Decorate cutlery and create Jewellery out of Powertex

POWERTEX is more than just a Fabric Hardener

 

Powertex is a liquid fabric hardener that comes in a great many other products that can be mixed with it to create all manner of wonderful garden ornaments that are actually weatherproof. There are also many lovely colours to choose from, or one could use the Transparent to bring out the natural colours in the fabrics. (Transparent though, does require a coat of varnish to make it weatherproof). Check out the website for a list of qualified Powertex Tutors in your area and some fantastic blogs from other tutors. www.powertex.co.uk

With Powertex virtually ANYTHING IS POSSIBLE.  Here are some examples I have created over the past few months.  Fairy Houses, Statues for the garden and one of my canvases. I love recycling and making things up as I go along.  The magic of creativity is so healing.

 

1. I used the Stone Art powder to create a lovely air drying clay. 2. On my examples I used the Transparent Powertex.  3. I poured a little of the Transparent Powertex into a plastic container then added a little of the Stone Art powder and stirred it in.  I continued to add a little at a time and stirred it in until I had a nice firm clay that did not stick to the sides. 4. Like with dough making I laid it on a tile and continued to knead it. One could also use the Ivory Powertex or and other colour if required.

6. I took a little lump of my ‘Powertex Clay’ and flattened it out in my hands. 7. I laid it over the front of the fork and pressed it down evenly before turning the fork over. It is easy to use far to much clay but it doesn’t matter bits can be taken away or added. As you can see in 8. I added a little to fill the gap. It is important to remember to wrap your clay in cling film. It will last for about a week, sometimes longer.

 

9. There are several ways to create lovely deep impressions in the clay. I am a polymer clay artist of many years and have lots of texture sheets and moulds to hand that I have collected over the time.  10. A knitting needle is one of my favourite tools for creating further folds and indents.  The clay does shrink after drying so it is important to create really nice deep patterns. 11. I covered the whole cutlery set and allowed the clay to dry out for a few hours. 12. For the brown set I coated the utensils with Bronze Powertex and allowed it to dry for a while. Sometimes a use a hair dryer to speed up the process.

13. Powertex Colour Pigments are wonderful with an array of beautiful colours. 14. The powder can be blended with Powertex Easy Varnish which also makes the surface water resistant after drying. 15. To highlight the pattern on the Brown cutlery set I used  the Mocca Pigment. 15. I mixed the powder with the varnish to form a paint then removed most of the colour on a paper towel. 16. I painted gently over the surface to highlight the raised parts of the pattern.

17. I picked all the rainbow colours for the coloured set. 18. As you can see in the photo I mixed the colours up in the same way as for the brown cutlery set and painted them on to the surface. This time though I did not remove the colour but painted it straight on so that it went into all the grooves. 19. I coated the surface with Easy Varnish . 20. & 21. I used Ivory Powertex to dry brush the surface.

I have collected numerous handy tools over the years. I am a Polymer Clay Artist and love texture. Powertex Stone Art Clay also loves texture! A. Are texture sheets I already had along with pendants created using them. B. Are 2 texture sheets available from www.powertex.co.uk. With a pendant created using one of them. C. A pack of semi precious stone chips. Great to add as embellishments. D. Shows paints created using Powertex Transparent and the colour pigments. In this case I used the Green and the Turquoise (my favourite colour.) and mixed them with Transparent Powertex. The shot glasses are ideal for small amounts. Do remember to cover them with cling film in between and the colours will remain fluid for quite some time. I also used a glass nugget, Bronze colour pigment and a simple pendant bale.

 

20. I used a paintbrush to dab green and turquoise Powertex Paint on to the glass nugget. I used a knitting needle to create little spaces between the colours if they had merged together. 21. 22. Whilst the back was still moist I laid the nugget face upwards in the powder. 23. Stone Art Clay, nugget and bale.

  24. Clay laid around the nugget. 25. I attached the bale to the back and added a small blob of clay then turned it all over. 26. The pendant was laid on to a texture pad so that the back also had texture. 27. I pressed another texture sheet over the top to create a pattern all round then left it to dry.

 

28. Once the clay was nice and dry I removed the pendant from the pad and painted the border with Bronze Powertex and again left it to dry. 29. Finally as a finishing touch, I mixed some Copper Colour Pigment with Easy Varnish and dry brushed it over the surface. One can also use gilding wax or any colours of your choice. Experiment!

Here are some examples of my experiments. To prevent the Powertex Stone Art Clay from distorting whilst it dries, I have inserted a small sheet of plastic cut into the shape of the pendant I wish to create. The plastic also has an advantage that it can be painted as with the glass nuggets. Alternatively one could stick coloured Powertex Stone Art Clay to the back. 

30. For this particular pendant I used the corner of a plastic container which was conveniently curved to give the pendant an interesting shape. 31. I have used ultra fine glitter for this project. 32. I flattened a little blue clay then sprinkled the glitter on it before securing it to the back of the plastic. 33. I found that using scissors to trim the edge was an easy way to secure a neat edge.

