Christmas is coming

Hi everyone. I am delighted to be a guest designer for Chocolate Baroque this month. My first offerings are some Christmas makes. It’s been a tough year for us all and this Christmas is not really going to be usual. However, lets hope that time goes by quickly and that we can look forward to better times ahead with our friends and family in 2021. Lots of hugs, Anne.

CHRISTMAS LANTERN

My first project is a pretty Christmas lantern. I mixed & matched lots of stamps on this one but just had to include my absolute fave reindeer stamp.

Woohoo – all lit up.

This one is to be gifted to my 96 year old friend who I help care for. We are having Christmas together as I am in her support bubble. I think that she will love it.

Materials List

• MDF Lantern approx. 12.5cm wide and 20cm height (this one was from Mad Hatters but any similar could be used)
• Stamps from Chocolate Baroque: Winter Edges, Pears and Baubles, Robin the Spruce, Sparkling Trees, and New England Winter
• Stencil from Chocolate Baroque: Seasonal Journey
• Inkpads: Versamark and Versafine (Vintage Sepia)
• Sparkle pen (pale blue), Glaze gel pen (red)
• Watercolour pens: pale blue, green, sepia
• Stickles clear sparkly glitter glue (Icicle)
• White Gesso and acrylic paints (pale turquoise blue and white)
• Gold gilding wax and Galaxy flakes (chunky mica/glitter flakes)
• Clear sparkling glitter gel medium – Kristall Gel (Viva Décor)
• Embossing powders: detail white, white with silver glitter, and pale blue glitter
• Heat resistant acetate and smooth white stamping card
• Red liner tape (strong double sided tape)
• Wired Christmas ribbon
• String of small LED lights

Pretty 3D scene with house and trees.

A close up – oh that reindeer!

Adding the acetate baubles helps to blur and disguise the side edges of the card cut outs creating the scene.

How it was made:

1. The bare MDF lantern was coated with white Gesso (primer).

2. When dry it was painted with acrylics. Gilding wax was added around the ledges.

3. Versamark was applied through the stencil onto heat resistant acetate to create the Winter sentiment. It was heat embossed with sparkly white powder, cut out and attached to the lantern with strong tape.

4. The snowflakes border was stamped and embossed with white glitter powder 4 times, cut out and taped to the top portion of the lantern arches. Two large baubles were also stamped, embossed and cut out.

5. Extra snowflakes were stamped and embossed with white or blue glitter powders, along with a few twiggy branches, and cut out ready to use as embellishments.

6. The main images; 2 large background trees, the building scene, smaller foreground tree and reindeer were stamped with Versafine and cut out. In addition pine cones were cut out from the stamped pine branch stamp.

7. Images were coloured with watercolour, glitter and gel pens.

8. Now for the messy bit – ha ha. The glitter gel was used to coat the base and spread on top of the ledges. Some was also applied behind the acetate to help glue it in place securely. I had this heavy bodied thick glitter gel in my stash for years. It really needed using up as it had started to set in the pot. Some of the half set chunks were stuck down into the wet gel for added dimension. For added sparkle I also dropped in some of the chunky mica flakes. You could substitute heavy bodied acrylic medium and add glitter for similar results.

9. The stamped images were anchored into the wet gel to create the scene. I just had to add a little bit more sparkle over the images with clear glitter glue too.

10. Once the glitter gel medium had dried I did a bit of dry brushing with white Gesso in some areas to add more snowy effects.

11. The light string was then arranged to light up the background house and trees, and to light up the foreground tree. The wires were anchored with strong tape at the back of the images to help hold them in place. The switch was hidden behind the large background scene images.

12. The acetate bauble images were added to the sides with red tape. This helped blur the view through the sides of the lantern where just side on edges of the card elements were visible. It may have been better to stamp the sides as one complete panel but I found that I needed easy access to the inside in order to arrange the stamps and lights.

13. The ribbon bow was added to the top. The acetate snowy sprigs and pine cones were added to embellish the bow. The glitter glue gel was used to anchor everything in place. Extra snowflakes used to embellish too.

