Author

Erika Venter Designs. - erikaventer.weebly.com/

Materials: MDF Firefly kit, Powertex Bronze, Powertex Ivory, Stone Art Metallic Pigments, Matt Pigments, Easycoat Glossy Bister spray, Paper deco, Glass eyes, Container to mix clay in, Rolling pin, Plastic board, Hairdryer, Paintbrush  Step 1.

Buy Firefly Base Kit

Materials: Rabbit MDF Cut Outs, Designer Chipboard Mats, Designer Stencil (I kept the stencils for another project) Powertex Universal Medium. Colours of your choice. I used black Stone Art Easy Coat Varnish - Glossy Powercolours of your choice to embellish your work. I used titanium white, red, orange, and yellow Colourtrix colours of your choice to highlight powercolours. I used white silver, pearl red, bronze gold and clear gold Sand and Balls Natural Mesh (from Bag End Studio Store) or material of your choice. Powercotton (alternative crochet cotton, string or mop string). Sorry powercotton been discontinued. Doll Eyes - from Bag End Studio Store Triangle Hooks for hanging.

Step 1: Design Layout ​

​Step 2: Make Stone Art

In a bowl with a medium amount of Black Powertex Universal Medium (approx. 1/2 cup), add Stone Art (approx. 1/2 cup) and mix with a flat spatula. Keep adding small handfuls of Stone Art until it forms a kneadable dough like mixture that no longer sticks to the bowl or your gloves. Remove the sticky ball and add a little more Stone Art to the bowl to ‘flour’ the ball. Knead well until the clay can be pushed into a textured surface and be removed again without sticking. (Apologies, I used most of my stone art clay before the photograph). Keep the clay ball wrapped in glad wrap and in a sealed airtight container to prevent hardening until use.

​Step 3: Seal MDF Boards  ​

Step 4. Join MDF Pieces Together

Paint the fronts and backs of attachment points with Powertex. Using some pre-made stone art clay cover attachment points on the back leave to dry (or hair dry to speed up process) Repeat on the front. It is possible to sprinkle stone art powder and create clay on the spot and then using a modelling tool push the clay along the edges of the pieces to attach them.

​Step 5.  Make the Bunny Tail

​Step 6.  Attach Jacket and Bunny Tail.

Using a paint brush, cover the natural mesh completely Using gloved hands fashion the mesh around your rabbit MDF. Secure it by wrapping the mesh underneath or use stone art clay to assist attachment if necessary. Place glad wrap under the natural mesh to keep it lifted. Use the stone art to attach the Bunny Tail. Once dry remove glad wrap. Cut 6 small pieces of wire to create whiskers.

​Step 7.  Sculpt Rabbit Face

Step 8.  Attach Collar and Rabbit Face

​Step 9.  Cover the Umbrella

Paint to skewers and position on top of the umbrella as shown. Cover with scrap material to make your umbrella more 3D.

Step 10.  Make the Rabbit Furry

Paint sections of Powercotton into a gloved hand (to avoid bunching and knotting) Paint the MDF with Powertex and lay the painted polycotton on top to cover the base of the rabbit. Using two skewers tease the polycotton apart starting with where you began as it will have dried a little and become tacky and easier to work with. Repeat on the arms at the front.

Step 11.  Embellish with Powercolour & Colourtrix

Pour a small amount of Easy Coat Glossy Varnish into a lid or alfoil palette. Palette out the matt Powercolours & metallic Colourtrix pigments of your choice. With a very dry brush take up a small amount of the Glossy Easy Coat Varnish onto the brush tips and criss-cross your brush onto the palette to load the varnish into your brush. Pick up a small amount of the pigment and criss-cross your brush with it into the palette to create a paint. Repeat process using colours as desired. I used White Titanium on the rabbit face, tail and fur and highlighted with White Silver. Red and orange blended on the tweed jacket. Yellow on the waistcoat under the jacket, highlighted in Rich Gold. I used Rich Gold on the collar, with a touch of red. A mixture of rich and bronze gold and white on the watch. A mixture of rich and bronze gold and red on the bow tie. Dark Silver on the umbrella.

Step 12.  Attach Chain, Fob Watch, Umbrella & Hanging Hooks.

Using stone art clay attach the chain, Fob Watch and Umbrella into place. Attach your D-ring hook on the back of your artwork as per picture

Congratulations You Have Finished.
I hope you had fun falling down this Rabbit Hole with me I look forward to firing up a new idea and lighting the way in May (a little hint there).
Meanwhile follow the link below to get your White Rabbit Kit

​​Materials:

​​Equipment:

Step One - Design Layout ​

Step Two – Seal the Back of the Boards ​

Seal the back of all the MDF Boards with Black Powertex Universal Medium. tart with the larger two bottom layers. seal the top side of the two bottom layers once the backs are dry.

