Design Team, Author at Ann Butler Designs

April 15, 2014 By Design Team 5 Comments

Faux Quilt Stamped Quilt Block

Hi everyone.

It’s Connie and my turn to post on the blog. My Project this month is a Faux quilted block. I used the cube from my Design team package and I stamped the images onto some pastel cotton fabric. I used the 2 ” Diamonds and Plaids Faux Quilting stamps. I also used Colorbox Crafter’s Ink by Ann Butler. I will be using the block as a Stick Pin holder/Pin Cushion.

I created the pattern by using the traditional Ornament technique. My grandmother made the quilted ornaments at Christmas. I used 2 ” Squares. I stamped the quilt images onto the fabric and let them dry. I added the Dress pins to the center of the fabric and added pin to center of Cube and folded the rectangles into triangles. I added several layers until I was happy with the look. You use more fabric squares on this block compared to a round ornament. I used 16 -2″ Squares per side. I used 250 pins. After making the sides I used crochet trim to decorate the edges. I also added buttons to the center of the squares.

Here is a close up of the pink side. I used the Berry Crafter’s Ink. I used the 2″ Bold Diamond pattern from the Diamond and Plaid stamp set.

Here is the yellow side. I used the Limelight Crafter’s Ink.

I used the Outlined Diamond pattern from the Diamond and Plaid stamp set.

Here is the Green side. I used the Aquamarine Crafter’s Ink. I used the Plaid stamp pattern from the Diamonds and Plaid stamp set.

Thanks for joining me today and Happy crafting.

April 9, 2014 By Design Team 4 Comments

Faux Quilting- Stamping Over Patterned Paper

Hi Everyone,

For today’s post we wanted to share a fun and easy technique with you on over stamping on your pattern paper to give it a different look altogether! So, grab yourself something to drink, sit back and enjoy the video!

April 4, 2014 By Design Team 5 Comments

DIY: Gift Bag Envelope Transformation

Hello all. I decided to do a fun and easy gift bag for my post! I love that you can go from a FLAT white mailing envelope and make a personalized gift bag! Lets get started.

The Materials:

1) Flat White Mailing Envelopes 2) Connie Crystal White Sheets 3) Ann Butler Designs from Unity Stamps 4) Ann Butler Designs Crafter’s Ink 5) Adhesive (Beacon & 3M) 6) Buttons 7) Stipple Brushes 8) Pencil 9) Scissors 10) Ann Butler Designs EZ-De’s Alphabet Stamps

Step 1. Place letters for the name you want to use. (You may also use initials) Apply ink and stamp on the front of the envelope centered. I like using several colors to make it festive. I then place the name/monogram where I want on the envelope front.

Step 2. Figure out the configuration of images you want to use and stamp those images under the stamped name/monogram. I used squares and 1/2 squares to make my design. Ink the image and stamp. (This image already has the stippling added.)

Step 3. Make a fold on each side and the bottom of about one inch. Then cut off the top of the envelope to about two inches above the stamped name.

Step 4. Where you have made the folds, manipulate the folds to make a bag side and bottom. Use a little tape or glue to tack the bottom flaps down.

Step 5. Start attaching the Connie Crystal Sheet pieces to represent the faux stitching.

The handle was made with the top of the envelope that was cut away and then stamped.

The back of the bag was faux stitched using a simple black pen and ruler. Buttons were added to the back of the bag as well. This makes the bag different, yet pretty from either side. I love the versatility.

A Closer Look at the side fold.

Hope you all enjoyed this project. I had a fun time creating this one! Make sure and check out my blog with more of Ann Butler Designs!

Happy Creating!

April 2, 2014 By Design Team 5 Comments

Stamped Gradation Birthday Card

Happy Wednesday, all! I am super excited to share this fun birthday card using the Unity Stamps’ 2″ Strips, Dots, Hearts Stamp Set by Ann. These borderless stamp sets are so easy and fun to create a background for different project. I took out the dot stamp set from the 2″ Strips. Dots. Hearts Stamp Set and stamped it with 2 different colors as a background.

After the background stamping, I cut out couple circles on the top layer of the card so the pretty dots would show well. I added a simple sentiment and few clear sequins to finish the card. I used a very light mint and a light green colors for the background, to create some depth on the background. This creates a easy gradation effect as well.

Hope you enjoyed today’s card! Thanks so much for stopping by.

March 28, 2014 By Design Team 5 Comments

Faux Quilting Dual-Embossed Spring Card

Hi everyone! Paula here. I think most everyone will agree with me that this year’s “long” winter has ran it’s course. In having a bit of hope for warmer weather, bright colors and even flowers, I wanted to make a card that had a little of these things (even though snow is still coming down).

