There will be music and dancing, there will be rollicking merriment. There will be mad science. There will be friends, old and yet-to-be-made.

There will be magnificent outfits and clever inventions. (But don’t let a lack of magnificent outfits and clever inventions stop you from coming! Wear whatever you want, just come. If you want to make many friends, wear this t shirt.)

For the first time, we are bringing some of our children (3 out of 7 – Bettina is staying home with Nanny Aubergine, Adolphus is deep in exams, Claire has an experiment at a delicate point that she just can’t set aside, and Philomena has [gasp] a job!). Annabelle, Mirabelle, and Gerhardt will be running wild; for your own safety, please refrain from giving them any marshmallows.

The photo to the left is not of our children. The presence of these natty children last year contributed to our parenting guilt at leaving our own behind.

(Also, there is no circumstance under which a child with a mustache is not funny.)

We will be attending as many concerts, meet-ups, panels and other frivolity as we possibly can. Some events where you might find us: Friday night is all about the music – SteampunkFunk Bizarre, Katie Kat, Eli August, Unwoman, Ego Likeness.  Saturday begins with our one panel – Phineas has been invited to join Mr. Houghton and Mr. Brown in Boardroom A in the Radisson for the weapons panel, and he has a trunk of destruction to share! Then we’re off to the Absinthe Tasting with Walter Sickert (and hopefully the charming Jojo Lazar, Burlesque Poetess). Friends of ours are getting married at 3, and we’ll be cheering them on.

We will be entertaining in our suite at the Embassy on Saturday from 4:30 to 6pm. Once we have our room I will post the invitation on FB and Twitter, so follow along if you want to come by and say hello. We will be delighted to see you!

After that, who knows where the wild rumpus will take us? A visit with the inimitable Imperial Amerikan Air Corps, certainly. Shall we follow Emperor Norton, dancing through the night like the Fey-bespelled? Head-bang with Frenchy and the Punk? We shall certainly make an appearance at the Centennial Ball, where exhibits of invention meet magical music and bravura belly dance.

Too much to do! Especially since some of the best fun is just wandering the halls, admiring our fellow steampunks in all their inventive glory. Don’t try to get anywhere in a hurry – there’s too much to see on the way.

Come one, come all! See you tomorrow at the Steampunk Worlds Fair!

Once the coat was made and lined, he hung it up and started gathering up and pinning the back until it looked right. When you have the back gathered and bustled the way you want it, sew it down. Phineas used little buttons on the underside to sew the gathers down, so as to take pressure off the fabric.

Although I do think of my polonaise as “The Aunt Margaret Memorial Polonaise” I primarily call her by her nickname, “Sexy”. Honestly, I’ve never named a garment before in my life, but this baby is something different!

The vest is a new pattern, inspired by Robert Carlyle’s Rumpelstiltskin character on Once Upon a Time. Stylish and evil, what a role model! The key is to keep the collar tight to the neck without  losing mobility. (Can’t be letting folks sneak up on you!)

The pants pattern is based on a pair of jeans that fit well. He altered them to get the high waist so fashionable in Victorian times, and made them out of a busy plaid, so as to clash nicely with the striped vest.

Saturday at 1pm, we’ll be presenting a panel on making cosplay props and steampuk gadgets with Madame’s brother and his stunning wife. If you happened to catch our act at Katsucon 2012 you’ll remember that the extended Steampunk Family is on the rollicking side, once we get rolling.

Here’s the panel description:

Gearing Up
Mods, Props, and Weapons for Cosplay & Steampunk

Weapons that look fearsome, not faux, steampunk gadgets that work (or look like they do), cosplay beyond cardboard. Prop builder Jonathan Cook joins the Steampunk Family for an overview of techniques, materials, and tools for terrific props that won’t run afoul of con security. From goggles to side arms to giant swords, learn how to level up your building skills.

Bring your own advice and questions, as we’re aiming for a bit of lecture and a lot of discussion. Check out the Awesome Con programming for more goodness, and see you there!

