Introducing Birdy Heywood
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.
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.
This began as a sturdy cardboard box. It was just waiting to be utilised.
I used Ivory Powertex for this as a base and soaked various bits of natural fabric in it. I also created little flowers and leaves out of Polymer Clay. (I used cake decorating moulds for this).
Lace has lovely texture so this got added to the surface of the box too.
The whole creation was sprayed with Brown and Green Bister.
(Bister along with the Powertex can be ordered from www.powertex.co.uk)
Once it had all dried out nicely in the sun, I removed the surface colour with a damp sponge. This really gives the whole creation great depth.
Finally I used Ivory Powertex to highlight it even further. For this I used the dry brushing technique. You will need a paintbrush and a sheet of kitchen roll. Load the brush with the Powertex then remove most of it on the kitchen roll. With light strokes brush over the surface for a beautiful highlight.
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