A Custom Background Using AC Kelly Creates Products!

Hello there! I recently shared a new layout on the American Crafts blog that I just LOVE, using the Kelly Creates products*, and I wanted to share it here too, to show you how easy it was to create a custom hand-lettered background for my 8-1/2" x 11" layout. 

(*All product links contained in this post are affiliate links. You don't pay any extra, but I get a small percentage of your sale! Thanks for your continued support of my YouTube feed and this blog!)

Supplies | Kelly Creates collection: Dream pens, 8-1/2” x 11” dotted paper pad, acrylic traceable stamps, journal accessory kit; All The Good Things collection: Mixed media foundations paper, Color Pop acrylic paint- set 2, Color Pop acrylic paint- set 3, On a Positive Note paper, chipboard letter stickers, diecut frames, finishing embellishments; Sunshine and Good Times collection: Shoe In paper, sticker book; Star Gazer collection: accent and phrase stickers; Other: Vicki Boutin sticker book, Amy Tangerine sticker book, Bazzill Basics 8-1/2" x 11" white vellum

You may look at this beautiful background, and think, "There is no way that I could create that," but let me show you how simple it is to re-create for even the biggest perfectionist! Ahem, that would be me. 

I began by stamping words that fit the beautiful photo of my daughter, using the acrylic traceable stamps onto a sheet from the 8-1/2” x 11” dotted paper pad.  These dots allowed me to keep my stamped words nice and straight. 

After I filled the page, I added a sheet of vellum over the top and started tracing with the beautiful turquoise blue pen in the Dream pens set. These are double-ended pens, and I used the thicker end for this project. I love how easy they are to work with: even a novice hand-letterer like me can create beautiful lines with them! It was such a relaxing exercise, and I sat at my desk with my cup of coffee and finished off the whole page.

I wanted to back that beautiful sheet of hand-lettered goodness with some additional colors from my photo, so I grabbed the Color Pop acrylic paint- set 2 and set 3. These paints have gorgeous saturated colors, and I used them on the mixed media foundations paper, which does not buckle at all. This is a perfect base for any mixed-media project! I bunched the color around where I wanted my photo to be placed, so that your eye would naturally go to the photo. Once that was dry, I machine-stitched my vellum to this painted background using white thread.

Next, I added my photo, matted with two patterned papers—On a Positive Note and Shoe In—
and journaling, which I added to two tags in the diecut frames pack, then started adding embellishment, using the same colors that I painted on my page background. 

So that I didn't cover up any more of that gorgeous hand-lettered background that I worked so hard to create, I added my title directly to the negative space on my photo, using the "let go" sticker included in the Kelly Creates journal accessory kit (so many awesome phrase stickers in here!) and paired that with the black All the Good Things chipboard letter stickers. 

The beautiful birds and foiled butterfly stickers from the Sunshine and Good Times and the Amy Tangerine sticker book created the perfect accents for this page about living in this happy moment with my family. I also finished off the page with a few All the Good Things finishing embellishments. 

I can't wait to create more beautiful, bespoke backgrounds using these easy-to-use Kelly Creates products! They're the perfect products to perfect your hand-lettering! 

Thanks for stopping by! Be sure to check out all of the products that I used on this layout at Scrapbook.com via the gallery below, and thank you so much for clicking to support this blog and my YouTube feed!