Franchise or Not?

Franchise or Not?

Starting a business can be a daunting prospect, there are all sorts of associated worries and concerns, not least the financial side of things. There are many reasons a person may consider starting their own business, whether they are an entrepreneur at heart or have been forced by circumstance to look outside regular employment. With our ever-changing economy, more women in particular are looking outside the standard 9-5 job for opportunities to create the perfect work/ life balance.

Choosing to buy-in to a franchise is one option that helps off-set some of the anxieties first time business owners have. Though it isn’t cheap; if you’re looking to buy-in to a well-known children’s based franchise, you will need to spend upwards of £3,000. If the franchise area you wish to purchase is well established, you could well be looking at an initial outlay of an eye-watering £40,000 with some well known brands such as Baby Sensory and Slimming World. If you’re considering fast-food restaurants like McDonald's, you may need more than seven figures just to get started.

Though not every business comes with such a heavy price tag, there are very few genuine opportunities that are not simply MLM in disguise (Avon, Osborne Books, Herbalife anyone?). Not every business has the same ingredients to be successful either, though the main requirement is a local, home-based business you can take advantage of to get started and make money from the off. 

We are a friendly, approachable, family-owned business based in the Midlands UK with opportunities nationwide, including Ireland. We understand the flexibility and unique approach each family needs towards working and running a business when your family is your number 1 priority, and this is why we are so excited to direct these opportunities to mums (and dads!).

Initially you will need to attend the Level One Powertex and Business Start-Up Training Course which is held over two days at our Warwickshire studio. From this you will gain all the skills and knowledge you need to begin running Powertex art and craft workshops straight away. And that’s it!

·        Be your own boss

·        Complete autonomy on work hours/ schedule

·        No start up/ joining fees

·        No ongoing fees

·        Ongoing support

·        Brilliant work/ life balance

·        Own your own company 100%

·        Join a community of other Powertex Tutors

·        Love what you do

There are many ways in which Powertex mirrors the Franchise model but we are not a franchise, therefore you have lots of the benefits that a franchise offers and absolutely none of the draw-backs (such as astronomical fees)!

Once you have gained your certificate at Level One you will become a Certified Powertex Tutor and from there you will join our growing community of fellow artists and tutors, have access to ongoing support and Continued Professional Development opportunities as well as the chance to apply for the leadership teams.

If you would like to know more about this unique opportunity, email us at info@powertex.co.uk to register for our live webinar on Monday 12^th March 2018 at 7.30pm, we look forward to hearing from you.

Textured Clay Pendant using stamps and Powertex (by Anne)

This was one of my first attempts at making jewellery using clay and Powertex. I used an air dry clay from my stash and rolled it out into a sheet of approx. 5-6mm deep. The headdress area of the Katya stamp (from Chocolate Baroque) was used to impress the pattern texture.  The shape was then trimmed out with a craft knife and attachment holes made using a small ball tool.

After drying this clay was very porous with a slight powdery surface, and was quite fragile if rolled too thin. I added a coat of Bronze Powertex to give it a good base colour for gilding, and with the hope of hardening the clay. The porous clay soaked up the Powertex really well and considerably strengthened the clay.  Pebeo Gilding Wax (several different shades of gold) was rubbed over the surface to give an aged metallic finish. I attached a recycled gold plated necklace chain using 0.8mm copper wire.

I have since experimented with a few different air dry clays (water based paper and craft clays) and their suitability for jewellery making. Some are far too brittle when rolled out to make thinner items, others too light (e.g. paper clays) to make pendants that hang nicely. It is worth experimenting with what you have in your stash. If using to make embellishments which will be glued down onto canvases or cards Powertex is ideal for sealing and making them more robust.

If you are making items for outdoors then Powertex Stone Art Clay is the best option. It has been designed to be weatherproof and won’t crack. Stone Art Clay is also brilliant for jewellery making. It is strong, water resistant, and it is a perfect weight; not too heavy but with enough weight for jewellery pieces to hang well.

