Take time to do what makes your soul happy

When I first caught glimpse of this project pack I was super excited. This was one fun project to make. And I thoroughly enjoyed creating this pocket watch. It was even more exciting because I got to use our Tracey's studio at hq to create mine. There is no feeling like being in a big studio with every Powertex product imaginable to hand. Oh its heaven.......

So without further a do here is my design for this months project pack.

As usual I made a layout of the items I was going to use. I just had to use some of the rose and daisy embellishments. I made some stone art clay with the stone art powder and Powertex and pushed the  clay into the daisy and rose mould.

Top tip: If you layout your composition for the design you wish to achieve before you start, its a lot less messy.

 Next I took my Ivory Powertex and coated all the mdf and embellishments. The only thing you need here is Powertex. It's magic formula glues, sticks and paints your works of art.

Top tip: I didn't use all of the mdf shapes in the pack. This means I have them leftover for any other projects I wish to use them on. You can chose to use them all or save some for other projects you have in mind.

Top tip: Your items won't be instantly stuck so if you want to relocate them you can pick them up easily and move them to another part of your design.

To add some extra texture to the piece I took some sand and balls and mixed them into some Ivory Powertex I had poured out. I then used a plastic palette knife to apply the mixture on various areas of the piece. 

 I then sprayed blue bister on the left side, green in the middle and black on the right side. I accidentally used brown and only have the photo with brown. But I just sprayed the black on over the top. Bister is a walnut stain so it covered the brown perfectly.

Top tip: I like to mix my bister granules in a small bowl with hot water, this enables them to dissolve better. I use the back of a teaspoon to crush any granules that haven't fuller dissolved. You can pop them in a spritz bottle and shake them but I find they don't fully dissolve and the nozzle can block up.

I then dry brushed red ochre, yellow ochre and turquoise powercolor over the brown stained side, to give a faux rust effect. And turquoise, moss green and yellow ochre on the blue side. 

I think you can tell I loved creating this one and I had some left overs that I can use for other projects. I hope you all enjoy the project pack and find some inspiration in our blogs. Do share your makes with us at Powertex addicts united on Facebook. We love to see what you are making. Toodles Anna xXx

Fairy house delights.

One of the projects I completed when demonstrating at the Powertex UK stand at the NEC hobbyshow in November was the new Fairy house which has now been put into a project pack for February. Just for you!

  

I had a lot of fun creating this piece I used the black Powertex on the base, one of my go to favourite colours in the Powertex range. On the lower part of the piece I used a mix of sand, balls and Powertex. Then added on the door, toadstools and windows. Added some extra detail with the mdf dropouts and cobwebs. 

On the roof I used the natural paper decoration, by cutting it into little pieces and layering it to give it a tiled 3d effect. I used some of the Powertex UK embellishments in between the natural paper decoration. I also added one of the new Raven mdf shapes. 

I then dry brushed with powercolours burgundy, turquoise and yellow ochre. And used the new interference colours to give a little shimmer effect to the roof. If you're looking for a magical project this month you need to get your hands on this one while stocks last. Toodles Anna xXx

If I only had a heart

I have been manically trying to get my ducks in a row. After a very busy end of October and beginning of November. My body obviously thinks I need to slow down as I have the dreaded man flu and feel like I have been dragged through a hedge backwards I think I may look like I have too. Anyway, this is a little commission I created sometime ago I though I would share. 

I am pretty chuffed with how this one turned out. It's always really tricky when creating a custom piece for someone. 

Compositions don't always come to me very easily, I really have to work hard on a special piece, the pressure seems a little more intense. I always seem to second guess myself as to whether I am hitting the mark or if what I create will be received well. Doesn't really help that I am such a perfectionist as well!

The tin in on the heart represents tin for ten years of marriage. The one side represents the mechanic in the relationship and the flower and filigree side is the feminine side. With the map representing travel. I love being able to create a meaningful piece. Toodles Anna xXx

The NEC with Powertex UK

Well, what an amazing response we had from you all at the Birmingham NEC hobbycrafts show. It was so wonderful to share with everyone our love for Powertex!

The team at Powertex Uk hq worked like busy bees and did a grand job of filling packets, labeling, punching, stapling, organising and packing stock in between the normal day jobs. 