This card is featuring Unity Ann Butler Faux Quilted Stamps , EZ-De’s Stamps by KellyCraft , and ColorBox Crafter’s Ink by Ann Butler.

Let’s get started!

Start by stamping image over entire piece (I used 3 3/4″x5″ because I planned to have a mat behind this on a 4 1/4″x5 1/2″ base.

As mentioned in my card title, this is a dual-embossed. I only mean that I am using an embossing folder for dry embossing PLUS embossing powder for wet embossing (later in instructions). I like to add a little dimension by taking my ink pad and inking up the inside of the embossing folder. I just randomly ink – leave some areas without ink, while others a bit heavier coverage. Place the stamped image in the inked folder. Run it through the Big Shot.

As you will notice, I have a tendency to try distressing most things, so I grab sandpaper. Run it over the image multiple times. This takes the top edge of ink and leaves a white (or whatever cardstock you’re using) to pop through.

Just realized that I didn’t take a photo of the next step I did –but I used the Limelight ink pad and ran it all around the outside edge of the image. Once inking it up, I sanded more along the edges.

Using the EZ-De’s 2″ Flourish ABC’s, I stamped HI using Aquamarine I immediately sprinkled clear embossing powder, and embossed with heat gun. I hand-cut the individual letters. Using a file, distress the edges of each of the letters. I chose to have them look a bit “messy”, to contrast a bit to the background. Using a sponge, I then added a little Sunshine to the edge of the letters.

Using some Prima flowers, and Unity Ann Butler Faux Quilted 1″ Leaves All Over stamps, I did a little background on one of the stamps. Layer the flowers.

Final is to put all the layers together. I added a bit of twine as well.

I hope you enjoy the card! AND I hope it brings a bit of brightness to your day! Have a great day!

March 26, 2014 By Design Team 10 Comments

Faux-Quilted Birdies Shadow Box

Hello and Happy Spring everyone! This is Roberta and today I am bringing you an adorable wall hanging featuring Unity Ann Butler Designs faux-quilted stamps, EZ-De’s^TM stamps, and ColorBox Crafter’s® ink by Ann Butler.

I have been holding onto this fabulous shadow box house by Maya Road for a little while and knew it would be perfect for today’s project.

: The Before; Ready-to-decorate Maya Road shadow box.

: #1 Paint all outside edges with mixture of decoupage and ink.

: #2 paint all inside surfaces with decoupage/ink . The ink is very juicy and the decoupage helps spread it easily.

: #3 Paint roof with Tangelo and Limielight. I sponged them on.

: #4 Brush on a coat or 2 of Irisdescents on each of the four inserts before stamping. This creates the beautiful mirror-look behind each embossed stamp.

: #5 Each of the four inserts were stamped with Faux-Quilting stamps and heat embossed. I also chose to line the inside walls with a coordinating paper.

: #6 Randomly stamp a 2″ faux quilting stamp on a piece of cardstock. Let dry

: #7 Punch out butterflies and label from these 3-in-1 EK punches

: #8 Take 2 butterflies and sandwich a fancy stick pin in between.

: Stamp your ‘birdie-bits’. Use foam squares to attach wings to body. Embellish.

: Finished butterflies waiting to take flight. I chose not to emboss this background to display how vibrant the ink is and the crispness of the stamp.

: I think he’s trying to hide or peck his way through to his friend on the other side.

: The Princess: She thinks she’s so special.

I chose to stagger the depths of each quadrant, too.

TIP – I achieved the clean cut edge on the burlap on either side of the roof, by first stiffening the material with decoupage, but any stiffener will do. It also allowed me to seal the edges so they wouldn’t continue to fray.

Supplies used in this project:

Ann Butler Crafter’s ink – Limelight and Tangelo
Ann Butler’s Earth Safe Finishes Iridescents, Lipgloss
EZ-De’s faux quilting stamps
Faux Quilting stamps
DecoArt decoupage medium – matte
Maya Road shadow box
Maya Road burlap, stick pins
DCWV bird diecuts
Recollections green book mark
Jillibean Soup cardstock
Laura Kelly buttons
Recollections embossing powder – clear

I hope you liked meeting my colorful friends today!

March 21, 2014 By Design Team 4 Comments

EZ-De’s Stamps by Ann Butler

Hello, and Welcome to another creative day of card making. Ava here to share a card showcasing a borderless stamp by Ann Butler Designs. I used Ann Butler’s EZ-De’s Easy Design Elements stamps.

