Sophie's Summer Superhero Project - Part 1

Hi there I hope you are having a great summer with lots of creative fun!  I am having fun with my granddaughter Sophie and this weekend we have started on a major Powertex project.  Let me introduce you to Sophie aged 7 and a half!  [She told me the half is very important because that means she is nearer 8 than 7!]

Sophie has a wonderfully vivid imagination and loves crafting and creating with her mum, her sister and me.

When she is with me we do lots of Powertex.  So far she has made some fairy houses for the garden and also a bird house.  She loves watching films and reading comics with her dad and her brother and writes lots of stories about her own superheros.

Stage 1:

Recently I acquired an old tailors dummy from a car boot sale and that gave me the idea of a super summer project for Sophie.

Together we are going to create her very own full size superhero!

Sophie was very excited when I showed her the dummy and talked about my idea.  Within half an hour she had come up with her superhero...

Rosalina, also known as Ace the Teleporter!

Ace has lots of superpowers - 

• Strength
• Supersonic Swimmer
• Hypnotic eyes (apparently we will make her head too)
• Superb speed
• and on her costume there will be buttons. One of the buttons will release a hidden superpower...she will become camouflaged!
• On the base she will have fast release rocket boosters too!

I have promised that we will mix different colours of Powertex so that she has her own unique colours to match Ace's design.

So I think I have my work cut out to help her create her dream character!

We will be working in short sessions so it is fun, and Sophie has lots of creativity to look forward to.  Also for her mum and dad, the mess will all be here and not at their home!!!

I am going to blog the whole process so I hope you have fun joining us along the way. 

 Getting Started!

We popped on some small vinyl gloves and held them on with masking tape.  I made sure Sophie was well covered with a big apron.

We mixed up Ivory Powertex with a little red and some yellow to get the colour Sophie wanted for the base.  To that we added a small amount of Easy 3D Flex to make the mixture just a little thicker.  

As the dummy is made from some sort of foam we wanted to give it a really good base cover, and did 3 layers.  Over the upper body that we added some kitchen paper for additional strength.  Only the arm socket and neck will not be dressed but I felt this would give us a good base to start with.

This all took about an hour.  We left it at this stage to dry while we went off to search for fabrics and other interesting goodies to add next time.

So join us next time when we start to create the clothes and look for Ace - the Teleporter!

Bye for now
Fi and Sophie

Mermaid with a Message

Hi there hope you are having a great summer so far...I have been loving this gorgeous warmth!

My favourite place is the beach, I love beach combing and seeing what's been washed up that can be used in art like bits of wood and sea glass.  But more and more I feel sad that our oceans are being cluttered and devastated by plastic, discarded fishing nets and so much more, and it is damaging marine life.  So I created a Mermaid with a Message for a recent Mannequin's and Mermaids workshop.

I used a polystyrene torso and and wood/metal base from Powertex UK .  I then used some 2mm aluminium wire to create the tail shape and extended up her body.  I secured using masking tape and used cheap tin foil to create the tail shape and then wrapped with masking tape.  I used Powertex Lead  and Stone Art to cover the torso.  I used knitted scrim for the tail on the reverse as this gives the impression of scales.  

I added Powertex to some lace trim and placed around the top of the tail fabric and added small  3D balls to the body and tail for texture and to imply those little balls of plastic that are found in cheap cosmetic scrubs that find their way into the water course and out into out oceans.  I then painted the base with more Powertex and embellished with tissue paper and more 3D balls in varying sizes.  Finally I rubbed Powertex into some net fabric and draped over her, as if she were caught while swimming.  I then left her overnight to dry.

I then used Easy Varnish with Powercolor and Colortricx pigments to add colour, I didn't go too far with this as I wanted to help her to get her message across, plastic and waste are damaging our oceans!

Finally I used some rusty wire to make some barbed wire and added to her body. This will be available in my etsy shop once I've had time to create one!

Hope you like this project and want to have a go yourself.  Post some photos on Powertex Addicts United  if you do we love to see what you create.

Bye for now

Fi xx

Powertex: A window on Jurassic

One of our many "favourite" locations on the English South Coast is the cliffs along Burton Brandstock and eastward to Lyme Regis.  I love the contrast between the types of rock and their the colours and the little secrets of the past they reveal.  I remember one of our visits to Burton Bradstock not long after a cliff fall.  I was in awe of the rock formation, the layering and the little windows the fall had opened up in to the past.  

So with that in mind and having also loved working with Tracey Evans on our Jurassic themed shows on HOCHANDA TV where my remit was a on jewellery, I decided to create a piece of wall art using the Stencils and Ammonite Moulds and remembering that fabulous holiday and location.  

Before starting with the frame, I got out my Powertex Ammonite Moulds (they come in three sizes) and mixed various colours of powertex with 3D sand to make a collection of ammonites.

For this piece I used Powertex Yellow fabric hardener to paint over the frame which was from my own stash, we all have stashes don't we? 

I then added some 3D sand and more yellow Powertex to make a fairly stiff paste.

Using a palette knife I spread the paste onto the painted frame in a vague linear patter until the whole frame was covered.  I then painted some more yellow Powertex loosely into the linear grooves and dropped on some 3D small balls for added texture.

Next I mixed more sand into yellow Powertex to make a fairly sloppy mix, rather like wet plaster.   I poured this into the cavity and then arranged my pre-prepared powertex ammonites.  