 

ROBIN SCENE CARD

Every year I end up leaving my Christmas cards until the last minute so I decided to do a couple of projects that would be fairly quick and easy for batch making. I always use my stamping press for batch making – it makes it so much easier to line everything up and repeat stamp multiple times.

I hope that you like this robin scene card.

I added extra inking around the outer edges of this one but decided that it really didn’t need it so didn’t do it on the rest. I just had to get on with that batch making! Ha ha.

Materials list

• 15cm square white linen textured card blanks
• Smooth white stamping card and Kraft card
• Stamps from Chocolate Baroque: Winter Edges, Pears and Baubles (sentiment), and Robin the Spruce
• Inkpads: Versafine (Vintage Sepia), Distress Ink (Tumbled Glass)
• Watercolour pens: red and brown
• Sparkly glitter glue (Stickles Icicle, red and gold) and Glossy Accents
• Sparkly organza ribbon

How it was done

1. Images were stamped with Versafine and cut out.

2. The main image was coloured with watercolour pens and mounted onto Kraft card. Glossy Accents was used to add shine to the Rosehips, and glitter glues added for sparkle.

3. The snowflake borders were stamped directly onto the card blank with Distress Ink.

4. The ribbon was glued down and the main topper added. The sentiment was also mounted onto Kraft card and glued in place. The branch was lightly shaped before gluing.

5. Finished with more dots of glitter glue. Hey – you can never have too much bling – tee hee.

Note: I kept these fairly flat for ease of posting. 3D foam could be used for more depth if desired.

 

CHRISTMAS TREE SHAKER CARDS

Who doesn’t like a shaker card? Scenic panel stamps make them really quick and easy for batch making. These were quite tricky to photo due to shiny acetate and all that bling. Hopefully you can see enough detail of the lovely glittery snow behind the acetate windows.

Materials list:

• Frosty Trees stamp set (Chocolate Baroque)
• 15 X 9cm white linen textured card blanks
• Heavy weight textured white card (for frames)
• Heat resistant acetate
• Versamark Inkpad
• Embossing powders: Detail white, white with silver glitter, metallic silver
• Glitter for inside shaker (I used Pinflair Ice Diamond – non static glass glitter)
• Stickles glitter glue (Icicle)
• Foam tape and red liner tape (strong double sided tape)
• Optional: Die to cut decorative aperture approx. 12 X 6cm (or cut a plain frame by hand). I used a die from Tonic (Kaleidoscope Box Panel set)

How it was done:

1. Cut a frame to fit the card front and surround the stamped scene.

2. Stamped the image onto acetate and heat embossed with choice of powder. Trimmed and attach behind the frame with strong tape.

3. Next attached foam tape ensuring that no gaps were left (to contain the glitter).

4. Laid card flat and placed glitter in the middle before placing the framed acetate scene.

5. Finished with dots of glitter glue.

 

MORE CHRISTMAS TREE CARDS

Finally I made another batch of quick and easy cards using the reverse scene image and blue ink. I do love monochrome blue & white cards.

Materials list:

• 15cm square linen textured white card blanks
• Chocolate Baroque stamps: Frosty Trees, Winter Edges, and Pears & Baubles
• Versafine Inkpad (Majestic Blue)
• Dark blue alcohol ink pen
• Stickles glitter glue (Icicle)
• Foam tape
• Optional: Die to cut decorative panel approx. 12 X 6cm (or cut a plain one by hand). I used a die from Tonic (Kaleidoscope Box Panel set)

How it was done:

1. Images were stamped with Versafine. Note: images on the textured card blanks will not be sharp. This is fine for the backgrounds.

2. Scene panels were cut out and stuck down with foam tape for added dimension.

3. Finished with glitter glue sparkles. Sorry but had to do it.

Release of Paperlathe and New Tassel Making Book from Gina B Silkworks

 

I am getting really excited. Gina is launching her next book in the Total Trimmings Series today – all about tassels. I literally squealed with delight when my copy arrived. I have had so much fun helping out with samples ready for the shows on Hochanda TV starting today (at 6 and 8pm), more shows tomorrow (9am, 1pm and 5pm).

