Here is what I think you can do to blur the background

I went on Canon's website and checked A540 specs. And here are what I'd suggest:
1. As your aperture gets bigger (that is the aperture number gets smaller), you have less depth of field and background will be more blurred. For example, aperture at F2.6 (lowest you can get with A540) gives you much less depth of field than F8 and F2.6 will give you a more blurred background.
2. Zoom in and focus on the object you want to emphasize. A540 has a 4X zoom. Your A540 also has a macro feature that allows you to get to 2 inches to the object. And that should help blur the background when you are shooting small objects such as flowers.
Play with the manual setting with your camera and see if you can get some blurred background pictures.
Every camera has its limitations. And as you get more serious about photography, you will need more than 1 cameras and they have different uses. This can be your travel/snapshot camera and you will find it quite useful even if you decide get an SLR down the road. SLRs are not for everyone and not everyone needs SLRs.
Hope this helps.