Steampunk New Years Eve Party, Dec 31st, 2012

Join us for a Steampunk Tea Party at our house on New Years Eve.

All the fine china, hot tea, and baked goods (and finger sandwiches!) you can manage and some steampunk parlor games or readings or storytelling or crafts and so on to occupy us until Midnight and beyond.

And this year we will continue our epic game of Combat Croquet by lantern on the lawn so bring a heavy coat and a covered lantern (or flashlight as you wish) if you mean to play...

We will also have our traditional Steampunk New Years Pinata of Craft Supplies to wack at midnight!

We live in San Jose, so guests would need to make their way to the South Bay, but we could probably manage some crash space. We also have two indoor cats who are super friendly but shed.

What to Bring:


Yourself
Wayward Friends and Family
Any Small Children you belong to
Something stylish And/or Steampunky to wear
A Tea Cup
An iPod of music you enjoy
Party games you like to play (hey, we can even keep it Historical! Wink anyone?)
Any celebratory streamers/horns/hats/etc you have hanging around (or kidnap from Target, hehe),
A plate of your favorite finger sandwiches or other savories and an appetite for tea and cake.

We'll privide tea (Black, Green, White, Chai, Roobios, Herbal, Oolong, you name it... its in the Tea Cupboard) and china teapots, the cups and saucers we have and enough baked goods to sink Amsterdam.

When: 8pm, December 31st (7pm if you want to help decorate)

Where: 501 Raymond Ave, San Jose, CA 95128

RSVP Much Appreciated. Last minute attendees, Please don't hesitate to Join us!

As Always, everyone is welcome!

Steampunk Swap Meet- San Jose

September is time for the First Annual San Jose Steampunk Swap-O-Rama-Rama!

Just in time for Halloween Festivities!

So clean out those closets and craft bins, pantries and cubbies of clutter of all those items too useful to throw away but not actually doing you any good JUST NOW and bring them to our place in San Jose for an epic swap meet of awesome stuff....

How it works:  You bring your old crafts supplies, costumes, clothes, furniture, books, beads, toys, games, hardware, dishware, footwear, drapes, kitchen implements, tools, yarn, cloth, props and so on that you don't want or don't need any more but can't quite throw away.  They need a good home right?  Put them in the up-for-grabs pile and then sort through other people's stuff for your own unexpected gems!  Take home whatever you want.  Anything left over at 5pm will be packed off and donated to Savers, our local non profit thrift store that boasts a craft supplies section. 

Note:  Disputes will be handled with a quick game of rock-paper-scissors.  No money will be collected or allowed at this event.

When:  September 22, Drop off stuff from noon - 1.  Swap begins at 1pm - 4pm.  Pack up left overs from 4 - 5pm.  Donation trip to Savers at 5pm.
Where:  La Maisson de Captain and Mrs. St.Clair- 501 Raymond Ave.  San Jose, CA, 95128

What to Bring:

Yourself
Friends and Family members
Your old stuff
Bags to take things home in
Ideas about how you might use all this awesome stuff!
A lawn chair if you are going to hang around and watch the chaos unfold
Snacks if you want to eat something while you peruse the piles

RSVP encouraged but not required.

As always everyone is welcome.

Steampunk Weekend in the Gold Country with Trains!- Aug 4th & 5th

Join us in the Gold Country for a weekend of historic trains, live music and ripe blackberries, August 4th and 5th!

Jamestown, California has an historic district dedicated to 19th century railroads in California.  Its called Railtown 1897 (http://www.railtown1897.org/railtown/default.asp) and they are having a Singing Rails music festival and train showcase on August 4th and 5th (https://www.facebook.com/events/388353731224080/permalink/388353737890746/).  And if that weren't enough... the same weekend, in the same town, Jamestown is sponsoring the 1st annual Rods to Rails vintage car show featuring pre-1972 cars and bikes (http://www.norcalcars.com/carshows/2012/jamestown-rods-to-rails-carshow.aspx).

On top of that, my mom lives in nearby Sonora and her blackberry patch will be just coming ripe and in need of picking....She's got camping space on her property as well, if you want to sleep under the stars by a creek to complete your Gold Rush Weekend!

We'll leave Friday night or early Saturday Morning and come home Sunday night.  We'll probably dress in our steampunk best for a visit to the Railroad Historic Park for pictures and a picnic, thin finish the day with a visit to Main Street to see the Cars.  Sunday, we'll pick blackberries and enjoy the country life!

