Blog - Ann Butler Designs

September 17, 2015 By Design Team 1 Comment

Repurposed Table using Ann Butler Art Screens

Hi everyone! Paula here today with a fun way to repurpose an old or outdated table.

Supplies:

Piece of furniture to alter/paint
Primer paint
Paint (I used a product called Wood Icing Furniture Glaze) in Black
Ann Butler Art Screen in Waves
Painters tape, paint brush, dropcloth to protect floor

I found this old table at a sale many months ago. When I saw it, I knew I had to do something with it! It sat in my garage what seemed like “forever”. I have had this idea for some time to use either Ann Butler Faux Quilting stamps or Ann Butler Art Screens. I opted for the art screen in the Waves pattern. Here’s how I did it:

1) Original table

This original table looks like it had some type of crackle paint on it. It was looking pretty rough. I started with a base primer coat. I didn’t sand it. I just cleaned it well before painting. Let dry.

2) After the primer coat dried, I started painting the bottom portion of the table with the Wood Icing Glaze. This took two coats for the look I wanted, which was a really deep black. Because I needed to do areas in different stages, after the first coat was done, I started working on the top.

3) This is the fun part. You can do any design you wanted, but I wanted a fairly even pattern. I started by laying strips of painters tape diagonally across the entire top, covering the whole surface.

Yes, this looks really odd, but bear with me. After covering the whole top, then I started removing every other strip. I only did this in order to keep the lines even.

4) Once I had strips in one direction, then I started the entire process with the painters tape in the opposite diagonal direction. Then, once again, I removed every other strip.

5) Now time to paint. I used Ann Butler’s Wave Art Screen, almost as a stencil, and applied the wood glaze to every other square. I rotated the position of the art screen each time I moved it. The other squares were painted with solid glaze. Let the paint / glaze dry for 24 hours before removing the tape.

6) That’s it. After the top had dried completely, I had to go back and finish painting the edge, and doing touch-ups. Again, I always let it dry in between coats / steps for at least 24 hours. Yes, this project was an “over-time” piece.

I hope you like it! It now sits in my living room with a plant on it. Thanks for stopping by! Have a great day!

Paula

September 14, 2015 By Design Team Leave a Comment

Birthday Cards with Crafter’s Ink

Hey crafty friends Einat Kessler here with a new project! I created a special birthday card for a special little girl as part of a volunteer project I’m in Making birthday cards with sick kids. This card is simple and easy to make so all those sick kids can make it themselves.

I started with a piece of white cardstock as my base. I tool a wet brush and dipped it in Ann Butler’s Crafter’s Ink By Clearsnap. I loaded the ink on the brush and painted a thick strip on the white cardstock. I used different colors to create a rainbow effect. If you use different brush width you can change the size of the strip.

Then I used the same ink to stamp a piece of white cardstock with Ann Butler’s 1″ Quilt stamps by Unity. I used a star shape punch out the shapes and added them to the card with a little piece of foam tape. I used different stamps to create the different a pattern on each star.

Finally I added the white cardstock piece to the front of my card with more pieces of foam tape and wrote happy birthday. You can write whatever you want on a card like this it is so versatile!

Thanks for stopping by and have fun creating!

Einat

September 11, 2015 By Beth Watson Leave a Comment

Background Basics Pinwheel Gift Boxes

I recently discovered and immediately became addicted to making paper pinwheels, so I had to share how to make them with you all!

Quick and easy to make because the base is a Colorbox® Background Basics Stamps by Ann Butler and they can have a multitude of uses from decorating frames, gift boxes, cards or scrapbook layouts! A very custom look on a budget! You can even adjust the size to create extra large pinwheels to decorate a kids room or nursery!

Here is what you will need:

Ann Butler Crafter’s® Ink by Clearsnap – Limelight, Aquamarine, Sunshine, Lilac, Night and Berry
Colorbox® Background Basics Stamps by Ann Butler – Checks, Diamond, Basket and Picnic
Tombow – Xtreme Permanent Adhesive, Xtreme Power Tabs
Pastel Cardstock in Lavender, Pink, Green, Yellow and Blue; Ruler; Pencil; Buttons; Embroidery Floss; Scissors; Baby Wipes; Kraft Paper Gift Boxes.

Here is how I made it:

1.) Stamp each of the four Colorbox® Background Basics Stamps by Ann Butler – Checks, Diamond, Basket and Picnic with the Ann Butler Crafter’s® Ink by Clearsnap – Limelight, Aquamarine, Sunshine, Lilac and Berry on the coordinating cardstock. I love how Ann’s brightly colored inks pop off the pastel cardstock colors! Trim each square neatly with scissors.

2.) Attach two contrasting squares together with Tombow Xtreme Adhesive. Draw lines from corner to corner, then measure 1″ on either side of the center line.

3.) Cut on each of the four solid lines, stopping at the 1″ mark.

4.) Attach a Tombow Xtreme Adhesive Tab to the center of the square.

