Steff Metal

What did you do on Sunday? I had the best day ever.

See? We did actually hijack a train.

CDH and I and 20 of our closest friends spent the day at Glenbrook Vintage Railway. Now, this may not sound exciting, but with 20 metalheads, anything can … and does … become automatically awesome.

I decided I wanted a steampunk-themed birthday party, to celebrate finishing (and possibly selling) my steampunk novel this year. As you all know, metalheads love to dress up, so the idea of pulling out the corsets and crinolines and bustles and fantasy goggles appealed to all our friends, who put serious effort into their costumes for the day.

Amy and Kelli rocking their handmade steampunk outfits

Amy and Kelly came around to our place earlier to get dressed. They made their steampunk outfits themselves, and had raided the local antique shops for their hats and watches and telescopes.

Gallery Serpentine corset

I'm on a train! (it's cooler than being on a boat)

I wore:

• black tulle skirt, $4 from second-hand shop
• black ruffled shirt, from Smoove, a present from friends for my last birthday
• Forest green corset, from Gallery Serpentine
• Pandora beads, including cute new Pumpkin bead from Jessocles and JP for my birthday
• Top hat, from Camden markets – with Essex badge and cameo broch on it.
• fingerless gloves, Glassons
• chainmail spike bracelet, gift from BFF linley from the US
• Leonardo de Vinci socks, from Sock Dreams (gift from parents – who rock!)
• Jeffrey Campbell boots (another gift from parents – who doubly rock!)
• studded SDP belt (from somewhere in Aus), Skull and crossbones belt (Supre, of all places!), eyelet clip thing from bondage pants, chains (from Glassons, years ago!), leather pouch from a pair of binoculars

Iris and Steff

Iris looked beautiful, as usual, and had her goggles made by a friend who creates movie props. They looked amazing.

Kelli, Aaron and Amy

Aaron looked like a dapper genteel serial killer. He made his glasses himself, including the laser sight.

You rang?

Liz in her steampunk costume

Liz had another awesome costume – she made her goggles and watch herself, and found her jewellry and her wicked camera (you cn just see it behind her arm) at an antique store.

Tarah and Tim in steampunk costume (beautiful photo by Ryan Fogarty)

Tarah – who I think must be one of the most beautiful ladies in the world - and Tim, looking quite dapper for a drummer.

Levi's got me!

CDH - the "running wild fan"

CDH came dressed as “a Running Wild fan”. He prefers to stand behind the camera.

Help!

If you want to have a similiar birthday, these tiny vintage railways exist all over the world. They’re usually run by volunteers and are quite inexpensive to visit. We chartered a carriage for the entire day for $250, which split between 20 people, turned out to be about $12 each, plus $1 extra for a jigger ride. The railway put some trestle tables in the carriage for us and we each brought a plate of food and drink to share.

Horns Up! \m/

We had heaps of fun taking crazy photos on and off the trains. The Glenbrook railway stops at the maintenance sheds for 10 minutes each trip, so we had several stationary trains to climb over as well. The other visitors kept stopping us for photos – and the volunteers thought us great fun.

So long! Do forget to write!

I’m going to have to think of something extra-awesome for next year to top this. Any ideas?

Steam up!
Steff

Ich bin fünfundzwanzig Jahre alt!

birthday cupcakes!

I’m 25 years old today. It’s nice. I like it. I’m feeling it.

Some people loathe their birthday, and I’ve never understood that. But then, I was talking to Father Metal on the phone last night and he pointed out I’ve packed more into my quarter century than most people do in their entire lives”.

I think maybe this fear of birthdays stems from. A birthday is a time when you’re forced to step outside yourself and look objectively at your life. Looking back can be terrible, if we haven’t done what we wanted, or what we should have done, or we know we’re going nowhere. On the other hands, us perfectionists can feel like we’re letting ourselves down – “another year over and I still haven’t got that Pulitzer!”

