Smiles by Brenda

Hello crafty friends and welcome to Off The Rails and my tutorial post for this month. I hope you like the page I have created this month of my very beautiful and special crafty friend Chez. 

This month on the blog it is all about recycle but for this page I have done something a little different in the recycle. I didn't put a recycle item on the page but chose to use one to create the background.

Get ready for it...... I have used a toilet roll. Yes you have read it right, I have used a used toilet roll.

Now for my page.

As you can see by the toilet roll photo above you simply start with the toilet roll, scissors and I run some tape around the roll but just so I would cut an even cut around. The higher up the roll the longer the flower petals will big (Bigger flower)

I have just cut up to the tape all the way around.

This is one I cut and used the other day and it is a larger one.

This is the one I cut for this page I have created. 

The one on the left is the one made for this page. You will be able to use it over and over with different colours but make sure the dry between colours. 

Place some paint on a messy mat and then it is time to put the toilet roll in the plaint and dab it onto your background surface. You then repeat the process with as many different colors as you choose. 

Once you have dabbed it in the pain make sure you lightly dab over to the side before gong onto your background surface. This is for two reasons and the first is to get the feel of the amount of pressure you have to use and the second is to make sure it isn't over loaded. Always remember you can add but once it is there you can't take off. 

It is then a matter of repeating the process until you get it like you want in colours. Make sure you dry between each colour though. 

Once this is done it is time to do the center of your flower and for this I used a dry firm bristled brush. I did a little mixing of colours by dabbing in the center and not making it solid.

Once this was done I used a fine soft brush and green paint to create the stems and leaves. Once this was done it was time to decide what products I wanted to use on the top of my background while the paint dried.

Below is the stenciled backgound I created on an off cut of white cardstock to mount my photo on. 

These are the products I chose to use and some I inked the edges of. Then it was time to put it together. Part of doing that I decided to colour the business card hanger around Chez's neck in black as you can see from the finished page. I wasn't happy with the bright pink so I tied it in with black. 

so as I said earlier - recycle month on the blog and in my DT post I used a recycle on my page but for this I used a recycle to create my back ground. 

These are the products I used - 

White Cardstock

Toilet paper roll

Dylusions Paint - London Blue mixed with White Linen, Crushed Grape, Vibrant Turquoise

Kaisercraft Paint - Breen, Mocha, Eggplant, Coastal Blue, Dusty Pink, Antique White

Distress Ink - Frayed Burlap

Black Journal Pen

Kaisercraft - Acetate Shapes

                                    Collectables - Ooh La La

                                          Clear Stickers - Script Words

       Stencil

I hope you have enjoyed stopping in to see you page with  a background created with a toilet paper roll. Remember you can use them over and over. Don't forget to join in with us on this months challenge as I'm sure you will enjoy it. Keep scrolling for some really awesome creations and wonderful ideas and inspiration. 

Happy Crafting

Brenda xxx