Mixed Up Blog Hop

I hope you are enjoying meeting the Mixed Up Design Team! Welcome to my blog.

As you know, each of us is sharing our favourite makes for Mixed Up today, and the project I’ve chosen to share with you is Deep Ice.

I created Deep Ice for the December 17/January 18 Magazine issue. I adore getting texture into whatever I create and this one is a very deeply textured and tactile piece made from Powertex and mediums created to work with it. 

It took a few days to create from start to finish just because you need to be patient and let the layers of 3D Flex texture paste dry out before you start adding colour. This was the base layer…

And this shows the build up of colour using pure powder pigments blended into Powerwax which is water based and archival quality..

I’m also showing a sneak peek of my Upcycled Powertex Japanese Journal that was published on Mixed Up Mag on Friday 18th May! You need to be a subscriber to view this step by step project.  

Mixed up Mag is such awesome value, not only do you get 3-4 step projects added per week, but there are downloadable pdfs for each project plus lots of other tips and tricks, how to's, interviews, product reviews and much more.The Mixed Up website has tons of mixed media projects, including these and many more!  If you want to know more pop on over to the website here
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Make sure you visit everyone’s blog to be in with a chance of winning the Grand Prize! Here’s the hop list!

Mixed Up Magazine
Leslie Lineberry
Riikka Kovasin
Erica Evans
Debs Wainwright
Carol Fox
Corrie Herriman
Fiona Potter YOU ARE HERE
Mags Woodcock
Lisa Taggart
Nikki K
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Hop Rules:
Visit each designer and leave a comment on their blog for a chance to win a fabulous mixed media prize
The draw is open interntionally
The draw closed 31st May at midnight GMT

It's always time for tea!

Hi there, did you see Tracey on Hochanda? Have you got your Alice themed projects yet?  

I had such a lot of fun creating this colourful piece.  I'm popping some photos below so you can see the steps I took to create it.

First I added rice paper using Easy Coat matte and did a loose layout

Next I covered everything in ivory Powertex and sprayed with blue and red Bister,  and then left overnight to make sure it was thoroughly dry

I then washed back the bister to leave the nice soft blues and pinks 

Next I used Easy Structure and some stencils to create extra texture  once that was dry I used the gloriously bright Secret Art Loft pigments and inks as well as some Powercolor

Finally I drilled holes with a 2mm drill bit and threaded through some paper string to hang my tea shoppe sign with

Hope you like it and have loads of fun and hope we are inspiring you to create your own unique pieces

Bye for now

Fi

Altered Time

WOW what a cold and long winter we've had here in the UK and it's something we don't get very often - Time just seemed to drag on and on ... which brings me to my latest blog over on the Powertex DT.

Using the fabulous March  Project Pack  I had oodles of fun creating this Pocket Watch taking the Mad Watch scene from Alice in Wonderland as my inspiration.  I didn't add butter or mustard but  Idid use some of them to pull together my colour pallet.

So first I unpacked and laid out the ingredients from the project pack, picked out some PowerColors and mixed up the black bister from the kit.

I always like to get a rough layout even though I know it will change once I get started. 

With this one I wanted a slighty deeper clock face so I used some MDF dropouts to raise the rim above the clock face.

First I used some Easy Structure and a cogs stencil (from my own stash)  to create some background texure that fitted with the theme.

Easy Structure dries really quickly and I prefer to let it dry naturally but if you are in a hurry you can blast it with some heat from a hair dryer or heat gun.            

Once the easy structure was dry I coated the whole layer  of Ivory Powertex from the kit (with a generous amount where there was no stencilling). 

I then placed some of the drop outs around the perimeter of the base, added the heart in the centre and the largest cog on top.   


I added some Ivory Powertex under the outer rim of the top layer of the watch and placed on top taking care to line it up accurately.  I applied more Powertex  over the top layer and then sprayed generously with black bister.

I used a hairdryer to dry and create some areas with a  bister split creating more texture and interest.

This part was all done in around 10-15 minutes.

While this finished drying I coated the numbers, clock hands and a few circle mdf dropouts with ivory. I then did the same to the remaining cogs which I placed into position while they were still wet.

The image tp the left shows where I thought I would place them, but I did move them around a few times before I put the Powertex on.  




Once the cogs, numbers, hands etc were dry I used Rich Gold Colorticx and Easy Varnish to richly coat the numbers and clock hands.  

I applied Yellow Ochre, Red Ochre and Dark Green pigments randomly over the cogs and circles and applied with Powertex pressing firmly on each piece until they had started to stick.