Here are some ideas for celebrating your birthday the “metal” way, and not being sad you’re another year older!:

Find out who was born on your birthday, and theme a party or do something fun related to them. For example, Pierre Auguste Renoir was born on my birthday, so to celebrate, I might take a life-drawing class or sketch my husband nekkid while he’s not looking. Or I could celebrate with Sean Astin (Samwise Gamgee from Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings) by having a hobbit picnic in the park. Or, as Anthony Burgess – author of A Clockwork Orange, also shares my birthday, I might don a strange costume and bowler hat and beat up parishioners …

Along the same vein find out what happened in history on your Geburtstag. I know now that on my birthday in 1751, the first ever performing monkey was exhibited in the US. (I should go to the zoo!) and in 1838 a London pedestrian walks 20 miles backward and forward in 8 hours (I don’t know why and I’m not doing it). My birthday in 1859 was the first use of the “insanity” plea to secure innocence, and in 1932 this was the day immigrant Adolf Hitler recieved his German citizenship.

Do something you’ve never done before. I know I say this a lot, but achieving something – no matter how ridiculous – outside your comfort zone really makes you feel alive. If you can’t think of anything, ask an adventurous friend.

See friends and family. Nothing makes a birthday more enjoyable than spending it with people who care about you.

Write a list of everything you’ve achieved in your lifetime, and a list of everything you still want to do. Then go and do one of those things.

Get some new birthday traditions – borrow from other cultures (see this wicked list of birthday traditions), or make up your own.

Throw the rulebook away: Dispense with the diet for a day, forget about “going for a run”, take the day off work, celebrate! Today I had pie and mocha tart for breakfast, and I’m going to have a huge chocolate sundae for lunch.

Buy yourself a small gift – a new CD, a corset, a mocha tart, just to say “yeah, I’m pretty cool. If I was friends with me, I’d totally buy me this”.

Make a metal mixtape of all your favorite songs from previous years (I’m sure you will remember them) and blast it all day. It’s the soundtrack for your life.

Any more ideas!

Super Snuggles and Shoggoth Kisses
Steff

Update: Some people pointed out that some of the headings were blacked out, but this doesn’t seem to happen to everyone. I’ve hopefully corrected the problem.

Hey guys, I wondered if you might take a few minutes from your busy schedule to fill out the Steff Metal 2010 reader survey.

I want to always create content you guys love to read, so if you want to see more or less of a particular Steff Metal feature, you can tell me in fun survey form!

I’ve deliberately left lots of space for you to elaborate on your answers with comments and suggestions, so if you have any ideas for improving the site, please let me know!

The survey will stay open for about a month, so you have plenty of time, but I will be hounding you relentlessly about it.

I’m looking forward to hearing what you have to say!

Survay’s Up!
Steff Metal

Guten Tag!

I wore this outfit to the old-timey theatre my husband discovered just around the corner from our house last weekend, and I liked the combo so much I wore it to German class this week, too.

I am wearing:

• red dress from everyone’s favorite alternative NZ shop, Smoove – a gift from the gorgeous Elizabeth
• black sparkly belt from a ValleyGirl skirt. I would much prefer a studded belt here, but I didn’t have one that sits up this high. I intend to remedy this forthwith. At least this one is black.
• Red and black striped skull-and-crossbones socks, from … um, I’ve totally forgotten. I’ve had them for YEARS. They have no heels but I can’t bear to part with them.
• black short-sleeve shirt, Salvation Army second-hand shop.
• Black workboots. My usual.
• Blue (I think) stone necklace from Indigo – a hippy shop with particularly wicked jewellery – in Hawke’s Bay. Mum brought me this necklace for my seventh form ball.
• Red velvet bag with jesters bells, a present from CDH, from the medieval market in Hamburg.

I am listening to Arch Enemy as I type, Doomsday Machine. Fuuuuuuk, it’s a good album. That perfect mix of death and melody. I love it.

you can "kinda" see my necklace here. I have to get better at taking these bloody photos

My parentals are coming to visit this weekend, yay! I have a few ideas for things we can do, and I can’t wait to show them our house and my studio and artwork, and maybe go to the old timey theatre and see Astral Forge play.

I’ve written my two article posts for next week, and they are ho-ho-larious, if I do say so myself. Thank you for reading Steff Metal, because without you, I would feel pretty silly writing all this stuff.

Horns up to you, my friends \m/ Tschuss!
Steff Metal

I am bumming around le house. It is bloody hot here. The poor cat is just rolling on the concrete downstairs, mewing at me to put her out of her misery.

