Worksop Pixie Population Growth

The Pixies Move Into Worksop

Yes, its official the first pixie houses have been constructed in Worksop.

Under the watchful eye of Foreman John.

Four pixie bijou style dwellings were erected over the course of Saturday morning.

Constructed in the Rosie Mcstone Studio in the courtyard of Carlton House Vintage Arts And Crafts Centre.

Lots of workshops available at the studio if you are interested.

Friday Nights Alright

The Garden Plaque Tour.

The Powertex garden plaque workshop just keeps rolling on.

Another two workshops this week saw another 13 people introduced to the delights of Powertex.

A great beginners workshop with great end results.

All the same but all very different.

Thanks for looking

Jonathon & Jennifer xx

A Couple Of Old Newbies

Recent Acquisitions 

A couple of recent acquisitions that look really cool in the studio.

Firstly an early 1960's Limelight tallboy 6 drawer unit and secondly a 1930's Remington typewriter.

They are completely different but they are fantastic in their own way.

The tallboy looks like it has mismatched drawers but having researched it they are the originals.

New items arriving all the time. If there is anything you would like me to keep an eye out for just let me know.

Thanks for looking

Bandit & Snowman xx

Eye Of Frog And Tail Of Newt

Potion Bottles

This week I had the pleasure of doing an impromptu private workshop in the studio.

The lady and gent had seen one of my pirate bottles on a previous visit to the studio and asked if they could do one.

My reply...of course, when can you come?

So here is what we made, what do you think? I think they turned out fab.

They really look like they could have come out of some witches chambers.

Made using black Powertex fabric hardener, various adornments and coloured with a combination of powercolor colours and a selection of natural materials.

Thanks for taking a look

Kevin & Perry xx

A Little Help Needed

Are The Eighties Classed As Vintage Or Retro?

I have my own views on this ( no surprise there ). 

Antique is easy it has a clear definition.

Well this is my interpretation

Vintage in my opinion "is an item of a certain quality from a denoted period not necessarily an Antique".

Retro in my opinion " is of a style imitating the recent past.

The picture below shows a phone from the seventies/eighties.

I class this as both vintage and retro, lol

I would be very interested to hear your views.

By the way, Don't get me started on "classic".

Thanks for looking

Porgy & Bess xx

Powertex In Perpetua

Another Garden Plaque Workshop

This time at Rowan Tree Crafts to a lovely group of 5 ladies.

None of these ladies have previously used Powertex although a couple of the ladies did own Powertex.

This is my basic introduction to Powertex workshop with loads of texture but still working relatively flat.

As you can see they all turned out a fantastic piece of art.

The above piece is mine, you can see from the pieces below that the ladies all turned out a piece very close to the original.

Thanks for taking the time to look

Randall & Hopkirk x

The End Of The World As We Know It

"Unbelievable"

I don't like to complain about weather, we live in a region that's quite moderate.

My complaint is that our world comes to a stand still. We are told the weather is coming but we are still unprepared for it??

I've seen the gritters out but what are they actually spreading about because it sure as hell isn't 100% rock salt it looks to me like it has sand mixed in with it?

Anyhoo that's my rant over lol.

I know its not just me who has these views because its all over facebook.

Take care and stay safe x

a little video of my view from the studio this morning.

Thanks for looking

Ronald & Nancy x

"Steampunk" I Don't Think So!!!

To Walk A New Path

I am a massive fan of steampunk as you all know, Unfortunately sticking a cog on something doesn't make it Steampunk!!!

The world at the moment seams to me saturated with mass produced, copycat steampunk items. Well that's not for me.

However, I do appreciate the work that goes into making the one of a kind projects, and the skill of the techniques used to make a piece.

I think that's why I started this project, which I think when finished ( if it looks anything like the piece in my minds eye), will be either classed as a Steampunk/Atompunk hybrid.

Check the pictures and make up your own mind.

This will be the base for my piece.

I have completely dismantled the piece I think where possible I am going to use old recycle/upcycled components.

I acquired these recently which "sparked" my imagination.

 I'll keep you updated on the progress.

