If unicorns could fly

So I was super excited when Tracey told me about the new animal shapes available from Powertex Uk. Especially when she said I could create a unicorn! I was so green with envy when I saw the beautiful unicorns created by everyone at the Powertex Garden Party (limited spaces are available to book for next year!Don't miss out it was an amazing weekend of relaxing, crafty fun!). I created mine with a little difference. Yes she can fly! The unicorn project pack has been put together by Tracey giving you all you need to create this. If you wish to add wings you will need wire in addition. 

Now I'd love to say I also did this bit but I was lucky enough to get a pre-made base from Tracey. As you can see from the photo you need to cover both sides of the mdf base with Powertex. Allow to dry, then use masking tape to adhere to the base.

 Then start wrapping foil around the base from the bottom up around the whole shape and use masking tape to keep in place.

 Paint Powertex over the masking tape to seal it and keep everything in place. We used Bronze.

You can choose to place the wings higher up if you wish. I used a really sharp pointed carving tool to make a hole through the tape, foil and mdf. You could use a bradle if you had one. Just make sure you watch your fingers! 

I then thredded some wire through the hole and crossed ti over the back of the body and taped in place. The wire was measured at just over 50cm, you could make them smaller or larger if you wish. Wrap the wire with masking tape and paint with Powertex. 

 From approx 1kg of Powertex and 250g Stone art tub I made up some clay. Then gradually added piece by piece. And stamped into the clay as I went. It's important to stamp the clay as you go because as it drys in the air it becomes harder to make an impression in.

I was lucky enough to have to hand an aray of these fabulous wooden block stamps. I love being at hq, I might move into our Traceys studio soon!

 I covered the whole body on both sides and stamped in different patterns.

I then tool my clay and pushed it into the daisy, pansy and rose moulds. It seems I didn't take a picture of the placement of these, but they ended up on the horses bottom. You can chose to place them anywhere.

I then coated a handful of Powercotton to create the texture on the mane and tail.

And dipped some paper dec in Powertex and covered the wire wings.

 I allowed everything to thoroughly dry and then dry brushed with some White Powertex. Just to allow the colours to come through brighter when I dry brushed them. But allowing the bronze Powertex to create the shadow for depth.

I used Burgundy powercolor into coral powercolor  on the mane.

 Rich gold colourtricx on the horn and the wings and flowers.

 I sprayed the body with brown bister to take the edge off the white. And added a mix of coral and white and layered up the colour on the body through dry brushing.

Turns out unicorns can fly! Hope you enjoyed this project. Of course if you feel as though you could use some guidance with this type of project just contact your local tutor through the directory to book on and have a go! It really makes a difference having an expert to hand. Toodles Anna xXx Follow me on my Instagram or Facebook if you like what I do. 

Don't forget to share your projects on Powertex Addicts United or The Powertex Studio on Facebook. Keep up to date with the latest at Powertex UK. 

Step by Step Harvest Moon in Powertex

My Design Team Member challenge this month was to create something representing Autumn and Harvest. Immediately in my mind an image of a gorgeous Harvest Moon appeared, with vivid autumnal colours framing a simple  sillhouette.


Having a look through the Powertex UK website I was drawn to the large Styrofoam Circles and metal base as the perfect shape to work with.


To start off, I covered the entire circular base with yellow hardener, which I also sprayed with mahogany bister before drying with a hair dryer to create my first layer of texture.  I think it looks like a cake at this stage.

Now it was time to gently add a layer Stone Art to one side of the circle, to create some moon like texture.  I also added a bit of stoneart to the edges of my circle. Now it resembled a cake with a dusting of icing.

 

From here, I did one of my favourite things to do with Powertex, swirl it on.  I swirled on Red and Yellow, gradually adding more Stone Art as I went, to create some beautiful patterns on my sculpture.  After adding each swirl, I very gently rubbed in more stone art, building up lots of crater like textures in differing shades of colour.

  

I used some Powertex 3D Sand  to add some more subtle texture to the edges.

 

I was fairly happy with it so far, but wanted it to have a really deep sheen, and the best thing to help me achieve that was PowerWax 

I dipped a small sponge in some of the wax, then into my Autumnal Pigments (I chose Copper, Pearl Red, Clear Gold and Pearl White)  I gently rubbed in a circular motion all over my sculpture.  Making sure to work my way deep into all those lovely little crackles and crevices.  The Copper, Pearl Red and Clear Gold worked to enhance the swirls I had created, and I then went over the whole thing again with the Pearl White to blend them all in together.

My finishing touch for the front of my sculpture was to Paint a very fine lined image of some wheat sheafs in Black Acrylic for the sillhouette

To create the back of my moon, I simply swirled some more Red and Yellow Powertex over the layer I had already put on, added some bister and blasted with a hair dryer to create lots of beautiful textures.  Once this was thoroughly dry, I repeated the same process with the PowerWax and Pigments

 

I am really pleased with how this turned out, because it is so close to the image I had in my mind's eye.  It was really easy to do, and you don't even have to be great at painting because the wheatsheafs really are just very thin lines of black paint with a few whispy sheafs at the top.  

