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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