November 3, 2014 By Steph Ackerman 1 Comment

Monogrammed Note Cards with Ann Butler’s EZ-De’s

Hi everyone, Steph Ackerman here today with some Monogrammed Note Cards.

Do you remember (before the arrival of computers) those hand written letters and notes we used to send to family and friends? How you chose your prettiest papers to use? How you then waited and waited for a response? Those days have passed, but there is no reason why we still can’t send those occasional letters with pretty papers. So why not pull out your stamps and inks and create some pretty note cards.

These note cards were rather plain and were die cut in the centers, so I decided to turn them into Monogrammed note cards. I used the same Ann Butler Designs Faux Quilting Stamps – 1″ Leaves All Over stamp set as well as Ann Butler Designs EZ-De’s Flourish Alphabet on each card to keep them similar in style.

The background of this card was inked with Ann Butler’s Crafter’s Inks by Clearsnap using Limelight. The chipboard frame was inked with 1″ Leaves All Over stamp also using Limelight Ink. The monogram was then inked with Limelight and embossed with clear embossing powder. After inking the edges, I placed it on a black mat to allow the colors around it to pop.

This chipboard frame was inked with 1″ Leaves All Over stamp using Aquamarine Ink. The monogram was then inked with Aquamarine and embossed with clear embossing powder. After inking the edges, I placed it on a black mat to allow the colors around it to pop.

The background of this card was also inked with Limelight and the 1″ Leaves All Over stamped in the corners. The chipboard frame was inked with 2 stamps from the 1″ Leaves All Over stamp also using Limelight Ink. The monogram was then inked with Limelight and embossed with clear embossing powder. After inking the edges, I placed it on a black mat to allow the colors around it to pop

Why not create your own set of monogrammed note cards with stamps and inks and remember times past.

Thanks for stopping by today.

My blog.

July 4, 2014 By Steph Ackerman Leave a Comment

CAS Pretty Hi Card

Steph here today working with Ann Butler’s Crafter’s Ink, Faux Quilting Stamps and EZ-Ds stamps to create this beautiful CAS Pretty Hi card!

Starting with the Doily Picnic stamps, I created the background of my card with Turquoise Crafter’s Ink. This ink is very moist and needs time to dry before continuing your project. Heat setting allows the ink to set immediately.

The 2″ alphas were stamped with Sunshine Crafter’s Ink and embossed with Irridiscent embossing powder. After fussy cutting, I inked the edges with Tangelo Crafter’s Ink.

I tied some ribbon around the card, then placed die cut ovals on top. The fussy cut letters were added with glue dots for some dimension.

Thanks for stopping by today.

Steph

June 4, 2014 By Steph Ackerman 2 Comments

A Traveling Tote

Good morning everyone, Steph here today working with a cute canvas tote bag I found at a local store. It had a car on the front and I immediately thought it would a wonderful starting point for a travel tote.

I placed some chipboard inside the bag because I didn’t want the ink to soak through to the back and started working. Using ColorBox Crafter’s Ink in Sunshine and Tangerine, I took a wet paint brush and painted the colors onto the car – Sunshine all over and Tangerine for the highlights.

Using the 2″ Flourishes ABC stamp set, I placed the letters on the canvas bag, then I inked each with ColorBox Aquamarine ink, carefully lining them up as I went along.

Using Limelight ink with the 1″ Leaves All Over stamps, I stamped leaves around the car and on the handles. I used Berry ink with the 2″ Doily stamps for the top portion of the bag.

I liked it, but thought it needed something more. so, I adhered some May Arts ribbon on top of some more May Arts ribbon and added it above and below my letters.

Don’t you think this would be wonderful to take with you on a trip to hold a few of your favorite goodies?

Thanks for stopping by today.

May 7, 2014 By Steph Ackerman 2 Comments

Stencilled and inked candy dish

Hi everyone, Steph here and today and I’m using Ann Butler’s line of Crafter’s Inks from Clearsnap as well as a stencil from The Crafter’s Workshop. These inks are amazingly vibrant and are perfect for using on many surfaces. They work on ceramic as easily as they work on fabric.

