Hey! It could work....Maybe...

Speaking of work.  I have to get back at it. 

See you tomorrow.

I Told You It Wasn't a Kitty!!!

We have the makings of a body dryer in place. It won't be hooked up until the foundation board is in place. I still need to put the heads for it inside.

It was built with various watch parts, findings, copper tape, brass eyelets and straws....Yes. You heard me right. All of the pipes are straws that I purchased at Walmart. They are the bendy kind and when I got them, they were all kinds of bright colors.

I stretched and bent the bendy part before painting with oil -rubbed bronze Kilz brand spray paint. I put them in a box that bottles of water came in to spray them. They tend to fly around a lot.

As you can see, I put the bends in strategic places. In order to do this I had to cut some of the straws and fit one inside of the next one.

Here's the trick. Where you want the join to be, you cut the straw that is to be inserted about 1/2 inch longer than you need. Then you slash the inner straw with scissors. Squeeze it together to make it smaller in diameter. Put some glue in place and slide it inside the other straw. I used plain old Aleene's Tacky for this. Let it dry thoroughly.

I left the inner straw out a little so that you can see the bump that the inner straw makes. If you slide it all the way in, it is a nearly invisible join.

I decorated the pipes with strips of copper self stick tape. It is used for stained glass, among other things. I think that they may carry it at scrapbook stores. Not sure.

I just went out to see what the commotion in the kitchen was. I heard Tessie yelling, "I told you it wasn't a kitty!!!". Yesterday, Merri commented on what was hiding under the foundation....She speculated on a cat or a rat...Nope.

It turned out to be a young dragon...His yellow eyes glow in the dark. That's what we were seeing. I have a little concern. He is already pretty good sized and still growing....If he stays there, he may uproot the foundation stones!

I don't think that Zar is going to stand for this. He doesn't want the trailer broken.

Tessie and Zar are currently in the kitchen, with their heads together, trying to figure out how to talk him into leaving...

I hate to say it, but he looks pretty comfy to me. Maybe if I lift the trailer and Tessie and Zar pull on his tail, we can get him out of there....I guess I should go help.

See you tomorrow.

We Have Potions!!!

We finished the potion distillery this morning.

In the first photo you can see the first tank. It is where all of the ingredients are put in to brew. Tessie is pointing to a funnel spout that she had us add. She explained it this way...."There are some ingredients that have to be put in after the mixture has stewed for a while, so I need a way to put them in without disturbing the rest of the brew."

This is how she insisted it would work best. Zar and I didn't argue with her. It is unwise to argue with someone that can brew a potion that will turn you into a warty toad.....

In case you are wondering about the parts....They started out as various pieces of turned wooden parts that I purchased at Michael's and garage sales.....There are lots of different metal findings. The one on the top is part of an antique watch fob. I also used some gold sticky paper strips here and there, that I got at one of the mini shows. This is another case of using what I have on hand.

Here is the second half, where the finished brew lands. There is also a spout there for last minute fresh ingredients like ant whiskers and Caterpillar fur. Those can't be boiled. Tessie informs me that it will ruin the potion if they are added too soon.

The barrel is just that. It is a turned raw wooden barrel that I got long ago when I was collecting items for a general store. I still haven't managed to even get that started. Someday......

The copper coil is some of the 16 gage copper wire that I got at the garage sale a couple of weeks ago.

The funnels on both pieces are end caps for beaded necklaces.

Put the whole thing together and in no time Tessie has a potion made.

The catch is, nobody is willing to try it. It is a new experimental draught. It either turns the drinker invisible or it turns him into a warthog....The invisible part might be cool.....Not so sure about the second option.

The last I saw of Tessie she was chasing the cats around the house trying to get them to drink it.....There may be a problem if she is successful with that plan.

We may have invisible cats....or....Does anybody know what you feed a pet warthog???

See you tomorrow.

Still Laboring....

The "still" in the title doesn't mean continuing labor....It means Tessie is at it again....

Since it is Labor Day, I think that we are supposed to take the day off....Unfortunately, Tessie doesn't think that way. She found this photo of a large distillery vat and she poked at it and said, "I need one of these for potion making."

I tried to ignore her, but she kept following me around and sticking the photo under my nose every five minutes. Don't forget to poke the pictures.

I could see that I was not going to get anything done until I made some attempt to make her a still of her own.

Zar was all for working on one. It is right up his alley.