I used bronze gold colortricx to dry brush the background of the clock face.  

I then added washes of turquoise pigment as well as the yellow, red and dark green pigments to build up a rusty look.

I built this up over several thin layers.

I added a few flat back crystals to highlight where there were missing numbers and also popped some rusty circles to finish off the smaller cogs.

I did a similar finish to the stand using Ivory Powertex, Black Bister as well rich and bronze gold to give a cohesive look to the finished piece.

Below are some other close ups so you can see how it was all finished.

And here is the finished altered timepiece...

Have fun and don't forget to share your makes with us over on Powertex Addicts or why not join our fab new group The Powertex Studio where Certfied Powertex Tutors as well as YOU can share your creations and we can inspire each other.

Bye for now

Fi xx

This is what I had left!!!!!

These are the pigments I used and below are some close ups...

  

Ministry of Mixology Coventry - November 2017

Wowee this November has to be the most arty painty creative month ever!  First the NEC, then a day on Powertex product development (new workshop dates blogs coming soon) and then ...read on...

I'm just back from the fabulously crazy arty weekend that is Ministry of Mixology or MoM!  

This was held at the Holiday Inn Academy Hotel in Coventry which was a great venue, especially as I'm only 20 minutes away!  It was great to see old friends and new as well as meeting the real people behind so many facebook profiles.

On Saturday I took a class with Tzanidakis Antonis, a hugely talented mixed media artist from Greece. Oh my this guy is crazy and funny and a fantastic teacher.  His project was BIG, I learnt so many techniques and I loved every minute.  

This is the project we made under his watchful eye, it was a fantastic project!

In the evening the MoM team organised a series of Make and Takes led by some hugely talented mixed media artists AKA Super-Elves.  

I took a class with Suz Humphreys of Surrey Crafts. This was so well organised and prepped and I enjoyed it immensely.  The techniques were easy to follow and Suz included a cheeky hidden photo of Mr Andy Skinner! Not sure if he knew!!!

Sunday couldn't come soon enough and a class with Andy Skinner.  This is the second time I've had the Andy Skinner experience and I enjoyed the altogether relaxed pace for a Sunday, after a busy Saturday and not to mention a slow gin or two!  More great techniques and a build up of colour with subtle washes.  Love the finished piece!

Sadly it was all over too soon until today, Wednesday, that is.  

My fabulous and hugely talented friend Nikki K and I craft together just for fun, a natter and a catch up as friends do.  Nikki was busy recreating her own "backwards crackle" technique Make and Take piece for Tando's blog.  So I persuaded her to let me follow along (lots of builders strength tea and a tasty lunch worked nicely).  Thanks Nikki you topped my arty crafty paint week off perfectly.

Nikki's original piece has coiled wire and two fab skulls to form a hanger.  To finish my piece I used Hannah Oxberry's rust craft wire.  This is a brilliant technique and one I shall be using again.

And that's it, four wonderful crafty days out of the last 6.  I guess I better go back to the day job tomorrow then!

Bye for now

Fi

A Perfectly Pink Powertex Jelly Fish

I'm loving the POWERTEX shows on HOCHANDA today and I hope you are too!  Tracey and Anna have done us proud and I am so inspired! 

A day without Powertex is a day...well let's not even go there!

So here's another project to help you create your own Powertex art work.  It's time for a Jelly Fish! 

I remember my brother being stung by one of these critters in Llandudno when we were kids and that was not fun at all!!!! This however was....


As before, I did a rough layout of where I thought I would place my embellishments and textiles.  

TIP: Take a photo!  Once we swipe them off to get started it's easy to forget!

I started with Ivory Powertex and spread this all over and in the joins between the top and bottom peices.  I then spread it all over the strengthening piece.  

I love the way these have been designed!

I dried it with a hairdryer (then picked up all the embellishments that were blown over the floor by the hairdryer - woops!!)



Once dry I turned it over and did the same on the front.

I then poured a tiny bit of the Red Powertex into the Ivory and mixed it up. This gave me a soft to medium pink!

TIP: less is more in colour mixing as Powertex tends to dry darker!

I spread the pink Powertex all over the front and then started to add my texture.

First I started with some of the lace and ricrac braid.  Using the lace around the curved top of the jelly fish and moving down to the two outer tentacles with the ricrac braid.

Next the embellishments, circles and cogs.

Oh boy I had fun with this, it was kind of like karma thinking back to my unfortunate brother falling foul to their nasty sting!  

