From Special to Steampunk Extra Special by Abigail Lagden

From Special to Steampunk Extra Special by Abigail Lagden

One of the many things I love about Powertex is how easy it is to take old and unwanted items and turn them into something spectacular. But it doesn't have to be unwanted items, you can also take cherished, sentimental items and preserve them by incorporating them into a piece of art . We all have pieces of clothing or jewellery, even toys or other keepsakes that are safely hidden away in boxes, cupboards and drawers. With Powertex you can find a way to display them.

In this blog I will show you how I transformed an old hat into a fabulous piece of wearable art, incorporating all kinds of special trinkets and fabrics into the design.

The idea grew from a few events that I had planned over June and July this year. At the end of July I will be selling my creations at the Whitby Steampunk Weekend and anyone who has been will know how spectacular some of the outfits and costumes are. So, I wanted to create something a bit special to wear myself, that would also demonstrate how Powertex can be used.

In June, I also participated in a couple of events where I was demonstrating Powertex and allowing visitors to have a go. So, I decided to create a piece of art that visitors could add to throughout the two events. What better than a hat, which once complete, could double up as something I could wear at the Steampunk Weekend!

Original hat

Converted hat

The old hat I started with was a fedora style hat, so first I needed to make this a bit more Victorian and convert it into a top hat. I did this by just using cardboard to make the desired shape. (The lace band and flower on the original hat was removed and is waiting in my stash for another project)

The whole base hat and cardboard was then painted with bronze Powertex and the cardboard secured onto the hat using a strip of fabric coated in Powertex. It was now ready to be transformed. Over the two events, a variety of embellishments and trinkets that I had stashed away were added to the hat, sitting in scrunched up pieces of different textured fabrics all coated with bronze Powertex. 

After the first event, Make in Durham

After the second event - Clervaux Fair

By the end of the second event the hat was approximately two thirds covered, so I didn't have too much left to do myself other than add the unzipped cogs and cover the top and brim. 

Back of hat

For the final colour I wanted it to have a Victorian feel so I opted for burgundy powercolor pigment over the fabric elements and copper, bronze and gold colortricx over the embellishments. I couldn't resist a rainbow in there somewhere though, so the unzipped cogs got that honour!

Front of hat

I can't wait to proudly wear my hat in Whitby at the end of July - watch out on my Curiously Contrary facebook page for photos from the weekend.

Until next time, Abs xx

Time flies by Annette

Hello Everyone

I hope you've kept yourselves safe in the recent bad weather and have used the time to get an extra bit of Powertex play in.

This month I've used the new Powertex UK Pocket Watch Project Pack to create a birthday card with a difference.  I've made it for Granny Smyth at the age of 75 but you could create this for any age and just move the hands to different positions and use different numbers.

I hope you have fun and remember to post your makes on the Powertex Addicts United Facebook page, you know we love to see what you create.

To complete my piece, I used the kit along with texture paper, Rusty Powder , Yellow Bister, Easy Varnish and pigments.  I mixed my bisters with a 50/50 solution of white vinegar and water to make the colours pop.






Start by laying out the pieces to see which ones you want to use.  The photograph is a laser copy cut to size.










Take a piece of textured paper and draw around the inner circle, cut this out and place to one side






Now coat the front of the base of the watch with Ivory Powertex and stick the texture paper to the centre. Attach the front of the watch to the back (you may need to add a little more tex around the edge then coat the front with the Ivory Powertex also.





Now spray with the blue and yellow bister mixes
and dry with a hairdryer.







When dry turn it over onto a clean work surface and coat the back with Ivory Powertex, I then used and old credit card to add texture by lying it flat on the surface and lifting it up (bit like making your snow peaks in royal icing).  Spray with the blue and yellow bisters and dry with a hairdryer.  By raising the base from the table whilst doing this step, it will help to stop any stray colours from seeping onto the front.

When dry use a slightly damp sponge to remove the excess colour from the watch.







I choose to colour my embellishments separately.  Coat them all with a layer of Powertex Ivory.

Randomly add extra Ivory then drop on some Rusty Powder and spray with the bister mixes, leave to dry on one side.





You can keep spraying these with pure white vinegar to get the rust to develop further.




These pictures show the cogs,  I repeated the same process for the other embellishments (except the heart) varying the amount of rust and colour I added.






For the heart, I painted a layer of Easy Varnish over the front of the photograph, by holding the paper taut whilst it dries it doesn't wrinkle,  once dry repeat on the rear.  Now using the heart as a template cut out the photograph and using the Easy Varnish attach it to the heart and coat with several layers of varnish to seal it.

Place a small amount of Ivory Powertex into a pot, sprinkle on the
Rusty Powder then spray with the bister mix.  Now stir








Using a paint brush apply this around the photograph then sprinkle on more Rusty Powder and spray with the bister mixes.  As you can see the bister will wipe away from the photograph as you have previously sealed it with the varnish.  Again spraying with more vinegar as it dries will encourage the rust to form.




Now add all the embellishments to the base using Powertex, make sure you clean up any excess as you go,  I used some of the spare pieces in the kit to support the heart in the centre.

When it was all dry, I used a combination of Bronze Gold, Copper and Silver pigments to add a little sparkle.

I hope you have great fun creating your own Pocket Watch and until next time Happy Creative Adventures

Axx

Hello again

Well Jack and Sarah will have to wait no longer as its now time for them to meet up again..........

This cog clock was created from pre-cut MDF shapes, I laid out a rough plan before starting.

Powertex Structure paste was used to stencil images onto all of the pieces

The pieces were then given a coat of Powertex Ivory to seal the surface of the MDF 

Rusty Powder was then mixed into the Powertex, along with vinegar, and this was applied to the cogs in an uneven layer.  As I wanted a grungy look I applied more rust on top of the wet Powertex and sprayed with vinegar.

Once dry I used Powertex transparent to attach the cogs together - supporting them with scrunched plastic bags until set.

I poured out small pools of red, yellow and terracotta Powertex and used my finger to dry brush varying colours over the rust.

Finally metal cogs were attached to the top of the MDF again using Powertex transparent.

So we know the time but in the next blog you can find out the place.......

Don't forget,  you could spend time with your local tutor and have fun creating your own story.

Until then, happy creative adventuring.......Ax