Dream, Wish, Create a Beautiful World (by Anne)

This lovely image of a young girl (Victorian Photographs Rice Paper) really called to me and inspired me to make this piece. To me she portrayed a young girl that had experienced in her life far more than any child should.  Alone she would dream and wish for a better world. Her creativity would enable her to escape from the trauma and open the door to a world full of beauty.

I know that many can testify that using imagination and creativity really does take them to a happy place and can increase wellbeing. Sorry, maybe a bit heavy? I hope that you like the ‘beautiful world’ that I have created.

I first collected together lots of elements from my stash; a small wooden pallet (15cm square), a thick greyboard panel with frame (13.5cm X 5cm, 6cm X 2cm centre) plus smaller panel, silicone moulds to create flowers and fern, MDF Heart Keyplate, Penny Washer and Heart Flower (Powertex), scraps cotton fabric and lace.

I created the flowers and ferns using silicone moulds and Stone Art Clay. Stone Art was mixed approx. 50:50 with Ivory Powertex plus a little Transparent Powertex. Ivory Poweretex was also used to coat the inner greyboard pieces.

The wooden pallet and remaining greyboard and MDF pieces were coated with a leftovers mix of Powertex (mainly Lead and Ivory). I keep any leftover Powertex in recycled little takeaway sauce pots (plastic with fully airtight lids). My mix gave a lovely warm grey colour.

I spread Easy Structure Paste across the centre of the pallet and then spritzed with Green Bister.

The rice paper images were applied to the Ivory Powertex coated panels using Easy Coat Mat Medium. Note: the sentiment is actually snipped from the ‘Creative Paper’ branding down the side of the paper. I also used some small leftover snips from a floral paper.

Cotton fabric was treated with Ivory Powertex and draped diagonally across the middle. More texture was added using 3D Sand & Balls.

The flowers, ferns, Heart Flower and Penny Washer were coloured with Acrylic Inks; Palm Leaf, Viola, Viola Metallic and Golden Metallic. A little gold colour was also applied to the edges of the keyplate and image panels, plus drizzled onto the texture paste. The fabric was spritzed with a little Green Bister.

A strip of thin fabric braid was treated with Powertex, coiled tightly into a spiral, and added to the MDF flower centre (coloured with gold ink when dry). A sheet of Angelina fibre was created by ironing heat fusible sparkly fibres between sheets of baking parchment. I collected together a few snips of lace plus some Powercotton.

Next I put it all together. I hung a small metal ‘wish’ charm from the base.

I used Easy Structure Paste through the Duo Arty Quotes Mini  Stencil to add the ‘Dream’ sentiment.

More Acrylic Ink colour was dry brushed over textured areas.

I love the new Acrylic Inks. The fluid formula enables you to drizzle areas with intense colour too.

I was really pleased with my ‘Dream, Create, Wish’ mini artwork. I think that I might just have to keep this one for me.

Off to get busy as I have so many ideas. I will share more soon. Hugs all xxx.

Keepsake Kubes - a unique way to remember.....

Hello there

Our project theme this month is all about keepsakes, mementoes and lovely memories, so in keeping with that I would like to share with you my Keepsake Kube(s) .......there is an extra ‘s’ as I am sure you’ll want to make more than one!!

My Kube has all the memories of a little girl’s first year, I thought it would be lovely to continue building more blocks adding more memories as she grows so that by the time she has her own family she will have a full set of building blocks.

So here we go.........

For this project you will need

A cube shape - I used 6 empty wooden mini trays to make mine, as I love to recycle,  however you could use a cardboard box, mdf or even plastic.
Masking tape
Powertex - Transparent
Powertex Easy Coat Mat Varnish
Old clothes - natural fibres work best
Pieces of ribbons, buttons etc
Piece of cardboard
Typewriter or computer/printer

I stacked the trays on top of one another, making sure that the top and bottom were solid sides, then I secured them all together with masking tape and coated them with Powertex.










