Filed under: Steampunk | Tags: clockpunk, costume, Halloween, Malabar, neo victorian, retro-futurism, retrofuturist, Steampunk, Toronto, window display
If you find yourself in downtown Toronto, be sure to stop by Malabar Costumes at 14 McCaul Street, they currently have the most fabulous Steampunk window displays. Delightfully inspiring!
Filed under: Robots, Steampunk | Tags: Arcana Comics, Barnaby Ward, Frogchildren Studios, graphic novel, Kevin Hanna, Sean O'Reilly, Steampunk, The Clockwork Girl trailer
Frogchildren Sudios and Arcana Comics have given life to the award winning (and one of my favorite) graphic novels, The Clockwork Girl. (You can read my review from a previous post here) Directed by Kevin Hanna and produced by Sean O’Reilly, the novel’s creators, and with art direction by Barnaby Ward it should be fabulous and true to the original. 
Be sure to check out the teaser preview. It is a little short, but sweet!
Here is the short summary …”the story of a nameless robot girl who has recently been given the gift of life from her creator. While exploring the wonders of an ordinary world she meets an amazing monster boy and they share a friendship that must overcome their warring families.”
I will definitely be looking forward to this one!
Filed under: Oddities, Steampunk | Tags: bulb, Curious Oddities, Decorus globosa, disovery, explorer, journal, necklace, neo victorian, Steampunk
Pluck your own Decorus globosa necklace from the collection at the Curious Oddities shoppe
Filed under: Oddities, Steampunk | Tags: antique, Belgium, Brussels, industrial, lamp, lueurs poetiques, modern, salvage, Steampunk, Zoetises
While wandering the winding streets through Brussels I stumbled upon the most delightful of shops:
Zoétises: Lueurs poétiques located at 10 Rue de la Tulipe, Bruxelles
In her small and very charming studio, Zoé creates magic with salvaged treasures and light. Antique glass cloche 
domes, steel boxes, baking tins, sieves, cages and industrial scrap all become components of her beautiful work. The light from the wide variety of incandescent bulbs highlights the aged, chipped paint and worn textures, casting strange shadows through the mesh, wire and holes of her lamps.
Zoé also shares my love of old fashioned light bulbs, with their coils, filaments and warm glow. She fears that as Belgium, like many countries, switch to compact fluorescents, the beauties at the heart of her wonderful lamps will be harder to find than the salvaged pieces that frame them. Be sure to visit the Zoétises website to see more of her fantastic pieces.
I can’t thank her enough for introducing me to the daily antique/flea and junk market in Marollen quarter of Brussels…it blew my mind…
Filed under: General, Steampunk | Tags: Curious Oddities, handmade, industrial, jewelry, Mekanical Relics, salvage, Steampunk
Greetings! I wanted to share a sample of the new my new Mekanical Relics line of jewelry, now for sale in the Curious Oddities shop. Fabulous gears, salvaged bits and vintage keys gathered from across the globe, transformed into objects of beauty for you to enjoy. 
>^.^<
I have just applied to vend in some shows in Toronto this Summer, as well as in the Winter One of A Kind Show, YIKES, wish me luck- I will keep you posted.
Filed under: Beak of the Week, Steampunk | Tags: Beak of the Week, blackbird, crow, jewelry, neo victorian, raven, Steampunk, Tilly Bloom, Victorian illustration
Mister Bertrand Bird and Son
brooch by Tilly Bloom
Embracing the bizarre, Scottish lass, Miss Tilly Bloom, creates wearable delights from her home in Brooklyn, New York.
Tilly Bloom’s jewelry is strange and charming, taking every form from bracelets to cuff links, earrings to buttons, all incorporating Victorian Era images and styling.
You can subscribe to Tilly’s monthly newsletter here, and visit her Etsy shop for more truly wonderful items including prints of her work.
Filed under: Oddities, Steampunk | Tags: aerial, Alexander Bell, Antique plane, Baddeck Nova Scotia, Canadian aviation, Canadian Centennial of Flight, flight, Silver Dart, Steampunk, Vintage plane
Backed by the passion of Alexander Graham Bell and the funds of his wife Mabel, the Aerial Experiment Association was formed. A year, four months, and many test flights later, Canada saw its first powered engine flight.
