Google honors Jules Verne’s 183rd birthday
February 8, 2011
Here are two different screen shots of today’s Google Doodle, an interactive journey to the depths of the ocean as viewed through a series of brass portholes (naturally spelling out the word “Google”). When you mouse over the little joy stick, you can spy a cornucopia of sea life, including: flying fish, jellyfish, a Megamouth shark, a trio of nautiluses, and the tentacles of an enormous cephalopod.
Joyeux Anniversaire Jules!
Nautilus Necklace by Noadi
March 1, 2010
My wife makes her Indie Squid Kid debut!
Back in the end of December when I did my Xmas Roundup, I left out one important gift—Ryn’s nautilus necklace!
Ryn loves her nautilus!
You might recognize this necklace if you are familiar with the work of Sheryl Westleigh (aka Noadi) or if you saw my 2009 Holiday Shopping guide. While I was composing that post, Ryn saw the photo of the nautilus pendant and let out an excited SQUEEE! I knew then and there, that I couldn’t let anyone else buy it.
Brown Nautilus by Noadi
Speaking of Noadi’s fabulous cephalopod creations, check out this video showcasing her new line of steampunk-themed jewelery!
A Major Award!
December 10, 2009
Back at the beginning of November, Cephalopod Tea Party held a contest to celebrate reaching 100 followers. To enter the contest, you needed to tell them your favorite cephalopod and why, send them a drawing of a cephalopod, and let them know your favorite CTP post. There were three separate prizes awarded, two twisty tentacle pins and a “pirate and tentacles” mini-print, and, long story short, I WON!!! (Via random selection, I’m pretty sure, but I think my entries were pretty good…) They plan to post the winning entries eventually, so my submission will remain shrouded in mystery for now.
My prize was one of the pins, and I opted for the tie tack option. The pin is made of cold cast bronze and is cast from an original sculpture by CTP contributor Sarah Dungan. If that name sounds familiar, it’s because I featured Sarah’s Industrial Fairytale Etsy shop in last week’s Holiday Shopping Guide.
You can see more of Sarah’s work at sarahdungan.blogspot.com.
2009 Holiday Shopping Guide: Jewelry!
December 3, 2009
Once again we turn our sights on Etsy.com, the nexus of all things creative and crafty on the Internet. A search for “squid jewelry” (for example) currently returns over 400 results, but I’ve isolated three sellers that epitomize the kind of awesome cephalopod jewelry that abounds on Etsy.
Noadi’s Art (www.etsy.com/shop/noadi)
Sheryl Westleigh creates amazing polymer clay and mixed media jewelry and sculptures, and I think she loves cephalopods almost as much as do. (OK, probably more!) Her shop has tons of great items in multiple styles and color variations, so if any of these pieces have sold, I’m sure you will be able to find something every bit as good. Not every thing in Noadi’s shop is cephalopod-related—look for trilobites, horseshoe crabs, and even a festive holiday platypus!
Deep Purple Squid necklace ($30)
Brown Nautilus necklace ($30)
Brass Steampunk Octopus necklace ($35)
Cuttlefish Specimen Jar necklace ($30)
Industrial Fairytale (www.etsy.com/shop/industrialfairytale)
Sarah Dungan is an illustrator, animator, and creator of some fabulous steampunk jewelery.
http://industrialfairytale.com
http://sarahdungan.blogspot.com
http://industrialfairytale.blogspot.com
She is also one of the contributors to Cephalopod Tea Party!
A Victorian Octopus ($45)
Cinnabar Octopus and Jade ($35)
The Nautilus and the Deep Blue Sea earrings ($15)
Octopus Me (www.etsy.com/shop/OctopusMe)
If you are looking for something a little more high-end, how about sterling sliver (and sometimes gold) jewelry made from real octopus tentacles? Here are a couple of examples, but there are many, many more in the shop!
Free shipping on all items until Sunday, December 7th.
Size 4-7 Tentacle Ring ($160.00)
Unmatched Octopus Tentacle earrings ($85)
The last flight of the Gryphon: “Steampunk Scrimshaw” by Tom Banwell
November 19, 2009
This one-of-a-kind simulated Sperm Whale tooth is 4.5″ long and made of resin. The base is black walnut, and the Egyptian-styled stand is cold cast bronze. On its reverse side there is depicted a mermaid decked out in steampunk gear. Available at Tom Banwell’s Etsy shop for $79.00.
Also available at Tom Banwell Leather is a wide assortment of hand-made leather Halloween masks, and visit his blog for a look at his many other fantastic steampunk projects—masks, helmets and ray guns, oh my!
Sightings: Captain Nemo’s garage?
November 8, 2009
Lynne Rutter, of The Ornamentalist blog, recently shared how she transformed a detached garage into this fabulous steampunk aquarium scene!
(Via The Steampunk Home)
Giant Thinkwell Presents: Rise of the Squid
November 2, 2009
The world of squid art just got gianter.
Giant Thinkwell, which debuted today, is an international illustrator’s collective currently composed of nine artists. Their kick-off project is called Rise of the Squid.
Here are my three favorite pieces…
Kyle Kesterson
Ryan Tatum
Mark Malazarte
Visit GiantThinkwell.com to see these and the other five awesome pieces in the project. All of the illustrations are available as 8×10 prints, limited edition of 42.
$10 + $3 sh ($5 int’l) – Full artist series $60
Sightings: steampunk squid cake
October 13, 2009
This cake by MeMe’s Treat Boutique is made of pure awesome. There might also be some cake in there somewhere…
Sighted by Noadi (who knows her steampunk cephalopods) via Cake Wrecks
Do you oil your war machines, or do you feed them?
September 5, 2009
Leviathan is a young adult steampunk alternate history novel by Scott Westerfield. If the book trailer can be believed, it will feature a plethora of awesome things, such as war squids and zeppelin whales. It is being published by Simon & Schuster and comes out on October 6th.
Dragon*Con exclusive Stephen Le Podd (“De-Commissioned”) vinyl figure by MINDstyle
September 3, 2009
Dragon*Con begins this weekend in Atlanta, GA, and for the first time in almost 10 years I will not be attending. That’s tragic for a number of reasons, including the fact that I will miss my chance to score the limited edition “Stephen Le Podd” figure from MINDstyle. Designed by Doktor A, “De-Commissioned” is limited to 100 pieces, and they will be available, first-come first-serve, on Friday, September 4 (tomorrow!) at 8:30 PM. (As for exactly where to get them and how much they cost…I’m not actually sure.)
I love this dapper steampunk cephalopod, with his jaunty pith helmet, tentacle moustache, and dilating aperture eyes. If this edition is anything like the 2009 San Diego Comic Con exclusive (“The Entertainer”), it comes with a few alternate hats—ready for any occasion!