Don't forget to give your Powertex a good shake before using and only pour out a little at a time as it is air drying.

If you are using cardboard or plastic,  cover with the masking tape and coat with Powertex ( for cardboard - coat one side at a time, letting it dry in between to prevent the cardboard from sagging).  You can always speed your drying time up by using a hairdryer.

If you are using MDF then apply a layer of transparent directly to the base to help seal it.

I then took a selection of baby clothes and other memorabilia  - and cut out interesting bits eg embroidered motifs, metal fastenings, pieces of the base fabric, lace edgings, buttons, ribbons etc

I laid these out on the cube to see which pieces looked best where and once I was happy I coated each piece with transparent Powertex and then placed it on the cube giving it a firm push to make sure it was properly adhered.  I layered the motifs on top of the base fabrics after they had been coated in the Powertex. It is best to work on one side at a time allowing it to dry thoroughly, this way nothing will fall off as you are turning the cube over.

💡Why not use pinking shears to give your pieces a funky edge and prevent fraying.

When working with the transparent, make sure you take your time to cover all of the fabric as it can be difficult to see where you have been and remember although the Powertex will look milky when you pour it out, once dry it will be transparent.


To attach the plastic buttons I used a dab of Easy Coat Matt varnish.

I worked the 3D bears head last as this would take more time to dry.  I then left the cube for a couple of days to allow the bear to completely firm up.

I created the tags by using a good old fashioned typewriter and cardboard, you can also create the tags on the computer and print them off or hand write them with a waterproof pen.

When the fabric cube is completely dry, attach the tags again by using the Easy Matt Varnish.  I applied a coat of varnish over the top of the tags as well to make sure they were secure.

Now have a good look at the cube, does it need anything extra adding?  - don’t forget with Powertex you can continue to add onto already hardened items.

💡So now you've created your first cube, what will be on your next one?  How about one just for the school years, or their budding football career, a unique 21st birthday or even a wedding day keepsake with confetti etc......

I hope you have enjoyed this project and don't forget to share your makes with us over on our facebook page - The Powertex Studio. or why not continue your Powertex adventures by joining your local tutor on a workshop.

Until next time

Happy Creative Adventures

Annette

Steampunk Jewellery Plier Stands (by Anne)

I have been meaning to decorate my jewellery plier stands for ages and finally got them finished.

I had a bit of a problem with these in that they started off as a plain varnished wood surface. I initially coated them with white Gesso with a view to painting them with acrylics. However, the Gesso did not bind well to the varnish layer – eek! All ideas were halted. These need to be fairly robust and a tonne of flaky chips after a short use was not what I wanted!

I then discovered Powertex and yay, I would be able to rescue and decorate my plier stands after all. Coating the entire surface with rice papers and torn kitchen towels would create a tough protective skin over the surface and prevent the feared chipping off of the base layers.

HOW IT WAS DONE

I first collected together lots of embellishments; die cut cogs and pipework (Sizzix dies), MDF Keyplate (Powertex), metal clock hand and chains, old light bulbs and screws.

I tore out images from Creative Rice Paper (Powertex). This particular sheet seems to be out of stock but there is a similar Victorian Steampunk Paper available. I also separated layers of kitchen paper and tore them into pieces to coat the surface. This would add texture and a protective layer.

STAGE ONE

First I applied the torn decorative papers using Easy Coat Mat Medium. Ivory Powertex was then painted on to blend in the image edges.

STAGE TWO

Next layers of kitchen paper were bonded all over the surface. Some were glued down with Ivory and some with Terracotta Powertex. Die cut card embellishments were also coated with Powertex and glued down.

Texture was added by applying Easy Structure Paste through a texture stencil.

I also had a try at the rust technique. I mixed some Rusty Powder into Ivory Powertex along with a few drops of white wine vinegar. This was painted and dribbled over the surface (extra powder sprinkled on top) and spritzed with water and vinegar before leaving overnight to develop. I spritzed at intervals, several times. I avoided the areas that will be in contact with my pliers. 