Thanks for looking

Paul & Art.

M.I.A

Where is John ???

Did you notice there has been no post so far this week?

John is away at the Stitches Trade Show in Birmingham this week.  I am sure he will have lots to tell you about all the new products that have been launched, so check back in a few days to find out how it all went.

If you are at the show, pop over and see him at the "That's Crafty" stand and say hi to John, Graham and Laura and see all the lovely products.

Powertex UK HQ are at the show too, so pop over there too and check out the fab display.

Ta Ta for now.....

Maverick & Charlie 

Megger Industrial Assemblage Lamp

Deconstruct/Construct

Its no secret that I like all things vintage and industrial.

So when I ambled across this lovely old wooden cased Electrical testing set there was no doubt in my mind that it was going to be re-purposed.

The look of it lends itself to the base of a great industrial lamp base.

This piece weighs a tonne so the first thing to do was to deconstruct it.

Oh what treasure was waiting for me inside ( when I eventually got in ).

They will be used on a future project.

After removing the excess elements I put back the bits I wanted to keep.

And that's where I am up to now.

"Sneaky Peekers"

"Repoussic Shrine"

Okay, I know there is no such word but I like the sound of it, so it has just become part of my vocabulary. Remember you heard it here first.

This is a little sneaky peek at a workshop I am developing at the moment.

Surprisingly this is all aluminium I haven't put any Pewter at all on here yet.

I just love the texture and the fact that the metal is so forgiving.

I will put more pictures on as the piece develops.

If you think you might like to do this as a workshop please feel free to contact me and we will see if we can arrange something.

Thanks for looking

Paul &Art xxx

Thin and Thick

The Art of Embossing Metal

One of my favourite crafts of all, I love the art of repousse.

Repousse is the art of stretching and refining in metal either manually or mechanically to create a textured piece.

On these technique samplers we used six different techniques, creating a reference for any future project.

I gave the ladies at PDA the option to either colour their piece using Alcohol inks or to use a black acrylic wash ( this gives a patina effect to the pewter centre piece.

Check out the pictures I think they turned out rather good.

Thanks for looking

Bert & Ernie

Footprints In My Heart

Avadrew

(A Labour of Love)

We finally got it finished!!

It has been a steep learning curve but I think we are all happy with the end result.

As ever it is nice to go through the processes and learn new skills and to see a finished piece evolve

I am a typical "Yorkshireman" so if I think I can do it myself then I will. 

Maybe that is being tight, but the reward of seeing something through far outweighs the financial benefits.

Don't get me wrong there was problems and obstacles to overcome every step of the way 

but isn't this what makes the end result rewarding? And doesn't that just sum up life?

I suppose this little homage to our granddaughter is a little metaphor for life.

"Learn new skills, make mistakes and evolve"

This year is going to see lots of changes, I am sure that most of them will be for the best and I know

for a fact I will make mistakes and have regrets.

But it is better to walk your own path and learn from your own mistakes than to follow blindly and lack identity 

Thanks for looking

Eric and Ernie xxx

Love Tokens 2018

In Honour of Saint Valentine

Monday is my day off and today I have been making little tokens of love.

They are not for my beloved wife, but to sell in the studio.

Its nice to receive a card but from my experience a decent card cost between £6-£10

Yes they certainly know how to take advantage of us.

So I thought I would make these up to sell in the studio.

They cost just a little over the cost of a decent card and each one is unique.

These 2 are roughly 5" x 7"

A couple have sold already

thanks for looking

Lady & the tramp xx

Its Been A While

That's Crafty Demonstration at Coleman's Warehouse , Rushden.

Well its been a while since I did a craft demo.

This one was representing That's Crafty.

It was a great day meeting lots of new people and meeting up with a couple of old friends.

This is a really cool place and the staff are both friendly and knowledgeable.

If you haven't been here before and you are in the area I seriously advise you check them out.

The first Saturday of every month is demo day with loads of demonstrations going on.

Note to self :- need more samples.

Here are a few of the finished samples and a few works in progress

Work in progress

Work in progress

Work in progress

Thanks for taking a look

Donald & Daisy xxx