Tutorial: Creating a Custom Halloween Background with Lisa Truesdell

Hi everyone! Today I'm going to walk you through the process of making a custom background for a scrapbook page using craft dies and a date stamp. This is a super simple technique that will add a lot of texture and interest to your layout without overpowering your photos.

I started by gathering my supplies - namely ink, star craft dies, and ledger paper. I have to admit that when I started this page, I had intended to cut out the stars and then ink them to make an ombre background - but my plans changed along the way!

Start by die cutting stars. LOTS of stars. I cut mine out of a strip of paper, and arranged them close together so I could get as many stars as possible out of that strip. Once I'd finished, I set both the stars and the leftover paper aside, as I had a bit of a new idea for how the background would come together.

That said - I had my Color Theory Ink out, and since I'd already included it in one of my photos, I was determined to use it. ;) I noticed my date stamp on my desk and had an AHA moment - I could still bring a little ombre color to my background, but with stamping! I grabbed another strip of paper and started stamping and stamping and stamping. As I went further down the page, I faded into lighter shades. (Please note : despite the date saying October 31 2015, I'm not a time traveler. I just didn't think to change the year, and by the time I noticed, the page was almost done. So I rolled with it.)

With the stamping done, I fitted my two strips of ledger paper back together into a 9x12in page, and backed the open stars with a piece of patterned paper.

I'm still obsessed with the Oliver alphabet, so I used it to stamp my title on a scrap of gray paper. I added a bit of typewritten journaling under the title - along with the correct date. I added the patterned paper to the bottom of the date stamped strip. It works well to anchor the design and balance out the weight of the darker stamping at the top of the page.

I layered patterned paper, vellum and a tag under my photo and added it the left side of my page. The little pop of bright color from the patterned papers helps to establish my photo as the focal point of the page.

And now it's time for stars!! I layered them across my background, making sure to have some overlapping other elements or hanging off the edge.

I finished the background by stitching through all of my stars and bending the edges up for just a smidge of dimension. I added some washi tape and embellishments alongside my photo and the layout was done! Well, okay, it was *really* done once I wrote a little handwritten "yes, really!" to accompany the correct date under my journaling.

I hope you'll give this a try! While I've used stars for a spooky layout, try mixing up the motif to fit the theme of your own page. I'd love to see what you make - please post them in the gallery!

Supplies : Kits - Wink Wink Scrapbook Main, LOL Addon Kit; Craft Die - Hand Drawn Stars, date stamp - Studio Calico; ink - Color Theory Inky Black, Clean Slate, Deja Blue, Glass Slipper; chipboard stars - Studio Calico; alphabet stamp - Oliver Alphabet