I used the 1″ Rail Fence Set to anchor my die cut window onto my card. This Rail Fence Stamp Set has unlimited options and I really enjoy the 7″ length to the design of this bar code type of stamp. The 7″ truly gives a great deal of flexibility from card to layout and off the page stamping opportunities.

So, lets get start with this card tutorial. I usually collect all of my supplies after some testing of ink colors with paper colors and sentiment greetings. Once I feel happy that they will all work I get stated with a sketch and its like magic putting the card together.

I die cut my window using the Spellbinders shapeabilities Window Two die. I selected Core’dinations Cardstock from the Whitewash Collection and used the A2 card from the Core Card Pastel collection in the Dahlia color. Edge distressed my white mat and sanded the matt to have the inner core show through the white wash. I flipped another mat over and used the colored side as my front panel for stamping.

To start with I decided to take out my Kellycraft ruler which I have had in my tool cupboard for a while and thought this would work well with the Ann Butler Designs border-less stamps.

Got things line up and inked up my stamp with Ann Butlers ColorBox Crafter’s Lilac Ink.

Next I got out my Westcott Brand Scissors and improvised the matching 2 flowers blooms. I had to take one bloom apart and create a bud and smaller bloom from the original. Cutting the wire with Westcott Brand scissors worked well.

Once my Ann Butler 1″ Rail Fence stamped impression dried I was able to stamp an image and sentiment onto the card and embellish my card. Here is a final look at the finished card featuring the 1″ EZ-De’s stamp by Ann Butler.

Ann Butler Designs Supplies

EZ-De’s 1″ Rail Fence Stamp

Color Box Crafter’s Ink

Other Supplies

Core’dinations Whitewash collection; A2 Core Card base

Kellycraft Laser Square

Westcott Brand Scissors

Tombow Mono Liquid Glue and Xtreme tape runner

Zva Creative Crystals

May Arts Ribbon

Spellbinders

Maya Road stick pins

March 19, 2014 By Design Team 4 Comments

Stamped Monogrammed Clay Magnets

Hello, my dear crafty friends! Irit , here again with my easy to make, but fancy ART MAGNETS.

A few years ago I was a polymer clay addict . Then I moved to paper crafting and scrapbooking, but I still remember those dirty nails days and a special oven I kept for polymer clay baking. So when I got this Makin’s air dry clay in my DT box I knew that I am going to use it (anyway, I don’t need this old oven to bake it as its self drying clay). So here are my lovely and very easy to make magnets made with Ann Butler‘s delicious stamps: EZ-Des- Flourish 2” ABC’S and two sets of Faux Quilting 2′‘ .

Let’s begin!

1. Cut a piece of White Makin’s air dry clay, make a ball and flatten it with Makin’s tool as shown. Try to make it at least 1/4” thick as we want it to be rigid to use it as a fridge magnet.

2. Pick your favorite cutter, but remember that we are going to use Ann Butler’s EZ-De’s Alphabet stamps, so 2” letter must fit the cutter size. I picked heart shape as I thought about heART doing this project. Cut the clay and keep the leftovers for the future use (in a good plastic bag and even two, as this is an air dry clay.)

This is a shape we are going to stamp over. Make 3 of them for the final project.

3. Now it’s a stamping fun time! First stamp the monogram letter from EZ-De’s Flourish 2” ABC’S stamps in the middle of your clay shape.

4. Now stamp around the letter with 2” cling stamps from 2 sets listed on the bottom .Stamp it three times around the letter for this “like triangle” shape. If you use other shapes it can be less or more of background stamping. Use different patterns over different magnets or combine different stamps over the same magnet. I used the same stamp over each single piece and three different patterns for the whole project.

5. Use a make- up sponge (or any fancy tool you have) to add Ann Butler’s Crafter’s inks to your totally dry magnets. Make it a few times to make the more saturated colors.

6. Let the inks dry for a few hours (don’t use the heat gun as it may change the shape a bit) and then cover it with a think layer of Glossy Accents or any other glossy coverage.

Here is my final project

Now it’s your turn! Get some gorgeous Ann Butler’s stamps and inks and make a lot of easy made magnets for yourselves or as small gifts.

Products used:

Ann Buttler’s products

2” Leaves all over

2” Doily Picnic

EZ-Des- Flourish 2” ABC’S

Crafter’s inks: Limelight, Aquamarine, Berry

Other products

Makin’s air dry clay White

Makin’s tool set

Glossy Accents (Ranger), heart shape cutter

See you next month with more ANN BUTLER’S products inspiration. You are also invited to visit my own blog as I post more Ann’s projects there too.

