Being a Powertex Tutor

Hi everyone hope you are having a fabulously creative summer!  I have and I'm so inspired I have lots of ideas that I will be working on as we move into autumn.  

I've had a few times this summer when I have looked back at my journey with Powertex and how it really has enhanced my life in so many ways. I have met so many talented artists and crafters in workshops I have led, through magazine articles I have written, at the NEC, Hochanda and best of all at the training and tutor retreats.  As a tutor we are so well supported and encouraged to progress on our own journey,

The highlight of the year so far for me was the annual Tutor Retreat which is held at Powertex HQ. I love every second there and these first two images are from the first day which was led by the superbly talented Rosie Casselden.  This was right out of my comfort zone because I cannot draw to save my life! However Rosie made it so easy breaking it down in to a series of flowing shapes, then textures and colours that I was completely lost in the whole project.

On day 2 we enjoyed a fabulous day with our leader and Powertex UK guru Tracey Evans.  I love abstract art and deep interesting textures so this was right up my alley as they say. These are a close up and a full shot of my finished project. Again I was lost in building the colours and levels and both paintings are on my walls at home.

We were joined at the Retreat by international artist Abyssimo (Maria Grausbaum-Fondler) who many of us follow and admire for her love of colour, texture and sparkle.  She is the most beautiful generous soul and having the opportunity to get to spend time with Maria who I am so happy to call my friend was amazing.  
To top the Retreat off perfectly Maria led a full workshop on day 3 when members of the public were also able to join us.  Maria led a class with paints as vibrant in colour as her personality and her use of multiple layers of subtle colours building to rich depth and dimension was superb.  
We were able to build our own composition and I have been very influenced by space, the moon, planets and stars this summer so mine materialised as a nod to the galaxy.

If you have ever thought about being a Powertex Tutor I would just say go for it, if you put the time and effort in to develop your artistic skills and your knowledge of the products who knows where you could go.  I'm so glad I did!

Keep Creating and share your makes with us over in The Powertex Studio or on Powertex Addicts.

Here's to the rest of 2018!

By for now

Fi xx

Time to Change?

Time for Change?

It’s my sons nursery graduation today, they’re holding a picnic to celebrate and I’m trying not to be too emotional or cliché about how quickly the past four years have flown by. I’ve bought a dress for the ceremony, it’s got dinosaurs on it.

With the big step-up from nursery comes a rather large life-change for everyone in our family; school hours and term-time. Nurseries are open 7am-6pm  5 days a week, all year round and usually only close for Christmas and New Years Day which means I and many other families are then able to continue to go to work more or less without too many restrictions on their standard working pattern (scary nursery fees aside). That drastically changes with schools.

Suddenly we need to find a new work/ life balance. It seems that there are lots of options out there but only if your employer agrees, the reality is that companies are not always willing or able to operate on terms as flexible as you need.

So, what are the alternatives? Instead of trying to force your needs to fit into an employers business, why not take the wheel of the ship yourself and try some form of self-employment? 

I must point out at this point that this is NOT an MLM opportunity, you will not need to recruit your friends and family, just enjoy teaching others to use this fabulous range of products!

If you have an interest in arts and crafts (we’re not looking for the next Picasso, just a genuine enthusiasm), you may wish to consider becoming a Certified Powertex Tutor. Powertex UK are currently offering people the opportunity to train as Tutors on a two-day Business Start-Up and Fabric Sculpting with Powertex course.

You will be able to deliver quality workshops once this is completed and the course will cover the business side of everything to ensure you have a full and thorough knowledge of this medium, including working with the different colours. You will make several projects to take home and you get to keep everything you make. 

You receive lots of tips and advice about how to get started and you get plenty of ideas for ongoing workshops so you are ready to start as soon as you complete the two-day course.

You can run as many or as few workshops as you choose and it entirely depends on your commitments and current needs. There are opportunities to grow your business further if you wish to do so. This is a very exciting opportunity for anyone who wishes to start or extend their own business so if you are finding yourself at a crucial stage in life with some big decisions to make, please do consider Powertex!

Powertex UK Creative Director Tracey Evans will be hosting a FREE webinar on Monday 17^th September at 7.30pm with more information about becoming a Tutor.

Email michele@powertex.co.uk for more information or to request to join the Webinar.

Butterfly dreams of Powertex

Have you noticed an animal theme this month with Abigail's adorable elephant and Donna's beautiful afghan hound? Hi it's Kore here with my August blog. So how about a butterfly? I know, it's an insect really but it's a beautiful creature that needs celebrating! I live in a busy city and don't see too many butterflies but I have lovely memories of Buddleia bushes full of Red Admirals and Peacocks. The wonderful thing about this butterfly is that it can be made with whatever materials you have and what ever size you like for home or garden.