I would love to see what creations you come up with with an Autumnal theme - if you don't already know there is a facebook page dedicated to seeing all your lovely makes www.facebook.com/powertexaddicts

If you fancy seeing more of what I get up to, my facebook page is www.facebook.com/artmuralsbydonnamcghie

and my website is www.artandmurals.co.uk

Venetian Dreams

For this month's blog I was given the Venetian Masquerade Project pack to work with, and my goodness is there a lot to play with in this kit.  No less than three MDF masks, oodles of mdf embellishments, and some absolutely beautiful venetian rice paper.

How gloriously decadent.

I'm not lucky enough to have ever been to Venice, but I always imagine it to have a slightly surreal air about it.

I decided to create a triptych using three long canvasses.  Because of my perceived idea of what Venice is like, I was aiming to create a dream like feel. I don't know about you, but I always find Venetian masks gorgeous, but also slightly ominous, and I also  wanted to convey this in my final piece. 

To start off with I laid out my three canvasses, and placed my Powertex goodies on them to get a rough idea of how I was going to do this. I always do this in the full knowledge that my ideas will change once I get going, and I'm absolutely fine with this.  Go with the flow is my motto.

Once I had a rough plan, I set about creating a watery feel by pouring ivory powertex and blue powertex onto the canvas, and swirling them together with a scraper.  I then added some blue bister in patches to add a feeling of depth.

Now it was time to add the absolutely beautiful Powertex Venetian Rice Paper, which I did by tearinground the bits I wanted to use, and then carefully adding them onto the canvas using easy varnish.

I then painted my mdf masks in the Secret Art Loft Acrylic Paint Blueberry Pie, before adding some Easy 3D Flex on top of this.  I like to add a bit of colour underneath 3D Flex so that you get glimpses of it coming through once the cracks start to appear.  To make 3D Flex I mixed in in with Ivory Powertex to create a clay texture and then put this on top of my masks.  I left them in a warm place to dry overnight, which is when the cracks develop.

Now it was time to start putting the whole thing together.  I used the gorgeous inteference pigments to add an ethereal sheen to my masks, and for the lips I used red powertex sprayed over with brown bister to create an end of the night decadence to them.

Ages ago I had picked up the black lacy masks knowing that at some point the perfect opportunity for using them would arise, and here was just that opportunity.  I soaked these in transparent powertex before adding them to my masks.

I wanted my smaller mask to have a bit of bling to it, so added some chainmail junk jewellery I had in my stash to the beak. I then made a headress using more jewellry and the mdf feathers.  I  toned the whole thing down by spraying with brown bister before using my fingers to rub in more interference pigments and also turquoise throughout the whole piece where I felt it needed a bit more light and shade.

Finally, I felt the need to add actual feathers to my smaller mask.  I always know once I get my feathers out that it is time to stop, so I downed tools at that point.

If I'm perfectly honest, I did find this project a bit of a challenge.  But I'm really pleased with the end result.  I'd love to see what you do with your project pack.  Please do post them onto our Powertex Addicts Facebook Page.

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

Powertex Fairy House Step by Step

Making your own Powertex fairy house wall hanging is as easy as ABC when you use the Powertex MDF project pack.

Here are my simple step by step instructions.  Feel free to use your imagination and come up with your own versions.

1.  Lay out your template and whatever embellishments you choose to decorate it with.

2.  Use black Powertex hardener to paint all the mdf pieces.  Then attach the roof to the main body of the house.  You can use Powertex to do this as it acts as a very strong glue.

3.  I had originally planned to use some textured wall paper for the body of the house, but as I was using corrugated cardboard for the roof, I decided to use this for the body of the house also, but added variety by turning it sideways.

Draw around the shapes you want to cover and cut them out of the cardboard (or textured material/paper of your choice.)  Then soak the this in the powertex and place it onto the mdf.

(I don't know why, but I always imagine fairies living in quite ramshackle houses, so before soaking my cardboard, I tore off random pieces of the ridges to reveal the smoother underneath card, just to add a feeling of wear and tear.)  I also added some thin string in sort of hash tag shapes to give a slight patched up feeling to my house.

4.  Now place the embellishments where you want them to go.  For my design  I also soaked some pieces of thin material to add texture to the door, and added some little buttons just because I thought they looked cute.