I make a face

I am wearing:

• black GLP skirt
• black hippy top with lace panels over tummy.
• Wacken wristband (always and forever)
• Egyptian amulet (dead man) and replica Saxon coin (Oxford, England) necklaces.

Oooh, I found an ancient book

I'm hiding!

I do so adore these coin necklaces – I have a few of them now – everyone knows how much I love ancient things.

Coins on chains

Many things are happening this week. Today I venture to the market and go back through my blog and correct every misspelling of “krieg” I can find :). On thursday Ryan comes over to drop off my brand new (re: secondhand) photo printer, so I can start making artwork prints for the Steff Metal shop. On Friday I am having dinner at Revive with a friend – it’s “S” week, so I get $4 off my meal, yay. On Saturday I am hopefully going to Paganfest (the Morrinsville one, not the Hamburg one, sadly) so I can wear my pretty medieval dress. On Sunday I am editing the seven thousand, eight hundred and twenty two things CDH found wrong with my novel.

A lady from Woman’s Weekly interviewed me about our wedding, so that will be appearing in an upcoming magazine. Fun!

What are you wearing and what are you doing today?

Steff

It’s my birthday on the 25 of Feb. I will be 25, which is neither too old nor too young.

I am having a poor week this week, one of those “spagetti on toast for dinner again” weeks. Being poor stresses me out.

So to cheer myself up I’ve been pretend online shopping for all the things I would buy if I weren’t so poor. Sometimes the art of finding those perfect items – the ones that scream “Steff!” – beats the act of actually buying them.

Do you wanna see the treasures I found?

Diesalpunk Spat Corset - $89, from Velvet Mechanism

Velvet Mechanism Corset

You can really see my 2010 Style Inspiration theme – Soundtrack to the End of the World – in my clothing choices at the moment. I can’t get over how amazingly post-apocalyptic this looks. It is made from authentic WWII soldier’s spats. She’s even used the straps from the spats to make fake suspender loops. She has a couple left in stock, but one of them is mine. MINE!

black and maroon gothic tribal skirt, $160, from Dark Fusion Boutique

Black and Burgandy Skirt

This is designed by Dark Fusion boutique for belly dancers. I’ve been admiring the style of Tribal Fusion belly dancers for awhile – they look dark and gothic, yet have those elements of whimsy, fun and feminimity. It’s not all PVC and spikes. And I love this skirt. Oh Lordi how I love the ruffles and the textures and the lace and the fact it’s red and black and the uneven hemline and did I mention I love it SO MUCH?

Severity corset, $125, Angry Girl Gear

Angry Girl Gear Corset

I love the industrial “I am made of Iron” look of this.

Ancient Arcania Steampunk Ring, $10, by Taeliac

Ancient Arcania Steampunk Ring

This ring looks so chunky (I love chunky jewelry, because being blind it kind of shows up more) and just looks all archaic and ancient.

vintage glass spice jars

Spice Jars

I have all these little bags and packets of spices scattered over my cupboard. I would love some cute vintage glass bottles to store them in.

Urrrrrgh!

Pride and Prejudice and Zombies

I really want to read this. I think it looks grand.

Behemoth tour NZ in April

Tickets to Behemoth

Urgh, I still haven’t got ours yet. I missed these guys last time they came and CDH says it was one of the best shows he’s ever been too. I’m NOT missing it again.

See, now I feel better. Because I know I will eventually scrounge enough moneys for the Behemoth tickets, and I will probably continue admiring the clothings from afar. I’m handing in a decent-sized freelance project in a couple of weeks, so I might have a little splurge moneys from that.

What are you admiring from afar this week?

Steff

This year I am:

a dark artist, a heavy metal aviator, a soldier of the apocalypse, a valkyrie, she grows herbs for nefarious purposes, speaking German with a rasp.

Exotic, postmodern hedonist, egyptian gypsy with nefertiti’s smile, coffee shop poltergeist, androgenous chic. The girl who starts every sentence with “When I was in Syria …”, a carefully planned wrecking-ball, all legs and long fingers and hair flying, a red Sultana in glamour and rivets, a Norwegian ice queen, a mythology of life and death, Freya of the mosh pit, a natural goddess of words, beloved of monsters, a person who makes a difference, a Paradise Lost romance, gymm and frostbitten luxe, the soundtrack to the end of the world.

