SoftFlex steampunk beading contest -- time to vote!

I got an e-mail yesterday, saying the voting for the entries in the steampunk themed beading contest by SoftFlex is now live. Check it out here. I've got one entry there so any vote for me is greatly appreciated.

As they only show one photo of each entry, I thought I'd publish a few detail shots of my necklace here. I couldn't think of a good name for it so please don't shoot me for the one I came up with... It's just very desciptive: I wanted to make something that'd look like some sort of mechanism. The gears don't actually do something, but I wanted it to at least have the illusion of a working mechanism. While I can enjoy designs that just scatter cogs and gears around -- as explained here -- I thought it too "cliché" for a steampunk design.

I added an extra "antique steel coloured" faux watch movement to the back, which is barely visible under the larger antique brass coloured one. This not only added weight but also depth and enhanced the illusion of a plausible mechanism. It would by now means fool anyone that know how a mechanism works -- or anyone that's ever seen a working mechanism (i.e. everybody), but still... My mom don't understand why I did all this on the back of the pendant -- the part nobody will see when you wear it. But without these parts, there'd be no illusion, no matter how easy to unveil.

My second wish was to combine two lovely metals: tarnished brass and black iron. Not real castiron, but close enough. I like the mix of black and brass or sepia (as in this online game). As usual I went for a rather simple design, perhaps unconciously inspired by the clean art deco lines you see in Little Wheel, the game I linked to.

As you can see, the pendant is really what I focused most on in this design. I used faux gears (Tim Holtz and brass stampings), a found brass circle "thingy", brass "bezel lace", and Vintaj decorivets (in Arte Metal). Several parts I bought using my gift certificate from Rings & Things so in a way they're the ones that made this design come true. The decorivets I got from another fab American bead shop, Bello Modo.

I riveted (= no glue here!) the pieces together using a brass rivet that is placed slightly eccentric in the centre of the compass rose. It was a "drilling accident" but I had but one compass component so I had to live with it. I kind of look at it as if it's supposed to look like a black cresent moon (or partial solar eclipse I guess).

Anyway, I hope you like it and likewise, I hope there at least a few people out there who like it enough to vote for it. I don't have high hopes, seeing all the beautiful and complex entries that I compete with, but I enjoy the challenge of participating in contests.