I gathered up all of the stuff that I though would be useful and Zar grabbed some tools. Some of them were like nothing I had seen before. He invents some of his own equipment.

This is what we have managed so far....It is not finished yet, but I am taking the rest of the day off. That's what's supposed to happen on Labor Day. Honest.

Sooooo......I am off to watch a Bones marathon and eat bonbons. At least that's the plan.....Wish me luck.

See you tomorrow.

You Get One Cookie.....

I am back to working on Tessie's Teas. Yup. Tessie figured out that threatening to stay in the greenhouse until I refurbished it was a mockery.

She decided that my time would be put to better use making her a new cappuccino machine.

She has been using Zar's old one. She "borrowed" it from his kitchen in the middle of the night a couple of weeks ago. I have a suspicion that was the reason for trying to keep him out of the tea shop.

His was a double cup machine that could put out two cups simultaneously. She decided that it was too big and took up too much space in the shop.

I gathered up all of the parts for a new machine. I didn't have any of the old copper sheeting left. I opened a new package that I got from miniatures.com and discovered that it was a mere shadow of the old stuff. It was more like the thickness of typing paper than tooling foil like the old stuff. I made it work, but I can't say that I am happy with it.

Tessie demanded that her new machine be smaller and more delicate.....OK. I made it 1/2" shorter than Zar's. Don't tell her. She hasn't figured out that it has the same footprint as the old one.

I put a few more findings and brass curlicues on hers. And it is a lot shinier than Zar's. As long as it sparkles and shines she is a happy camper.

I put a lot of the merchandise that I made in the main part of the shop...Not nearly enough.

I then tried a half table in wicker to see how it would look. It is out of another scene and not the right color, but I just wanted to see what wicker would look like. Food, table and chairs are about all I have left to do.

Zar was summoned to take back his "useless old machine" earlier.

Tessie gave it back and magnanimously told him...."You may choose a cookie as payment for using your machine."

He refused it, saying,"I will have a dozen cupcakes. The machine is worth more than a cookie."

That made Tessie mad and she started throwing things at him and told him, "No Cupcakes! Get out!". He proceeded out the door, leaving it wide open.

Tessie continued throwing things well after he was outside. Zar calmly pulled a recyclable canvas shopping bag from his back pocket. He managed to pick up a couple dozen wrapped cupcakes, several muffins, a chocolate cake in a box and several packages of tea from the sidewalk. His dastardly plan worked. He will be eating well for the next week!

See you tomorrow.

Zar and the Ice Box......

For those of you following Mookie's trials and tribulations, he is hiding under that big chair in here and groaning every once in a while to let me know he is there. He seems better than yesterday.....Only 6 to 9 more days to go.....

Now onto more important matters. As you know, the Clockwork Cottage is slowly being built from the ground up. I am doing pretty good for a six year old, but Zar sidetracks me sometimes with his latest ideas for inventions. After all, the stuff inside has to be built at the same time.

Today it was turning an ice box into an electric thing called an Extreme Chiller.......I think he needs to work on the name, but the idea seems good. Now if he can only get it to work.

With my help to carry things and glue cogs where he pointed, he went to work. I also had to drill holes because he can't manage lifting the drill.

We started out by finding an old Chrysnbon Ice Box. I had one in the "waiting room". That's the room in the family room bookcase where I put things that don't really belong anywhere, but generally in a kitchen.

Then I dragged out my tray that contains all of the cogs, wheels and miscellaneous drubs and drabs of leftovers. I think it is about time to clean that out. I even found a fimo hand that I overcooked in there! When I start finding detached body parts, I think that it is time to sort.

Anyway, we found the before mentioned cogs and wheels, a strange little spring, the back of a watch, the top of a dimensional paint bottle, some findings and a mini light bulb. Then I went and got the copper tubing that he needed for the water source to the ice.

Zar is getting very good at this new fangled electrical stuff. I don't understand it at all. I just know that the light goes on when you flip a switch.

He decided that a steam powered Extreme Chiller wouldn't be very practical, so he opted for the electrical kind. He went to work and I had very little to do but watch. He explained his theory. In his world, I am sure that it works. He has created a source of water to make the ice with the copper tubing and, in theory, he is running an electrical current straight into the ice. Don't ask me how he is doing this without getting shocked. As I said, it works in his world. He explained that the continuous feed of water directly into the ice block will keep freezing indefinitely. If he says so........It's kind of hard to see(poke the picture), but the copper tubing and the electrical wire actually go through the sides of the ice box and into the ice!