A celebration of contradiction, the harbringer of hysteria, the eternal elf of sausage rolls, wilted roses and decaying furniture, the girl who can never clean her desk, neo-everything, edgy feminine with a hint of Pure Fucking Armageddon.

This year I’m wearing:

red and purple and blue and orange and green and brown and black, military jackets and utility pockets, long, multi-layered skirts, esoteric symbols, ravens, multiple belts, gears and mechanisms, ancient materials – leathers, feathers, silks, linens and lace.

Totem animals, scandinavian street style, skinny pants, stompy boots with orange laces, ancient greek epithets, hammers and axes, industrial suspender belts, mismatched socks, vines and overgrown vegetation, steampunk doom metal.

This year I’m going:

on adventures to deserted beaches and abandoned buildings, on great train journeys with my love, into the mosh pit, on salvage trips to second-hand shops and army surplas stores, to dinner and dancing, into my imagination, to create my own dark fairy stories, foraging for berries, sailing on my viking ship, horseriding into Mordor,

This year I’m listening:

to heavy fucking metal.

What’s your Style Inspiration for 2010? I’m not just talking about fashion, I want to know what you’re planning for your life.

Steff

We’re going out tonight, to dinner and the movies with friends. We haven’t decided whether we shall see The Lovely Bones or Avatar. It is a surprise movie!

I have been listening to lots of black metal lately, so I tried to create a black metal-inspired outfit for tonight. I don’t wear makeup so I haven’t done any corpse paint, but I have even brought out my old 1 inch spikes!

Steff’s Black Metal playlist (and yes, I know some of these wouldn’t “technically” be considered Black Metal. Bite me.):

Behemoth – Evengelion
Blut aus Nord –
Emperor – In the Nightshade Eclipse
Bathory – Hammerheart
Bathory – Under the Sign of the Black Mark
Bathory – Blood Fire Death
(in case you couldn’t tell, I’m a bit of a Quorthorn fangirl)
Mayhem – Die Mysteriis dom Sathamas
Ulver – Nattans Madrigal
Darkthrone – A Blaze in the Northern Sky
Darkthrone – Transylvanian Hunger
Enslaved – Eld
Immortal – Pure Holocaust
Carpathian Forset – Black Shining Leather
Burzum – filosofern
Burzum – Hvis Lyset tar Oss
Storm – Nordavind
Summoning – Dol Guldur
Rotting Christ – Thy Mighty Contract
Rotting Christ – A Dead Poem

I am wearing

Bloodstock tee shirt
Black straight-leg pants (Just Jeans)
Black boots, Number One Shoe Warehouse
Studded belt, SVP, from Australia
Spiked and studded cuffs, various $1 shop stores around NZ
Thors Hammer, Wulflund, gift from a friend

What are you up to tonight? Have fun and stay kreig!

Steff

Yeah, yeah. I know that title is shite.

In many ways, creating goals and aims in the new year is a bit arbitrary: you can create a goal at any time, and there are better times to start formulating new plans than during the holiday period when you’re most likely drunk.

But that new year, new start mentality really gets under our skin. I know I really feel like no is the time to look back on what went well from the year gone by and look forward to the next year with a sense of how I want to shape it to my will.

2009 has kicked ass. I hesitate to say this, but I think it was actually the best year of my life, so far. We survived our first year of marriage more in wuv than ever (awwwww), we travelled to 18 countries, attended Wacken Open Air, saw some of our favorite bands perform. I managed to get not one, but two major publishers interested in my work. I started both my websites, and CDH finished building his drumkit. We moved into this amazing house, and we decided together on the kind of future we want.

So this year I have several goals: some big, some small. Some will be fun, some will be a buttload of hard-work.

1. Learn German

Part of our dream involves going back to Germany to live, at least for a few years, probably forever. We’ve absolutely fallen head-over-heels in love with the place. But in order to live there, we need to learn zee Deutsch, and learn it well. There’s a community class starting in Feb, so CDH and I will be signing up.