On February 23, 1909 a group of volunteers on skates pushed The Silver Dart out onto the ice of Baddeck Bay in Cape Breton, Nova Scotia. Piloted by Baddeck local, Douglas McCurdy, the plane rose almost 9 meters and flew for almost a kilometer and a half at 65 kph.
To mark the 100th anniversary of this first flight, a replica of the Silver Dart was constructed and flown on February 23, 2009. I wish I could have been there to check it out. The plane took and almost 5 years and a whole lotta cash to construct. Despite a couple of disappointing early test flights, the plane performed beautifully for the Centennial Celebration.
Here is a video of the replica flight last month
For a bit more on the historical flight The Canadian Centennial of Flight has posted an excerpt of their fabulous 9-part documentary On Canadian Wings.
For More information on the Silver Dart Flight, here is the official site.
Filed under: General, Steampunk | Tags: clock, clockpunk, Curious Oddities, Eric Freitas, mechanical, Steampunk
Hello all, and how I’ve missed you!
For those who haven’t seen them yet, the immensely talented clock builder Eric Freitas has posted pictures of his newest mechanical marvel. Visit his blog for an incredibly detailed documentation of the creation process, including lots of delicious photos.
Unfortunately this piece isn’t for sale.
I interviewed Eric Freitas back in July, if you missed it, here is the link.
Eric, thanks again for sharing your beautiful work with us!
After much contemplation over these past long Winter months, I have decided to focus on the Curious Oddities shop and Blog.
I am applying to some craft shows here in Toronto, and there is a fabulous Circusy, vaudevillian event in the works for late Summer. Look forward to a new website, delightful new items, news, interviews and adventure. I’ll keep you posted.
Filed under: Oddities, Steampunk | Tags: dandy, gentleman, Little Angels Jewelry, Lupin, moustache, mustache, neo victorian, Rhymes With Twee, Shannon Gerrard, Steampunk
Whether you favor the Dali, the Walrus, the Handlebar, the Imperial, the English or the Fu Manchu, everyone has a favorite moustache.
The Plushtache by Shannon Gerard
Lovingly referred to by many delightful names, the stache, push broom, mo, mouthbrow, soup strainer, nose neighbor, cookie duster, and flavor saver, has transformed the ordinary to memorable for centuries.
Would Friedrich Nietzsche have been as influential a philosopher and philologist without his substantial whiskers? Would Colonel Sir Claude Maxwell MacDonald been promoted to Privy Councilor without his glorious “up-do”? Where would Adolf Hiltler have been without his lip caterpillar? Hulk Hogan without his horseshoe? Ned Flanders without his walrus?
A little piece of trivia:
Are you aware the March is International Mustache growing Month? It begins with “Just grow it January” and “Facial Hair February” ending in the grand shaving of the beard to reveal a glorious moustache for the “Moustache March” festivities.
Black moustache by Lupin (left)
Further reading for the enthusiast:
The American Mustache Institute
For the best moustache archive on the internet visit Mustaches of the 19th Century
The Glorious Mustache Challenge: a documentary following a selection of guys in their 20’s who decide to tackle the social stigma of the moustache in order to “bring it back.”
The Mustache Rangers : The abstract ramblings of Commander Major Alastair Q. Bastidious and First Lieutenant Rutuger G. Phooneybaum, reporting on the year seven-hundred-seventy of their nine-hundred year mission in outer space.
King Size Flavour Savours flickr pool (oversize moustaches)
STACHE onary by Rhymes with Twee (left)
Hot Girl Mustache flickr pool
Handlebar Mustache flickr pool
VIVA LA MOUSTACHE!
Moustache hair pins by Little Angels Jewelry
Filed under: General, Steampunk | Tags: clockpunk, Curious Oddities, monocle, necklace, neo victorian, Steampunk
Be sure to visit the Curious Oddities shop for a humble, but growing, collection of delightful things.
Brass Monocle Necklace on Copper Chain by Curious Oddities
