Daring Backgrounds: Graffiti Style

By Nicole Maki (Perky Nihilist)

I love a fresh crisp piece of hot off the presses paper as much as the next gal – trust me, there is a shelf full of Crop Hoppers bearing witness to my obsession. But sometimes, when I’ve seen the sheet I so desperately covet as the base of the seventh card or the umpteenth scrapbook layout on the blogs I visit I lose heart a bit. Some days it all seems so done.

Luckily I have the perfect pick-me-up for times of paper panic. I make my own. No silly, not the paper itself (although to be honest, I have on occasion) – the pattern that makes it pop 🙂

Supplies: Sorry, can’t help you. What do you have on hand?

I recommend using something sturdy – like watercolor paper – as a bottom layer, but I’ve had equally luscious results on butcher paper, scrapbook paper, card stock, plastic, transparency… see, the sky’s the limit. You also need colored stuff: paint, crayons, markers, ink, tea, colored pencils, Sharpies. And I love to add some layers with text, collage etc. Junk mail, comic books, manga, menus – Anything that goes in our ACME paper art & mixed media kit is perfect. Markers or paint pens for scribbling/journalling are a necessity and stencils are a terrific addition. My favorite “stencils” are the punchinella – you get a variety of hole shapes and sizes. Awesome!

Each piece of make-your-own designer paper will be different. I wanted something with an edgy, urban graffiti feel – kind of Alisa Burke meets inner city. Here’s what I did:

Step One: Dribble paint on edges. Smear around with a baby wipe.

Step Two: Squirt complimentary color in white space. Blend with baby wipe.

Step Three: Spritz with dye mister (I used Glimmer Mist, available at Gauche Alchemy shop).

Step Four: Start adding interest. Here I sprayed close up with fabric spray paint and tilted the paper to make it drip. Then I stenciled some letters haphazardly around the page.

Step Five: Go in with complimentary color  (yellow here) and add large sections of paint. Use punchinella as a stencil by pouncing chalk ink through the holes. I find the pattern unifies the elements.

Step Six: Take a white or metallic paint pen (black is good too but very, very bold) and journal all over the page. I tend to get “stuck” so I often write song lyrics or poems I’ve memorized. Keep it loose and messy. Don’t worry if it looks like ka-ka; it’ll be fine.

Step Seven: This pic is bigger so you can see the details. Rip some text, comics etc and glue them to your substrate. Don’t cover up all your hard work, just add some pieces here and there. Then go over it again with paint, punchinella and stencils until it integrates into the piece. If the look seems unbalanced don’t worry about it. If you can’t not worry *raises hand* then add a few dribs and drabs of dry brushed paint to make it look right to your eye. In this example, I added the green paint to the edges. Made all the difference in the world. Now leave it alone to dry.

Step Eight: It’s so horrible I couldn’t take a picture. Kill your darling! What? Cut this beautiful piece of awesomeness into useable pieces. *GASP* I know!

Here’s some ideas: Card Front and ATC Blanks. Keep your scraps, they’re awesome to craft with.

Then wow your friends and yourself by making cool projects. This card was made with the ATC scraps:

Features: Punchinella, Career Girl Mixed Media Kit, Scarlet Fever Mixed Media Kit and Bombshell Stamps.

I made little vignettes with Foreign Text and Wholly Sheet:

and attached them to the (matted) ATC Blanks.

Urban Angels:

These ATCs feature Bombshell Stamps and wings from the beading section at Michaels.

Thanks so much for joining me as I made my own Daring Background: Graffiti Style. It’s truly a ton of fun and the results are well worth the effort.