Watch live on Freeview Channel 85 (UK) or online via their website at www.Hochanda.com

In addition to the book Gina will be launching a great bundle (One Day Special offer) including the Paperlathe system with a brand new Companion CD enabling you to make so many wonderful shapes for tassel tops, mixed media and bead making. Whether you like soft crafts, mixed media or jewellery making you will love it. The small tassel board is great for making mini tassels suitable for both trimmings and for jewellery.

Check Gina’s Facebook page for some examples of the Paperlathe shapes and wonderful tassels in the new book.

Here are some of the shapes that I made from the original Paperlathe system. I created the beads using recycled wrapping paper. Coating them with varnish or clear embossing powders seals them and makes them more robust, finishing them with a lovely gloss shine.

The Paperlathe system provides hundreds of different shapes and the new Companion CD provides even more possibilities with more tassel tops, fabulous stands (fab for mixed media – great shapes for box feet etc. too) and more bead shapes too for jewellery and embellishing.

Delighted with these made with recycled wrapping papers. They will look even better once varnished.

More recycled papers.

These look great in just plain wrapping paper. Just one layer of gloss varnish looks fab.

More stunners. I just love how the patterned papers work out.

I love how these turned out – they look a little oriental. Just need to add some varnish to finish.

Really pleased with my first attempts. These are now ready for covering and making tassel tops. I printed them onto the back of recycled copier paper – I love any opportunity to recycle waste.

I have been busy making lots of samples for the shows and will share more finished work soon xxx.

Recycled Bottle and Glass Mixed Media with Powertex

I simply love to recycle, upcycle and repurpose so this project using a recycled wine bottle and a set of cheap cocktail glasses from the charity shop was a perfect project for me. I also used some of my old T shirts and fabric scraps too.

This set is now perfect for any festive or celebratory occasion. The bottle could be used either as a decanter (by using with a bottle stopper or cork) or used with a slim candle to adorn the table. Using Powertex enables items to be easily washed too.

Materials used:

• Recycled wine bottle, set of old cocktail glasses
• Recycled T shirt and cotton sheet, knitted fabric, canvas mesh and hessian (burlap) scraps
• Kitchen paper
• Plaster figurine small face
• 3D Sand
• Stone Art
• Mixed silicone moulds from my stash – leaves and fruit (mainly from Katy Sue Designs)
• Synthetic Brushes
• Powertex Fabric Hardener: Blue, Bronze, Ivory and Transparent
• Ready Mixed Bister Liquids: Brown, Red
• Powercolor Pigments: Ultramarine, Burgundy, Titanium White
• Colotricx Pigment: Rich Gold
• The Secret Art Loft Pigments: Green Ginger, Violet Valentine, Blue Curacao, Limoncello Gold, Tequila Sunrise
• The Secret Art Loft Acrylic Paints: Lemon Meringue, Raspberry Sorbet, Plum Pudding, Blueberry Pie, Mint Jelly, Key Lime, Orange Marmalade
• Easy Varnish

How it was done:

The bottle was actually a project that I started on my level 1 Powertex Tutor training. I was fairly happy with it but I had always wanted to take it a few steps further. I am definitely a ‘more is more’ type of girl and I wanted to add extra embellishments to complete it – but what? Sadly it got confined to the corner for over a year before the idea finally came to me when I came home from the charity shop with my set of cocktail glasses.

The lemon coloured glasses inspired citrus, the blue coloured glasses inspired berries – yay – off we go!

Starting with my bottle: Blue Powertex medium was used to coat recycled T shirt fabrics and hessian which was draped around the bottle to give texture. Kitchen paper was separated into single ply and blue Powertex was used to glue it around the neck of the bottle to give added texture. Blue Powertex was also used to paint and glue the plaster face.

