Experimenting (Again!): Grungy Acrylic Paint Backgrounds

I decided to have a go at making some really grungy looking backgrounds using acrylic paints. I think some have turned out better than others but I decided to post pictures of all of them! I've been working on these over the last couple of days, as I've had to wait for bits of them to dry (ergh!) I think I might experiment a bit more and see what I can come up with.

The top one has a collaged background painted over with acrylic paints mixed with PVA glue in various shades of blue, green, purple and gold. I stamped the image on tissue paper and layered it over the top using Mod Podge. I added a border using my favourite paint, DecoArt Dazzling Metallics in champagne gold (I love it because it's so shiny!), and also some swirls, and then heat dried it to make it bubble up. I added blue gems at the centres of the swirls as a finishing touch.

Number two was done by painting acrylic paint mixed with PVA glue through the holes in some sequin mesh and layering it on in various colours. I've done a gel medium image transfer over the top which I wanted to look really grungy (although I'm not sure if maybe I've overdone it a bit). The hearts are grungeboard which I've painted with the champagne gold paint and heat dried to distress. The words and border are painted on and heated too. (And I didn't strategically place the hearts to cover up where I messed up the image transfer, honest!)

For the third one, I again used a mixture of acrylic and PVA in shades of blue, purple and green, and painted it over a piece of book page. I then scraped a flower design into it using the end of a paintbrush, although this doesn't show up well on the finished ATC. (If I did it again I'd use a smaller stamp to make more of the background). This is another one where I've used an image stamped on tissue paper then added paint around the edges. I've also added a row of cut out butterflies along the bottom.

These last two were done in the same way, and the background effect shows through much better on these. I've used paints in shades of red, green and gold, and again I've painted a thin border and heat dried it to make it bubble up. Sam is hosting a Da Vinci themed swap on the UK Stampers forum and I'll probably enter them for that but I'm not sure. I've borrowed the stamp from Nicks, who kindly offered to lend it to me after I fell in love with it when she sent

me an ATC made with it last year. I thought I'd better post some pictures of things I've made using it so she knows it's safe! (There will be more to come as my desk is a mass of works in progress. For some reason I seem to be flitting from one thing to another at the moment).

I've also been working on a few other projects (not all ATCs)that I can't post pictures of yet for various reasons, so watch this space!