March 10, 2014 By Design Team 3 Comments

Monogrammed Cork Trivet

Hi Everyone! This is Carmen posting today and I’m going to share with you a fun way to personalize cork trivets using Ann Butler’s EZ-De’s letter stamps and Crafters Ink stamp pads. I must warn you though, once you start stamping on cork you will be hooked! It is really fun and you end up with a very useful trivet which you can enjoy all the time. Plus if you stamp the back side, you can have one trivet with two completely different looks ready to match your decor or your mood! Here’s how:

Materials:

Ann Butler’s EZ-De’s Stamp Sets

Ann Butler’s Faux Quilting Stamps by Unity Stamp Company – 2” Dolly Picnic

Ann Butler Crafters Ink by Clearsnap: Tangelo, Berry

Tulip® Fabric Markers™ Fine Writer Tip Pack: black, pink, orange

Cork trivets – 6”

Tools:

Westcott Brand Non Stick Scissors, heat embossing tool, adhesive vinyl shelf paper, acrylic block

Instructions:

1. Cut a 4” circle from the adhesive vinyl shelf paper. Peel off the paper release sheet and adhere it to the center of a cork trivet.

2. Attach the weave patterned Faux Quilting triangle stamp to the acrylic block and stamp triangles around the outside edge of the vinyl circle with the Tangelo stamp pad. Stamp each triangle twice so that you get a bright colorful image. Remove the vinyl circle from the cork trivet being careful not to smudge any ink from the vinyl onto the cork.

3. Stamp your favorite EZ-De’s letter with the Berry ink pad in the center of the cork trivet.

4. Outline the stamped triangles with the pink and orange Tulip Fabric Markers.

5. Add color to the cork trivet’s edge by tapping it with the Tangelo ink pad.

6. Add detailing with the black Tulip Fabric Marker.

7. Set the inks by heating with the heat embossing tool for a few seconds.

You can find cork trivets at craft and dollar stores and they are very inexpensive. They make quick easy gifts that are easy to personalize with different colors and patterns. You can also try this same technique with smaller cork coasters and wrap them up in sets to give away. But watch out – everyone will want to be on your gift list!

March 8, 2014 By Design Team 2 Comments

Life is good – Embossed Faux Quilting Squares

Hello, my dear crafty friends! Irit is here with my very first post made with Ann Butler’s delicious products.

A few months ago we bought a new TV set and as it is LG one the first thing you see when you turn it on is this huge LIFE ‘S GOOD title. So these words were ringing in my head for a long time and I decided to make an artistic card with this “Life is good” title.

I made it with Ann Butler’s products, a lot of them and made a small tutorial to show you my fancy way to use a lot of stamps and 3 close to primary ink colors. As I made my finished project first, the tutorial is just a sample of all techniques used to make this fancy card and not a finished project sample.

So here we go:

1. Stamp images over white cardstock with clear embossing ink

2. Heat emboss your stamped images with black fine embossing powder,

3. Punch the embossed images with 1” punch (you sure can hand cut them, but if you have the proper punch it makes it so fast and easy.Arrange your punched images over double sided tacky tape. Do not connect the images as we want a bit of space between the pieces, but try to keep the space around 1/8” mostly.

4. Sprinkle fine pink glitter over the tacky piece, don’t worry about the images as you can just wipe them in a second layer.

5. This is a step where we usually use 3 primary ink colors to make a whole rainbow of colors (red, blue and yellow). But I decided to step out of the box and to use colors that are close to primary from Ann’s collection, so I used Sunshine, Aquamarine and Berry. Use a simple cheap make- up sponge or your fancy inking tool, your choice.

This is an end of my sample technique tutorial and now for my finished project.

I used three Ann Butler cling stamp sets from Unity:

1”Diamonds and Plaid

1” Stripes, dots and hearts

1” Doily Picnic

The chipboard window and the title were heat embossed with black embossing powder and the chipboard frame was painted with Ann Butler’s Lipgloss Iridescents`paint

Here you can see all layers and it’s still very flat card.

I added some pearls and my card was done. Hope I inspired you to try my techniques and to make some similar projects with Ann Butler’s delicious products.

Supply list

Ann Butler stamps: 1” Diamonds and plaids; 1” Stripes, dots and hearts; 1” Doily Picnic

Ann Butler inks: Aquamarine, Sunshine, Berry

Ann Butler Iridescents: Lipgloss

Cardstock: American Crafts

Chipboards: Creative Embellishments

Pearls: Flourish with a Bling

Embossing powders: WOW! Embossing Powders