Eeeek – I was freaking out a bit this stage as it looked awful. I will say that this was part of the training. We were given a few challenges! The blue is a gorgeous colour but not necessarily the easiest for your first ventures. If you are a beginner I would recommend starting with Bronze Powertex and colouring as I did for the blue glasses as given below; achieving a similar final result with less palpitations – tee hee.

Spritzing with Brown and Red Bister gave a nice purple muted effect which was lovely, and also blended in the darker T shirt material nicely. Powercolor and Colortricx Pigments were mixed with Easy Varnish and dry brushed over the piece to highlight textures. The dry brushing really does make so much difference! Ooooh much happier now, but as I said – it needed more work in my mind.

Now for the embellishments: With fruit embellishments in mind I mixed up some Stone Art with Ivory Powertex to make a clay and used silicone moulds to make citrus slices, nuts, leaves and berries. Once dry I used Secret Art Loft Acrylics to paint them.

When painting the fruit slices the outer ring of pith was left unpainted. Dry brushing with Ivory Powertex was used to highlight the central pith texture and make the lemon slices look more realistic.

The same with the orange slices.

The berries and nuts were also painted with Secret Art Loft Acrylics. I mixed colours to give a more naturalistic look.

Varying colour mixes and depth.

Purples, pinks, oranges and green mixes were used to colour the berries. Once coated with varnish (last steps) they looked quite realistic.

Various fruits, nuts and leaves were used to embellish the bottle. Items were stuck down using Transparent Powertex. Where needed 3D sand was mixed with Bronze Powertex in order to make a 3D glue to stick down shaped embellishments on the textural surface.

Yay – fulfilling my ‘more is more’ – ha ha.

Secret Art Loft pigments were mixed with varnish and were dry brushed over textured areas and over the berries to give extra pearlescent sheen.

Coloured Powertex is weatherproof and therefore washable. Acrylic paint layers were further protected by painting with Easy varnish to ensure that the bottle was fully washable. The varnish also enhanced the painting and gave the fruits and berries a lovely sheen. Happy bunny.

Next to decorate the glasses: I collected together varied textural fabrics. The blue background is my plastic shower curtain that I use to cover my bench – joyous messiness evident!

The glass stems and base of the bowls were painted with a coat of bronze Powertex. Any drips were removed with a damp cloth. T shirt fabric was cut into strips and stretched to make a ‘cord’ for wrapping the stems. More fabrics and T shirt strips were coated with Bronze Powertex and wrapped around the glass bowls. The T shirt cord held everything in place around the top of the glasses while drying. I applied the main 3D texture just to one face, leaving the backs flatter (otherwise they might get in the way when drinking from the glasses). The smoother stems made them easy and comfortable to hold.

The blue glasses were embellished with berries and textures enhanced with dry brushing using the blue/purple toned Secret Art Loft Pigments.

Oooh yummy.

The yellow glasses were embellished with citrus slices and textures enhanced with dry brushing using the citrus and gold toned Secret Art Loft Pigments.

More yummy.

I hope that you like my celebratory table set. I really enjoy making these – and using now them – special glasses seem to make the contents more special too.

Happy crafting, Anne x.

Ganutell Flowers on Hochanda TV today from Gina B Silkworks

Two great shows on Hochanda TV today from Gina Barrett (Freeview Channel 85 or watch catch up online from their website www.hochanda.com).

 

The first show was at mid day today (Sunday 31st March) with the Ganutell flowers (to watch catch up you can select the TV Schedule and pick the show to watch from there). At 4pm there will be a Teneriffe Lace show.

 

I used the Pretty Posy (pink version) Kit to make two variations of this necklace (using extra thread and wire from my stash). One I hung on a vintage brass chain, the other I created a wirework collar with vintage brass effect coated copper wire and beads. I will blog more details of how I created them soon.

I also had a lot of fun making flowers from the Ganutell Country Flowers Book.

I made a lovely poppy brooch for remembrance.

I had a lot of fun creating a fairy door with lovely floral garden. I used various Powertex media and recycled packaging to create this and will blog more details later for you.

Finally I made a floral Dream Catcher wreath.