Creating the base

Make wings from wire and foil or cut them from thick card. Masking tape is great for covering foil. I made the body from some rolled up foil and taped this too. Rolled up paper would work too. A quick look on the internet for a template was helpful with the shape. Then the Powertex came out!

Using bright Powertex 

I used Red Powertex because I wanted to experiment. There are no rules here. Use what you have to cover the wings and the body pieces. I cut pieces of cotton fabric, massaged in some red Powertex and wrapped these around the body and wings until they were all covered on both sides. It was fun to create lots of texture in the wings and make ragged edges.When the parts were covered I used pieces of fabric in Powertex to attach the wings to the body. I tucked a couple of wire antennae into the body too.

Decorating the butterfly

This where you can get really play with your favourite materials. Use what you have to add texture and colour. I covered the "back" of the wings with a mix of red Powertex and Rusty Powder and small balls. It's one of my favourite combinations and the red gives the rust a lovely warm glow.

Try this:Spray Bister through stencils or allow it to "puddle" in the texturesSprinkle small balls or sand onto wet PowertexUse Easy Structure to create lines and shapesSprinkle Bister granules onto wet Powertex for little shots of intense colour and textureSplatter acrylic inks and paints

There are so many ways to add colour but I was really happy with using Bister sprays on my butterfly. I chose Red and Yellow and sprayed generously to let the colour run around in the textures. I also used the brown Bister to paint circles onto the back of the wings. I also used some acrylic inks from The Secret Art Loft at Powertex UK. I let Viola ink just run all over it. Let it dry!

Decorate both sides of the wings using your favourite products. The wings are a great place to try something new. This is where it's fun to have no plan! I really enjoyed just playing and if I didn't like something I either wiped it off or painted over it!

Final touches

Adding the last highlights is really fun with Powertex. I dry brushed with orange and yellow ochre pigments in Easy Varnish first. I chose to highlight with Ivory Powertex and Limoncello metallic pigment which worked beautifully to add some sparkle.

Then a timely delivery of Metallic gold ink Powertex UK. I couldn't resist adding some to my butterfly. It's lush and rich and it's going to be amazing for some autumn projects! A little on the wings and antennae for a finishing touch.

While I was waiting for one stage to dry, I took the chance to make a couple of tiny butterflies. I printed a couple of butterfly templates from the internet. I glued them onto card so I could cut out two sturdy little butterflies and then painted them with Powertex. I used less texture on these but still applied some rusty texture and then played with acrylic paints and metallic pigment powders.

The acrylic paints were in Blueberry Pie and Orange Marmalade and the pigments in Berry sour and Tequila sunrise. Gorgeous! The puddles of bister on the back of these is wonderful.

I think I'll keep adding different textures and colour to these butterflies. Just when I think I'm done I have an idea to add something else! She's a big butterfly too. When she's finished, a coat of varnish (to fix the Bister) and she'll be a lovely on an outside wall.

After a few days the Powertex will harden and fix your butterfly. In my pictures she's still new and not hardened so I can move the wings. When you leave your butterfly to set I recommend propping up the wings so they can harden in your preferred position.

So pick out your favourite materials and decorate a butterfly. It's time to let your art out!

If you would like to see more Powertex creations pop along to The Powertex Studio facebook group where you can share your makes too. Powertex Addicts United on Instagram has lots of inspiration from across the world.

You can also follow my Powertex experiments and projects @skysagestudio on Facebook and Instagram or find my personal Powertex blogs over at koresageart.com.

Until next time,
Kore x

Beautiful Nellie

Hello, hello

It is once again that time of the month, for me to show you my latest Design Team project and what a project this one is!
This project, MDF ELEPHANT TEMPLATE had been sitting on my creative table for ages waiting for me to work some magic.
I love being part of the Design team and love all the projects I have done but this one I really, really enjoyed :)
So here is my process on this gorgeous project, I like to call "Beautiful Nellie"

I first started by making a plinth for Nellie to stand on and that is the beauty of Powertex, anything and everything can be used. I used a spare piece of MDF from a previous project and some kebab sticks. I had some garden wire and cut to length and posted them through the holes on Nellie.

 I then used some kitchen foil to give Nellie some shape and definition and make the less 2D and more 3D.

When I was happy with her shape, I then taped her all over using masking tape so my Powertex would have something to adhere to.

I made a little tail out of tin foil and added this to Nellie and started adding lots and lots of layers of pretty lace type material. I thought BLACK POWERTEX  would be the order of the day for Nellie. Have to confess I got a little carried away at this stage as I forgot to take photos of the process, this quite often happens as you get so engrossed into what you are doing, I apologise, my bad!! 

I draped some thin material over Nellie's ears.

