Gears, Beards, and Beers

(Image belongs to the Facebook Capitol Steam group)

Good times do not get better than this. I had such a wonderful time last night! Here’s a highlight moment: As I was pausing in a doorway, just soaking up the eye candy, a young, cute wisp of a girl skittered up to me and laid a gentle hand on my shoulder. She said, “You are wonderful and adorable and awesome!” and then she skipped off. In a nutshell, this is My Steampunk. Happy, open, welcoming, creative people of all backgrounds and ages with one common dream. I can’t resist it.

At some point, I was tapped on the shoulder by a roving costume contest judge and told I was being entered in the contest. Didn’t win at any level, but as they say at the Academy Awards, it was an honor just to be nominated!  For the record, I was wearing my crocheted Gibson Girl wig, sorta matching crocheted bootwarmer-spats over utilitarian black biker boots, a black and silver corset from Corset Story (You gotta love Corset Story. Really. You must), a long sleeved scoop neck shirt, lots of flashy silvery jewelry, and a black western dance hall  style above the knee skirt, with black leggings beneath. And as usual, I had that little item that 98.5% of steampunks own, a jeweler’s loupe. Seriously, under $10 buys your glasses some steam-cred. And I know I can’t live without my glasses. Can you? I scribbled all over the metal on my loupe with a blood red marking pen. Love the effect. It will rub off so I’m careful, but it’s not that hard to avoid.

Yes, I am a very low budget steampunk. It’s more fun to warp items from my closet than to buy off the rack ‘looks’. Though I do spring for good corsets, cause…. CORSETS.

Hopefully pics will be forthcoming. I don’t know what’s out there but I will share as I find.

CREDIT WHERE CREDIT IS DUE LINKS! Explore and get to know these groups. They are each and every one wonderful.  Kudos and thank you to all!

Sethington’s Creations – My favorite set of pics from the evening.

Mid Michigan Magnificent Steamy Sponsor!  Capitol Steam (Lansing area Steampunks Facebook Group)

Hirsute Hunks that Sponsored.  I love these guys! Jackson Beard and Moustache Club

Proceeds Benefiting! Cascades Humane Society

Venue! The Grand River Brewery in Jackson, Michigan. Perfect setting and extremely brave and tolerant waitstaff.

Vendors & Artists! Look for these places online – try Etsy.com – and support steampunk artistry.

Poison Ivy Designs
Steampunk Eddie
Errant Knight Photography
Detroit Beard Collective
The Spectra Nova
Spooky’s Geek Boutique formerly known as Spooky Designs
Off the Beaten Path Books
FiendishWear
K3 Creations Artworks
Lush Lapel
Steampunked

I dropped a bit of cash at FiendishWear, as their items were too good to miss. I’ve needed something to hold my needfuls. I’ve been using a clutch purse made from 1920’s fabrics, and it’s fun, but I get tired of the clutching. So now I have a leather accessory hip case to hold what I need on a belt slung around my waist, and to keep it company and increase the collective coolness factor, I snapped up a 6″ brass extendable telescope with leather holster. It works, very nicely. Good for examining beards close-up.

And lastly but not leastly, our musical inspiration. Raven Song sounded so great, and yes, I sang along with “Whiskey In The Jar”. Here’s a random tune from Youtube so you can catch a bit of their sound: