Nature's Calling - by Laura Allen

“She lost herself in the trees,
Among the ever changing leaves,
She wept beneath the wild sky
as stars told stories of ancient times.
The flowers grew towards her light,
The river called her name by night,
She could not live an ordinary life
with the mysteries of the universe
hidden in her eyes.”

~Christy Ann Martine

Such a beautiful poem, well done to the writer if she ever reads this blog. The imagery is so inspiring that I decided to use this for an Art challenge that I decided to run.

This Art challenge is between the Powertex UK tutors and distributors. Not heard of Powertex? No problem! Its an environmentally friendly, non toxic universal medium and fabric hardener used for sculptures, painting and much much more! (it almost never ends!)  Powertex UK have created a MASSIVE and ever expanding team of tutors and distributors all around the country! We are like one huge family and we even have our own facebook group to discuss Powertex between us… amongst other things!

I thought it would be a lovely idea to set up a monthly challenge with NO PRIZES and NO COMPETITION … for inspiration and exploration purposes only! and by god! the response has been amazing! Well done to all the tutors getting involved! I look forward to many many more amazing artworks throughout 2017!

Now… for some photos…

Aren’t they just absolutely fab!

Now these lovely people can teach YOU (..yes i’m talking about the person reading this blog) how to create artwork very much like this.

‘i’m not artsy at all’
‘I haven’t a creative bone in my body’
‘Ohhhh i couldnt do that! looks so difficult!’

Heard them all! In fact, I had a lady take the leap of faith and come to create her very own Fairy sculpture. She actually had the MOST SPECTACULAR idea and knew exactly what she wanted to do and even impressed herself! She walked away from the class feeling so proud of her work that she quickly booked on to a Fairy House workshop to compliment her garden fairy! (we do it all!)

If you want to learn more about Powertex please feel free to head over to http://www.Powertex.co.uk

You can see fabulous artwork, a lovely blog and even find contact details for tutors in your area! Perfect!

Now… Thats January’s challenge over and done with… I wonder what Fabruary’s challenge will bring!

..Until then! Don’t do anything I wouldn’t….which isnt alot. ;P

Powertex Jewellery Hochanda Followup

Powertex Jewellery Hochanda Follow Up

Hope you have got your Powertex out and been creating.  If anyone was inspired by the jewellery designs on our last shows on Hochanda, then this follow up is for you.

I have completed the pendant I demo'ed and thought I would show you the finishing stages.

First I checked over the back and sides of the bezel. Even 10 days after the show I was able to clean this up. I gently rubbed with a baby wipe until the dried Powertex was soft then gently scraped with an old bank card then wiped clean.  

I checked the piece all over to see if there were any sharp edges, this is essential so that it is comfortable to wear.  I gently rubbed sharp areas with an emery board.

Next I added a layer of Powertex red ochre pigment blended with some Powertex Easy Varnish colouring most of the peiece.

Then I added a tiny bit of Powertex white pigment to the red ochre and dry brushed to add highlights.  I then cleaned my brush before adding even fewer highlights with plain white pigment. 

Finally I added one of the cords.

And that's it finished and ready to wear!  

Share your Powertex Jewellery with us on Powertex Addicts or on my Facebook page

See you next time....

Fi 

She Carried His Love in her Heart -

Hello Creative Adventurers and welcome to my first post as a Powertex Design Team member.  

My theme for this project is Valentines Day and it all started with a pair of handles......(make sure you read to the bottom to find out why its called 'She Carried his Love in her Heart".......

I wanted to create a bag that could be used so I set to on a papier mache heart, cutting it in two, very carefully as a sharp carving knife was involved!

I then used ivory Powertex and natural bister to get a crackled texture on the outside and applied two coats of mat varnish to protect it.

This inside was treated to a golden finish with Rich Gold colortrix.  Paper leaves and the word 'Love' were coated in ivory Powertex, dry brushed with rich gold pigment and attached to the left hand side whilst images from the Powertex silk paper postcards sheet were added to the one opposite side.

 

The handles were sewn onto the heart using thin jewellery wire, a pokey tool was used to make the holes,  brads were used to attach leather straps to form both the closure and the hinge.

Paper flowers and leaves were then coated in ivory Powertex and dry brushed with rich gold pigment before being attached to the side and top of the heart.

A strip of lace dipped in transparent Powertex added a neat finish to the two edges and a final bundle of letters made the project complete

So why was is she carrying his letters in her heart?  Well I am a very left brained (logical) thinker and that can sometimes get in the way when I am trying to be creative and think outside of the box so when I'm creating,  I give my left brain a task to keep it occupied.  I invite it to create a back story to the piece being created.  So logical left brain is happy whilst rebel right brain can play.

The story so far..........

Jack, an international roving reporter, met Sarah, a book editor, at a Christmas party.  They got on really well and talked about their work and lives.  They planned to meet again the following day, but Jack got sent on assignment before they could meet.  He decided to woo Sarah in the old fashioned way,  with handwritten letters from the countries he was in.  

Want to know what he said?    Look out for a future blog post............

Until then happy creative adventures

Ax

Follow Annette's blog here Annette's blog

Mixed Media Steampunk 'Key to my Heart' Journal Project

 This little Steampunk inspired heart journal definitely has the key to my heart. I just loves it!

So I absolutely love the idea of steampunk.

What is steampunk?

'a genre of science fiction that has a historical setting and typically features steam-powered machinery rather than advanced technology.'

What better combination than Powertex and steampunk to create the inspiration for this pretty little heart journal! All made from fabulous bases and embellishments available soon from Powertex UK.

Use your heart shape as a template to cut out your paper which will make up the pages for your journal. Place the heart blank over your cut out paper, using the holes in the top as a guide pierce holes through the paper with a sharp pointed tool. Ooooo, don't they look fabulously pretty?

Use the heart blank as a guide to cut around the silk paper and stick down with the Easy coat glossy. 

Tip time: Use a water spray bottle to help smooth out any wrinkles, a few sprays should do it. If you end up with a few wrinkles, don't worry they add beautiful texture to the piece.

The Easy coat glossy is the perfect consistency allowing for very little wrinkle anyway and gives a lovely smooth, non-tacky, glossy seal, unlike any other I've seen. Making it a brilliant Easy adhesive and sealant for the job! 

Tip time: Once dry run an emery board around the outside of the heart to clean up any paper overhanging the edges. It works wonderfully well and gives a really clean edge finish. 

Use your finger and wipe some black Powertex around the edges of the heart to give a distressed look. Allow this to dry, repeat to build up the layers and blend in. Then dry brush a little rich gold colotricx, or a lot, you can be as light or as heavy handed as you please. If you like the plain finish, feel free to leave them just as they are. 

Tip time: Always play with your embellishments beforehand to get an idea and feel for your layout. This design has been created just for you but this is a handy hint for future projects.

Now cut the scrim around the heart shape and cut your lace to fit.

Top tip: Leave some over hang on your lace. Once covered in black Powertex, stick down and dry, then trim the ends. Why is that? Well, you get a neater edge and if there is a small amount of shrinkage the lace will still touch right to the edges of the heart. Leaving them nice and neat. Or if you like a ragged edge, no problems, leave them as they are.

Coat all your embellishments by brushing the black Powertex over each piece and lay in place. With the metal embellishments paint them over, lay down and leave to dry. If they are not fully coated, just paint over them once dry and repeat process until fully coated.

Patience here is the key! See what I did there?

Lastly my favourite part, time to add the colour. Start by dry brushing on red powercolor, then add some white powercolor for highlights and finally a touch of rich gold colortricx. 

Remember this is only a guide with the techniques. There is no right or wrong, if you wish to change some of the colours or placement of embellishments, then use this project as a template to be inspired. It's all about having a play and most of all having fun with Powertex the medium we all love! 💖

Don't forget you can follow Anna's blog here ANNA'S BLOG

John Glossop - Powertex Canvas "Magmata"

Powertex Abstract Canvas

Its always nice to work with a versatile product and I think this canvas illustrates this point.

this is one of my accreditation pieces I have called it "Magmata" 

The canvas is done using Powertex 3D flex, Ivory, Red and Black Powertex fabric hardener, as well as 3d sand and 3d balls of all sizes .

The process was pretty organic and although rather dark it does give off a lot of heat (lol) even if its only in my head . It reminds me of molten magma and moving tectonic plates.

This is the canvas in it's entirety

You can keep up with John's blog as it develops here JOHN'S BLOG

Birdy's first ever blog

Hi everyone, first of all a little bit about my background, interests and skills. My name is Birdy Heywood, and I am a 'Recycled Teenager' nearing my 70th year. Many of my generation can relate to the phrase, MAKE DO AND MEND. Old clothes were unpicked and made into clothes for the children. Even the food from yesterday was recycled into an invented dish. I suppose we just had to learn to be creative but it was a fun challenge. In my early twenties I created handbags and clothing out of scraps of leather in order to sell them at markets and to friends. Then followed premature baby clothes made from old T Shirts. This evolved into sweatshirts with applique. After many years Polymer Clay entered my life. "Wow," I thought and realised that I could be really creative. I taught myself how to model, figurines, dragons, fairies and jewellery then went on to teach and demonstrate in schools and at exhibitions all over the country. Polymer Clay is baked (hardened) in an ordinary oven so I could only create smallish things. Fabric Hardener came into my life and opened a whole new world for me. I found that I could create the bodies out of wire, the heads and hands out of polymer clay then clothe them with natural fabrics. The great thing about the Fabric Hardener I use which is called Powertex is THAT IT IS WEATHERPROOF and can be used for garden ornaments. As I mentioned I love to recycle and with POWERTEX I can do just that. Old canvases can be treated with Powertex to create a whole new work of art. Ok let me list a few things here to wet your appetite: Cardboard boxes can be transformed into plant pot holder, bottles into candlesticks, with a few scraps of material and some wire, one can create a beautiful sculpture, old mirrors can be given a magical face lift, picture frames too and the list goes on.....! I am now honoured to have been chosen as a member of The Powertex design Team.  

For more info on this fantastic material please visit their website www.powertex.co.uk

Here as an example of a plant pot holder that was once a plain old cardboard box. At a later date I will post examples with step by steps. 

Just have to get my head around creating this first ever blog.... 

Follow Birdy's blog here

BIRDY'S BLOG