Saturday, November 20, 2010

I Can Haz Work Ethic?

Current Location: Mom's house, Diamond Springs

  Having been somewhat concerned about how I will make enough things to sell to fill up my vendor space at Nova Albion, I decided to commit myself to a goal.  There are a hundred days from now until March, so if I made something every day (except the holidays when I will have no time) I'd have about a hundred things, which should be more than enough.  I suspect many of the projects I have in mind will take more than one day, though, so I'm not holding myself to the same kind of rule I use for my Steampunk Thing of the Week - it doesn't have to be started and finished within the day.  So, here are my new rules for vending production:
1. Try to finish something every day.
2. Don't start something new unless you can't finish the old. (This should help keep me from ending up with 100 half-finished things that I can't sell.)
3. When you've done 5 things, you get 2 days to make for self or Etsy.
4. Work even if you can't finish today to make it more likely to finish tomorrow.

Monday, November 15, 2010

Vendication

Current Location: Dad's house, Rio Linda

  I just received a response to Saturday's e-mail:

Thank you for the photos & the detail! I think in pullet points, so here we go:

YES to:
  • Goggles: The opera goggles sound good, especially if they're sized smaller like traditional opera glasses - I don't think we have anything like that yet. The other pair of goggles will be OK as well
  • JEWELRY: I really like the idea of specifically "Eastern-themed steampunk jewelry" and I like the (brooch? Pin?) of the Asian lady with the gears... very interesting and different! That is really the only jewelry we can add to the vendor room at this point.
  • GLOVES: The gloves are OK (not a lot of them) - hand-painted like the socks would be great!
  • CLOTHING: I love the socks! The other clothing item that would work are the Chinese dresses you mentioned - again, if you did the hand-painted gears or some such, to steam them up a bit. Breeches might be interesting as well.
  • SKETCHES: The accessories you described & sketched all sound great

Sunday, November 14, 2010

Vendition

Current Location: Dad's house, Rio Linda

  Now that the Wi-Fi here is again stable, I no longer have any excuses not to blog (not that that was a good one, you understand, given I've been at my mom's house the past two weeks).  I expect to be playing catch-up for some time.

  Today I woke up around noon, having stayed up far too late watching the first season of Castle plus commentaries.  I sent an e-mail describing the kinds of things I am likely to bring to the vendor room at Nova Albion, which took hours.  I think I shall reproduce it here.  The guidelines, by the way, read "We do seek to create a balance and will need to limit certain items: at present we are no longer able to accept goggles, hatsrayguns or clockwork jewelry and would love to have more exotic and Eastern-inspired wares."








What I actually bring to sell will be dependent on what I manage to make in time for the convention, but here is a list of the kinds of projects I have in mind and you can let me know based on what other vendors are bringing where to concentrate my efforts.

I know you said no hats, but it has been suggested to me that my hats might be sufficiently different that I should mention them anyway.  I intend to have no more than three or four hats similar to the one pictured in the first attachment, but in different colors.  And I have several other purchased hats (mostly straw ones) lying around waiting to be steampunked in a similar fashion to that one or the one pictured in the second attachment.  I also want to make other large Edwardian hats from scratch, such as ones with scalloped brims, and one based on the design of a pith helmet.  I have plans for top hats pieced from various fabrics, such as faux leather, corduroy, brocade, and Victorian wallpaper prints, as well as similar tiny top hats (two inches high) as shown in the third attached photo.  I would like to make hats of the design shown in the fourth and fifth photos in various sizes and fabrics.  I am also interested in making caps with applique and scalloped brims, and steampunk bonnets.

I also have plans for exactly two pairs of goggles, one of which will be "opera goggles" (with a stick instead of a strap).  And I have one pair of "Gogglies" already made, which are meant to be pinned or clipped to hats, hair, or wherever, as shown in photos six through eight.

May I assume that "clockwork jewelry" refers to pieces that use entire watch movements as cabochons?  Would jewelry such as the set pictured in attachment nine be acceptable?  Apart from that, I have purchased several items to serve as focal pieces in Eastern-themed steampunk jewelry (probably mostly necklaces).  I will probably have other assorted jewelry, as shown in pictures ten through sixteen.

I should have several pairs of opera-length gloves similar to those in photo seventeen.  I also intend to buy some short fingerless gloves and hand-paint them in a manner similar to the sock in photo eighteen.  I have some cuffs similar to the one in photo nineteen, which are not really steampunk but may pass for goth, lolita, or rockabilly.  I would like to make adjustable hat-bands and arm-garters that would look something like the sketches in the twentieth attachment.  I may do spats/gaiters similar to those in photo twenty-one.  I can easily make "disguises" as shown in photo twenty-two, although these would be less one-of-a-kind than most of the rest of my items, as they are vacuum-formed on a mold.  I may also vacuum-form other items, such as gears and antique keys.

I should have a few lightly-boned corsets.  I may also make other garments, although I'm not sure what.  Most likely tailcoats and frock coats.  Maybe vests in Eastern-looking fabrics.  Maybe Chinese dresses embellished with gears and so forth.  Possibly shirts or breeches.  Possibly bustled overskirts.

  Things I forgot to include: belt buckles, picture frames, wigs, parasols, lockets, reticules, purses, jabots, steampunked shoes, leather stuffed animals.

  To bed!