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