Flower Girl Figurine Garden Sculpture with Powertex

This is my first attempt at a figurine. She took me a long time to finally get finished, having started her over a year ago at my Level 1 Powertex Tutor Training! Now that she is finally done I love my Flower Girl – and I call her ‘Bestower of Beauty’.

She stands approx. 49cm high.

Materials used:

• Powertex Fabric Hardener: Bronze
• Wooden Base
• Grace Plaster Head – European Collection
• Recycled Textile Yarn (T shirt Yarn), mixed recycled crochet and cotton fabrics, Stockinette and lace strips
• Tin foil, masking tape, toilet roll inner card tube
• Powercotton
• Stone Art
• 3D Sand and Balls
• Silicone Moulds: Daisies and Leaves Mould Set, small daisy and fern (from my stash)
• Powercolor Pigments: Ultramarine, Green and Titanium White
• Colortricx Pigments: Bronze Gold
• The Secret Art Loft Pigments: Lipstick Fizz, Green Ginger, Blue Curacao, Interference Blue, Mojito Lime, Interference Lilac, Violet Valentine, Limoncello Gold
• Easy Varnish

How it was done:

The body was shaped over the wooden pole using the card inner tube stuffed and wrapped with foil and covered with masking tape. The plaster head was taped onto the top.

T shirt yarn was then wound tightly around the torso and down to the base of the pole. I made a bit of a decorative wrap over the torso to create the dress bodice. The whole thing was then given a coat of Bronze Powertex, working it well into the fabric.

 

Fabrics were then coated with Powertex and draped over the body to create the clothing. I used a knitted fabric (Stockinette) to create the illusion of arms by allowing the knit to curl around on itself to give dimension.

A small amount of Power Cotton was added to make small hair plaits draped over her shoulder, and fine lace added to make a headdress. Another piece of T shirt yarn was used to create a tie belt and helped to hold the skirt securely in place. The crochet skirt was draped down and over the base.

During the training course I started the dry brushing technique, mixing pigments into Easy Varnish, to add some colour and bring out the different textures. I used Bronze Colortricx to colour the face, shoulders and hair, plus to add colour around the base. Blue and green Powercolors were used (mixed with a little white) to dry brush and highlight clothing texture.

I was delighted with what I had achieved but came home with my figurine always intending to add more colour (you know how I LOVE colour) and floral embellishments to turn her into a gorgeous flower girl. Sadly she sat in the corner for around a year before I finally pulled her back onto my work bench!

I began by adding much more colour, intense in places, to colour her clothing using the new colours from The Secret Art Loft. I tried to keep most of this colour to the top layers of texture so as to keep depth in the fabric folds. I also added more colour to her face and lips, plus a little shading over the eye lids.

Flower and leaf embellishments were created using Art Stone mixed with Powertex to make a clay which was pressed into silicone moulds. When dry they were coloured with Secret Art Loft Pigments mixed with Easy Varnish and glued in place with Powertex. I also created a suggestion of arms and hands using Stone Art clay. The bad modelling was disguised by carefully placing the bouquet of flowers in her arms – ha ha.

The flowers were also applied onto her dress and down around the base. More texture was added to the base by sprinkling 3D Sand & Balls into wet Powertex.

I spiralled the flowers down and around the hem of her skirt.

Here you can see lots of textures in her outfit, and pretty coloured flowers in her hair.

Another view showing her back.

She looks beautiful standing in the garden. Although she is weather proof I would definitely have to add extra weight (e.g. a concrete base) or add a small garden spike to the base, as she is very vulnerable to toppling over in the wind. I am going to be keeping her indoors so she will be ok as she is.

 

However, she does look gorgeous alongside my unicorn! I might change my mind and adapt the base for outdoors – sure that I have a bit of broken paving slab somewhere – that would do the trick.

I hope that you like my ‘Bestower of Beauty’.

Bye for now, Anne x.

Tropical Art Doll Mixed Media with Powertex

I have never tried making an Art Doll before and I had so much fun making this. I wanted to make her really bright and cheerful with a tropical feel – the fabulous zingy cocktail colours from The Secret Art Loft Pigments, Inks, and Acrylics range were perfect.