Fairy house delights by Anna

One of the projects I completed when demonstrating at the Powertex UK stand at the NEC hobbyshow in November was the new Fairy house which has now been put into a project pack for February. Just for you!

  

I had a lot of fun creating this piece I used the black Powertex on the base, one of my go to favourite colours in the Powertex range. On the lower part of the piece I used a mix of sand, balls and Powertex. Then added on the door, toadstools and windows. Added some extra detail with the mdf dropouts and cobwebs. 

On the roof I used the natural paper decoration, by cutting it into little pieces and layering it to give it a tiled 3d effect. I used some of the Powertex UK embellishments in between the natural paper decoration. I also added one of the new Raven mdf shapes. 

I then dry brushed with powercolours burgundy, turquoise and yellow ochre. And used the new interference colours to give a little shimmer effect to the roof. If you're looking for a magical project this month you need to get your hands on this one while stocks last. Toodles Anna xXx

Powertex meets fairy magic by Kore

Hi it's Kore here again! I have to know, do you have fairies living in your home, sprinkling their magic on your craft projects or making mischief in your garden? Are there a few pixies perhaps sharing your biscuits? Yes me too. I like a little magic in my life but I wish they'd help with the washing up sometimes! This project gives the tiny folk a door of their own to come and go.

Basic ingredients

MDF fairy door plaque, window frame, hinge and toadstools
Ivory Powertex
T-shirt fabric, lace strips and hessian strips
Secret Art Loft Translucent Acrylic Inks in Tangerine, Raspberry, Aqua and Violet
Easy Varnish
Powercolor pigments in Burgundy and Turquoise
Colourtricx pigment in Terraviolet

Embellishments and optional ingredients

Red and blue Powertex
Piece of card for the window
Door handle flower
Cocktail stick and card for the sign
Large 3d balls for the stones
Paper flowers

Use Ivory Powertex with fabric to create texture on the door with lace, a door step with a roll of fabric and a door frame with pleated hessian.

Use coloured Powertex to paint hinge, stones, window frame, toadstool, door handle and sign. You can use Ivory Powertex and paint with inks or pigments if you prefer.

 Paint the door with the acrylic inks, letting them blend into each other.

Mix Powercolour and Colourtricx pigments with Easy Varnish to add more colour and highlights. My favourites are Burgundy to make a shadow in the door frame and Turquoise to colour the window and the flowers. I used the Terraviolet for some shimmery fairy magic on the hinge, toadstool, sign, stones and doorstep. I can glue all the pieces into place with drops of Powertex.

The acrylic inks really pop on the ivory Powertex, I love the way they run into each other too. if you swap the acrylic inks for Powercolour pigments and Easy Varnish, your fairy door will be weatherproof to go outside. Remember if you want your Powertex project to be weatherproof you'll want to leave it to cure for 3 weeks first.

You can share your projects on the Powertex Addicts page on Facebook and click Follow and See first to catch the brilliant projects from other Powertex Addicts.

Did you know we also hold a monthly Powertex challenge on Instagram? Follow @powertexaddictsunited for the monthly theme or #12monthsofpowertex. It's open to everyone and there's a giveaway up for grabs too.

I'm always experimenting with Powertex so if you'd like to see more of my makes you can follow me on Facebook or Instagram.

Until next time, give yourself a little time to let your art out!

Kore x

Winter Fairy House

Today I'm going to show you a step by step of how I made my Fairy house, using the Fairy house kit from Powertex as we all love a bit of magic and fantasy.

I hope you find it easy to follow and have fun, making your very own.

This is the kit that I used.

First I set about placing, so I had an idea of what I was going to achieve.

I painted the fairy house in black Powertex. 

I then chose some material from my stash and dipped in the BlackPowertex and laid over my roof and then dried it.

I then decided to add some texture to the base of the Fairy house,

using the 3D Sand balls.

I then decided to use the Powertex ,Paperdecoration for my main texture. This is a really lovely texture as once saturated with the Powertex it stretches and makes a really nice texture. 

