I have 6 new beautiful,
and colourful, Sari Silk bag decorations. These pretties will add a
lovely splash of colour to your bags, belts, rooms, or anywhere else
you want to display them!
No two are alike –
different colours, different swivel claps, and differing lengths from
around 9 – 16 inches! (or 24 – 39cms) These are fun and funky and
the Sari Silk comes from an ethical supplier dealing with women’s
co-operatives in India.
These start at £14 and will be on sale between my Etsy and Folksy shops.
That’s
a good question, as it seems to mean different things to different
people. Even the definition of Steampunk alters depending on who you
talk to, so for the purposes of this simple guide, I am giving you
the definition as I understand it. Any products or accessories from
the genre can only be subjective, for that reason. When people ask me
what Steampunk is about, they don’t want a long-winded explanation,
they just want a short answer, and in that case, I will generally
call it ‘Victorian science fiction’. Its more complicated than that,
of course, as we shall see.
When
did Steampunk start?
Many
people believe the genre to be rooted in the 19th Century
novels of the French author, Jules Verne. Of course, he didn’t know
he was writing Steampunk – or science fiction, for that matter –
as both terms hadn’t been invented then. H.G Wells is another
candidate for the steampunk storyteller crown, and after the term was
introduced – around 1987, there have been plenty of authors
actively writing in the genre since.
What
elements make up Steampunk?
If
you want to write in the genre, or make your own costumes, jewellery
and accessories, you’ll want some clue as to where to begin. I don’t
think you can go too far wrong by starting in the Victorian era, and
then adding layers. Or distorting layers. Corsets, for instance –
we all know that the ladies used to lace them up and then hide them
under their dresses and bodices. Not so with Steampunk – wear them
loud and proud ladies! (or gents, if you are so inclined…) Use
bright colours, fancy materials, or moody leathers, and pop them on
over your dress or shirt for maximum impact! No longer need they be
devices of torture, they can now be fun and sexy.
Time
is a prominent component and gadgets feature heavily, too. The
quirkier the better. Have them steam-powered, or using technology
available in the Victorian era but spiced up as much, or as little,
as you want. Fancy having a steam-powered computer? Why not? Its your
world – play with it!
Materials
for making Steampunk jewellery
The
world is your oyster!
Think
found objects – you can have such fun scouring car boot sales, thrift
stores and charity shops for the items listed below, and once you get
your eye in, I’m sure you’ll be able to come up with lots of your own
ideas, too.
Think
mad scientist – curiosities, test tubes, scientific bits and pieces
Think
mechanics – copper, steel, brass, locks and keys, valves, small
nuts and tiny machine parts
Think
Victorian – lace, cameos, chain, charms, flora and fauna, old
broken jewellery and watches (please be careful if you disassemble
old clocks and watches with glow-in-the-dark hands, as they may
contain radium)
Think
colours – black, grey, burgundy, red, purple. Mostly the colours
were fairly natural in the Victorian era so not as bright as we’d be
used to. Purple was discovered by accident by Sir William Henry
Perkin in 1856. He was looking for an alternative to quinine (used to
treat malaria) and started
the trend for synthetic dyes instead when he discovered mauveine,
which was made from aniline.
Is
Steampunk the only genre of its type?
Nope!
Whereas
Steampunk is generally Victorian/Edwardian, rough timelines for some
of the others include:
Cyberpunk
– 1960’s and 1970’s
Dieselpunk
– war eras 1920’s to 1945
Atompunk
– atomic age, circa 1945- 1965
And
then there’s
Solarpunk
– a wonderful, positive, Utopian world where everyone is equal,
power is clean and renewable. I think I like that optimistic
future… lets try for that, shall we?
My design
inspiration can come from anywhere – a random comment from a friend
or family member, an interesting colour combination, or something
I’ve seen while out and about. But because I love historical
jewellery, often the initial spark will come from that, and there is
nothing quite like actually going to visit a good fashion or
jewellery collection to see the item sitting in front of you.