Some I laid flat and others i places a varying angles, as they may have done naturally.  I dropped in some more of the 3D small balls.

I then tool some Powertex Easy Structure - boy I love the texture of this stuff!!!

I used the three sizes of ammonite stencils from Powertex Jurassic Stencil.

I laid large one in one corner and carefully pressed through the East Structure.  Then in the opposite diaganal corner I did the same but using the small and medium stencils.

Next I used some Green Bister (mixed into a fluid with water) and sprayed across diagonally to add some weathering as seen in the image to the right.  I also added a few squirts of Red Bister.

As well as spraying evenly, I did a few short squirts to leave some blobs of bister randomly.  I felt this added to the natural weathering and formation of my cliff seen.  

I then left the piece to dry naturally overnight.

Once the piece was dry, I dry brushed over the non stenciled corners with a little more yellow Powertex that I had slightly lightened with Ivory Powertex, to give the impression of a shaft of sunlight passing over the shadows of the cliff as it revealed it's secrets.

Finally I used Powercolor Red Ochre, Colortrix Bronze Gold and Colortrix Power Pearl Red  Pigments with Easy Varnish to bring out the highlights and features.

I hope, if you got the ammonite moulds and the jurassic stencil from our Hochanda shows, that you have had fun using them and that maybe this project will inspire you to create some more.  

Don't forget to share them with us on our Powertex Addicts Facebook page! We love to see what you create!

Bye for now...

Fi 

Drying Flowers with the Microfleur

As promised this is a guide to drying and pressing your flowers using the Microfleur for the Fuscias and Forget-me-Knots Projects in 

Making Jewellery Magazine Issue 106

Hi there, did you get your copy of Making Jewellery issue 106?  For those who did, thank you for the many messages of support I really do appreciate each and every one.  As a thank you and as promised on my facebook page, here are a few tips to pressing and drying your own flowers.  In this example I am using Forget-me-nots as they feature in the design and are in flower at the moment.

Please note that comprehensive instructions come with the Microfleur press, these tips and how to's are from my own experience using the press.

I use the Microfleur flower press.  This comes in two sizes - 5-inch and 9-inch square -  and is available from Amazon at around £25 for the 5-inch and £40 for the 9 inch. So it is an investment but if you love your resin and working with real flowers it is a worthwhile purchase in my opinion. 

Below is the Microfleur 5-inch.  It is a neat and sturdy press.  The clips each side hold the sandwich together as explained below.

Sandwich layers

The press is layered as such: outer base, cotton pad, 100% cotton fabric.  Onto this you place the flowers to be pressed, then repeat the layers in reverse, i.e. cotton fabric, thick pad, then the top cover. 

Tip 1:    Check there are no little bugs on the flowers, apart from the fact I dread to think of them being incinerated, they also raise the temperature of the flower heads and you risk them over heating.

Using a sharp pair of scissors carefully remove the flower heads and place down onto the cotton layer.  I use some individual heads and some on stem.

Tip 2:  Make sure that when you pick your flowers, they are dry and not covered in rain drops or dew.

Tip 3: Try to put the flowers in the same direction, I have found it works best to place them face down.

One you have placed all the flowers in position, complete the sandwich layers as above. Then place a clip on either side of the press.  

Next place in the microwave and heat for 10 seconds, then check progress and repeat until sufficiently dry.  Watch carefully as it is very easy to nuke them!  I did mine for 30 seconds in total in 10:10:5:5 second blasts.

Once done, remove the clips and the top outer layer and let press sit either on a warm windowsill or in the airing cupboard for 24-hours.  [I do this because the very centre of the flower heads are thicker and take a little more drying than the petals.] The flowers must be 100% dry before you can add them to your resin or they will continue to decompose within the resin and your resin may also go cloudy.

This photo shows the flowers after they have been dried.

Tip 4:  I keep my flowers in a sealed plastic box with a little silicone sachet and in a box to keep them out of the light. This helps reduce any fading.

Tip 5: Waxier and larger more dense flowers may take longer, I suggest you place a single flower to test before doing more. 

Tip 6: I also keep a diary so I can refer back to see what settings and time worked best for each flower type I do.

The benefit of using the Microfleur is that the beautiful colour is retained and you they are ready to use within a day or two as opposed to a few weeks or months using the traditional method.  

If it is pressed flowers you are after you cannot, in my opinion, do better than invest in one of these presses.  I use the 5-inch far more than the bigger and costlier 9-inch (although I do have both) as it fits in the microwave more comfortably.

So that's it, have fun and don't forget to share your makes on my Facebook page and look out for more tips and tricks on here and on my Instagram page. 

Bye for now

Fi 

Powertex UK News Blog

 There's some news over on the Powertex UK News Blog

 

Have a great weekend!

 

Fi

New Year - New Challenges - New Blog

Wow what a kick start to the New Year!

2016 ended on such a high with me being invited to join the Powertex UK HOCHANDA Team.  So I was already excited about what 2017 has to offer! 

Then 

wham!

The best surprise ever!  I was invited to join the Powertex UK Design Team! 

I am so thrilled and honoured to be among such talented artists and creators and I cannot thank Powertex UK enough for believing in me and "getting" what I do.

I'm looking forward to sharing lots of projects and tips with you through this blog and more in depth in my workshops around CV9-CV13 and of course on HOCHANDA.

Some how I think my Powertex Angel has been watching over me and nudging me in the right direction.

Hope you can join me in my journey

Fi xx