Basic Acrylic Paint Techniques for Scrapbooking
by Gimi Willie

The layouts in this article are for all skill levels.

Acrylic paint is a basic staple for most crafters. Many of us already have bottles of this inexpensive medium tossed in a drawer somewhere. Acrylic paint adds color and texture to any design, and each little bottle goes a long way, giving you a lot of bang for your buck. Be sure to check out your local scrapbook retailer for the terrific supplies featured in this article.

So you've got yourself a bottle of acrylic paint. Now what? If you're not feeling like Picasso, try your hand at stamping with paint. Foam stamps work particularly well with acrylic paints thicker texture. You can find decorative foam stamps and a large selection of alphabet foam stamps by companies like Making Memories, Lil Davis Designs and Creative Imaginations. Some of the craft stores also manufacture their own line of inexpensive foam stamps. Whichever you choose, foam stamps and acrylic paint make terrific embellishments, and you can use them over and over again!

Where there is paint, you will usually find a brush. In this case, we are mixing paint and a brush with the ever popular transparency. Paint a light layer over the back side of the transparent image. Choose a color that contrasts with your background, and the image really POPS right off the page!

There are so many simple things to do with acrylic paints!

Use it directly on your paper, creating one-of-a-kind faux finishes. Dab it on, swipe it, paint it, sponge it. Every time you will end up with a different result!

Have tons of fun embellishments in colors you wont ever use? Change the color with acrylic paint! Paint metal, paper, plastic, ribbon, fabric and more. What about creating your own, one-of-a-kind embellishments?

Use acrylic paint with stencils. Create fun images and embellishments with old stencils you have lying around. This works especially well for giving old lettering stencils a new look.

Add highlights and definition with paint, in lieu of chalks or inks.

In this layout, acrylic paint was used to create the title, add the background color, change the metal stencil letters from silver to turquoise, and to paint plain chipboard frames to match!

By now, if you are feeling a little of that artsy urge, try your hand at painting real images. Take a painting class. Watch Bob Ross reruns on PBS and learn a technique or two. Textured cardstock is a brilliant canvas for hand-painted creations. Transparency is a forgiving canvas that can be wiped off and painted on again, until you get it just right. Not only will you be creating truly original works of art, you might learn another craft to fall in love with as much as scrapping!

Acrylic paint is an inexpensive and easy way to add some fun and flair to your designs with minimal effort and little cost. Have fun and start creating your own works of art!