Conbust is our favorite event of the year. It was the first con we brought our children to and the first con at which we were asked to be on a panel. It’s small, smart, and fun.

This year we will be presenting a Mod your Goggles workshop at 10am Saturday. For a modest $12 fee, you will walk out with your own goggles, customized by your own hand. Above, all the goggles after they were taken apart but before they were painted. With only an hour and a half on Saturday morning, we wouldn’t have time to paint them in the workshop, so Phineas and Mirabelle painted them all for you yesterday. Workshop is limited to 12, so sign up early!

Saturday at noon we’re presenting our Steampunk Fashion panel, with an overview of existing styles (it’s steampunk – you’re welcome to create a new style!), tips for sewers and scavengers, and a box of giveaway fabric for attendees to pick through. If there’s a desire for it, we can gather for a group photo after the panel.

Saturday evening at 5pm, our friend Sarah Hodge-Wetherbe, the Anime Librarian, has invited us to join her panel “Cloud Age Symphony – Steampunk Influences in Anime”, and we’re looking forward to it.

Sunday morning we’re making everyone go faster – it’s Coffee with Steampunk Family!  Phineas and Hera von Hedwig will be your baristas and get you charged up for the last day of what we’re sure will be a great event. Check out the guest list! One problem, though – the Deadlands LARP is opposite the Burlesque. Phineas is going to be heartbroken!

Come see us this Saturday at Eastern Shore Fan Con! We’ll be presenting on our favorite topic at 5:30pm, and hanging out the rest of the day. Hope to see you there!

German biologist Ernst Haeckel published prints made from his sketches of many organisms. Haeckel sought to express the symmetry and artistic beauty flourishing in nature, without the hand of man. His work was inspirational to the Art Nouveau movement.

From Wikipedia:  Kunstformen der Natur (German for Art Forms of Nature) is a book of lithographic and autotype prints by German biologist Ernst Haeckel. Originally published in sets of ten between 1899 and 1904 and collectively in two volumes in 1904,^[1] it consists of 100 prints of various organisms, many of which were first described by Haeckel himself. Over the course of his career, over 1000 engravings were produced based on Haeckel’s sketches and watercolors; many of the best of these were chosen for Kunstformen der Natur, translated from sketch to print by lithographer Adolf Giltsch.^[2]

Ernst Haeckel [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

Call to all Steampunk and Sci Fi Artists-

WarmStreets Gallery announces a juried show of Steampunk and Sci Fi works of art to be displayed at their Riverviews Gallery the month of April. Area artists are encouraged to submit up to three digital photos each of up to three works of Steampunk or Sci Fi art in any medium for consideration in this show, with cash prizes of $300, $200 and $100 for the top three works and a $100 “People’s Choice” prize, to be awarded at the end of the show following viewer voting.

WarmStreets is a local nonprofit that helps Lynchburg’s homeless through outreach and donations to groups such as The Daily Bread, Hand Up Lodge, and Miriam’s House. Funds are raised through art sales at their Gallery 205 at Riverviews on Jefferson St. where donated works are available for purchase. This featured show of juried works will hang April 6- May 3, with a “sneak preview” opening during First Fridays on April 5. WarmStreets will donate their percentage of each sale to help the homeless.

Area artists are invited to submit up to three digital photos each of up to three works of art to be considered, along with a $20 entry fee, either in person at the gallery or through the WarmStreets website at http://www.warmstreets.org. Submissions can include paintings, drawings, photography, sculpture, jewelry, and mixed media- anything with a Steampunk or Sci Fi theme. Submissions must be received by 5pm on Monday, March 4, 2013. Accepted works will be notified by 5pm on March 11 and the works must be delivered to the gallery by 5pm on Friday, March 15. Contact Rick Hughes at rick@warmstreets.org for details.

Underwater photography is tricky, to say the least. The photographer, in this case P. Phineas von Hedwig, gets a snorkel (we’ve tried diving equipment, but the oxygen tanks let out tiny bubbles of air that make the pictures hazy), but the model does not. The model may have to go under dozens of times for one shot. Challenging, but the results can be unique.