 

34. I wanted to bulk the back out as well to give the pendant more weight so I pressed it on leaving a little overlapping. 36. The clay is so easy to manipulate so I eased into place. 37. As with the last pendant I attached the pendant bale and turned it over and laid it on a texture sheet.

38. I wished to give this one a sort of lace effect so added a few little sausage shapes then pressed a texture sheet on the top. 39. I used my knitting needle to create grooves and push the clay around a little. 40. Once dried I used the gold Colour Pigment and painted it over the surface. The last pendant was created using a pyramid shaped piece of plastic where I removed the top. The glass eye I had ordered from EBay. After it had dried I painted it with blue Colour Pigment then dry brushed it with copper and gold.

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Nefertiti's Collar

Powertex - Nefertiti's Collar

Hi all,  I thought it was time to share a couple of my projects from Powertex UK's recent Egyptian themed shows on Hochanda.

So today I'm going to share how I made Nefertiti's gemstone collar.  Not real gemstones of course but made with Black Powertex and  3D sand.  I mixed the Powertex and Sand to a thick paste and pushed into a cabochon mould.  These take a few days to dry so make them a few days before you want to make your collar.

I then worked Ivory Powertex into some woven cotton tape and wrapped this very tightly around the collar base.  

Make sure you overlap the edges evenly as they will form part of the texture of the finished piece.

Tip: these collars have a habit of slipping forward so you might want to drill a hole on each end to fix a jump ring, some chain and a nice clasp to for peace of mind.  I didn't but I really wish I had as the weight pulled it forward even more.



Next I added some sand to a little Powertex to make a paste and put a small dollop onto the back of each faux gemstone and then pushed these into the now dry collar.

Don't add too much or it oozes out but the addition of the paste really help grab the weight of the faux stones onto the near vertical collar and made it easier to work with.


Once the stones were in place, I worked some more ivory Powertex into some paper string.  

I love using paper string where I want a twisted rope effect, it's light weight and absorbs the Powertex so well.

Starting on the lower edge of each stone, I tightly wrapped the string around to give the effect of a twisted wire setting.

Cut the end of at the opposite lower edge of each wrap.


I then coiled a little of the string and pressed one end onto the collar at the our edge and threaded under and over each stone finish with another coil on the opposite side.

Next I painted a thick layer of ivory powertex over the whole piece apart from the stones.  

I then sprayed the whole piece with brown bister and dried with the hairdryer, this added another layer of texture and in some places where a bister split was achieved.  

One it was dry I used red ochre, ultramarine blue and dark green Powercolor pigments which I mixed with Easy Varnish and built up colour on the stones.  

I was very careful to make sure the colour didn't go onto the rope.  I then mixed up Rich Gold Colortrix with more Easy Varnish and quite heavily painted the rope setting and less heavily on the remaining areas.  There's a useful Pigment Tray now that has a small quantity of pigments to help build up your pallete.

As a finishing touch I added some flat back crystals from my stash in the same colours as the stones.

Now here's a little tease, these stones have been enhanced even further, so check back late September/early October and see how these stones look even more realistic! 

That's all for now, let us see your makes on Powertex Addicts United.

Keep creating!

Fi xx

I hope those of you who managed to watch enjoyed the Hochanda shows last Monday and Tuesday, we loved the theme; if I say so myself I think our fabulous design team and I did it justice! If you missed it and you wanted to have a peek you can still watch for a week or so but then it will be gone forever......

I loved doing this one!

We were sorry that a lot of you didn't manage to get the items you wanted during the shows because they sold out so quickly but I wanted to let you know that most of the items are now uploaded onto our own website www.powertex.co.uk and we give FREE CARRIAGE on UK orders over £35. We are also able to offer reasonable rates to most countries in Europe.

We're not sure when we will be back on Hochanda but in the meantime you may want to subscribe to our YouTube Channel- we are going to be adding some cool stuff there asap!

Well I better get the last of your Hochanda orders off to the Post Office!

Have fun creating!

Tracey x

Egyptian Cards and a bit of experimentation with Powertex and stamps

Oh I just love the new Rosehart Studio stamps from Anna Howlett. They sold out in a flash on the Hochanda shows too. Here are a couple of my card samples created for the show.
 
 

 
On this one I used the Hiero Heaven stamp. The background was stamped and embossed with clear or gold embossing powders onto the black card. The vintage papers were created by stamping and colouring with Distress Inks (Scattered Straw, Vintage Photo and Peeled Paint).
 

 
On this one I created the background by stamping with black archival ink onto craft card and colouring with pencils (they gave a nice chalky effect).

I created the gold embellishments using a Soft Form Relief Paste. I inked the Hiero Heaven and Scarabella stamps with archival black ink, spread with the paste and left to dry for 48 hours before peeling away. Extra colour was added to my scarab using acrylic paint.

No Powertex in these but I did have a little play:

Experiments:
This soft form paste stays flexible when dry so it can be curved around 3D objects and can also be stitched into. Some of you may know me for my paper crafting and textile art, so this is something I keep in my stash.

