Penguins - Mini Makes for you and the little ones

Hi Everyone

Well we're at that time of year again where time just flies by and everything you wanted to get done somehow doesn't.  So I thought I'd show you a nice easy make that you can do on your own, with friends and with the little ones.

We are going to make penguins and I have to admit they are a little addictive so you may well end up with your own little waddle  - that's one name for a group of penguins on land, they can also be called a colony or a rookery whereas when they are in water they are called a raft (thanks Google!!).

So lets waddle away and get creating.......

You will need

Powertex Black (approx 75ml)

Powertex Stone Art (approx 20g)

6cm Polystyrene egg

2-3 cm Polystyrene egg

2 x 2-3mm animal eyes

Cocktail Stick

Masking Tape

Plastic container to mix clay in

Brush

Easy Varnish

Pigments (I opted for orange, white and yellow ochre)

Apron

Disposable Gloves

Optional - Pokey tool

Start by covering your work area with a protective layer.  This could be an waterproof tablecloth, oil cloth or even newspaper.

Break the cocktail stick in 2.  Using one piece connect the 2 eggs together to form a body and head

Place the head at an angle for a more realistic look

Using the masking tape cover the whole shape ensuring that the the transition from the head to the body forms a neck. Place the other piece of cocktail stick on the small egg where the beak will be.  Now coat with a layer of Black Powertex and set aside.

Place approximately 75 ml of Black Powertex into a suitable container (you are going to be mixing this so make sure the sides are high enough) and begin adding the Stone Art, using the non bristle end of your paintbrush begin to stir the mixture.  Add the Stone Art slowly and mix well between each addition.  Keep going until the mixture pulls away from the sides.  Now go in with your gloved hands and knead the mixture bringing together into a firmer clay consistency.  Keep adding more stone art until the clay doesn't stick to your gloves and there are no white flecks showing.  Make sure you pull the clay apart to check that there are no white flecks inside.

Make sure that the clay isn't too dry otherwise you will have difficulty covering your penguin. If it is just dip it in a small amount of Powertex and knead it thoroughly.

You can now use the clay or double wrap it in cling film for use later.  So long as you keep it airtight the clay will be useable for several weeks.  This is a bonus as you can make the clay ahead of time and have fun sculpting it later with the children.

Take approximately 2/3rds of the clay and roll it into a ball then flatten it into a disc approximately 1/2 cm thick.

Lay it over the beak and onto the head, then using your fingers push it down onto the body thinning it as you go.  Make sure it meets underneath to form a base.  Stand the penguin on your work surface and give it a little wiggle to make sure it will sit without toppling.  If it doesn't sit properly use a little of the remaining clay to make some feet and/or a tail to support it.

                                      

With the remaining 1/3 clay split it into 2 and form rolls.  Flatten them to around 2mm and shape to form wings.  Attach to the body on the sides.  If your clay has dried, paint on some fresh powertex to stick the wings to. Shape the wings to give your penguin character.

Now make any final adjustments, make sure the beak is a nice shape and push the eyes through the clay into the underlying egg.  You may need to use a pokey tool to make the hole first.

Using the Easy Varnish and pigments dry brush on the colour to complete your penguin.  I opted to colour mine in different ways to make a real mixed waddle.

Don't forget, you can always scale it up by using larger eggs to make bigger penguins just remember to increase the amount of clay you make.

I hope you've enjoyed this project and look forward to seeing your makes.  Don't forget to post photos of them over on the Powertex Studio facebook page

Until next time happy creative adventures

Annette

Wedding Day Wish Box

Hello there

I used the Frame kit available at Kirsties Handmade Fair, Ragley Hall to create a Wedding Day Wish Box for the happy couple.  Simply write your wish or words of wisdom onto the paper heart, tear off and place in the box for the happy couple to read later.

I opted for Ivory Powertex and a variety of lace pieces to create this special gift.  I hope you enjoy this project and feel free to alter it as you go,  that's the fun of being creative.

I started by using a recycled cardboard box that was the same size as the frame.  I coated this with 2 layers of Powertex to firm it up.  I also coated the frame with a layer of Powertex.

Once dry I placed the frame onto the box and drew around the inside of the heart (push out the heart shape if it is still attached to the base) and then cut that out with a craft knife.

Then I painted the inside of the box at the back that was now exposed.  I also painted the back of the frame and repainted the front of the box and stuck the two together.

I used various pieces of lace to create a patchwork effect on the box.

All lace needs to be coated with Powertex so that is is covered but not dripping.

Firstly,  I took a piece of lace and used the heart as a template.  I cut this out so that the lace fit snugly around the opening.  Coat this in Powertex and place around the opening making sure you press it firmly onto the box.

I then worked my way around the box with all the different laces, laying them in different directions to create interest.









The lace heart I cut out in the earlier step was placed inside the box and the edge of the cut out was covered with a thinner lace ribbon.

Once this was all covered I set it aside.

I took some lace ribbon, dipped it into the Powertex and squeezed out the excess, I then wrapped this to create flowers.  In each corner I used a small piece of gauze that had been dipped in Powertex to sit the flowers into.

Now allow this all to dry thoroughly.

There are lots of videos on YouTube if you're not sure how to make these.

I have coloured these here so you can see them more easily

For the notepad holder, I used the back of the frame and coated one side with Powertex.  I then placed this onto the back of the wallpaper and allowed it to dry.

Using sharp scissors I cut around the edges, painted the back with Powertex,  then using lace ribbon I added a pretty border.

  




 For the notepad itself, I used the heart on some thick paper and drew around it making sure I marked the holes.

I cut out the sheets and used a hole punch to make the holes, then threaded ribbon through to hold the together.

