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

From Skye to Sea

From Skye to Sea by Abigail Lagden

I'm so excited to be part of the 2018 Powertex Design Team and for my first blog I wanted to share with you a place that is very special to me - the Isle of Skye.

It is a place of awe-inspiring beauty and diverse geology, from the looming Cuillin mountain range, across the bleak peat bogs, to the rugged cliffs and the many and varied beaches. The weather can be wild and changeable, but that is just another part of the beauty and inspiration of the place.

Glenbrittle Beach (that's me lurking on the right with my lurcher, Benson)

On every visit, my other half (Tom) and I spend many a day exploring the outdoors, particularly the coastline. As a photographer, Tom is captivated by the light on the waters and takes stunning and emotive landscape pictures. I, on the other hand, mooch around, head down looking for treasures. 'Treasures' are what I call the things I collect from beaches and they can be anything from shells to stones to driftwood to glass.

Me, collecting treasures!!
(Excuse the attire - it's cold in December)

Our last visit was just before Christmas and as usual I collected some treasures whilst out and about, so I thought I would incorporate a few of them into a sea-themed plaque. This is just one of the things I love about Powertex - how you can repurpose, recycle and reuse so many things to create something unique and beautiful.

The shells and grass roots were collected from Glenbrittle beach (above) and the coral pieces were collected from coral beach at Claigan (below). 

Coral Beach, Claigan - the yellow beach is made up of little bits of coral as shown in the insert

But enough of the beauties of Skye, let's talk about my little project. The base ingredients for my Skye to Sea Plaque design were:

• Powertex MDF journal cover (A5)
• Powertex Easy Structure
• Bronze Powertex Universal Medium
• Powertex White Paper Decoration
• Small Powertex MDF seahorse (from set of 3)
• Powertex 3D sand and small balls
• Shells, coral and grass roots collected from the beaches on Skye (all washed and thoroughly dried)

I often use the journal covers to produce hanging plaques, and just cover four of the holes to leave two to hang it with. Although of course this design would also have made a gorgeous cover for a journal.

I am obsessed with texture and don't like any plain, flat surfaces in my creations, so first I used structure paste to create some coral-like patterns on the MDF cover, before painting it all with bronze Powertex. 

Rough layout of design (unsurprisingly in changed)

Next I laid out a rough arrangement of the bits and pieces I wanted to include - it is a good idea to do this at the start even if the layout changes as you progress through your projects.

Hollow shapes like shells can be tricky to attach securely to a project, so I like to mix a bit of 3D sand into some of the Powertex to produce a thicker paste which will hold them firmly in place. In this project I spread some of this paste over the areas where I wanted to place the shells and the coral. The shells were then filled with the paste before being positioned and the coral was just sprinkled directly onto the paste. To fill the gaps between the coral and the shells I sprinkled some small 3D balls over the area.

I added some pattern and texture to the seahorse using structure paste before attaching to the plaque and painting everything with a coat of bronze Powertex.

Left to dry before bringing to life with colour!

I coated the grass roots with Powertex and added them to make a sea plant. The texture was fantastic and I really wish I had picked up more of this stuff - I know what I'll be looking for next time I'm at a beach - although care had to be taken when colouring as it was still rather fragile.

Then finally I used pieces of white Paper Decoration coated with Powertex to make some stringy seaweed around the sides.

Now time for some colour!

To produce a lovely blue-green multi-tonal sea colour I mixed blue, green, turquoise and white powercolors with easy varnish, in different quantities to get different shades and tones. This was applied using a dry brushing technique, layering the different colours gradually to blend the tones. Once I was happy with the result I couldn't resist adding some shimmer so I used terragreen as well as the amazing new interference powders (blue, red and lilac) to give the scene some iridescence.

Then just a piece of t-shirt yarn tied through the holes for hanging and there you have my Skye to Sea Plaque.

From Skye to Sea by Abigail Lagden

I hope you have enjoyed my first Design Team blog, I know I have. 
You can see more of what I am up to on my Curiously Contrary website and Facebook Page.

Until next time, Abs x

UPCYCLED CABINET TO EGYPTIAN TREASURE

UPCYCLED CABINET TO EGYPTIAN TREASURE

This cabinet had served us well in our spare bedroom but had become redundant when we redecorated however I still loved the design and the shape of the legs so I hadn't let it go

 and thank goodness I hadn't because when it came to finding interesting surfaces 

for creating for our Egyptian themed shows it was a perfect candidate. 

It was an incredibly difficult item to take photographs of so I have included the one above which was taken on the show and then below I have included snapshots of individual areas. 

You will see I have used lots of different techniques, Powertex products, MDF pieces, the 

"Wonderful Things"stencil and rice papers to get the effects I wanted. 

You can find the whole range on our WEBSITE

For help to achieve similar results yourself you can also find your nearest TUTOR HERE

If you are looking for a business opportunity and you think you would 

make a good tutor please send us some information about yourself and where you live and 

we will get back to you with the details you need EMAIL