Make a unique shabby chic background

I got the idea for this technique after making a canvas decoration for my bedroom.

Start off with a piece of cardstock. I chose to use the tan piece out of the "Dear Santa" kit. Keep in mind that whatever color you choose will be "peeking out" from behind the treatment we do on it. This could be so cool with so many different color choices out there!

I keep a old book of catechism and liturgy to use for different projects. It doesn't really matter what you use, though- most of the text will end up being covered up.

Tear out random sheets and adhere them to the page. I like to tear my sheets up a little to make interesting shapes. I used my ATG gun to attach them to the layout. Some of my pages are sideways and upside down.

Continue to layer until you are satisfied with how much cardstock/text ratio you have.
Brush white acrylic paint randomly over the paper. I like to mostly cover the layout- but not entirely. The paint is brushed pretty thinly so you can still see what's underneath. Start with a little paint and add more until you are happy with it.
Add some Shimmerz spritz to it. (I used this one from the "Dear Santa" kit!) It adds a lovely shimmer (duh!) to the paper.
I think this makes such a cool background and could be used so many different ways: obviously, as the background for a layout, but you could also punch it, die cut it, apply this technique to chipboard or even letters... lots of fun ideas!