My Secret Friend - Powertex Reference Journal

Hello again

Hands up if you get a bit jittery........

....When it comes to dry brushing your project
....When you want to try a new colour scheme
....Using a new fabric/embellishment etc
....Your trying something new for the first time

Lets admit it, we all like our comfort zones

Well, I wanted to share with you my secret friend - a Powertex Reference Journal using the new Powertex MDF Journal Covers where I can experiment to my hearts content.

This is the place to play, to create, to experiment and be bold, this is your journal and you don't need to share it with anyone unless you want to and as the quote on the cover of my journal says "the object isn't to make art'

I started with the MDF covers, the perfect base for fabric sculpting, Structure Paste, Stone Art, Stencilling and 3D Flex play. I used different bisters to see what would happen if ......... then dry brushed over parts of it.  Ive left some for another day when I may want to try different pigment blends.  The inside covers give you even more play areas and you could always add a second set of covers inside the journal.

For the pages I used 100% cotton fabric to create pages in each base Powertex colour.  As you finish working with a colour why not use any remaining product to create these.  They don't all have to be completed at once and the idea is to build up your journal as you have more tex adventures. These are just the base colours but imagine what other shades you could get by mixing these colours!!

I leave these to dry flat on the side, then use the cover of the journal as a template to mark where to cut.  Normal scissors will cut through the hardened fabric and a Sharpie pen can be used to write on the fabric to make notes of colours/ fabrics etc that you have used.

The holes in the binding side have been made using a crop'o'dile or standard hole punch,  If you lay the mdf cover over the page and mark through the holes with a sharpie pen you can see exactly where the holes need to go,

TIP - if using a hole punch, turn it upside down and remove the plastic tray from the bottom, slide your tex page into the punch then line up the dots you made with the hole punch holes and punch away.

I've bound it with book binding rings to make it easier to slip pages in and out and also to allow it to lay completely flat whilst I'm working in it.

So I now have the perfect place to test dry brushing colour combinations, adhere fabrics that I want to try, play with bisters, rust, structure paste, stone art, 3D flex and every other product in the range and I can add notes so that in the future I'll know just what I've used.

And when Iv'e used up these pages I can just create more and keep adding them in to my own personal reference guide.

Hope you have fun creating your journal, the map to your very own creative adventures.

Bye for now
Annette


www.annettesmyth.co.uk
www.creativeadventurer.co.uk