2. Be in a Modelling Shoot

I must confess a little secret: I’ve always wondered what it would be like to model. People say it’s very boring, but it looks like so much fun. I mean, you get to dress up in awesome clothes you could never wear anywhere else, someone fusses over your hair and makeup and you emerge, stunning, at a fantasy location to have a professional take some kick ass photos of you. Gee, that sounds like fun to me. Luckily, a friend has asked me to be part of an elvish shoot for her makeup business in January, so I shall let you know how that goes.

3. Learn the Tin Whistle good enough to be in a Band

I love this instrument, more than I’ve ever loved playing anything before. And after listening to Svartsot, I see what I want to do – play Tin Whistle in a melodic death metal band. But before I can play the whistle in a melodic death metal band, I must be able to play this whistle. Cue many hours of practise.

4. Travel somewhere I’ve never been

I’d like to see a different area of New Zealand – somewhere I haven’t been before. Even if I hate it, I need to go and experience it.

5. Get a Publishing Contract

I’m so close, but I need to concentrate and write and edit and send away and the magic will happen. I just have to put the work in.

6. Launch Steff Metal products

I have some kreig designs in the works, and a few surprises, but it’s taking more work than I expected to get things ready for sale. But I shall prevail. It is 2010, after all.

7. Learn the fine art of preserving

I’m taking a class in the first half of the year, but I have to continue the practise at home. I want to give my family and friends homemade preserves for Christmas this year.

8. Brew a batch of homemade alcohol.

I just think this sounds like fun. I want to make elderberry cider, but this first requires sourcing some elderberries.

9. Concentrate on preparing financially to leave NZ

This means staying clear of debt, and putting untouchable money away to prepare for whatever it is we decide to do. This also means kicking CDH’s money habits into shape, a nigh-impossible task.

10. Become a more considerate, caring person.

Sometimes I feel like I am concentrating so hard on doing all the things I love, that I’m neglecting those people I love most, the people who make my life so wonderful. So, family and friends, 2010 is the year I intend to pay forward the kindnesses that you’ve awarded me. 2010 is the year I try to become the friend you deserve.

11. Stay Metal

Listen to more music, write more reviews, interview more bands, and generally embrace the subculture I love. Because I’ve chosen this life: heavy metal, or not metal at all (Wimps and Posers, leave the hall).

What of you, dear readers? What say you to the new year and new challenges and goals and crises to come? How did you go on your old-years resolutions? I just finished my last one today, as I’ve planted the start of my garden!

See You in 2010
Steff Metal

I have returned from the Hawke’s Bay, and I am wearing christmas presents!

I am wearing:

“Bogan Baby” tee shirt, made by my sister, featuring the world’s awesomest nephew (mine!) wearing a shirt I brought him from Wacken and looking totally kreig
orange shorts from H&M
Skully tights from Jessocles in Sydney. I loves them, thank you Jessocles!
work boots
lapis lazuli beaded necklace, from my Mom.

I’ve had a wonderful couple of days chillin’ with my family. We had 14 people over for Christmas lunch, and my mom managed to cook the most AMAZING Christmas spread (turkey, ham, THE WORLD’S BEST STUFFING, salad, potatoes, peas, bread, pickles, gingerbread cookies, pavlova, trifle (well, I made this, and it was yum), jelly, fruit and christmas pudding with custard. She did all this with minimal help and while still being involved in Christmas fun , which officially makes her the best mom ever.

I was, as usual, spoiled. My folks got us ACDC tickets and a new towel set. CDH’s folks got us English comedy DVDs (apparently it’s blasphemous I’ve never seen Porridge or The Two Rhonnies or One Foot in the Grave), and tickle me elmo gloves (Why, oh good lord why?) and a lovely dining room table so we don’t have to eat on the floor. CDH brought me a multi-colored drawer unit for my office (it’s seriously awesome and I’m enjoying filling it up with stuff) and a Hammer Horror book, my sis made us both Bogan Baby shirts. Friends gave us trinkets from England (skull pens and pewter tank statues FTW), a book on Greek cooking, an outdoor lantern and my new skully socks.

I hope you’re having a wonderful holiday so far. Mine is filled with writing and more writing. And then I take a break with more writing. But seriously, have awesome fun, whatever you do and wherever you are. Stay Kreig \m/

Horns Up for the Holidays!
Steff