I also made up some easy 3D flex and added this to Nellie's legs.

I continued adding layers of material until I was happy with how she was looking.

I had a look in my embellishments and decided she needed a little bit of bling and found some beaded material and added this to her head as a headdress (I knew I was saving it for something special) and I added some plastic gold bling along her back.

I let her dry for a few hours, which gave me time to think about what colour/colours 

I decided on my colours 

GOLDEN OLIVE, Green Parrot, Limoncello Gold and VIOLET VALENTINE  from the Secret Art Loft. 

When I dry brushed the colours on, my word Nellie popped and looked beautiful.

I am very pleased with how she turned out

Calling all Powertex Addicts

Looking for our next super star in the making…

Could you become a Powertex Tutor?

As you are reading this, I am going to assume you already have a passing interest in Powertex but, have you ever considered taking it to the next level?

We are looking for people with an interest in Powertex who would like to earn an income running Powertex workshops. This can be a full or part time role on a self-employed basis; it is fully flexible to work around your current employment or family commitments. We pride ourselves on being approachable and supportive of individuals as small businesses and are looking to grow our network of Certified Tutors across the country.

Powertex is not a franchise and you are not tied-in to any financial commitments. You have the full backing and ongoing support of the Powertex to start-up, grow and market your business.  Initially you will need to attend our Business Start Up and Fabric Sculpting Certification course. The course is run over two consecutive days and consists of learning to use and teach Powertex as a fabric sculpting medium, you will be able to deliver quality workshops once this is completed.

You can run as many or as few workshops as you choose and it entirely depends on your commitments and current needs. There are opportunities to grow your business further if you wish to do so.

This is a very exciting opportunity for anyone who wishes to start or extend their own business.

Our next available dates for the Business Start Up and Fabric Sculpting Certification course are;

·         18^th & 19^th October 2018

·         12^th & 13^th February 2019

In addition, we have a webinar explaining everything you need to know about becoming a Powertex Tutor on 17^th September at 7.30pm. Contact us to register your interest and be given a link to join the webinar.

Alternatively, contact us via telephone on: 01527 328 514 or email michele@powertex.co.uk 

Who Let The Powertex Out?

 Meet Englebert, the naughty Powertex Afghan Hound

I love dogs - so was delighted to open up my Powertex Design Team package this month and find this handsome chap waiting for me.  

Also included was a handy stand so that my finished sculpture can be displayed as a standing feature anywhere in the house.

I love using Powertex Powercotton in my sculptures, so decided to change him into an Afghan Hound, named Englebert (as you do).

After a quick google search I discovered that as well as having all that gorgeous hair, Afghan Hounds are quite different in their build.  They have completely different shaped back legs, and a different shaped nose and stomach as well.  Luckily this not a problem with powertex, I simply molded some good old tin foil over the parts I wanted to change, and then covered with masking tape. Once I had done this I painted the whole thing in Bronze Powertex universal medium.

As you can see, I also used masking tape to adhere my dog to the stand.

I love the effect of the crackles that form in Easy 3D Flex so decided to use this on the nose, mixing it with my bronze Powertex until it formed a clay and then shaping this around my template.   I used some wooden balls as eyes.  I was working in the garden on a hot sunny day, so I left it for the afternoon so that the heat would really start to bring out the textures and crackles in my clay.

I like the weight Powertex stone art can give to sculptures, so I then made up some stone art clay (by mixing powertex and stoneart to form a clay again), to cover the rest of my dog.  If you don't have any stone art clay no worries - the whole body gets covered anyway so you could just as easily cover it using material soaked in powertex.

Once this was dry enough, it was onto the part I had most been looking forward to - using the powercotton to create Englebert's coat.  I am a notoriously messy worker, so my one tip when using powercotton would be to cut it up into manageable segments and lay it out in small batches so that you can pick them up easily.  If I don't do this I end up with a whole bunch of powertexed powercotton from my messy hands before I am ready to use it.

I started off with smaller batches of powercotton by his feet, and then layered up with longer and longer batches.  Finishing off with really long sections for his gorgeous flowing ears.  I used a small strip of thin rope as his collar.

I think Englebert is beautiful, but also rather naughty. I like to imagine that he had jumped into a river to cool down, so is not quite up to Crufts standard of blow dry.  He also loves smelling flowers, so on the base I used an old tumble dry sheet soaked in Powertex (you can also obviously use a strip of material, but I am trying to recycle as much as possible), and some material flowers.

Once he was dry, it was time to pick out all the highlights using Powertex colours and dry brushing.

To dry brush you simply dip a flat brush into a small amount of Powertex Varnish, and then into the powder colour of your choice.  Wipe the brush off on a sheet of paper towel, and then, keeping the brush very flat, gently glide it over your sculpture, building up the colour as you go.

