Rainbow Unicorn Dreams!

People often ask me if I can turn their ideas in to works of art. I've never said no even if I have no idea how I'm going to create the final piece. Pushing forward, constantly challenging myself and breaking out of my comfort zones and colours, mostly produces some of my most loved work.  

SO....its safe to say that I have pretty much fallen in love with this commission piece and will be sorry to say goodbye.

It is however going to a home where I know it will be loved and cherished as much as I would. And to be fair I can't carry on keeping all my work I fall in love with I would run out of room in my house and be poor! 

I hope you love this little rainbow unicorn wonder as much as I do. All created with my favourite universal medium Powertex. In exactly a month today I will be making my Hochanda debut with our Tracey and boy, oh boy do we have some exciting projects, ideas and NEWshhhhh.... products to show you.

  ❤ Toodle pip Anna xXx ❤ 

  

 

Dotty about you!

Well, I know we've only just got through Easter but summer will soon be knocking on the door and reminding me of the days when as a child we would spend our summer holidays in Devon at my Nans. I think my favourite outing aside walking along the river Otter to Otterton Mill for cream teas and yummy swizz roll was the Ladram bay beach trips.

We would pack up the picnic basket and set off early. The whole day was filled with beach fun! Playing in the rubber dingy with my sisters and shrimping in the rock pools. Looking for the crabs, starfish and wonderful fishy creatures lurking under the rocks.

I have to say I never did manage to spot a sea horse. But they are rather lovely don't you think?

Which leads in nicely to my latest project that I am happy to share with you all, you lucky things! I decided to go a little crazy and use two colours on this piece. I was going to use some ivory too but I thought better off it and tried to keep it a little simpler. 

Top tip: Always give yourself an idea of layout and where you are going to place your items. I always take a picture of  the layout on my phone as a reminder. However, this is not mandatory and set in stone, sometimes I completely change my mind on layout once I get going. 

https://www.powertex.co.uk/home/328-mdf-seahorse.html

I wanted to make sure I added some kind of texture underneath the circles. So I gathered together all sorts of lace, corrugated card, wall paper, scrim to name but a few and started putting them in place to have an idea of where I wanted them.  

Next I removed all circles and got the base prepped with texture and colour. Blue Powertex for the top half and green for the bottom half.

So you may be able to spot on his belly I used my circle stencil and structure paste. I also used the arty quotes stencil in places but got a bit excited with some other texture and covered most of it up. But I'm ok with that. There really are no rights or wrongs or mistakes with Powertex, it's all about play, fun and going with the flow.

Next I put all the circles and flowers back into place and gave them a coat of Powertex. 

Top Tip: If you mix a little sand in with your powertex and gently brush over certain areas of the raised circles it adds a little texture and extra detail when dry brushing.

Then it was dry brushing time. I used yellow ochre powercolor along the neck, back and tail.Then popped on a little gold colortrix. For the front I mixed dark blue and pale yellow powercolour and added white for highlights with a touch of pearl colortrix for a little shimmer. And voila!

The mdf seahorse bases are available to buy at www.powertexuk.co.uk. However, I am afraid you are going to have to wait for the circles to be released on Hochanda on the 9th June. Sorry about that. But it's sure to be a great show I promise! I know what a tease, right. On the plus side you get to watch me on my Powertex tv debut! I know exciting right. Eeekkkk...not long now! Lucky I will be with our Tracey. Have we got some cracking stuff to show you! 

Toodle pip Anna xXx

Mother's Day

I'm pretty fortunate to have my lovely mums support when it comes to my artist venture. 

She has always wanted me to follow my dream of becoming an artist. Today we had a lovely day with my Nan who is suffering from dementia. But we had her's and my favourite! Cream tea yum. 

 I made a special little Powertex heart in my favourite colours for mums present. Hope you all had a magical day making memories to treasure or remembering happy times with your mums. 

Toodle pip Anna xXx

Mixed Media Steampunk 'Key to my Heart' journal project

 This little Steampunk inspired heart journal definitely has the key to my heart. I just loves it!

So I absolutely love the idea of steampunk. What is steampunk?

'a genre of science fiction that has a historical setting and typically features steam-powered machinery rather than advanced technology.'

What better combination than Powertex and steampunk to create the inspiration for this pretty little heart journal! All made from fabulous bases and embellishments available soon from Powertex UK.

Use your heart shape as a template to cut out your paper which will make up the pages for your journal. Place the heart blank over your cut out paper, using the holes in the top as a guide pierce holes through the paper with a sharp pointed tool. Ooooo, don't they look fabulously pretty?

Use the heart blank as a guide to cut around the silk paper and stick down with the Easy coat glossy. 

Tip time: Use a water spray bottle to help smooth out any wrinkles, a few sprays should do it. If you end up with a few wrinkles, don't worry they add beautiful texture to the piece.

The Easy coat glossy is the perfect consistency allowing for very little wrinkle anyway and gives a lovely smooth, non-tacky, glossy seal, unlike any other I've seen. Making it a brilliant Easy adhesive and sealant for the job! 

Tip time: Once dry run an emery board around the outside of the heart to clean up any paper overhanging the edges. It works wonderfully well and gives a really clean edge finish. 

Use your finger and wipe some black Powertex around the edges of the heart to give a distressed look. Allow this to dry, repeat to build up the layers and blend in. Then dry brush a little rich gold colotricx, or a lot, you can be as light or as heavy handed as you please. If you like the plain finish, feel free to leave them just as they are. 

Tip time: Always play with your embellishments beforehand to get an idea and feel for your layout. This design has been created just for you but this is a handy hint for future projects.

Now cut the scrim around the heart shape and cut your lace to fit.

Top tip: Leave some over hang on your lace. Once covered in black Powertex, stick down and dry, then trim the ends. Why is that? Well, you get a neater edge and if there is a small amount of shrinkage the lace will still touch right to the edges of the heart. Leaving them nice and neat. Or if you like a ragged edge, no problems, leave them as they are.

Coat all your embellishments by brushing the black Powertex over each piece and lay in place. With the metal embellishments paint them over, lay down and leave to dry. If they are not fully coated, just paint over them once dry and repeat process until fully coated.

Patience here is the key! See what I did there?

Lastly my favourite part, time to add the colour. Start by dry brushing on red powercolor, then add some white powercolor for highlights and finally a touch of rich gold colortricx. 

Remember this is only a guide with the techniques. There is no right or wrong, if you wish to change some of the colours or placement of embellishments, then use this project as a template to be inspired. It's all about having a play and most of all having fun with Powertex the medium we all love! 💖

How Powertex changed my life

So there I was bumbling along like I do, not sure what direction I was going in with my art and new little business when my friend Birdy introduced me to Tracey and Garry of Powertex Uk at the London Excel show in 2015. Little did I know that a few months later I would be taking the steps that ensured I was embarking on the journey and dream of a life time. I’m not kidding this stuff has literally changed my life. And Tracey and Garry have now affectionately become mumma Tex and pa Tex who reside at Tex Towers (Powertex Uk Hq) well to me anyway.

I now find myself on the Powertex UK Design Team for 2017. Super exciting and yes you will get to join in on that excitement. I will share the products and ideas I have come up with in my style especially for you to go off and create with the universal medium we all love. 
Well, that’s why you’re here right?

It’s an absolute privilege to invite you on this journey showing you the wonders of Powertex through new ideas, projects, this blog and Hochanda. I have a super exciting year ahead of me and it’s all thanks to Tracey and Garry for giving me this fantastic opportunity. I love my Powertex family and I can't even imagine what life was like before I was introduced to this amazingly versatile medium. I'm glad I dared to dream!