​Step Three – Make Stone Art

​Step Four – Join Bottom Layer with Stone Art & Tape

Take a portion of your clay & roll out a sausage shapes that will fit along the gap between the two bottom layers of the MDF boards.  Apply a little Black Powertex to the sausage and squeeze the boards together. Spread the squeezed sausage either side of the board to help attachment. Use a hairdryer to speed up drying. Carefully flip over & even out the front side. Don’t worry about the look on the front side it will be covered up later. Too excited to wait for the stone art to dry, I started cracking on with creating texture. However, it was too flexible to work with, so I added masking tape over the stone art in the gap area. In hindsight, I would probably tape the boards together from the start & place some tape horizontally for bracing. Cover the masking tape with Black Powertex & sprinkle stone art powder over the top to make a paste. Pat down firmly Re-apply a little more Powertex to return the surface to black. NB. 3D Flex cannot be used to stick the boards together as it is a cracking clay.

​Step Five – Seal Top Layer & Face Front

​Step Six – Make 3D Flex Paste & Clay

In a bowl with a medium amount of black Powertex Universal Medium (approx. 1/2 cup), add 3D (approx. 1/2 cup) and mix with a flat spatula. Add small amounts of 3D Flex until you get a buttery consistency as we are using 3D Flex as a texture paste. Use a container with a lid to prevent drying.

Step Seven - Texturize the Fronts with   3 D Flex & Balls

Using your spatula, spread the 3D Flex over the front surfaces. Experiment dragging the spatula in different directions to increase texture. Add a little more 3D Flex to your mixture to make a stamp-able clay in the same way you made Stone Art Clay earlier. I used clay on the horns & nose pieces & stamped with a modelling tool. Distribute balls as desired into the top layers only (as they won’t be appreciated on the bottom layer once the top layer is covering it. Spray with bister to assist with cracking. I used red bister on the red background surfaces (as I wanted the red to show through) & natural bister on the black surfaces. Remember, you don’t need to over-do it as it will start to dry out & it is not until you embellish with colour that you will get a true appreciation of the textures created. I have included a photo of back layer with 3d Flex embellished with red powercolour & the front layer before embellishment as an example.

​Step Eight- Add Powercotton to Face

Using a gloved hand, lay out sections of Powercotton & finger paint with Black Powertex Universal Medium. I tend to keep it flat, so it doesn’t tangle into a tiny ball. I do not dip. Place your polycotton onto the MDF boards. I did the cheeks, chin, eyebrows & mouth hairs. I usually leave for a minute or two & then start teasing it out with skewers over the surface & adding more as required. It is a little time-consuming, but the texture effects are worth it. Use the flat end of your skewer to attach the lower surface of your Powercotton for adhesion. I usually do several pieces then come back to my first piece to tease out the top layers with the pointy ends of the skewers when it has adhered a little. Again, it is difficult to appreciate the effects until you have embellished with pigments. Experiment dragging the spatula in different directions to increase texture.

​Step Nine – Embellish & Assemble The Face

Pour a small amount of Easy Varnish into a lid or alfoil palette. Palette out the matt Powercolours & metallic Colourtrix pigments of your choice. I used Red Powercolour and highlighted with Rich Gold Colourtrix. With a very dry brush take up a small amount of Easy Varnish onto the brush tips and criss-cross your brush onto the palette to load the varnish into your brush. Pick up a small amount of the pigment and criss-cross your brush with it into the palette to create a paint. Repeat process using colours as desired. Take portions of your clay & create small sausage shapes that will fit along the base & underside of each of the front facial sections. Paint a small amount of Black Powertex Universal Medium to the surface before attaching. Use a spatula or modelling tool to flatten the edges of your sausages & firmly attach the clay to your MDF Paint a small amount of Black Powertex Universal Medium to the top of the clay before positioning piece into place & spend time working & spreading the clay out to attach to the MDF. (You can touch up with pigments at the end. Similarly, use a small clay ball with a very small amount of Powertex Universal Medium to attach eyes by squeezing down firmly into place.

​Step Ten – Assemble Body

Using a larger portion roll out a long thick sausage shape & divide into at least 3 pillars. Shape the pillars slightly to broaden the tops and bases to increase adhesion surface area. Placement will depend on personal preference & may require more pillars or differing sized pillars to get your artwork balancing right. I used three pillars with the middle being the shortest to create movement in my piece. Take your time testing positions. Once happy it will sit right. Place a little Powertex on both sides of all clay sausages/pillars to assist with adhesion. Gently press shapes together focusing on clay points of attachment. Repeat this process for the Face & Claw piece.  Leave to dry & stabilize

​Step Eleven - Hanging Hooks & Touch Ups

Take a very small portion of your pre-made clay and create a square to lay the base of the triangle hook into Using a little bit of Powertex, on the underside of the clay as a glue, place the clay square in the centre of the back of the base MDF. Press triangle hook down into the clay square to secure and cover the hook’s base with clay making sure that the hook can still swing free. Splay sides of the clay square to improve attachment to MDF. Depending on the end position, you may need a second hook. Leave at least 3 weeks for the clay to cure before hanging. Touch up your piece, spills or lack of colour, or hiding clay by embellishing with pigments.

