Steampunk Style Polystyrene Torso

 

I picked up this fab little torso / mannequin for a bargain price of £5.

I covered it in a layer of black powertex.

And covered the back too.

I cut up pieces of leather and stuck them on. Once dry I added gems to the corners of each piece to look like studs.

I added eyelets to two long pieces of leather on each side and used some leather lace to criss cross them over.

Then I coated all the leather in a layer of black powertex and left it to dry.

I used resin to make the cogs and painted them in black powertex.

Next I added a chunky zip.

Then I decided to fill the front in with leather.

 

And around the zip on the back with more pieces of leather.

Next I started placing steampunk elements on the back.

I glued them on with black powertex and then gave everything a coat.

I made some more steampunk pieces from moulds.  I used stoneart clay on some and the dragonfly is from resin, but I took it out of the mould before it had completely cured so that I could shape it to fit the mannequin.

Then I added more to the front and attached the belt.

I painted them in black powertex.

I put a series of cogs on the arm holes.

I decided to add wings to the back.

And finally I gave everything another coat of black powertex.

Next I used various different metallic pigments and varnishes to colour the pieces. The reason the gold looks a bit hap-hazard is because the different leathers have different textures.

Close up of the front, the dragonfly is silver so it really stands out, but there is no sun today, so it's not a great photo.

And from the back, coloured all the pieces inside the zips with the same colour.

View from the side.

And then the other side.

And off-set to the right.

And finally to the left.

#powertex #upcyclingchallenge #rusteffects

Steampunk Torso

 

The 1kg bottle of powertex is just for scale to show the size of the torso which I covered in cling film.

I cut up small squares of denim from an old pair of jeans, covered it in black powertex and moulded it over the torso.

Once completely dry (after about 3 days as the denim was quite thick), I cut all the way up the back in the middle to get it off the torso.

I then attached a zip with powertex to the left and side, once dried I attached the other side to the right.

Once dried and put back together I decided to add some colour. I went for blue as I'd initially used pieces of denim.

I mounted it on a piece of wood and added metal embellishments.

And from the other side.

And finally from the front.  I added a couple of buckles onto pieces of leather and added some metal studs.

Little Leather Eye Books

I made some little spooky / scary eye books with a leather cover.

They are rubbed with black stazon to create a worn look and coated with gloss varnish which really brings out all the textures.

These are for sale in my Etsy shop.

Leather Shoes

I have to say I was more than slightly apprehensive about doing this. This is my right real leather (expensive) work shoe. Not sure if you can see or not, but the front is pretty scuffed up and they've started to look a bit tatty.

DecoArt have just brought out this new product called Patent Leather Paint and you can use it on leather to revive it. So here goes, to try it on my expensive leather shoes - yikes!!!

But OMGosh, WOW, what fantastic results so far. I left the small panel on the right as you look at it just to compare. In case it went hard or anything like that.

And this is the left as you look at the photo compared to the right, what a difference and the leather has kept its shape, it's feel, ie it's still very soft and flexible. 

You have to give them 24 - 48 hours to cure before they become fully waterproof, so that is the next thing to try when we get some rain. Obviously I am now going to paint the other one plus the panels I missed on the first one.

But up to now, I have to say, I'm really impressed. So if you have anything you need reviving I throughly recommend this product and it comes in an array of different colours, not just black.

Garden Fairy

Remember my headless fairy from my workshop on Saturday......

Well I gave her some hair, lime green in fact!! But I did change it later.

Next I took and mdf pen pot holder and mixed texture stand, modelling paste and a touch of ultra matte varnish into a paste and spread it through a wall stencil. Painted with DecoArt dazzling metallics and finished off with a bit of quin gold.

I painted a metal charm butterfly, added moss and daisy heads to the bottom of a corner.

And here she is from the side view sat on the wall.

And the other side, but as you can see the sun was out and I was at the wrong angle.

I gave her a halo and added in some roses and gave her a book to hold.

The wings have iridescent pigment on them making them really glow. I also added dazzling metallics to the hair.

And finally a couple of views from the front.