I next set about making some texture for my Fairy door and I used the same method as above with the 3D sand and Black Powertex, only I added more to make a kind of paste. I then used a palette knife to smooth it on the door and ran a crochet hook in lines to give it a wood effect, let it dry.

I also added some of the lace from the kit, to under the roof, to add extra texture.

In the next three photos, whilst the door was drying I started to decorate three of the toadstools from the kit. Again I used  3D Sand for the texture and this time, some red Powertex.

I did two layers with the red Powertex and 3D sand to add some depth and I painted the stalks with Ivory Powertex.

I then used some Mocha pigment and dragged it through the wet Ivory Powertex, to create lines, making my Toadstools look more lifelike.

I then wanted to incorporate the stencil onto my Fairy house but the Paperdecoration was too textured if you like, so I had to find a way to get the stencil to work. I came up with the idea of laying down some masking tape, to make a smoother surface, to add the stencil. To create the texture to add to the stencil, yep, you guessed it I used the 3D Sand and Black Powertex to form a paste and palette over the stencil. I then dried it with my trusty hairdryer, as I did not want to smudge the text.

I then added my windows and chosen embellishments and painted with black Powertex and dried.

I already had a colour theme and chose these Pigment colours and began to dry brush onto my fairy house. The beauty of this technique is if you don't like it, you can change your mind and re-do it!

And here is the end result.

These are the bits I had left, along with some lace, which I know I will definitely use in another Powertex project.

I really enjoyed making this kit and I hope to see all the Fairy houses you create.

Feel free to share them on the Powertex Addicts page on Facebook.

Laters Powertexers

Jinny

February Ramblings from Fi Potter

Hi Fi here, can you believe it's February already? I've been busy doing lots of arty stuff with Powertex of course but also mixed media art journaling.

I was asked by my friend Debbie Bulford if I would like to decorate some of her rather fab jewellery stands. Well I didn't need asking twice. They are such a neat design both for displaying your jewellery at home and even more because they pack flat making them super easy to carry to craft fairs.

I did two sets, the first I used neutral earthy tones of Powertex Bronze, Grey and Ivory. I used sand and Stone Art to add texture and then highlighted the edges with Bronze Gold and Silver Colortrix and Powerwax. Once the wax was dry I buffed them up to give a satin finish.

The second set I used Powertex Ivory and Bister's in Blue, Yellow and Red. I used the hairdryer to achieve some subtle cracking and left to dry. I then washed them back quite hard. I still have a little more work to do on this set to highlight the edges and also in the base of both sets.  More photos will be added to my Facebook and Instagram pages soon. Can't wait to display my own Powertex Jewellery on these.

I'm in my second year of doing Tamara Laporte of Willowing Arts Life Book.  I love the way Tam puts these online workshops together. Week one we created a Garden Fairy and this gorgeous girl is of my own hand,  I love her so much and can't quite believe that I did it.  Now watch this space because I am incorporating her in a new Powertex project which I shall blog in the coming weeks...join me as I create her fairy story "Once upon a time..."

That's all for now

Have a fab week and keep crafting ...

Fi xxx

Who Lives in a Powertex House Like This?

How to make your own Fairy House using the Powertex MDF Fairy House Kit 

 

If you go down to the woods today

You could spy some fairies who've come out to play

They live in this house that is hidden by trees

So if you should see them step quietly please

They're ever so naughty, but also quite shy

So watch for a moment, and then walk on by

 

The first step in creating my Fairy House was to set out a very basic design from which to work from.

I made the decision right from the start, that the fairies who live here are rather mischievious, the kind of fairies who would rather be out having fun, than at home keeping things neat and tidy.

So I deliberately mixed things up a bit.  

I put my door at a slightly wonky angle.  And made sure that my lace curtains looked a bit tattered and grubby. 

The base colour of the house is done in black powertex.  I knew that I was going to be putting the curtains underneath the circular windows, so I painted those first and set them aside to dry.

