Today I'm going to show you all how to create a vibrant Rainbow Grunge Background suitable for cards, pages, journals even canvas!  This background style is particularly useful for low mojo days as it is low stress, uses up extra paint, when finished can be used as a base for many different projects and of course, it can be created in any colours you like!   Make sure you read right to the end as I have a little challenge for you all!

SUPPLIES

• Lindy's Stamp Gang 
• Starburst Spray:  Time Travel Teal
• Flat Fabios: Summer Lovin' Sun, Ocean Breeze Blue, Hibiscus Rose and T-bird Turquoise
• Delta Ceramcoat Acrylic Paint:  Seashell White, Royal Fuchsia, Deep Lilac and Laguna Blue
• Ranger Archival Ink Pads: Deep Purple, Aquamarine, Magenta Hue and Watering Can
• Delicata Ink Pad - Golden Glitz
• Stamps:
• Dina Wakely & Stampington - Create with Abandon & Script Heart
• Stampers Anonymous - Spills & Splatters
• Pam Carriker - Honeycomb
• Kaisercraft - Bubble Wrap
• Old credit card or paint scraper

 Instructions:

Step One - randomly spray paper or canvas with a variety of Lindy's Stamp Gang Sprays and allow to dry.

Step Two - using a credit card and Ceramcoat Royal Fuchsia paint, add a little paint to the background by dipping an edge into the paint (I squeeze a little onto my work surface to make this easier) and then scraping the edge along the paper.  Make sure you only add a tiny amount of paint to the credit card otherwise you will end up covering far too much of the background, less is more definitely applies with this technique.

Step Three - using this same scraping technique add a little of the Laguna Blue - I like to overlap the colours a little - notice how they appear translucent and you can see one colour behind the other - this can only be achieved by scraping very thin layers of paint - add too much and you lose this effect.

Step Four - is a little more subtle as a result of the colour of paint I used - Deep Lilac.  In this step continue to scrape paint onto the background, but add a few horizontal elements.  I like to make sure there is still uncovered background so the whole thing doesn't end up looking too busy. 

Step Five - time to tone it down a bit by adding some of the Seashell White (you could a watered down gesso for this if you need to).  Add the white over roughly 1/3 of your paint in both horizontal and vertical directions - it helps to break up the paint streaks and tone down the colours a little.

After you paint has dried it's time to add some stamped images using Ranger's Archival Ink.

 Step Six - using Aquamarine ink add some Bubble Wrap impressions, I like to hold the unmounted stamp in my hand to create these marks as you get a more random and less perfect impression.

Step Seven - using Magenta Hue ink add some Honeycomb stamped images, notice how I've echoed the colours used on the first background layer in both the paint and ink layers - this helps to keep the background unified and stops it looking to overwhelming.

Step Eight - time to add a little darkness to the background - but be careful not to overwhelm the more delicately coloured layers underneath.  I've used Deep Purple ink and the Script Heart stamp, but to keep it soft, for several of the stamped images I have inked my stamp then stamped lightly on scrap paper before stamping onto my project.  This creates a lighter coloured impression, see how there are really dark hearts only on the edges - and almost a shadow of these on the rest of the project.

Step Nine - this is my favourite part, I've added the beautiful text stamp Create with Abandon using Gold ink - while it may not add any additional colour it adds a textural element to the page and catches the light.

Step 10 - this is the final background element and is the only additional colour I have used - Watering Can - a wonderful grey.  I've used one of the Spills & Splatters stamps to add a little extra grunge to the background and tone it down a little more. 

Now for a few close-ups so you can see the background elements.

It's important to have a little bit of 'something' everywhere on the page as you never know which bits will be seen in the final piece.

You can see all of the layers and elements - the translucent images and paint marks really bring this together.  

Just a little touch of gold can really lift the colours around it.

I love how these second heart stampings are so scruffy looking - just perfect!

While I created this page in one session, the fantastic thing about this background is you could easily create it overtime with the leftovers from other projects.  You could create the first layer from over sprayed liquid, the paint scrapings could be left over paint that you add as you need to (rather than waste it) and the stamped images could easily be added whenever you have ink left over on a stamp - you could even play with the order that each item is added to the page, eg: stamps then ink then paint, as each layer is translucent you will still see each element.  Cool huh!

Now I'd like to issue a little challenge:

I want to know how YOU would use this background - now that you've created it what would YOU use it for, what comes next?  

Add your replies to the Rainbow Grunge Background post over on

 Creating Mixed Media Art page

and one lucky person will receive a set of Industrial Chic Starburst Sprays

from  Lindy's stamp Gang!  

Entries close on June 10th and the winner will be announced both here on my blog and over on the Create Mixed Media page on June 12th.