How To Fall In Love - With Powertex!

Hi Everyone,

What a week it has been!

You know how I've been playing with Powertex? Well that relationship between me and the waterbased, non-toxic & environmentally friendly sculpting medium took a huge step forward this week and I'm delighted to tell you that Powertex & I are now in a long term relationship. This week I became a Certified Powertex Tutor!

To gain my certification I had to drive down to Powertex UK's HQ just outside Redditch. There, I and 11 others met with Tracey Evans, the fabulously talented lady behind PowertexUK.  Tracey was so inspiring, and her workshop is packed to the rafters with the most amazing Powertex art. Here are just a few of her amazing creations.

Powertex Bauble by Tracey Evans

African Lady in Powertex by Tracey Evans

Powertex Wine Glasses by Tracey Evans

Turquiose Powertex Figurine by Tracey Evans

Over two day's Tracey guided us through lots of techniques and taught us all about Powertex. It really is amazing what this product can do and it's so easy to use that even children can, under supervision, create amazing pieces of art. And did you know that after 3 weeks Powertex is weatherproof (with the exception of the transparent version) and can be displayed outside?

To gain my certification I had to produce 5 pieces of Powertex art over the 2 days which is no mean feat especially given the 30 degrees plus temperature those days and Frankie's bowel issues (that's Tracey's dog, not another one of our group!). With Tracey's expert help, and copious cups of coffee supplied by the fabulous team at Powertex HQ (big shout out to Garry, Chloe, Claire & Michelle) the 5 projects where completed.

I'm only giving you little glimpses of some of my projects as it was such a hectic couple of days that I forgot to take photos but I will share the others in later blogs.

Powertex Fairy House By Wendy Reed

Powertex Testube Vase Canvas By Wendy Reed

Powertex Bottle Close-up By Wendy Reed

Now that I am a certified Powertex Tutor I will be offering workshops, classes, demonstrations and Poweretex Parties at my workshop in Craftsite, Cramlington Northumberland or in your own homes / craft group premises. 

If you would be interested in trying Powertex please get in touch with me at sales@craftsite.co.uk.

See you all next week!

Getting into Powertex - taking the first steps.

Hi,

As you know I love anything messy and what could be messier than dipping fabrics in gooey, claggy Powertex? So as you can imagine I jumped at the chance of spending a morning with John Glossop and his lovely partner, Heather and a bowl of this amazing fabric hardening product. Check out John's blog - Dreams of Vintopia here.

Powertex

Together we set off on my first proper journey into the world of Powertex (ok, I'd dabbled a little previously with my pal, Sue but never done a full sculpture!).

We decided to make figurines and during the morning John showed us how to create a figurine base from a preformed head, a wooden dowel & base, some tinfoil, masking tape and, would you believe, a toilet roller tube!

A wooden base & dowel covered in toilet roll tubes!

We then affixed the preformed head and 'padded out' our figures with tin foil and covered with masking tape.

My lady is taking shape!

Clearly I modelled her figure on my own (in my dreams!)

Now the messy part! We covered our figures in pieces of fabric soaked in Powertex (this comes in lots of colours but we chose to use the bronze which looks just like runny Nutella). 

 It's amazing what you can do with a bit of old t-shirt, string & lace

 Can you believe the wrap is dishcloth material? I love the way it hang

A scrap of old lace transformed with Powertex.

We dried our sculptures off with hair driers (heat tools are too hot) until they had stiffened then dry brushed with some pigment powder mixed in a drop of varnish and voila! One elegant lady created from scraps & Powertex.
Did you know that after 3 weeks drying time Powertex sculptures are weatherproof so can be displayed outside?

Safe to say, I have now got the Powertex bug (John told me it would be addictive and it is!). So much so that I will be heading down to Powertex HQ in early July to get my Powertex Tutor Certification (yes, I will be truly certifiable!) then I will be running lots of Powertex workshops here at Craftsite and Powertex products will be available in the shop and online.

Over the next couple of blogs I will share with you a few pieces I have made using Powertex including a Harry Potter magic wand and an upcycled frying pan!

What would you like to make using Powertex? Let me know in the comments below...