Creating an Inexpensive Background

I am constantly experimenting with different backgrounds for my jewelry photos. In the past I've used pages from old music books, seashells, wine glasses, scrapbook paper...you name it. However, looking through my shop recently, I realized that it is all starting to look a little too "busy". One of my latest photos was taken on the cover of an old Walt Whitman novel. I loved how it turned out...you could see the texture of the cover, which gave a nice depth to the photo, but the solid color was not overbearing. The little light bulb went on in my head. I remembered that I had some blank canvases in my supply closet left over from my daughter's arts and crafts party a few years ago. The canvases have a similar texture as the book cover. I took some acrylic paint in various colors and applied them to each quarter of the canvases. I brushed it on in a criss-cross direction to add extra dimension to it. I took some sample photos and am so pleased with how they turned out!