I painted the mdf heart burst embellishment and the mdf heart and layered them up ready to tie onto the ribbon as a paperweight.

If you wanted to you could drill holes through the notepad holder and tie the paper onto this to make it totally secure.






For the photograph, I used a laser copy as these don't smudge.

I worked out where I wanted the heart to sit on the photograph and marked the back of the paper accordingly.

I painted a thin layer of Powertex onto the back of the paper and another layer onto the heart then placed them together.  I turned them over and smoothed out the picture to ensure there are no air bubbles or creases.  Make sure your hands are clean or better still put a piece of kitchen roll on top to protect the picture.

I left this to dry before cutting away the excess with sharp scissors.

I painted the back of the heart with Powertex then added a delicate edge by using lace ribbon dipped in Powertex.

I attached it to the box using a cushion of gauze dipped in Powertex.

I coated the key plate with several layers of Powertex and printed off "wedding day wishes"  but you could hand write this.  I used Powertex to stick the edges to the back of the key plate and then onto the box. 

I dry brushed the piece with a combination of burgundy and rich gold however you could match the colours to the wedding party colours for that personal touch.

I hope you've enjoyed this project and it has inspired you to have a go.  Don't forget to post your makes on the Powertex Studio Facebook page as we love to see what you've created.

Until next time Happy Creative Adventures

Axx

Sassy Seahorse's day at the beach

Hello there

Welcome to my Sassy Seahorse project, getting her ready for her day at the beach.

For this project I used the Seahorse project pack available at Kirsties handmade fair at Ragley Hall with Black Powertex and a child's old skirt.

Don't forget to cover your work surface with plastic, wear an apron and gloves. 

Start off by joining the two halves of the seahorse together with the rectangle of mdf and at the same time add the hanger.  Use a layer of any Powertex to do this. Allow this to dry.

Place a layer of Powertex onto the front of the seahorse and place the wallpaper directly onto this.  Don't worry if you have to piece isn't big enough to cover in one go, piece it together as once it is all coated in Powertex it will not be noticeable.

Once dry cut around the shape and then coat the wallpaper with a layer of Powertex.

Now take your chosen fabric and dip it into the Powertex, I pour mine into an old plastic container a little at a time.  Dip your fabric and work the Powertex through it making sure it is completely covered but not dripping.

Then place it onto the seahorse wherever you decided,

I used the pretty edging as a bikini skirt and the ties from the waist as the bikini top.  Any fabric buttons or metal ties can also be used to add more interest to your design.

        

Next I took the mdf embellishments and coated them in Powertex

I layered up the two heart bursts with one of the flowers to make an eye.

The paper flowers became her headdress.

Three fabric buttons from the skirt had mdf flowers placed on top of them to make her necklace

The final flower became her belly tattoo.

Now set aside to dry, if you can't wait you can always use a hairdryer to speed up the process.  I used my gloves to prop up the skirt so that it dried in a wave shape.  Powertex doesn't stick to plastic so its great to use to help form shapes as you simply pull it out once the piece has dried

Finally, I used the easy varnish along with turquoise, burgundy, white and rich gold to dry brush the colour into the piece.

To dry brush, place a 5p sized amount of varnish onto your plastic work surface,  dip your brush into the varnish then straight into the pigment (work from the pot as the varnish does not contaminate it).  Now mix to a thick paste on a clean area of your work surface.  Take a piece of kitchen roll and wipe off the excess colour, then holding the brush flat to your work brush across the raise areas.

To add a more opaque covering hold the brush loosely at the end and dust across the area.  The more times you go across the deeper the colour will be.  

Don't be afraid to mix your pigments together to create different shades and effects, the combinations are limitless.

If you want to place this outside, make sure that you coat the back and sides with Powertex to complete seal the mdf then allow it to dry in the house for three weeks.

Well Sassy is ready for her day at the beach and she hopes your sea horses will be along to join her.  Don't forget to post your makes on the Powertex Studio Facebook page, we love to see what you create.

Until next time Happy Creative Adventures

Annette

Sweet Beautiful Music

Hi there, as I write this blog we are having the most glorious weather for the first May Bank holiday in the UK and it is fabulous!  I'm listening to the Peaceful Guitar play list on Spotify and there's a lovely breeze wafting through the house....mmmmm... to top it all I love this guitar project pack! 

Powertex has taken this one right back to basics to show how you can create some really super projects by using just the magic of Powertex, a nicely constructed kit and the basic pigment kit.

So first I joined the 2 main pieces together with Bronze Powertex and added the hanging bracket as show in the two images below.



One the back was dry I used the textured paper to cover the front of the guitar, again using Bronze Powertex - there's no need to use any other mediums as the magic of Powertex covers so many uses.


You can see how I made two pieces to cover the body if the Guitar.  I also laid out the main design of my piece.  The only parts of the kit I didn't use were the two paper flowers. I used more of the Bronze Powertex to stick the embellishments in place, the only thing I added was some jute string. Once everything was in place I left it to dry overnight.

Next I used PowerColor Pigments and Easy Varnish  to build an Ombre shading moving through from Yellow Ochre to Red Ochre.  I repeated this shading several times until I got the effect I was after.

To build the colour and shading I also added in some Titanium white in the latter layers.

I coloured the embellishments as well.

Once I was happy with the main colour I mixed up some silver Colortrix and cloured the strings.

I then added Burgundy PowerColor to the heart/flower embelishment and finally added some Rich Gold Colortrix to the centre of the two main embellishments and a faint brushing over the textured paper.

Below are some close ups to help you see the effects.

Hope you enjoy the Powertex Design Teams take on this project and we inspire you to have a go yourself.  Don't forget to share your makes in the Powertex Studio on Facebook.

Happy Crafting 

Fi

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