Steampunk-Style Jewelry: Victorian, Fantasy, and Mechanical Necklaces, Bracelets, and Earrings by Jean Campbell

Mixing beautiful elements with a touch of industrial bits is what the Steampunk style is all about.

Check out how to make these Steampunk earrings with clock hands:

 

Click on the images to enlarge and read how to make these cool steampunk style earrings.

 

This Steampunk jewelry is from the hot new book:

Steampunk-Style Jewelry
Victorian, Fantasy, and Mechanical Necklaces, Bracelets, and Earrings
By
Jean Campbell

This how-to jewelry-making book features the work of an array of invited jewelry designers influenced by the growing Steampunk trend. In Steampunk circles, jewelry-makers are often master metalsmiths who combine found objects with fine metals to create elaborate pieces. In Steampunk-Style Jewelry, the projects focus on "no fire" techniques -- like simple stringing, wirework, hammering, stamping, gluing, stitching, and off-loom beadwork -- so that even a beginner can create pieces in the style.

Each project provides a complete materials and tools list, step-by-step instructions, and clear illustrations. Steampunk-Style Jewelry offers a broad overview of a growing design trend that is part of the literary, industrial design, fashion, and popular culture scene. You will learn about the art movement through the many photographic sidebars that explore the many aspects of the trend.

Jean Campbell is a freelance craft editor and author. She is the founding editor of Interweave’s Beadwork magazine and has written and edited more than 40 books, most recently including CPi’s Beadwork Inspired by Art: Impressionist Jewelry and Accessories and Beadwork Inspired by Art: Art Nouveau Jewelry and Accessories. Other recent books include The New Beader's Companion, Getting Started Stringing Beads, Beaded Weddings, The Art of Beaded Beads, Beadwork Creates Jewelry, and Beading with Crystals. Jean has a widely followed weekly blog on Interweave’s Beading Daily, and has appeared on the DIY Jewelry Making show, The Shay Pendray Show, and PBS' Beads, Baubles, and Jewels where she gives how-to instructions, provides inspiration, and offers crafting advice.

I love making jewelry with unexpected things. One of my favorite all-time industrial parts are bobbins from sewing machines. Here are 3 necklaces I had made with 3 different bobbins.

 

-The first is a simple gold one, as it turns out one of the fancy sewing machine uses gold bobbins as part of its sensor equipment. I simply looped it onto a tiny gold ball chain.

-The middle one is a very old blackened metal one that I used the little secondary loop of ball chain traditionally used in dog tags. This allows the bobbin to hang sideways very nicely, really featuring the holes on the side.

-The third necklace is really in the Steampunk style in that I mixed in an old big single earring part, and a new charm set from the Manor House collection. This necklace combined all sorts of shapes and metal finishes.

 Holiday Goodness Giveaway Time!

Here's how it works:

• We ask a question each weekday.
• You leave your answer in the comments section each day to the question (and you can enter each day!).
• We will randomly pick a winner each day to send a free book to!

Today is DAY 3 of 19!

 

Question:

This is a percentage question:

What percent of your holiday crafting is new material vs. recycled or from your stash? And if you are buying new supplies, what are you getting and from where? Do you have a favorite source that's either non-traditional or a small business that you want to share with others?

My answer:

I am definitely digging from my personal stash for most of my gift giving supplies and going to my stash of craft books for ideas to put my own spin on something like today's project. My family has already requested the jewelry pieces they want that are made from recycled shotgun shell ends. I made a set and they all wanted one. Yup, that's my family! Well, part of it - I have some cross stitches going too! I did have to buy a bit of the cloth for that.

So I am going with about 85% from the stash/recycled and 15% newly bought!

Be sure to read the comments of others; maybe you can pick up a good idea, a new place to find your inspiration, or just a good giggle!

Comments

[Julia]

I am definitely going with stash/recycle! I just made a Christmas stocking out of old men's neckties.

[ahk]

More using what I have on hand than buying new, but certainly a few new supplies will be bought. Maybe a few tools, too. And there are so many wonderful new books that i'll have to treat myself to a couple for inspiration!

[Michelle Mach]

OK, this is tricky! I'm making resin pendants & related items as gifts--the bezels are all new, but the stuff in them is all old. So--50/50!

[wendy m.]

I broke down and bought a pack of scrapbooking paper specifically to make my cards this year (but have I made them yet??? no!).
I must say I've had my eye on that Steampunk jewelry book - it's definitely going on my holiday wishlist now! Thanks for the sneak peek!

