But where to begin? Once you get up the courage to play with your paint…what should you do with it? I had no clue so I went looking for ideas.
Here are a few ideas to help get you started with painting on your layouts!
Paint as a base: don’t have just the right color cardstock for your layout base? You can use paint to make it any color you need. You might need to use a coat of white gesso as a primer first to cover the original color. Then go back over it with the desired color. You can also use the paint with a stamp or sponge to make your base patterned or textured. And of course paint works great on a canvas base.
Photo accents: If you want to use a page frame that you already have, you can paint it to match. If you don’t have a frame…you can create one with paint. Adhere the photo onto the layout, dab a bit of paint onto your brush and paint along the edges of the photo…getting paint on both the photo and the cardstock. This can give you a variety of looks…from vintage to vibrant and everything in between.
Paint instead of ink: Everything you can do with ink…you can also do with paint. For stamping, brush a thin layer of paint onto your stamps using a foam brush. Instead of inking the edges of your papers or photos, try using paint instead.
Painting page accents: brads, buttons, tags…paint them with a coat of acrylic and then go over them with gloss for perfectly matching embellishments.
Stencils: Use paint with stencils to create images or titles for your project. You might want to temporarily adhere the stencil to the page first so that it doesn’t move out of place while you’re applying the paint.
Transparencies: Using paint with transparencies is a great way to POP a rub-on or stamp. You can either paint the transparency itself or paint the base and place the transparency over the painted area. Or try this…stamp (in paint) directly onto the layout. When it’s dry, adhere transparency over the first stamped image and stamp again (in paint) but slightly off to one side. This will give your image a 3-D effect.
These are just a few of the uses for paint in scrapbooking. I’m sure there are several more possibilities. I still haven’t tried any of these techniques myself, but I bought some paint and plan to play very soon so I challenge you to try it too. Be brave, be daring, and most of all…have FUN!