Earlier this year we scooted off to Bath to visit the Fashion Museum. It’s a beautiful place and was certainly well worth the journey. The museum has a lovely selection of clothing and often does extra exhibitions. It was one of these that I wanted to see – namely a collection called Royal Women. This exhibition has finished now, but if you are in the Bath area, please go and visit; their standard exhibition is worth the trip on its own!
A quick
warning about Bath if you have mobility issues. This area of Bath is
very hilly, and something of a mountain goat trek, but there is one
of those on-off tour buses that covers all the main attractions and
costs around £16. The museum itself is in a very old – and very
lovely – 18th Century Georgian house with lots of
stairs. The conveniences are down a couple of flights of stairs but
the museum is accessible for all, just speak to a member of staff who
will escort you to the lift. For the record, all of the staff we
spoke to were extremely polite and professional, and I’m sure they
will be able to sort out any problem you may have.
This
elegant house was designed by John Wood the Younger and finished in
1771. There are some impressive inter-connecting Assembly Rooms,
picture of the Ballroom below, and these, as are many old buildings
in Bath, also available for public hire. The Assembly Rooms are lit
by nine 18th Century chandeliers, measuring an
average of 8 feet in height and were made from Whitefriars Crystal
(from the Whitefriars Glass works in London). These chandeliers were
originally lit by between 40-48 candles per chandelier, changing to
gas in the 19th century and then altered again for
electricity.
The
standard exhibition here is ‘A History of Fashion in 100 Objects’ and
shows off a fabulous collection of items from the 1600’s to the
present day and includes dresses, shoes, underclothes and men’s wear
as well. Alongside the Georgian and Regency clothes you will also
find more contemporary fashion sporting names like Christian Dior and
Norman Hartnell.
But my
reason for visiting the Museum was to the see the ‘Royal Women’
display, and in particular, this stunning mauve/purple wedding dress
originally belonging to Princess Alexandria in 1863.
It did
not disappoint, and my picture doesn’t really do it justice, but it
was every bit as beautiful as it looked in the pictures I’ve seen of
it.
The Royal
Women display also included clothing from Queen Mary, Queen Elizabeth
the Queen Mother, and Princess Margaret.
The
Museum has a small display of clothing for dressing up purposes, for
both adults and children. Several children were having a whale of
time in there when we passed through, but sadly there was nothing in
there in my size.
Children
can also take part in a sticker trail (info from reception) and there
are drawing cards in the galleries to amuse them.
There is
cafe which serves a variety of tasty items but we can personally
vouch for the delicious cake on offer!
A nice
shop selling books and knick-knacks was available, too. I bought a
book covering the ‘100 objects’ collection and a little booklet for
the visiting Royal Women collection as well.
Bath has
an abundance of museums and art exhibitions as well, and you
definitely should see the Roman Baths – yes, the remains are really
that old – and still pretty impressive. If you intend to visit both
the Fashion Museum and the Roman Baths, you can buy a combined ticket
to save a little money. We didn’t visit the Baths on this occasion,
as we’ve been to the city before, but the Bath complex also houses
the ruins of the Temple Sulis Minerva and a bronze head of the
Goddess is on display in the adjoining museum.
It surprises
me how many people have difficulty finding the right jewellery. I’m
not talking here about the difficulties of choosing between that
lovely pair of red drop earrings or the spectacular emerald green
ones (buy both!)
I firmly
believe that jewellery should be available to all, and yet, so many
of us struggle to achieve this simple goal, and for many different
reasons.
Sizing
Not being a standard size myself, I do understand the frustration of not being able to find something to suit your personality. This is actually one of the reasons I started to make my own jewellery in the first place. I think its better now than it used to be, but the situation is still far from perfect. For this reason, I now use extension chains on a lot of my jewellery to make them adjustable, I might make them multi-size or sometimes do a selection of sizes but not only can this can get very expensive, but isn’t really practical as quite a few of my designs are one-off unique creations.