Of course Tessie had to have a look at it. Her only comment was "Good going Balthazar! Now I will always have ice for my brew!" I don't think that she was all that impressed that it could keep food from spoiling. She knows what is really important!

See you tomorrow.

Orrery For Me!

Side note: I have since decided to junk this particular piece and start over.

I just finished building my first Orrery. There is no rhyme or reason to it. I figure that wherever Steampunk man is going to live it's a different time and maybe even in an alternate universe, so I can make the planets go around in square orbits if I want to do so.

I started with good old MSN "Images". I love that particular search engine because all of the images come up on the same page and you don't have to keep turning the page, so to speak.

Did I mention that last evening I sorted some of my findings into a Plano plastic box? It is so nice to see where half are my findings are. The other half still need to be sorted. We aren't going to talk about that part. I am going to try to do that this afternoon.

Anyway, I thought you would like to see what I have done so far on the first Orrery. I messed around with a number of different spindles for the center column. I kept breaking them. I finally decided upon this one. I think it was an old bedpost or something of the sort.

For the base I used one of the thicker watch cog wheels. On top of that I used one of the teak wood beads. Next part of a watch body was glued on. I let those dry.

Then I started building the column. I stained the post. I took antique brass head pins and eye pins and wrapped them around the post at several different sections. This was the hardest part. I wanted the arms to stick out fairly horizontal. After bending them around, I turned up the ends and bent back the eyes of the pins to hold the planets.

I glued various cog wheels and other parts to the base and decided that there should be a vertical pin from the lower wheel to the upper one. After I got all of the parts together and was satisfied with the way that it looked, I glued beads from an old earring on the ends of all of the arms.

After I sat back and looked at it for a few minutes, I felt like there was something wrong. I went back and looked at the photos. It dawned on me that the ones on the net all revolved around a central planet or sun. My brain function is not what it should be today.

I think you can put whatever heavenly object you want at the center of your own universe. I noticed that some of the ones that I was looking at had the earth as the centerpiece. Others had a sun. Still others had unidentifiable globes. I opted for unidentifiable. Mine is an old round earring that is coated on the inside of the glass with what looks like the old fashioned mercury glass....I am not opening it to find out.

I still need to do a bit of tweaking here and there, but for all intents and purposes it is finished. I may try a second one to try to make it better.

Please excuse me now whilst I go tweak.

See you tomorrow.

Cappucino Express.....

This morning I arose with the urge for a good cup of coffee. So I built a cappuccino machine! Yup, I got out the welding equipment(E-6000), some copper sheeting, some cogs and wheels(thanks to Grace of TreeFeathers) and some fancy ironwork(jewelry findings).

I ran off a sheet with the cappuccino machines that I liked from the images category on MSN. I had already decided on the size......It is as big as the piece of copper I had left from the water heaters. It turned out to be just about perfect for what I had in mind.

With that and two teak wood cylinder beads that I had in my stash I built the body of the machine.

From there it was a couple of hours of trial and error with watch parts and findings and a lot of watching the glue dry.

I used various pieces to make the thing kind of look like the ones in the pictures, but with a few Steampunk variations. There are a few extra cogs and wheels that the real ones don't have.

First I found three watch parts that would stack up for the base. It happened that the curved piece had an indentation that exactly fit the bottom of the copper cylinder. I glued them together and waited. Then the cylinder went on top of that.

The next part was a top for it. That consists of a flat cog wheel, a half round filigree piece and a watch stem.

Moving down, I put on a various cog wheels, making sure that they meshed together......Hey! It may not make cappuccino, but at least is going to look like it does something.

I noticed that the ones in the photos were made with a place for two cups at the same time. I figured that this pot would hold enough that it demanded two spigots. I found a pair of very old brass screw type earring backs that matched. I cut them apart and re bent them to resemble the ones in the photos. I used the part that the front of the earring would have been glued to for the base where the cups sit. No comments on the size of the cups please. They were the only ones that I had. I put one other watch stem coming out of the opposite side of the cylinder, mostly for balance.

Between each step, I put the cylinder in a horizontal position so that the piece drying would not flop off onto the floor and get lost in the carpet.

Somewhere along the assembly line Tessie wandered in. Of course her first comment was "Oooooh shiny!". Next it was "What does it do?". I answered "It makes cappuccino."