5.) Fold in every other triangle point and secure to the adhesive to create a pinwheel.

6.) Select a contrasting button and tie a bow with embroidery floss. Attach button to pinwheel with Tombow Xtreme Adhesive Tab

7.) Cut out one additional Colorbox® Background Basics Stamps by Ann Butler – Checks, Diamond, Basket and Picnic stamped design and attach to box lid with Tombow Xtreme Adhesive.

8.) Attach each pinwheel to a decorated box with a Tombow Xtreme Tab.

Here are some detailed images of the boxes!

Thanks for stopping by and check out Ann Butler Designs on Facebook for more crafty inspiration!

September 9, 2015 By Vishu Reberholt 1 Comment

Card using Background Basics

Hello, dear crafty friends! Vishu here today to share a Happy Birthday Card with Background Basics Stamps by Ann Butler Designs.

These stamps are amazing to work with, nice bold designs and very easy to use. For this card I also used Ann Butler Designs Crafter’s Ink, I must say the ink is really rich and juicy.

Products Used:

Ann Butler Crafter’s® Ink by Clearsnap – Night, Sunshine and Berry
Colorbox® Background Basics Stamps by Ann Butler – Diamond
Colorbox® Glitter – Winter Frost
Colorbox® Art Daubers
Cardstock, Lace, rhinestones, glue pen, gold embossing powder, paint brush

Instructions:

1. Cut a white cardstock as per your card measurements.

2. Take the Background Basics stamps, using the daubers dab different inks to the design on stamps and make an impression on the cardstock. In this example I have used two colors berry and night, you can even use three or four different colors. Make sure you go from lightest color to darkest so that your ink pad colors don’t mix up. Also, whenever you are using multiple inks like this make sure to wipe your stamps after each impression. I use baby wipes to wipe my stamps they work really well with any kind of stamp.

3. Once I created the background, I used paint brush and sunshine ink to fill in the lines of my stamped impression. Then I used a glue pen on the yellow colored areas and stuck some glitter.

4. Once the background was ready, I layered the card and embellished it with lace and rhinestones.

5. Lastly I added a sentiment to my card.

I enjoyed this technique and will probably try a few more cards using more colors. I hope you enjoyed this tutorial on how to create a card using background basics stamps by Ann Butler Designs. Below is a close up of the background.

Thanks for stopping by……..

September 7, 2015 By Larissa Pittman Leave a Comment

Stenciled Hello Friend Card with Art Screens

Hello, Friends. Larissa here today with a Stenciled Hello Friend Card with Art Screens.
I love Ann Butler Designs Art Screens. They are very sturdy and durable. I also love the way the texture looks with them.

What I used:

Ann Butler Designs ColorBox Crafter’s Ink® in Aquamarine and Lilac
ColorBox Art Screens in Lattice and Wave
Modeling Paste
Palette Knife
White and Lilac Cardstock
Hello Friends DieCut words
Baby Wipes

What I did:

I mixed a little bit of the Crafter’s Ink with the Modeling paste mixing it together well with my palette knife.
Lay the Art Screen over the top of a piece of white cardstock and smooth an even layer of the paste over the screen.
Repeat step 2 on the word die cuts.
Adhere the card front to the Lilac mat and card base.
Adhere the die cut words to the front of the card.

Pretty simple right. And lots of even texture. You can use any color to make a card like this.

Hope you enjoyed my card today. Don’t forget to check back this week to see what are Design Stars create for you.
Have a wonderful day friend.

Larissa

September 4, 2015 By Larissa Pittman Leave a Comment

Faux Quilted Thank You Card

Hello, friends. Larissa here today with a Faux Quilted Thank You Card.

Since I am not a sewer I absolutely love using Ann Butler Designs Faux Quilting stamps to recreate quilting blocks. I created this Thank You Card this morning using only one of these stamps.

I used:
Ann Butler Designs Faux Quilting Stamps from Unity Stamp Co 1″ Stripes Dots Hearts
Ann Butler Designs Colorbox Crafter’s ink from Clearsnap® in Tangelo
Detail Scissors
White Cardstock
Liquid Adhesive
Small Acrylic Block
Black thin tip marker

What I did:
I stamped 16 Dots triangles onto a piece of white cardstock. I then cut each one out. I adhered each triangle on a piece of cardstock to form a square.
I took my detail scissors and roughed up the edges of the cardstock to resemble a material edge.

I took a thin tip black marker and added stitch lines down and across the middle.
To finish the card off I add a die cut thanks across the front.

Hope you enjoyed my card today. Have a wonderful weekend, friends and don’t forget to check back next week to see what are amazing Design Stars have done for you.

Larissa

September 2, 2015 By Steph Ackerman Leave a Comment

Mixed Media Boxed Card Set

Hi everyone, Steph Ackerman here today with a boxed card set using products from Ann Butler Designs. This would make a wonderful gift for someone who still writes notes and letters.