I chose to add the words 'I dream' from the Vincent Van Gogh stencil quotes available from the Powertex Uk website.  I like to  think that Mr Van Gogh would approve of  slightly messy fairies borrowing a few of his dreams.

I mixed up some Powertex Easy Structure together with a small amount of 3D Sand and scraped over my chosen words with a pallet knife.  (Top Tip - clean this off immediately afterwards or you will end up with a messy stencil like my one!)

I  added lots of gorgeous mixed media charms and flowers from one of the packs available from Powertex UK.  Alongside as these I also added a few of my own spider embellishments from my magpie's treasure trove of costume jewellery picked up from various charity shops on my travels. 

 These are nice spiders though, and on very good terms with the resident fairies.

I wanted the roof to look kind of thatched and ramshackle so initially I tore off a flower from a Powertex UK rice paper, and adhered this on using powertex varnish.  I then used some natural paperdec torn into strands and soaked in transparent powertex to give the appearance of thatching.

To give a magical shimmer to the whole thing, the colours I used were the interference powder colours mixed with the varnish.  These look almost pale white when they are in their tubs, but when mixed with the varnish turn into the most luminous pearly colours.  Beautiful.

The lace curtains, once messed up a bit, were also soaked in transparent powertex before putting them in their place, with the windows placed on top.  I then used a small brush to add some yellow and orange powercolor to give the effect of a cozy glow inside the house.

The final touches were some gem stones on the mushrooms, and some dried moss I had soaked in transparent powertex to give a real deep in the woods effect.

If you look very carefully, you might just spy a few fairies on the footage below

Why not have a go yourself?  

You can see more of my work on www.facebook.com/artmuralsbydonnamcghie or my website www.artandmurals.co.uk

Stolen days and Powertex acrylic inks

Hello Everyone

The other day I bounced out of bed ready for a morning of clearing leaves off the deck before it got so slippy that I ended up doing my Dancing (!) on Ice impression( other shows are available)!!

I came downstairs to this

Mmmm well that put paid to that idea so I found myself with rare thing......time.....that unexpected time that you get when your plans can’t be fulfilled, that time that feels like its been stolen as you shouldn’t really have it,  that magical time.......what would I do with it.

For a while I have wanted to play more with the range of acrylic inks brought to Powertex UK by the Secret Art Loft.  Now was the time...

I decided to narrow down my choices and stayed in the cool side of the shades and only allowed myself to use inks to bring in the colour.

I opted for Palm, Aqua, Viola and Deep Sea from the translucent range and metallic Viola.

The inks are so beautifully vibrant that the photos really don’t do them justice.

For my base I chose items from the Powertex UK MDF fairy door range






The inks work beautifully with all of the Powertex product range.  As these are very liquid I used a dropper to add small amounts to my base products allowing me to have more control over the colour and consistency.

I based the door with a coating of Powertex Ivory then added Stone Art clay, made with Powertex Ivory.  I used a rubber stamp to imprint an impression into the clay and whilst it was still wet, I used a damp paintbrush to blend the inks onto the surface,  I let this dry and then reapplied more inks to intensify the colours.

For the mushrooms I applied Powertex Transparent onto the MDF then dropped the inks from the dropper onto the wet powertex, as these were drying I added more layers of ink to get the intense glossy effect.


















With the door and window I applied a layer of Powertex Ivory then randomly scattered a selection of the 3D small and medium balls.  I decanted some of the inks into bottles and sprayed them on.

Finally for the lock I used Powertex Transparent as the base before applying the balls and ink.












I finished off my project by dry brushing with the Viola Metallic ink to give a slight sparkle.  Unfortunately the camera hasn't picked that up too well.

Now my fairy door is complete I can open it up and escape through into a lovely sunny Spring day.....oh well I can but dream.

What wonderful places will your door lead to?   Don't forget to post your makes on our Facebook page - Powertex Addicts United.  And don't forget to try the inks with all of the other Powertex Products for even more exciting results.

Until next time.......

Happy Creative Adventuring.

Axx