I have to say I haven't had so much macabre fun in ages!!!


Once they were all in place, I used some of the Powercotton from the embellishment pack to add a bit more texture.

I then sprayed with black bister for a bit of dimension and dried with the hairdryer and left the piece to dry overnight.

NOTE: you can dry this in a drying box to speed up but it was more convenient to me to leave overnight.  I also find this gives the metal embellishments chance to dry to a really hard fix.


I had fun on day 2 adding lots of colour to bring out all that fabulous texture and detail.

The first lot of dry brushing I did was with the Powercolour burgundy pigment with Easy varnish and my 3/4" Powerex Brush to go back over some of the areas I had covered with bister, this can be seen in the image above right.  

I then moved onto blue and green, as shown on the left.

Next one of my favourite colours, Yellow Ochre - you can seen this around the tentacles in the image to the right! 

As I always do, I added bits and bobs of colour in various places sometimes overlapping with what colour I had already laid down.  This really creates so much interest.

Finally I used my most favourite of the gold pigments Colourtrix Bronze Gold.

Here is my funky Perfectly Pink Powertex Jelly Fish in all it's glory!

Hope you like it and hope to see your Jelly Fish popping up on Powertex Addicts facebook page very soon!

Have fun and bye for now!

Fi xx

Oh so pretty Powertex Seahorse

So what did you think of the fabulous PowertexUK launch shows on HOCHANDA last night with Tracey Evans and my hugely talented Powertex DT teamy, Anna Amelia Howlett of Rosehart Studio?  What fabulous products they have bought us and oh my... their projects!!!!!

I love all the hustle and bustle that preparation for live shows bring with them and I have been very blessed to have been able to play with some of the gorgeous products they have bought you to create this rather pretty Seahorse and in a later blog today there is a perfectly pink Jelly Fish.

Before I started I spread out the embellishments and textiles on my workbench and came up with a rough idea of placement.  I chose to work mainly with the floral elements for my seahorse so that I could get two very different looks.

So to get started, I brushed some Ivory Powertex along the seam of the two main pieces and then brushed more Powertex onto the back of the square mdf piece and pressed this down over the join.  This gives great stability and you can also use this area to put the hanging loop on.

I then spread Ivory Powertex over the entire back and dried off with a hair dryer. I then turned it over and spread Powertex of the front and edges.

Next I started to put the embellishments into place having first coated with Powertex.  I tend to drop them into the Powertex and then rub with my hand.  This ensures that the Powertex gets into all the nooks and crannies and means we will get a superb bond ...you know the kind that Powertex is famous for!

I began at the head of the Seahorse, I used one of the circles that I snapped in half and placed in the nose area to accentuate the smile that I always think of when I look at Seahorse.

I also left some clear unembellished areas so that I could work with the Black Bister later.

I gradually moved down the body of the Seahorse adding some lace to the outer curve accentuating the spine and then some of the RicRac braid on the inner curve.

I pressed some flat and left some proud of the base as this will give extra texture and dimension.  I also left some overhanging the edge, again to add dimension.

I continued to build up the texture using the embellishments and under some of the metal pieces I rubbed some Powertex into some kitchen paper and scrunched up to raise them further and also to aid the bonding with the metal and Powertex.

Once I had added all my embellishments I added some more Powertex to the areas I had left empty.

I then sprayed liberally with the black bister and then used a hairdryer to dry off some of the bister and create a bit more textural interest with a bister split.

I then left the piece to dry overnight.

Day 2...let's get colourful and bring out the character using the various pigments that are in the One Day Special as well as the Easy Varnish.

As with the embellishments I made to colour palettes from the pigments in the kit so that the looks were very different. 

I used the Turquoise and green first and then moved on to burgundy and lilac.    

I don't add all the same colours over everything, I tend to pick out areas but allow some overlap so there is little or no evidence of a join.    

I carried on with the colours over the entire piece.






Once the main piece was coloured I decided to add a pop of colour.


So using the orange I hightlight just a few of the flower centres and the wings on butterflies.


Finally I used silver to add a bit of lustre to what I think is a rather pretty Seahorse!

Below are some close ups to show you how I created the detail, highlights and shadows.

I hope you like her and enjoy using your Powertex One Day Special and create a fabulous Seahorse of your own.

Please share your makes with us over on our facebook page Powertex Addicts United.

Keep watching Tracey and Anna on HOCHANDA and pop back later today and there will be another step project for you to follow using more of today's fabulous POWERTEX products.

Bye for now

Fi xx