Are you still feeling a little afraid to “drip” your own background? Start off with neutrals. A subdued color palette can allow you to be drippy and splotchy, but without the feeling that you are going to overwhelm your page. Start slowly by adding layers of complementary colors. It can also be helpful to walk away from your paper for awhile. When you come back to it, it may be more apparent what it still needs.

In 2011, Jackson Pollock would be amazed at the tools we now have on our desktops. On his quest for texture, Pollock sometimes added glass to his canvas. We have glitter glue, additives, resist inks, mists, pearlized, textured, and metallic paints, and colored chalks that can give us texture easily (and more safely). While he resorted to sticks and knives, we can use daubers, stamps, a stylus, or a rub-on tool.

Or, you don’t need to look on your desk at all, but rather in your junk drawers and toy boxes. Drive your child’s toy car through the paint and let the wheels do a spin out. Draw up some ink in your eye-dropper and splotch a river across the page. Use your rolling pin to bulldoze a puddle of paint (but cover it with plastic wrap first if you ever want to roll out cookie dough with it again). Look for the unique patterns that you can get from baskets, shoe bottoms, and board game pieces. Create with no limits.

Thank You by Jessy Christopher

Supplies: Paper: G.C.D. Studios, Cardstock: Bazzill Basics Paper, Ink: Clearsnap, Chipboard: Want2Scrap, Acrylic: Bind It All, Rhinestone: Prima Marketing, Specialty Ink: Donna Salazar (Clearsnap), Gesso: Jo Sonja. Tools: Other: bubble wrap, toilet roll, hand roller.

Design Notes: To give subtle look to the gesso, you can spray water over the gesso before rolling on the cardstock.

Love You by Katey Green

Digital Supplies: Papers: Oh Boy by Oscraps Designers (Oscraps), Frame, Photo Corners: Oh Boy by Oscraps Designers (Oscraps), Staples, Painted Heart : Urban Love by Christina Renee, Brushes: Graffiti Alpha by Christina Renee, Paint Splats by Obsidian Dawn, Software: Adobe Photoshop.

Design Notes: Adding staples to the painted letters helps add dimension on a digital card.

On the Bus by Anna White-Sharman

Supplies: Paper: October Afternoon, Cosmo Cricket, Echo Park, Cardstock: American Crafts, Ink: VersaColor (Tsukineko), Stickers: Thickers (American Crafts), Specialty Ink: Cosmic Shimmer (Joanna Sheen), Paint: Adirondack (Ranger Industries), Other: ribbon. Tools: Stamps: Kelly Panacci, Kaisercraft.

Design Notes: I treated the Cardstock as a canvas and did lots of different paint techniques, misting, stamping and doodling on it.

Journaling: Rowan (my nephew) likes to pretend he is on the bus so we got the garden chairs and lined them up for the passengers, Rowan was the driver! He drove us everywhere, we had to ring the bell to get off and give him tickets to get back on!! The things we do!!