The steampunk maker bazaar at this weekend’s White Mischief Great Exposition night at London’s Scala boasted a raft of supremely talented vendors and exhibitors. In addition to the publishers of Steampunk Magazine, four of my favourites were:
Brute Force Studios who stole my heart with a brooch made from an ornate, silver-chased telegraph key (alas, not for sale, nor on the website!), and who make this amazing clockwork arm-piece.
The Clockwork Quartet (who performed a number of improbable and wonderful acts through the evening), who were selling their Creative Commons-licensed single in a beautiful, embossed package that features a fold-out map. A fine artifact easily worth the £10 they were charging (and the music’s rocking, too — haunting and sweet). They were also selling delicious hand-made truffles (Earl Grey or paprika) at the absurdly low price of 50p (!).
Herr Doktor, a model-maker and artist in real life, exhibited a fantastic range of steampunk gubbins. As a raygun collector, I was drawn to his firearms, which are not for sale (he only takes commissions — something I made sure to point out to Alice, given that my birthday’s a scant four months away!).
Capt. Shipton Bellinger brought a fine selection of ornate USB keys, bound in oak, with small, functional pistons and light-up gauges. The big problem with beautiful USB sticks is that the capacity grows so quickly that the device is obsolete before it’s worn out. I suggested to the Captain that he try selling empty housings with microUSB slots, where users could insert their own memory.