Supplies:
ColorBox Crafter’s for Ann Butler – Limelight
Earth Safe Finishes – Key Lime Chalk It Up Paint
Unity Stamps – 1″ Doily Picnic
Dies – Spellbinders
Flowers – Prima
Ribbon

Randomly paint 4 black cards with Key Lime Chalk It Up Paint.

Full coverage is not necessary and don’t be perfect.

For dimension but no bulk, stamp images randomly on the painted surfaces using 1″ stamps.

Lightly ink over white flowers using Limelight Ink.

Die cut “Thanks” twice from black cardstock.

Place Thanks on white cardstock and tear the edges.

Stamp over the sentiments using 1″ stamps and Limelight Ink.

Using the negative portion of the die cut Thanks, mat with white cardstock for a different effect.

Color sheer ribbon by running it through Limelight Ink.

Decorate the edges of the box using 1″ stamp with Limelight Ink.

Tie the inked ribbon around the box and you have a wonderful gift for a friend.

Thanks for stopping by today.

Please visit my blog.

August 31, 2015 By Design Team Leave a Comment

Fashionable Stenciled Hair Clips

Hello, my dear crafty friends and welcome to my Fashionable Stenciled Hair Clips post. So after some paper crafts and cards during the previous months, I decided to make something fashionable and useful and as I do have a relatively long hair and I need hair clips, I made me some using Ann Butler’s lovely products.

Step by step instructions:

1. Use Texture paste and Ann Butler’s Clearsnap Art screen over the wooden clip base (you buy those in any craft store). As you can see I used two ART screens: Stars and Lattice and they are both perfect as they have small designs.

2. Use a few drops of Ann Butler’s Clearsnap Crafter’s inks re- inkers in different colors to cover the dry texture paste over the wood.
Use a baby wipe or even your fingers to make this multi-color look and let it dry.

As you can see I used Aquamarine, Sunshine, Limelight, Tangelo and Berry colors.

3. Glue the metal clips on the back of the wooden shape with Beacon Fabri-Tac glue that is just the perfect one to connect wood with metal.

4. And just enjoy your finished hair clips! You also can cover them with some kind of a glaze, but I love them ” bare”.

August 26, 2015 By Larissa Pittman Leave a Comment

Monogram Watercolor Bookmarks

Hello, friends. Larissa here today with some simple monogram watercolor bookmarks created with Ann Butler Designs Colorbox Crafter’s Inks.

You will need:

Watercolor Paper of your choice
Ann Butler Designs ColorBox Crafter’s™ inks in: Tangelo, Sunshine, Aquamarine, Limelight and Berry
EZ-de’s 2″ Flourish Stamps
Twine
Hole punch

What you will do:

Smoosh your ink pads on your craft mat and spritz with water.
Take your watercolor paper you have cut 2 1/4 x 6 and smash it into the ink. Turning it different directions will help give it different looks. You can also dry in between with a heat gun.
Stamp your Initial in the middle of the bookmark.
Once it is dry you can punch a hole in the center of the top of the bookmark.
Loop twine in the top of the book mark through the hole you punched.

These make awesome little gifts to go with a book for friends. You can also include them in a card you make for a little extra surprise for your friends.

Hope you enjoyed this super simple tutorial post today.

Have a wonderful day, friends.

Larissa

August 21, 2015 By Design Team 1 Comment

Mixed Media Monogrammed Gift Bag

Hello, everyone, Zoey, here today and I want to show you an easy way to create a Mixed Media Monogrammed Gift Bag. I made this small bag for my friend’s daughter birthday. Her name is Julia and she is just one.

As I know her mother since a long time, I know her taste very well. She loves green shades and she likes things that are easy!

Products I used are:

ColorBox Crafter’s Ink® by Ann Butler (Evergreen, Deep Woods)
Ann Butler Designs Faux Quilting Stamps from Unity Stamp Company; 2″ Stripes.
Ann Butler EZ De’s letter stamps

First of all, I sewed together two pages of an old book — I know a lot of people do not like this, but as I said in my previous posts, these are all books I grabbed from a place that they were otherwise going to be trashed away.

After I sewed the pages on 3 sides (I left the top part open for inster the gift) I added gesso with a sponge

I let it dry and then I used Ann Butler Design Faux Quilting stamps and ColorBox Crafter’s Ink in Evergreen to create a “strip” across the gessoed part.

I glued a piece of lace ribbon and then I stamped the letter “J” using two inks. To achieve this result, I did something really easy — I am sure there is a better way, but that is just the way I do it :

First I inked the letter “J” with Deep Woods and I stamped it by adding some pressure in certain parts, this way some part of the stamps where still inked with Deep Woods. At this point I inked with Evergreen and then I stamped. I fussy cut the letter and then glued it over the ribbon lace.

Added some sequins and a wood veneer to add some interest

And here’s the final project…Really easy!

Let me know what you think about it, meanwhile, stay happy stay creative!

Ciao Zoey