Materials Used

• Art Doll MDF Kit A5
• Powertex Fabric Hardener: Transparent, Ivory and Bronze
• Easycoat Mat
• Easy Structure
• Easy Varnish
• 3D Sand
• The Secret Art Loft Acrylics: Orange Marmalade, Lemon Meringue, Raspberry Sorbet, Blueberry Pie
• The Secret Art Loft Inks: Egg Yolk, Tangerine and Metallic Golden
• The Secret Art Loft Pigments: Pink Flamingo, Limoncello Gold, Tequila Sunrise
• Seed beads (pink), leaf beads (cerise and orange) and flower drop bead (orange)
• Large metal filigree embellishment, small MDF teardrop (for bird beak), sequins (pink)
• Copper beading wires (pink colour coated) – 0.8mm and 1mm
• Round nosed and flat nosed jewellery pliers, wire cutters (for cutting and shaping wires)
• Small sections of plastic tube (drinking straws could be used)
• Faux silk flowers (wired stems), scrap cotton fabric strips, cotton fibres pulled from fabric (aqua), and thin pink ribbon
• Fine glitter (green)
• Art Quotes Stencil (The Secret Art Loft) and texture stencil (from my stash)

Extras used on the canvas: A4 canvas board, White Paper Decoration, 3D Sand and Balls, Assorted Lace Strips, dried beech nut outer shells and pine cone, small paper clay flowers, old key, gold glitter plus mix blue & green seed beads.

How it was done:

First all the MDF components were popped out of the sheet and coated with Ivory or Bronze Powertex Fabric Hardener and left to dry. The box frame was constructed and hanger section attached (the Powertex acts as a glue too). I also coated one of the ‘waste pieces’ which I thought would make a great bird shape to insert into the box frame.

A background panel for the box frame was cut from the FAB images on the packaging sheet and glued in place using Easycoat decoupage medium. Acrylic Inks were used to add a tint of colour.

Easy Structure paste was applied through a texture stencil onto the large background panel and to sections of the frame. The Art Quotes Stencil was used to apply text to the frame, and to apply random sections of text to the wings.

When dry, translucent inks were used to tint the text on the frame. The outer background panel was coloured with Lemon Meringue and Orange Marmalade acrylics, then brushed over with a little Metallic Golden Ink to highlight the texture, before sticking down the box frame.

The birdy shaped waste MDF piece was coloured with acrylic paints and layered into the box using Transparent Powertex to glue. The metallic embellishment was coated with Ivory Powertex and stuck down. The beak coated with Bronze Powertex, and eyes created with seed beads (dark centres created with Bronze Powertex, drizzled into the bead hole with a cocktail stick).

Transparent Powertex was used to coat the fabric flowers and massaged into the aqua cotton fibres. It was also drizzled around the sides to embed the seed beads. A little sand was mixed with Transparent Powertex to make a 3D glue paste to help hold the flower stems in place.

More acrylic paints were used to colour, and to brush over textured surfaces. Easy Varnish was used to stick down sequins, and to embed glitter which was brushed over sections for extra sparkle. Pearl Pigments in Varnish were also applied with dry brushing to add shimmer. I just love a bit of bling.

The headdress and face were dry brushed with Pink Flamingo and Limoncello Gold Pigments mixed with Easy Varnish. Sequins and beads were added for more texture and bling. 1mm wire was used to make a hanging loop.

The wings were coloured with Acrylic Paints and Gold Ink and … yes I had to add some glitter sparkle too.

Fabric strips and ribbon were treated with Transparent Powertex and used to wrap sections of plastic tubing to create beads for the upper arms and legs. The upper arms were attached with 1mm wire, through the holes in the box frame, in such a way that they were held in place (i.e. not dangling). This enabled the lower arm dangles to hang each side of the body.