[Kathy]

I definitely try to "shop" in my studio first!! And I keep an eye out for common things to recycle into my work. But the percentage is probably more like 85% stash/recycle (90% of that being stash) and 15% new.

[Muriel Fulgione]

The new and wonderful books definitely boost my purchase percentage. . .sigh. . .I'll have to go with 75-80% stash/recycle since I just ordered 2 new books and am now lusting after the Steampunk-Style Jewelry one from today. YUM!

[julie m]

Most of my holiday crafts will use stuff from the stash I collected last year, mostly on sale. I wish we had a LSS nearby. Just big box stores. I get the basics there with coupons. The rest I order on the internet, usually from the smaller stores with good customer service.

[f lynn rush]

i don't celebrate the holidays, but i do make decorations. my girlfriend and i have made a pact not to spend money on craft items. we discovered that we spent, on the average, $300.00 a month. we had so much that we didn't use, so i put them on ebay or gave them away. we have been pretty good. so...i use what i have, which is mostly new, and some oldy-moldy stuff. i did order some paper and stamps that had been on my wish list for forever, so i was ALLOWED to get those, but i don't really see using them until next year. our pact is supposed to end on january 1st, but i think we have learned our lesson and know that we need to go easy. we will figure it out.

[whitney]

I love to use things that I find- I am especially proud of my smashed/rusty bottlecap collection as well as my fortune cookie fortunes! My last quilt was bordered with pop tops!

[Shirley]

I started out with new stuff, I'm exploring a new craft, an art quilt with thread painting. I didn't like the background material I bought, so I 'dyed' some muslin using acrylic paint and let it drip into the material, making a batik look.

[Suella]

I think that this time almost all of my contstructions will be from my stash. It needs thinning down, and I have some lovely things awaiting use. I would say at least 95% if not 100% will be from my stash.
I have purchased some lovely things from www.beadsdirect.com which ships world-wide.

Happy crafting!

[Liz Bayer]

I have just organized my supplies & have three main bins to choose from...Jewelry & lots of buttons, felted sweaters & altered book supplies. I am trying to work from my stash & supplement a few new additions when needed. I am purchasing some small glass vials to incorporate into necklaces for my 3 daughters for Christmas. I got this idea from the Instructable website.

[Marjorie Jumisco]

Have to admit 80-90% of my gifts are from either newly made books or books &/or boxes that I have made.
I have a 25% off coupon from a local company so I am going to purchase a map that shows the typography of our area & town, Asheville NC.
Decorated a tree skeleton w/baby cards which when opened form a star. This is not a new thing. We have used this same tree for 2 years now!

[Lila Schmidt]

I am using only about 5% new supplies and the rest from recycled or my stash to do my Christmas holiday crafting. If I am close to Michaels or Hobby Lobby I will stop and use a 40% off coupon for a small stocking stuffer or to replenish a supply that I am low on. Just yesterday I bought a jar of "snow" as a swap that I am involved with requested snow.

[MAry Anne]

I would have to say that pretty much all of my holiday crafting is coming from my stash this year. Maybe 2% might be purchased (and all that will come from the local dollar store).

[Juliet A]

I really like the Stampin Up cardstock, the Tim Holtz distress inks, and Sakura pens - I get those whenever they are on sale, or I have a coupon. Stamps I buy from The Angel Company. Almost everything else, is accidentally in my stash, for reasons I cannot enumerate.

My ATCs are about 50% recycled material, my greeting cards are mostly out of new stuff.

[BrendaLea]

My crafts/gifts this year will be 100% from my stash or recycled.... just don't have the extra $$ to spend on anything new and need to use what I have to thin my supply down anyways.

This book looks really good and will go on my want list for sure.

[Noreen]

This looks like a fun book! About half of my crafting this Christmas comes from my stash or recycling. The things I wanted to make required some items that I just didn't have.

[Ellen Lai]

Never really thought about this... perhaps 80% bought, 20% recycled. I normally buy from a few big craft stores, namely, Spotlight, Golden Dragon for threads and fabrics, and a die-cut store for all my die-cuts and scrapbooking papers.

[Vintage Rings]

Very nice pieces. I would like to have some of those. They look fantastic. I like pearl jewelry. Thanks.

[Steampunk Supply]

The book looks fabulous! I have been selling antique watch material and keys for years and it's so much fun to see them repurposed in so many terrific new designs!

[Prayer Bracelets]

That clockwork with angel wings necklace on the cover of the book is just fantastic!

It has inspired me to scrap one of my old broke windup watches. Love the rough look of it!

With a little hamering and soldering it wil make a great pendant!! Thanks for the inpiration!