Some of my
pieces are in ‘an average’ size, simply because I have to choose a
size to make the item in, and since I am running a business, this
needs to be what most of my customers require. However, I am aware
that there is no such thing as ‘one size fits all’ and not everyone
fits neatly into one category. Nor would I want them to. Wouldn’t
that be boring if we all had the same shape?
Materials
Lots of you have allergic reactions to standard jewellery components. The most common is with ear wires, and because of this most of my wires are sterling silver. Unfortunately, a surprising amount of you can’t wear sterling silver, and this is where it gets interesting because in spite of what the manufactures tell you, there is no such thing as ‘safe for everybody’ wires. Most of my wires are fairly safe. I use lots of sterling silver, hypo-allergenic niobium, goldfill (these are 14k gold-plated) stainless steel, and occasionally, titanium as well. If you have sensitive ears it might be best to steer clear of copper ear wires. I stock them because so many people like them, and copper earrings are beautiful, but they are not hypo-allergenic and the copper has a tendency to go green, so these might best be avoided if you have problems with jewellery components.
A selection of wires from my current stock
Ability
Jewellery
can be fiddly for the best of us, and if you have, for instance,
arthritis or mobility issues, putting on jewellery can, quite
literally, be a pain in the neck. Even something as simple as being
left-handed can be a nuisance in dressing day to day. I know you get
used to it. Yes, I’m sure you can cope perfectly well, but if it
bothers you, why suffer when you might not need to? There are often
ways around these problems. But I can’t help if I don’t know what the
problem is.
What to
do
Come and talk to me. I will not share anything you tell me with anyone else unless you want me to. Nor will I judge you. I just want to help you find the fun and pleasure that everyone deserves. Nobody should be excluded from expressing themselves in this way simply because of their size, age, gender, or physical ability. I like to think that between us, we can find a style that will work for you. I don’t generally make custom pieces, but usually that’s not necessary. I would be happy to advise on which of my products could be suitable for your needs, and a lot of items can be adjusted to work for you – like changing a fastening, ear wires, or adding an extension, for instance. In special circumstances I would consider making something just for you, but unless you ask, that’s not going to happen, is it?
As with anything in life, there must always be A First Time, no matter what it is you’re doing. For a little bit of fun, and to mark this blog’s first proper post, how about this list of intrepid women being first…
The first First Lady.
Well, that’s a tongue twister, isn’t it? That honour goes to Martha Washington, the wife of the first U.S President George Washington, 1789 – 1797. The title, however, of First Lady didn’t come into use until after her death. Nor did she ever live in the White House as it hadn’t been built at the time, but work for the famous building did begin during George Washington’s term of office.
The U.K’s first female Prime Minister.
Margaret Hilda Thatcher became leader of the Conservative Party in 1975 after defeating Edward Heath and then became the first female Prime Minister of the United Kingdom between 1979 and 1990. This made her the longest-serving British prime minister of the 20th century and the first woman to hold that office.
First
woman in space.
Cosmonaut
Valentina Tereshkova became the first woman in Space on June 16 1963
when she was on the Vostok 6 mission. In a little under three days,
she orbited the earth 48 times, and on her return, she was given the
medal ‘Hero of the Soviet Union’.
First
IVF baby
At
11.47pm July 25 1978, Louise Joy Brown was born at Royal Oldham
Hospital in Greater Manchester weighing 5lbs, 12 ounces. She was
conceived by the – then experimental – technique in vitro
fertilization (IVF), and coining the phrase of ‘test tube baby’. She
went on to have a child of her own in December 2006. Her son Cameron
John Mullinder was conceived naturally.
First
woman to run a marathon
Kathrine Switzer ran in the Boston Marathon as a numbered entrant in 1967, a race official tried to stop her by lunging for her official bib, but was halted by another race entrant – her boyfriend Thomas Miller. Kathrine Switzer finished the race in 4 hours and 20 minutes. Fifty years later, at 70 years of age, she completed the 2017 Boston Marathon again, wearing the same bib number of 261 and finished with a time of 4 hours, 44 minutes and 31 seconds.