Here are the details:

Meet us Saturday August 4th at 11am at Railtown 1897 outside the ticket office.  Picnic under the trees at 1pm.  Train rides and pics to follow.

What to bring:

• Friends, Family and Small Children if you have them
• Your best Old West Steampunk ensembles
• A camera to capture the fun
• Money for sarsaparilla and train rides
• Comfortable shoes for dancing to live music and wandering the park
• A picnic lunch with something to share
• A sun hat or parasol and sun screen... its warm in the hills!

Will you be camping with us at my Mom's place in Sonora?  - Please let me know.  We have limited space and its first come first served. 

• Email me at stclairaeronauts@gmail.com for Mom's address and directions.

Car show and dinner on Main Street at 5:30.  We'll probably try to eat at the Willow Steakhouse on account of their epic old timey atmosphere and excellent food. (http://www.mymotherlode.com/community/dining/3973/Willow-Steakhouse.html)

• If you are planning to join us for dinner, bring money for that as well- Let us know so we can add you to the reservation!

Blackberry picking at 11am on Sunday and if we have time and inclination we might head over to Historic Old West Columbia State Park for more steampunk fun and gold panning.  Or we might make Blackberry Pie.  Hard to say for sure...

• Email me at stclairaeronauts@gmail.com for Mom's address and directions.

As always last minute additions are always welcome but it helps if we know you are coming!

Cheers,
The Captain and Mrs. St.Clair

Summer Craft Classes- 2012

Summer Sewing and Jewelry Classes, sponsored by the St. Clair Aeronauts
Learn to modify and sew your own clothes and accessories!
Learn to design and draft your own patterns!
Learn how to make beautiful Jewelry!
Stay busy over the summer!

Sophia St. Clair will be offering beginning sewing and pattern drafting classes as well as jewelry design and construction classes this summer in her home. All classes are for beginners and intermediate crafters. No experience is necessary. Mrs. St. Clair also has sewing machines, jewelry pliers and other necessary sewing and jewelry making tools but there are only 4 places in each class. Classes are $10 - $20. Scholarships are available. Please inquire if you would like to apply for the St. Clair Crafters Scholarship. Students are responsible for purchasing materials like cloth, patterns, buttons, beads, clasps, wire and thread. A list of needed items will be given out before each class.


Two types of classes:

BROP- (Bring Your Own Project)- Know what you want, but don't know how to make it? Bring your materials and we will make it together. I can teach you how!

One Day Workshops- Look for one day workshops on making Bustles, Bloomers, Bags, Spats and more. Even more topics on demand. Tell me what you want and I'll make a class for it! Show up with your materials and go home with a finished piece.

Interested? Contact Sophia St. Clair to get on the mailing list, sign up for classes or find out more:

Stclairaeronauts@gmail.com
Stclairaeronauts.blogspot.com
925.787.2591

See examples of Sewing Projects HERE.

See examples of Jewelry Projects HERE.

See the St. Clair Aeronauts at the 2012 Maker Faire!

You too can meet Capt. St. Clair and his crew! Be a Part of History....Alternate History!


We will have a area in the San Mateo Maker Faire for the StClair Aeronauts Steampunk Airmail Delivery Service.

We'll have parchment paper and pen and ink. We'll have Airmail stamps circa 1883. We'll have envelope paper and envelope patterns (we'll even have a little glue!). And, of course, we will have our fearless crew of Delivery persons in Uniform to deliver your precious messages!

So come by, and write a letter to someone at the event. You can pen a criptic message, or start a short story in the middle of the action. Make your envelope, address it and add a stamp and we'll make every effort to deliver it that day.

You'll hear our crew wandering Maker Faire exclaiming. "Airmail, Airmail Delivery for...." Just imagine your own name there and take home a memento of the 2012 Maker Faire.

Or, if you don't care to write a letter, come sit in the parlor and watch the busy world go by and bustling airmail delivery persons go about their business... and be sure to bring your camera to snap some action shots with a few useful steampunk props and members of the crew!


See Pictures of the St. Clair Aeronauts in action HERE.

See Video of First Mate, Mrs. St.Clair HERE, HERE and HERE (about 2 minutes in)

Want to see some letters from our first event? Check out Letters written for the Sunnyvale Steampunk Convention, 2008 HERE.