Tracey and Garry out did themselves again!! They had a long Wednesday set up, with a 7 am start and they didn't return home to 6.30 pm. But they certainly brought the blank canvas that was the stand to life. With a beautiful array of new products, samples and jaw dropping, stunning artwork.

The creative team were a buzz with excitement. It's so lovely for the tutors to get an opportunity to get together and put a face to the name you often speak with on social media. And gives them all the experience of a big show and to share there knowledge and passion too! 

We managed to catch up with some old faces and some brand new ones who had never seen Powertex before.

We had a good lark about with our neighbours, whom included the crew at Hochanda, Craig at Marbling 4 fun and the team at Totally beads to name but a few. Convinced some of them to go pink for Powertex pink sunday. And raised a bit of money for Cancer Research in the process.  Who says you can't have a bit of fun on the last day!

We crashed out yesterday and had an easy one. Traceys feet were broken, don't worry not literally, Garry had overdosed on sweeties and my ribs were aching from all the laughter. We always have a good crack at the shows and I think that's apparent from the atmosphere on the Powertex UK stand. 

We hope you all enjoyed yourselves. We definitely did! Until next time, we'll meet again. That's all folks. Toodles Anna xXx 

These are a few of my favourite things

This one has me in the mood for a little music. My guitar playing has something left to be desired. Perhaps, when I find some spare time I will give it another go, for now I will leave it to the experts and stick with singing in my local Rock choir. Although, I do have some pretty mean guitar skills in rock band on the xbox but I am not quite sure that counts...... 

I have mixed my love of music with my favourite time of year which is autumn. Not so much for the change in temperature but for the beautiful colours that come with the harvest. 

The yellow ochre and red Powertex universal medium seems to offer itself so well to the russet orange, reds and golds of the fall. 

The approach of harvest honors rebirth and renewal and is seen as a time for reaping what has been sewn through out the year. But I especially love that it celebrates creative talents and craftsmanship. A long established custom is the rise in craft festivals and skilled artisans selling their wares particularly at this time of year.

 As the dark evenings grow close, it's seen as the best time of year to learn a new craft, or hone creative talent and skills. Seems like the perfect time to crack open a bottle of Powertex and let the creativity flow. Enjoy and do share your makes with me on the Powertex addicts group. 

If you like the look of a project like this and want to learn some new techniques why not contact a tutor  near you who can show them to you. If you want to support me as a full time artist follow my page on facebook at Rosehart Studio.
Toodle pip Anna xXx

Thou shall have a fishy....

So this was a really fab project. It's always fun to create something out of the box with products you wouldn't have thought of using before. This was a piece I created for a sample to be shown on Hochanda. I had a nice mix of Powertex UK mdf shapes and embellishments and lace to use. And this is what I came up with...

https://www.powertex.co.uk/home/390-mdf-penny-washers.html

As usual I gave thought to the layout of the piece. This did change as I progressed but it's much nicer to have a dry run before everything gets messy and covered in Powertex.

Top Tip: When you're making your stone art clay make a job lot of moulded embellishments. This saves you more time to play and concentrate on your project when you come to it. I've used the daisy moulds from Powertex UK I just love them!
https://www.powertex.co.uk/moulds/367-fossil-mould.html

Then I took some structure paste and using some of my templates including my Powertex UK arty quote stencil, I randomly stenciled the base. Once dry I had a play with some lace and textured material to give the base some more depth. I love the weaved mesh it has to be my favourite product and you can find some here in this pack:
 https://www.powertex.co.uk/additional-products/238-mixed-media-texture-pack-2.html

Once happy with the layout and composition I coated the whole thing in Ivory Powertex and I totally forgot to take a picture of it. But then sprayed with black bistre. And when I spray my bistre I like to completely saturate the piece.

Top Tip: I added some bling. I would recommend you do this right at the end with some transparent Powertex as when you come to dry brushing you tend to go over the gems and then you have to try and scrap the varnish and pigment off.

I used a damp sponge to take some of the black away and leave whiter areas in places. This look gives a smoother, softer finish than just using straight black powertex. Then it was on to dry brushing with yellow ochre, red ochre, and burdgundy powercolor with varnish and then some gold and pearl colortricx and varnish to add a bit or sparkle.
Enjoy and have fun creating. ❤ Toodle Pip Anna xXx ❤