I used bronze colortrix for Engelbert's coat, and a small amount of black shaded in for his nose.  I wanted the collar to stand out so opted for one of the gorgeous new Secret Art Loft powders of Green Parrot.  I also used this colour for the leaves of the flowers.  For the grass I used Golden Olive, and     for the roses Berry Sour, before also giving these a very light covering of the bronze powder to tie the whole thing in.

Here is my finished Engelbert.  I hope you like him, and would love to see what you make with any of the wonderful templates available from Powertex UK

Don't forget you can post your makes at our facebook page Powertex Addicts United.  We love to see what you come up with.  If you're interested you can check out more of my makes on my website www.artandmurals.co.uk and my facebook page www.facebook.com/artmuralsbydonnamcghie 

Thanks for reading and see you next month :)

Products used are as follows:


Powertex Dog MDF Template
Powertex 2 Pin Base
Powertex Bronze Hardener
Powertex 3D Flex
Powertex Stone Art
Bronze Gold Colortrix
Secret Art Loft Pigment Powder Green Parrot
Secret Art Loft Pigment Powder Golden Olive 
Secret Art Loft Pigment Powder Berry Sour
Powertex Easy Varnish

Do You Look Like A Powertexer?

So what exactly does a Powertexer look like? How can I best describe a group of Powertexers?

Can you spot a fellow Powertexer out in the wild? I’m not showing off when I say “I can!”, though I’m not sure this could be listed as a separate skill on my CV……

Does it say more about me or the guests when I tell you that I was able to guess who was a Powertex Garden Party Guest, just by looking at them! Most of the guests attending the Garden Party stayed overnight at a nearby hotel. I went to the hotel to meet everyone there and ensure they made it on to the coach on time. Even though I had never met or seen any of the guests before, I was confident I could spot a ‘Powertexer’ a mile off. And I was correct! I had wanted a to wear a crown or a tiara or at least a golden sash with POWERTEX GARDEN PARTY embossed on it so people would know who I was when approaching them in the hotel grounds but alas, I only had these thoughts on the way to the hotel so it was too late and I would have to rely on intuition.

Well, I say intuition but in reality it is a trained eye. I can spot a Powertexer at 50 paces. Maybe it is a certain glint in their eye, a splodge of Powertex on their shoes, nails that can’t quite be polished to perfection because they’ve been dipped in Powertex for too long. I’m not sure exactly, it could be a combination of all those things. Powertexers come in all shapes and sizes and ages. They blow the traditional crafter stereotype out the window because we sure as hell can’t be squashed into many conformity boxes, I think we are somewhat notorious in the arts and crafts world for being non-conformists! Powertexers are fun, they’re friendly, they give off a certain vibe, they do not ‘fit the mould’ in any conventional sense.

Maybe it’s because with Powertex, there are no limits and this reaches into other areas of your life too. I like to think there’s lots of us out there, giving a nod to fellow Powertexers, enjoying this amazing art and craft skill set whilst sharing and spreading the joy because quite simply, it is so much fun!

So what do you do with your spare Powertex??

Hello there

I hope you are well and have enjoyed this lovely Summer.

So here's the question........

What do you create with the spare Powertex left in your tub?

You know that little bit you have left when you've been slightly too generous with yourself when you've been pouring out....

Here are a few of the things I use it for.

1. Coat a spare piece of fabric and a plaster embellishment and create a brooch.

These can either be coloured or left as the base colour so that you can colour them to fit into your future project.













2. Coat a spare piece of fabric, scrunch it up and let it dry.  You now have somewhere to try out your dry brushing colours before going onto a finished piece.  This is great if you want to try something a little different to your normal colour choices.

3. Take a strip of fabric, coat it with the Powertex and roll it into a flower.  Once dry these can be added into a future project.  Again these can be dry brushed at a later date to fit in with your project.

4. Mix it with Stone Art and create a clay,  double wrap this in clingfilm and store in a sealable bag or box and this will last for several weeks.  Alternatively sculpt it into a freeform shape or use it in the moulds to create embellishments.  Again these can be kept until you need them.

5. Create a Powertex mask.  

Either let the Powertex set in the container or pour it out onto a non stick mat creating a more controlled design.  Leave to set then peel off.  

These can be added into projects to give even more layers and textures.













Here the Powertex was left in a round tub and gave a lovely curved effect to sit the skull into.














6.  Take some of your MDF embellishments, coat them with Powertex and apply Rusty Powder, spray with vinegar mix and leave to dry.  You then have ready rusted embellishments at your disposal















I bet you have other ways of using your Powertex,  why not hop onto the Powertex Studio facebook page and share your ideas with everyone.


Until next time happy Creative Adventures


Annette  x