The Secret Book

Some craft products open your mind to possibilities, I don't think that this was originally produced for the crafting world but heavens I'm pleased it got to us. Powertex makes my brain hurt, yes thats right, my brain is bursting with ideas and possibilities of what I can make next and how it will make, so my brain hurts in a good way.

I wasn't sure is this book idea would work but it did as you can see.

I love how the folds of the material work. I used a hard backed book as I also wanted it to be able to stand up.

I called it a secret book for a couple of reasons, one of which is that it started life as a Mason book, Masons are said to be a secret society or is that a society with secrets. The second reason is in the next image.

A secret compartment cut into the book. The Powertex also works as not just a fabric hardner a paint but also an amazing glue too.

I used mica powder to add colour to folds and add the gold leaf effect at the edges of the book pages.

Who lives in a house like this?

Ideas tend to just pop into my head when I start playing with Powertex. I love creating and getting messy and testing to see if things will work.

I think this did but I will let you be the judge of if its good or not.

Working with piment powders to create colour.

 

Creating a moodlight with battery fairylights.

Pebbles from the garden come in handy too.

A bit of lace here and there and stockenette, Pwertex likes the natural materials.

Pretty methinks, give it 3 weeks and It could be mood lighting for garden partys, BBQ etc.

Powertex Bottle Wrap

To find something to decorate bottle giving in an unusual way is a gift in itself, using black powertex to make an interesting bottle decoration.

I would willingly display the bottle with one of these wraps attached.

This started life as a holed T-shirt, a bit of stockinette and some string, i wanted something for the front as a focal piece and found a large paper flower and a couple of smaller paper flowers in my stash.

So the neat part about this is once you have drank the bottle contents, you can transfer the bottle wrap to another bottle.

Once dried, it takes about 24 hrs or less in a warm room it was dry brushed with varnish and mica powder.

This is my first of many more that I will make, the fact that each one will be unique depending on the folds and type of material used.

A Workshop Day

I had a wonderful day yesterday with a very good friend working, ahem...playing with Powertex.

Linda is opening Riverside Retreat workshops in the Northeast very soon so watch this space.

So let me show you what I did.

Three seperate pieces of which this is the first, a wall plaque, made using the Green Powertex some cotton material and netting.

One the piece has dried you use mica powders to highlight areas.

Its fun to watch your pieces grow.

The next project started life as a jam jar.

It's a bit Harry Potterish don't you think?

Cotton and string, even a starfish added to this one.

A sqaushed cola bottle lid for a window. This project was made with the bronze Powtex fabric hardener.

Adding a little fairy door and once dry using red and gold mica powder to decorate.

My last piece a was mesmorised making it, it started life as a flat backed plaster face, hard to believe that you could end up with this beauty.

From rags to riches making your own figurines from scraps is so satisfying.

Using lace scraps and wire to form wings.

Pulped paper soaked in the powertex and draped over the wire to form the wings.

Its hard to believe this is material and not stone.

I finished the colour at home with this one as time was getting on and I had my own mica powders.

There's something quite tranquil about this piece.

So as you can see we got quite a bit done, it was so lovely to get together again. We won't leave it as long next time.

Florabunda Matt-tastic

Well it seams that you all love the new Matt-tastic Adorable Scorable just as much as I do.

Can't thank you all enough for the lovely emails you all sent into my shows for Hunkydory.

Here is a few of the demos from Saturday and Sunday evening.

Using the luxury Kraft card with the gold edging.

 

The above card was used with the black Matt-tastic Adorable Scorable the combination of matte card stock and gold gilding is beautiful.

Using the Little Book

A card within a card background from the 8x8 book

A card within a card open.

The topper on this card was one of the set piece boxes utilised to make a focus piece on the card.

Leaving card

The call came today, someone leaving to have a baby, its one of those cards that you aren't quite sure what make, what is suitable to go on the front of the card...... 

When Chris called me I knew exactly what I was going to make, the girl that was leaving is young and sassy and full of fun so I knew this would fit the bill perfectly for her. 

Made using a cutting file for the Silhouette Cameo it was made really quick, just adding a few carefully placed gems to add a necklace and bracelet. 

I added and insert with the wording.. 

Good Luck When poeple tell you your baby will grow up fast it is true. 

What they do not tell is that you need them to grow up fast to stop you from going crazy.

Art of Glass Blowing

I'm super excited to show you the finished pieces of glass that I made from Saturday, do you remember the experimental piece that I told you about? Oh my giddy aunt it turned out a little bit special, we were worried that it may of burned and turned out black but it didn't at all.

The video below shows the pieces beautifully.

It actually turned the prettiest colours on first glance it appears to be blue but there are quite a few different colours inside all made from metal leaf that we use in our crafting.

I think I may need to find a job working with Glass Blowing, I'm totally smitten.

This is the glass vase I made.

 

And this is the finished Paperweight.

 

The Art of Glass

Glass is something that has always fascinated me, I have several pieces which I love, making pieces is a whole different business, the art of blowing glass is mesmerising. 

Today I have had a one to one session with an artist blowing glass, I made a couple of pieces which I will get tomorrow as it has to go into a Lehr Kiln for an Annealing of glass which is a process of slowly cooling hot glass objects after they have been formed.

Here is a few images from today.

 

This piece is an experimental piece as we added metal leaf to the glass, I have a feeling it may have burnt and gone black but if you don't test these things you would never know. 

You can see I am manipulating the glass pushing into it with a metal rod, this will form air pockets when the next hot glass is collected.

Shaping the glass using newspaper soaked in water, quite worrying that the only thing keeping the molten glass from touching your bare skin is a wad of the daily news. My tutor above is Dave Martin, actually he is a family friend and used to be in Fire Brigade with Chris my husband.

Using tools to shape the glass, all the time taking the glass back and forth to the oven to keep the glass hot enough to manipulate. You can see I ended up wearing a sleeve to protect my arm from the Heat of the glass.

The above is the start of the second piece, you have to keep the pole turning in the oven to stop the glass falling off the pole.

The second piece is a blown piece, you can see me blowing out my cheeks as it takes a bit of pressure to get the air down the pipe and start the process.

You can see Dave forming the shape while I blow down the pipe to form the cavity inside of the glass.

I will post an update with both pieces finished as soon as they have cooled.

This has been an amazing experience for me, anyone thinking of booking a one to one session at the National Glass Center in Sunderland I can highly recommend it.