Friday, September 26, 2014

I won a load of wondrous booty from Vintaj!!

I entered Vintaj's online contest to create a steampunk character in 200 words or less - , and I won!  What a thrill, and soon the mail came with a heavy load of gorgeous Vintaj pieces - chains, charms, decorivets, filigrees, blanks - the thrill of the month at least!  My next post will be some of the jewelry I've made from this great prize.

Here's my winning story:

My father, Hugo Smith, always told me, "Caroline, you have to have the right tool for the right job."  I loved watching him at work when I was a little girl.  He was a metalsmith, and made everything from horseshoes to church bells in our country village.  In the evenings, my mother would make fanciful drawings of elaborate armor, helmets and chain maille, and Dad would bring her creations to life.  These were sold to wealthy collectors near and far.  When I was around 12, he made me a little set of hammers with designs on the ends and showed me how to smash them onto metal to make images.  He then took these pieces of metal and attached them onto helmets and breastplates, using a variety of tools and different types of metal.   I went in a slightly different direction as I grew older, creating beautiful hats, headpieces and ceremonial garments decorated with my own metal designs - hearts, keys, cogs, gears and oddments.  My designs are now very popular, and are seen all over Victorian England.  My two daughters work with me in our successful business and love it as much as I do.

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