I have since had an experiment with using Powertex onto my stamp and leaving that to dry. I did have a concern about using Powertex on my stamps at first. Not that it would harm the rubber but I like to mount my stamps onto foam mount for clean crisp stamping in my textile and paper crafting. I thought that the Powertex might seep into the foam and harden it up ruining the cushion. I did a couple of bench tests to try it out:

• I inked up part of the Heiro Heaven panel with Archival Ink and poured on some Ivory Powertex. Immediately it started reacting strangely with the ink. The outer edges of the puddle started moving and swirling and lost their colour.
• I also poured some Powertex onto a non-inked area (although there was a bit of residual dried ink on there).
• I mixed in a little Stone Art into the Powertex, making a paste, and spread this onto an inked area. This was more controllable than pouring liquid and there was no strange reaction evident with the ink beneath.
• I also poured some Powertex over one of the smaller stamps, deliberately spilling it over the sides and onto my foam mount.

Experiment results:
Similar to my usual texture paste it took 24-48 hours to dry fully.

All the test pieces worked really well and peeled away from the stamp really easily. Residual dried on Powertex was easily removed with warm water and a nail brush. The embellishments are quite stiff but remained flexible enough to curve around if desired, particularly if warmed up in the hands or with a hair dryer.

The ink transferred really well giving a nice dark image into the embellishment crevices, even the one that seemed to have a strange reaction with the ink worked well.

The smaller stamp that I covered in Powertex also cleaned up easily and the Powertex pulled away from the mount foam ok too, although I had to pull it away gently as it hung onto the foam quite tightly.

If you use unmounted stamps then obviously there is no issue in covering them with Powertex. I would say that if like me, you like to foam mount your stamps, then I would recommend making a bit of a paste with Powertex plus Stone Art or 3D Sand and spread this over. It is much more controllable and you can keep it away from the edges and foam mount more easily.

I hope that my experiments help with your own creative play.

NEWSFLASH - Powertex tutor find sarcophagus?

************   NEWSFLASH    *************

           POWERTEX TUTOR FINDS SARCOPHAGUS

It was reported today that a Powertex Tutor has uncovered a rare sarcophagus whilst gardening this weekend.

The Sarcophagus, thought to date from the early reign of Pharaoh Tutankhamun, was said to closely resemble a paper mache pencil box which had been coated in black Powertex.  

The lower half had very deep ridges similar to corrugated cardboard, whilst the top section had a plaster replica of the famous Tut himself nestled in a bed of Easy 3D flex made into a thick clay again with black Powertex and imprinted with a hardened piece of the corrugated cardboard.

The rear of the sarcophagus seems to have some hieroglyphs in gold as if they had been stamped using the Scarabella/Heiro Heaven stamp sets using easy varnish and rich gold pigment.

Upon opening the front, the adventurers were surprised to find an intact mummy.  Closer inspection revealed this was a foil form, covered with masking tape and then wrapped in gauze which had been dipped in ivory Powertex, then sprayed with natural brown bister.

The whole sarcophagus inside and out was covered in a dusting of Rich Gold pigment.

Archaeological specialists have declined to comment on the find at this time.

For those eagle eyed readers out there - yes the hieroglyphs on the pith helmut do spell Powertex!!

Until next time, happy creative adventures

Ax

Lady of the sea

I was very excited about creating this piece. It was a sample for Hochanda and the first time I got to use my stamps and that I had seen them in the red rubber stamp format than just my hand drawn illustrations. I also got the fossil moulds https://www.powertex.co.uk/home/360-fossil-mould.html and fossil stencils and absolutely could not wait to use them. So what better way than to put them together and create a journal cover I thought.

I think this was one of the first times I didn't think of a layout and just got straight in. I made some stone art clay and rolled it flat and then stamped into it with the Aprodites kiss stamp. The red rubber really does give exceptional detail. 

So I was a bit happy go lucky with stencils and structure paste. I do love them for giving extra texture and depth to the pieces I create. Even if I do happen to cover them completely with embellishments in the end. You can see I also added some silk paper with Easy mat coat to the front cover above, you can just about see a tiny piece peeking through in the final piece.

 This was the inside of the front cover. I think it's important to decorate all the space you have to hand, it is also good practice.

The back cover started life with just the fossil stencil on. https://www.powertex.co.uk/stencils/349-fossilized-30-x-30-stencil.html I then added some ivory and sprayed black bister on it when it was still wet. If you do this and then add a hair dryer you get some amazing crackling effects happening.

 I used Ivory Powertex over each side. Then sprayed with black bister. This gives a softer effect to just using the black Powertex. I forgot to photograph that stage as I had my head buried in all sorts of ideas for tv. I then dry brushed turquoise, gold and some pearl for the final colour. Would love to see what you create with my stamps. Please share on the Powertex addicts page on Facebook. We love to see what you have been up to. Toodle pip Anna xXx

https://www.powertex.co.uk/rosehart-studio-stamps/375-rosehart-studio-stamp-aphrodite-s-kiss.html