Hmmm, I wonder how many people saw Sheena Douglas on Create and Craft last week and marvelled at what she created with toilet paper. Well I did and I was daft enough to go and give the technique a try out. I hadn't got the set of stamps she used so I gave the technique a go using two background stamps that I thought might give interesting effects. Interesting being the operative word here.
I suppose the thing that got me really interested in giving this a go was the fact that I didn't need to buy anything at all, because all you need to begin with is toilet paper, water and a rubber stamp of some kind, preferably one deeply etched with big spaces between the etching.
First of all you need a length of toilet paper. About 6 sheets should be enough and then you fold the paper up making sure that the folded piece is large enough to cover the stamp. Then comes the fun part - wetting the paper. Using a water spritzer wet the paper until the fibres begin to fuse together. It helps to keep turning the paper over wetting both sides. It's surprising how much water the paper holds. You can tell when the paper is ready as when you press on it the imprint of your finger can be seen.
Now lift the paper careful and place on the stamp. Press down gently and then using an firm brush such as a stippling brush pounce the paper until you can see the design of the stamp clearly. Then allow to dry. It takes ages to dry naturally.
Once dry you can remove from the stamp and investigate the finished result. My crackle stamp worked really well as you can see in the photo. This is the reverse side that was against the stamp.
The dot stamp didn't look quite so effective on the reverse. This is the side that was facing upwards. Once the design is off the stamp you can carefully tear around the area you want to use.
Then comes the colouring part. I think Sheena used Distress Inks and I haven't got very many in my collection. I would have loved to have done the spotty piece in hot sort of animally colours, but hadn't got anything in that colour so I tried a brown rubbing the ink on with cut and dried foam. Not a good idea as the rubbing naturally breaks up the toilet paper. Dabbing the ink on is more successful.
I'm not thrilled with either of these. The rusty colour is the side that was facing up and the green is the side that was against the rubber. However, my crackles piece was far more successful (although in the picture it looks a bit iffy). I used Denim Distress Ink and dabbed the ink on the design and rubbed the edges to get a really distressed dark edge.
I quite like this piece, but I haven't a clue what I'm going to do with it. Ah well I had fun - wish they made really dark colours of toilet roll. That would be interesting.
If you do decide to try this remember to dab not rub the ink on. The bits that come off if you rub make a dreadful mess and are really tricky to clear up. Believe me I know!
Have a fun day.
Ann xxx