I picked up this ceramic dish after the holidays figuring I’d be able to use it somehow. I love the vibrant colors of Ann Butler’s Crafter’s inks so I decided to use them with The Crafter’s Workshop stencil on this ceramic dish.

Holding the stencil in place while I worked, and using art daubers, I inked the flowers with Sunshine, Tangerine, and Berry inks, and the leaves with Aquamarine ink, blending the colors slightly.

I moved the stencil around the dish, inking each section before moving on to the next section.

Once I finished inking the dish, I heat set the inks to be sure the design would stay on the ceramic.

This is a perfect accent piece to use as a spring candy holder. Another idea would be to wrap it up with cellophane and give it as a gift and since Mother’s Day is this weekend, wouldn’t this be a wonderful gift for Mom.

Thanks for stopping by.

Steph

April 7, 2014 By Steph Ackerman 5 Comments

Happy Easter with Ann Butler Stamps and Inks

Hi everyone Easter will be here before we know it, so it’s time to get started on those Easter projects. Steph here today using Ann Butler’s stamps from Unity and Kellycraft along with Ann Butler inks from Clearsnap.

I came across this wood basket and thought it would make a great Easter centerpiece, so I first painted the basket yellow, then pulled out my stamps and inks and got to work. Alternating stamps and colors around the basket, I created a fun and bright centerpiece. The Unity 1″ Stripes. Dots.Hearts stamps and the 1″ Doily stamps were stamped on the rails in alternating colors – Tangelo, Limelight, and Berry. The 1″ Rail Fence stamp from Kellycraft was stamped on the side panels in Limelight.

Several Easter eggs were stamped with 1″ Stripes.Dots.Hearts stamps and 1″ Doily stamps using Limelight, Sunshine and Berry.

Happy Easter was die cut and then stamped with EZ-Des 2″ Checkered Woven Hearts in Limelight.

All items were die cut using my Cricut Expression. The chick was inked with Sunshine and Tangelo. Additional eggs were stamped. All items were attached to picks and then inserted into styrofoam.

Robin’s Nest Dew Drops were added as finishing touches to the eggs and the eyes of the chick and rabbit.

This was such a fun project to create and will look lovely on the Easter table.

Thanks for stopping by today.

February 19, 2014 By Steph Ackerman 8 Comments

Dream Journal with Stamps and Inks

Hi everyone, Steph here today creatine a Dream Journal with stamps and inks. I am so thrilled to be a part of the Ann Butler Design Team. I received some awesome stamps and inks (among other goodies) and hope to provide you with some inspiration using Ann Butler’s new products.

I created this journal to record my dreams and desires. After all, a gal’s gotta have a place to keep track doesn’t she? I began with some art board and cut about 20 pieces of watercolor paper for the interior pages. Since I wanted the covers to be inked edge to edge, I decided to work on the covers before binding the journal together.

I began by placing several colors of Ann Butler’s ColorBox Crafter’s inks on a craft mat and spritzed them with water. This provided a nice watercolor mix which I painted (randomly) on the covers – Aquamarine and Limelight for the background and Sunshine for the sun. Due to the drying time of these inks, I chose to heat set the covers so I could move forward.

Next, I chose a large floral stamp image and added Limelight, Aquamarine, Sunshine, Berry, Lilac and Tangelo inks using ColorBox art daubers. Then I spritzed the stamp lightly with water because I wanted a water color effect for the flowers (hint – you get a much better impression by placing the art board directly on the stamp and applying pressure). I repeated this process until the entire cover was inked then I stamped a sun in the upper right and painted it with Sunshine ink.

On the reverse side of the covers, I stamped several of the Unity 2″ Doily stamps in Sunshine ink, then placed watercolor paper on top. You can just see the yellow stamp peaking out behind the paper. Using the Unity 2″ Stripes, Dots and Hearts stamps with Sunshine Ink, I stamped it several times on white cardstock and once dry, I die cut letters using my Cricut Expression.

Using the Zutter bind-it-all, I put my book together and added some ribbons to the coils as a finishing touch.

Thanks for stopping by today and don’t forget to stop by all month as each designer will be posting amazing projects.