STAGE THREE

Next I brushed over and added colour using Acrylic Inks in Tangerine, Egg Yolk, Aqua and Metallic Gold.  

STAGE FOUR

I also applied a little gold Pebeo Gilding Wax on some areas. When fully dry and cured (I left them for 3 weeks) I coated the surface with Easy Varnish to fully seal and protect.

I have included lots of images of how all the surfaces were built up.  

Texture and die cut cogs have been added. 

Rust and colour added. 

Side finished with stronger thick greyboard embellishments. Any large embellishments protruding from edges need to be strong (thinner card would be prone to warp and bend).

I started with a larger clock image on the other side. 

Die cuts and texture added plus a metal clock hand for dimension. 

Finally finished with thicker embellishments and more dry brush work and gilding wax.

Love this character. 

Texture and layers built up. Waiting for the rust to develop. 

Building up the layers of transparent colour makes so much difference.

The second plier stand started off in the same way. 

At this stage you might feel like giving up. What a mess! 

Just keep going, adding layers of rust texture and colour. 

Just loving the gorgeous layers of texture and colour.

I used several layers of the die cut pipework together to make them thicker and stronger on this side.

Wooohooo – this is soooooo yummy (or is it just me – tee hee).

Another end panel. 

I used an MDF keyplate (Powertex) to embellish this end. 

The final colouring makes such a difference.

The final side had a couple of little storage wells. I won’t really be using these so a perfect place to embellish with larger items. 

I had fun adding recycled light bulbs, screws and bits of chain etc. I used structure paste and Powertex treated kitchen paper as a 3D glue to hold things in place. 

Initially I had added a thinner die cut cog to the end but it wasn’t really strong enough. Here I added another thick greyboard cog over the first. Much more practical. I also added a small MDF Butterfly.

Here you can see more of the Steampunk treasures added. I also added some 3D Sand and Balls. 

Love this Steampunk birdie peering out.

Well I hope that all these pictures have not overwhelmed you. I wanted to show how all the stages were built up. It also shows the stages that look awful, perhaps where a beginner might give up! Remember, if it all goes wrong just keep applying colour, inks or coloured varnishes. If this fails and you are really not happy – just paint over the whole thing with a base colour of Powertex and start again.

Hugs, Anne xxx.

Venetian mask Powertex style

Good morning all, I can honestly say I enjoy Powertex, no that is an understatement I LOVE POWERTEX but this piece I really, really enjoyed designing.

The first photo is all the pieces with this project pack, sadly I forgot to photograph the beautiful rice papers too but you will see one of them shortly.

I had a play with placing the pieces, to see what grabbed me and I liked this idea and my mojo was really going at this stage.

I painted the mask with  BRONZE POWERTEX but wanted to give the actual mask a floating feel.

As you can see from photo underneath I stacked up some MDF discs I had to give it some height.

I wanted to incorporate some of the yummy papers and decided to add to the mask itself, which I did using the EASY COAT MATT

I found some silver tone plastic bling to add to the edges and give it a bit of pizazz

I then added some Paper  DECORATION to give the face some texture plus it seems to be one of my fave texture choices at the moment.

Now to think about adding some colour!! Hmmm 

I first started with dry brushing white and then decided I did not like that, so I  went with the Turquoise pigment.

 I then decided to add the BRONZE PIGMENT and I found some wooden butterfly embellishments, which I painted gold and I also found a lovely plastic dove which I glued to the headpiece and did a bit of gold dry brushing to tie in the colours.

 I added some coloured gems and two metal butterflies to complete the look of my mask

I think some feathers would look really nice with this piece too, will have to get some to add.

I hope you have enjoyed seeing my process of how I came up with this design piece.

If you have not yet tried Powertex, you won't be sorry if you do.

Until the next time

Happy creating

Jinny