5.  Allow the house time to dry off completely.  This process can be speeded up by using a hair dryer.

6.  Once it is dry, and the fabric feels hard to the touch you can dry brush your design.

Dry Brushing

7.  Dip a flat brush into a small amount of Powertex Easy Varnish.

8.  Now dip your brush into a small amount of Powertex Colour Pigment of your choice.

9.  Wipe the brush off on a piece of paper towel before sweeping it gently over your design.  The aim is to pick up the highlights of your texture, not cover the whole thing completely.  It is advisable to start off lightly and build up the depth of colour you are aiming for, as a little goes a long way.  You do not need to use a huge colour palette.  For this design I used Burgundy, Silver and a tiny bit of White

And there you have it.  A gorgeous little Powertex fairy dwelling that any of the little folk would be proud to live in.

Please note, the little sparkles are my own little resident fairies courtesy of the KiraDroid photo app.

Step by Step Powertex Owl

How about making this gorgeous Powertex Owl as a wall hanging.  He will watch over you wisely, and is a real hoot to make:

You will need:

1 x Powertex MDF Owl Kit
Bronze Powertex Hardener
Strips of natural material (Powertex does not like synthetic material)
1 x Button
String
Corrugated Cardboard
Lace Cut Offs
Powertex Colour Pigments 
Powertex Easy Varnish
1 x flat brush
Whatever you want to use for eyes - (I used a glass cabochon eye, and a false eyelash from one of the bargain beauty shops).

Here is what you need to do:

1.  Paint all your MDF pieces with the Bronze Powertex
2.  Cut a shape for the tummy area out of corrugated cardboard, and soak it in the hardener.
3.  Soak strips of material in the hardener, and scrunch them up to cover the remaining area of your MDF template, including the wings.

  

4.  Soak the large button in powertex, and place it where you want the beak to go.  Once in place, stick the mdf beak on top.  (The powertex will act as a glue).  Now place the circular shapes where you want the eyes to be.  (For my owl I also added two tiny strips of fabric to act as arms for his glasses.  I also soaked my false eyelash at this stage and put it in place. Although the eye is also in this photo, I did not add this until right at the end.

5.  I added little mdf butterflies on each ear as I thought this looked cute.
6.  On the branch, I added string soaked in Powertex to give the appearance of wood.
7.  Finally, add his little feet on top of the branch, and if you want to soak some lace cut off pieces in Powertex and place on his tummy area.
8.  Allow the whole thing to dry off thoroughly, so that the material feels hard when you put your hand on it.
9.  Once dry, use Powertex colour pigments of your choice to dry brush*.  I used Rich Gold, Bronze Gold and Silver.  There is no need to use too many colours, as sometimes less can be more with a colour scheme.
10. Last but not least, put a tiny amount of Powertex onto the back of the glass eye, and put it in place.

What a handsome chap he is!!

*  To dry brush simply put a small amount of Powertex Easy Varnish onto a flat brush.  Dip this into the colour pigment of your choosing. (You will not need much pigment at all, it is far better to start off lightly and build up if you wish to).  Now, wipe the brush off on a piece of paper towel so that it is not very wet at all, and gently skim the brush, keeping it as flat as possible, over the textures in your design.  The idea is to simply pick out the highlights, not paint into every nook and cranny.

And that is it.  Simples. Use your imagination to come up with variations on the design, and if you wish to then we would love to see a photo over on the Powertex Studio Facebook page.

Simple but effective

Hello, one and all. Me again, this time sharing with you a couple of easy, fun and elegant projects.

The first piece I want to share with you is the seahorse project pack.

Please excuse my  Powertex covered workspace.

( I really need to clean this )

I opened the pack and looked at all the yummy stash in the pack.

Keeping this project simple was the key and I only used some cardboard and a piece of lace, which was from an old top from my Daughter.

I firstly glued to the two pieces of seahorse together with ivory Powertex both sides and dried it using my faithful old hairdryer.

I then soaked a piece of lace in the ivory Powertex and laid it down on my seahorse and again dried it with my hairdryer, to speed up the process, as I was eager to move on.

I found some different lace and thought it would make a good fin shape. I also added the same lace to the top part of the seahorse, after adding some cardboard, as this was my original thought process but decided that the lace effect looked way better.

Now for the best part, the colour transformation. I chose my  POWERCOLOUR and my general idea was to try an do an "ombre" effect but as you will see, sometimes the Powertex has other ideas!

BUT that is the beauty of this product, you can paint it whatever colour you like and if you get bored of it or it does not go with your colour scheme, then you can just change it! 

(I really, really, must clean my workspace) 

I added the yummy bits from the project pack and again glued with Powertex and decided to highlight in the RICH GOLD pigment and also WHITE the two colours of which I do love to highlight.

I titivated a bit more with pigments and varnish until I was happy with how she looked.

So here she is, all done and using just the project pack and a little bit of lace.

I think she turned out rather well myself.

Oh, and I added a small black bead on the eye area. A brilliant project if you are new to Powertex and not much other materials used to create this (I think ) beautiful Seahorse.

Thank you for reading and I hope I have inspired you to get some Powertex and give it a whirl, you won't be disappointed.

Till next time 

Jinny 

POWERTEX.CO.UK