There was slight hesitation and then the usual long questioning period. " What do the wheels do?When will it be done? Can I have some cappuccino? Why NOT?" I couldn't get a word in edgewise!

I finally managed to tell her that the "pretty shiny machine", as she calls it,doesn't work unless the water is hooked up. Her answer to that statement? "Hook It Up Now!!!!!!"

You know how that goes. She is in the kitchen now trying to figure out how to get water without pipes. The last time I looked she was crawling around under the sink. That should keep her busy the rest of the day.

I will have to wait until I install it to put the pipes around for it. Then....She can have her cappuccino. I don't believe that she even knows what cappuccino is. I think she just likes saying the word.

I'm going back to work now, while she is still occupied with the plumbing.

See you tomorrow.

The Clock Is Ticking.........

It really is! Grace from TreeFeathers sent me a package full of watch parts that a friend had given her. I have to thank her for doing this. I needed watch parts for the Clockwork cottage. Thank you so much, Grace!

I messed around with them last night to see what I had. I tried to take them apart even more than they were. I did manage to get a few more pieces separated from the bodies of the watches. I was always one of those kids that liked to take things apart to see what made them tick....No pun intended.

This morning, I started trying to put together a wall clock for the cottage. I started by gluing a watch that I had to the back of one of the larger plates from one of the watches with E-6000 glue. The stuff stinks to high heaven, but it is great. It will glue just about anything to anything else.

First I just dry fitted the wheels at random until I found an arrangement that I liked. Then I just, by trial and error, put other pieces around the plate, in the holes.

Did I mention that I learned something new? I found out that I would be a very grouchy watchmaker! Most of those tiny parts are magnetic!!! Everything kept sticking to my tweezers and my needle nosed pliers. I had to fight to get them to stay where I wanted them on the clock. They kept hanging on for dear life. Most irritating when I wanted them on the clock and not on the tips of the tweezers.

I did finally manage to convince those nasty little parts that they didn't want to hang on to the tweezers and that they would be happier living on the face of the clock. It was a struggle. I was tempted to call Tessie for help, but then thought better of it.

I am pretty pleased with the piece. It's not bad for a first attempt . It looks very Steampunkish, even though none of the cog wheels mesh with one another and I have no idea what goes where on a real clock. At least it was fun after I got the hang of making the tiny parts stay where they belonged.

I know it's not to every one's taste, but I like it. It will probably go either in the living room or the workroom in the cottage. Probably the living room because I want at least a bit of Steampunk in every room. Yes, it is running. Yes, I can get to the back to put in a new battery. No......It isn't powered by steam!

I got the book "Steampunk" from Amazon a few days ago and I'm getting some ideas about where I want to go with this from the short stories. It's all fiction, but even the introduction was interesting. Did you know that in the "Dime Novels" from the 1860 forward they were writing about things like steam operated ROBOTS and in one story, an "Electric Horse"? I find that amazing. I didn't realize that robots went back that far. I am getting an education and having fun at the same time. What could be better than that?

Back to the watch parts.

See you tomorrow.

Steampunk Is Here!

This is one of those sidetracked days. Well not really. Reginald decided(Did I mention that I have decided that this guy looks more like a Reginald than a Daniel to me?) that we, meaning I, should get the motorcycle going this morning. I spent two and a half hours painting. He spent two and a half hours making suggestions. The motorcycle is no longer "orange ugly" as he called it. It is very Steampunk now. I forgot that it was supposed to be a "to scale" model of the real thing and was purported to have all of the details of the real thing. I painted every nut and bolt on that thing.

I am still not happy with the tail light, of all things. It is too red and plastic looking. I think that the rest of it turned out pretty good, right down to the flames on the gas tank.

When I finished and it was completely dry, Reggie had to try it on for size. He refuses to ride it for real until he gets goggles and an aviator's helmet.

I have his seal of approval so far. He kind of wheeled it around the living room of the cottage to get the feel of it.

I went to put away the huge mess that I made with the paints. When I returned this is what I found.....

Now Tessie wants goggles and an aviator's helmet too....I don't think that she has any idea what either of the items are, but they sound cool and Reggie needs them to ride the bike. She is demanding an "equal opportunity". She heard that phrase during the presidential elections and has been using it since when she wants something that someone else has or is getting.

I guess that we know what I will be doing for the rest of the day. Goggles??? Aviator helmets??? We'll have two of each please. So much for building a house today.

See you tomorrow.