First
woman to win a Nobel Prize
In 1903, Marie Curie won the Nobel Prize in Physics along with her husband Pierre Curie and Henri Becquerel. In 1911, she also won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry and became the first person (man or woman) to win a second Nobel Prize and for two different scientific fields. She became the first woman to be employed at the University of Paris following the death of her husband in 1906, due to a traffic accident.
When
war broke out in 1914, Curie helped equip more than 20 ambulances
-which became known as ‘Little Curies’ and she even drove one herself
– and hundreds of field hospitals with basic x-ray machines and
Radon gas syringes designed to cauterise wounds. It was estimated
that during the course of the war, her equipment helped to save the
lives of a million soldiers.
First
woman to climb Everest.
Not only was Japanese mountaineer Junko Tabei the first woman to reach the summit of Mount Everest in 1975, but in 1992 she was also the first woman to ascend all Seven Summits by climbing the highest peak on every continent.
First
woman to sail around the world
Dame
Naomi James left Devon on 9 September 1977 on her journey to sail
single-handedly around the world (via Cape Horn) and returned on 8
June 1978 – taking 272 days. In recognition of her journey, she was
made Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 1979.
First
woman to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean
Amelia Mary Earhart made her solo transatlantic flight on May 20 1932, She went from Newfoundland to Ireland in just under 15 hours and was awarded the United States’ Distinguished Flying Cross. In 1937, Amelia Earhart and her navigator, Fred Noonan, disappeared over the Pacific Ocean while attempting to circumnavigate the globe. Her disappearance remains a mystery.
First
woman to swim the English Channel
This was Gertrude Caroline Ederle on 6 August 1926 on her second attempt. She set off from Cape Gris-Nez in France and ended up at Kingsdown in Kent at 9.04 pm with a time of 14 hours and 39 minutes breaking the previous record by almost 2 hours. Gertrude Ederle had always had poor hearing due to contracting measles as a child, but at 23, she said that so much immersion in the water was causing her to go deaf. She later taught children to swim at the Lexington School For The Deaf.
If you’re following
from my previous location, or on social media, you know what to
expect, but if you’ve just stumbled in, you might be wondering who I
am, and what you’re letting yourself in for?
Well, my name is
Lynne and I live in a very old village in southern England. I’m a
mother, jewellery maker, closet geek, and lover of coffee,
fascinating words, quotes from any source, social history, fashion
and jewellery history and anything interesting, quirky, fun, or just
downright daft.
With the above
paragraph under your belt, you’ve already got a clue as to the kind
of posts you will find here. I will be talking about my new products,
various jewellery-related topics from the news, fashion, history, and
anywhere else I can find things of interest. Fashion stuff is more
likely to be retro than modern, because there is so much to discover
and old things are so interesting!
Living in Britain, you become very aware of history. Old buildings and architecture are everywhere, and I’m fascinated by how people used to go about their daily lives, so don’t be surprised if something Roman, Victorian, medieval, or vintage pops up on this blog from time to time!
As well as jewellery
and retro fashion, I want to share local views, lots of sea pictures,
interesting links, and probably a bit about certain fandoms or films
too. The British, incidentally, are obsessed with the weather and it
is one of our main topics of conversion. If you come from somewhere
that has more-or-less the same weather all the time, you might not
understand our need to panic over those six flakes of snow that bring
the country to a halt or how our weather staggers from
hot-to-cold-to-windy-to flippin’ heck its boiling! all in one
afternoon.
Eccentricities are
part of the British charm, you know.
Another shop at Folksy selling more of the Boho and Festival style of jewellery.
At the moment I only
use two of the social media channels –
Instagram,
where I sometimes post pictures of all those things mentioned above,
as well as little peeks of my life, garden, and so on. I use the
hashtag #rosebaycountry for pictures of local views and places of
interest – check them out if you like that kind of thing.
Over on Twitter, as well as my latest products I like to retweet anything that is fun, interesting or quirky. So if you like daft stuff, come along for the journey. The more the merrier!