The upper leg sections were attached so that they hung freely at the base giving movement. The lower arm and leg shapes were dry brushed with Varnish and Pearl Pigments, and beads stuck down with Transparent Powertex. These were hung from the upper arm and leg beads using wire loops so they dangled freely. Leaf and flower bead dangles were also added to the frame base and legs using 0.8mm wire (1mm was too thick to fit the bead holes).

The floral MDF shape was painted with acrylics, embellished with a metal filigree shapes and seed beads before gluing to the main background panel.

My finished Art Doll just makes me so happy. I love her bright happy colours. Plenty of bling and dangles too – cannot help but smile.

After using all the provided shapes to create her I looked at the pile of waste MDF bits left behind – they inspired me to create a canvas. I never waste anything – ha ha.

I coloured the background canvas with Bronze Powertex. Texture and the text was then applied using Easy Structure paste through the stencils. I just love this sentiment from the Art Quotes Stencil.

All the waste bits were coated with Ivory Powertex and applied down. I tried not to think about it too much – as I can spend hours procrastinating on positioning stuff! I just wanted to be free and ‘go for it’ and see what happened.

I then started coating some of the embellishments and building up the scene. Sand & Balls were added into wet Powertex and then coloured with inks and by dropping in some pigment powders.

I built up a sort of tree on the left hand side using Paper Decoration and lace, adding the Beech nuts and pine cone to embellish.

More acrylic colour was added, and beads added by embedding in we Transparent Powertex. Pearl Pigments were added to varnish for dry brushing over some of the textures. Finally I just couldn’t help myself but had to add some gold glitter mixed into the varnish. More yummy bling.

The finished piece is fairly crazy and abstract but I was pleased with it. I thought that it looked like a foreground beach with water, sand and trees, then rising up in the background were buildings positioned up a hillside. A kind of tropical paradise I thought. You may see something completely different. That is the joy of abstract art. I had to pop in the key to ‘unlock the mystery’. I hope that you like my mad idea for using up all the scrap MDF bits.

Bye for now, Anne x.

Powertex Mixed Media Shows on Hochanda TV Tomorrow

Tracey is back on Hochanda tomorrow (1 Feb) with more mixed media fun using Powertex.

 

I have had great fun helping out with samples and have to say that the kits are fabulous. Here is a little sneaky peek of one of my samples.

 

Live show times are 12 and 4pm – Freeview Channel 85 (or watch online via their website).

 

Bye for now, Anne x.

Gina B Silkworks coming to Hochanda TV next week

Gina Barrett (from Gina B Silkworks) is having her first shows on Hochanda TV on Wed 16th Jan (Freeview channel 85 or watch live online via there website at Hochanda.com).  She has two shows:

 

10am show – Gina will be bringing kits and looms to make Teneriffe Lace.

 

Here is a little sneaky peek at some of my show samples.

 

3pm show – Gina will be showing us how to make vintage thread wrapped and ring buttons. There will also be some little journal kits.

I will reveal more of my samples over the next few days x.

Mixed Media Floral Canvas

Hi all. Today I am sharing a floral mixed media canvas. I started it just over a year ago and it had been sitting as a ‘UFO’ ever since. I usually continue with a project until it is finished, but must admit that if it gets put away before finishing I find it very difficult to get it back on track. So pleased that I dug it back out and got inspired to complete it.

I started working on this at Powertex Headquarters as part of my Level 1 training. I have to say that it was a fabulous couple of days where Tracey took us through a whole host of fabulous techniques.

Black Powertex was used to coat a 12 X 12 primed and stretched canvas. Various fabrics, pieces of lace, kitchen paper and Paper Decoration (White) were coated with Powertex and laid onto the canvas. Small polycarbonate test tubes were covered in cling film (to protect) and incorporated into the canvas. The layers were left to dry before working on the next stages. I also coated the little wooden canvas stretchers to make am area for maybe adding text.

Various pigment colours were mixed and applied with Easy Varnish (Powercolor: Burgundy, Ultramarine, White; Colortricx: Rich Gold and Powerpearl). Initially I was unhappy with the results as everything appeared too dark. I am definitely a colour girl. After some thought I drizzled on some Green Powercolor in Varnish diluted with a little water to make more of a wash. Oooh – much happier.