Congratulations you’re finished.
 
Where will you hang your dragon to bring you prosperity in 2020

Christmas Inspirations-December 2019
Country Napkin Rings 
Natalie Parish from the Australian Design Team. 

Christmas can be a time for over consumption rather than contemplation. However, being crafty can give you that time and space to look at Christmas creatively. It is a tradition in my family to exchange gifts that are handmade, second-hand and this year we added bush gifts from drought and fire effected areas. So, I am going for a Country Christmas theme   Dinner is at my house this year, so to tie in my theme I decided to rehash an old napkin ring idea to make table decorations. Determined not to go to the shops, I rummaged through my useful box and craft stash to use up bits I already had. That’s what I love about the Powertex universal medium and stone art – its ability to help you create assemblage art out of found objects, off-cuts, or bits from the backyard.  that at first glance to anyone else may simply look like rubbish.  Keep in mind, except for the PTX universal medium, everything is optional depending on the style you wish to create and what you have at home.  I love to use the stone art as it speeds up the attachment process.

Materials White PTX Powertex Universal Medium  (colour is optional). Stone Art Bister – pre-mixed sepia Paper Decoration Natural - optional Powercotton - optional Sand and Balls - optional Easy coat glossy Titanium White Rich Gold www.bagendstudio.net www.powertexaustralia.com

Equipment Plastic work surface Bowls and Gloves Gladwrap Paintbrushes Spray bottle – available from www.bagendstudio.net www.powertexaustralia.com

From Your Useful Box Box Cardboard – top layer removed to expose corrugations String Bush Nuts, seeds,pods, pot puriri Flowers – dried, paper, plaster, clay, artificial. Found Objects if desired Skewers Toilet Rolls or Food Wrap Rolls – I prefer thinner rolls as they are easier to remove before drying.

​Step One – Set up to create the Base

Cover your rolls in glad wrap Cut Cardboard into a square that almost fits around your roll. I prefer for the cardboard to not meet up in the middle and instead leave a gap to be filled with my useful box items. Cut your string into 20cm lengths (approx.). This will keep the cardboard in place whilst drying and provide extra texture. Layout your seeds, nuts, skewers, flowers into a rough design that will overlap the gap in the cardboard.

Step Two - Make Stone Art

​Step Three - Assembling the Roll

​Step Four - Assembling Found Objects

​​ Paint the found or natural objects in PTX universal medium. Place each object into position in the gap area. Optional - Paper Decoration provides a great base across the gap area and can be teased apart to create fabulous textures. If you have stone art, you can attach larger objects or embed junk objects into it or use as a textural design piece. Optional - Powercotton (or strings) and Sand and Balls added at the end is a great way to integrate spaces in your design as well providing extra interest.

​Step Five - Bister

​ Making sure that your PTX is still a little bit wet, spray your entire piece with Bister using a spray bottle. (You can always give a second light coating of PTX if it has dried out) Then to create a crackle effect, dry your piece with a hairdryer. (Be careful it’s hot. I hid my fingers inside the roll). Using the hairdryer will also dry and set firm your napkin holder. However, we do not want to set it rock hard as it will be harder to remove the roll and balance the piece. Do not worry if your work looks a bit too sepia as we will highlight it in white later.

​Step Six - Setting

​ Carefully remove roll. Thin rolls can be crushed and pulled out Touch up inside of roll with a little bit of PTX. To stop your napkin ring from being top heavy, carefully, press down slightly on the top, to flatten the base until it stops rolling over and it is in a balanced position sitting upright. Set aside to dry overnight. Alternatively, to speed up the drying process, leave in the sun or use a hairdryer.

 Step Seven - Pigment Embellishing 

​ Pour a small amount of Easy Coat Varnish into a lid/palette/alfoil. Palette out the Powertex pigments of your choice. I used Titanium White (powercolour-matt) and Clear Gold (Colourtrix - metallic) With a very dry brush take up a small amount of Easy Coat Varnish into the brush tips and criss-cross your brush onto your palette to load the varnish into your brush. Pick up a small amount of powercolour pigment and criss-cross your bush with it into the palette to create a paint consistency (If it looks too watery, this is the result of too much varnish so pick up a little more pigment). Apply the colour as desired remembering it is always easier to be build colour than remove it. Repeat process with metallic pigments and use them as highlights to your work. If you do not have the PTX Pigments, you can use the white PTX to highlight textures. However, the bonus to using the dry brush technique is that you are varnishing at the same time, waterproofing the bister and giving some longevity to your napkin rings.

Just Add Your Napkins Congratulations Stay Tuned for more Country Christmas www.bagendstudio.net