This was the stage at which it was almost finished but I still wasn’t happy with it – hence it sat in the cupboard for a year. I really thought that it needed more decoration and building up with embellishments. I collected together some MDF cogs (already treated with Black Powertex and rubbed over with gold gilding wax), die cut birds, silk flowers and air dry clay flowers created with silicone moulds from my stash. I also had a stash of moulded flowers created with pearlescent acrylic modelling paste (I put some turquoise glitter in the moulds while making these – yay bling).

I added more colour to the canvas using the new Metallic Inks from the Secret Art Loft (Aqua and Golden).

The paper clay and card embellishments were coated with Black Powertex before sticking down. Where needed I used Easy Structure Paste tinted with Powertex to make a 3D glue for sticking down.

The sentiment (from Chocolate Baroque) was stamped onto card with Versamark (Onyx Black) and applied with Easycoat Matt Medium to glue and seal. The pine cones were treated with Bronze Powertex and rubbed over with gold gilding wax. Beginning to love it now.

I continued building layers of embellishments and also added some created with yellow tinted clay and treated with Transparent Powertex. I liked the pop of complimentary colour. More colour was also added to Varnish and dry brushed over the textural surfaces. I really love the new Secret Art Loft Pigments (Interference Lilac, Limoncello Gold, Violet Valentine), they are so vibrant over dark backgrounds.

The silk flowers were treated with Black Powertex and dry brushed with Violet Valentine and Interference Lilac Pigments. Clear varnish was applied over the yellow flowers and the acrylic embellishments to seal. A little Glossy Accents was applied over the sentiment to emphasise.

I was really chuffed with the final piece. I hope that you like it too.

The great thing about this canvas is that the faux flowers can be removed and replaced with real ones (the tubes are removable and can be filled with a little water). I was initially planning to hang the canvas at an angle but I rather like this orientation with the flowers going at 45 degrees.

Well that’s all for today. Back with more creations soon, Anne x.

Mixed Media Floral Candle Bowl

Hi All. Today I am sharing a couple of upcycling projects. I have revamped an old chipped crackle glass bowl into a gorgeous faux candle holder and my old egg timer, over 20 years old and really looking very shabby. I love to revamp and upcycle items that otherwise may have been fit only for the bin.

Here is my finished bowl – I just love it now. I didn’t want to completely cover the pretty crackle glass and I thought a faux electric candle would be a perfect shimmering through.

I gathered together some recycled old cotton bedding, tore it into strips and treated with Black Powertex to make the textured side panels. 3D Sand and Balls were applied into the wet Powertex for more texture.

A recycled T shirt was cut into strips and stretched to create cords (it forms a cord when pulled). These were then Powertex treated and coiled around the rim to add strength and to cover up the chipped edge. Any drips on the glass panels were removed with a damp cloth to keep them clear.

I had several large flowers and leaves in my stash that had been created with air dry clay and silicone moulds. These were coated with Black Powertex and applied around the rim of the bowl. I used some Easy Structure paste tinted with Powertex as a 3D glue to apply them onto the uneven shaped surface.

Then came the colouring fun. I used Silver Colortricx and several of the new colours from the Secret Art Loft (Interference Blue, Interference Lilac and Mojito Lime). I mixed them with Easy Varnish and applied by dry brushing to pick up and emphasise the textures. I just love these new colours and they work fabulously on dark backgrounds.

This is my poor old egg timer. Definitely seen better days and it was coming to pieces a little too.

I took it completely apart for revamping so that I could get everything well stuck down and access all the parts for painting.

I painted all the components with a couple of layers of Black Powertex, along with a couple of air dry clay flowers. I chose a flower shape with a fairly flat top so that they could be placed on each end and not fall over.

Ta da. I love my new egg timer. Should be good for another 20 years now. I added a little dry brushing with Colortricx Silver and Interference Violet Pigments to add shimmer and bring out the texture.

Bye for now. Hope to have more to share soon, Anne x.