December 10, 2014 By Vishu Reberholt Leave a Comment

Re-cycled Stamped Bangles

Happy Holidays everyone! Its Vishu here today popping in to share this quick recycled bangle.

I really enjoyed working on this project and can’t wait to wear these bangles this holiday season. I think they make for a great gift too.

Products Used

Ann Butler Design’s 1″ leaves all over

Ann Butler Design’s Crafter’s Ink by Clearsnap: Berry

White Cardstock

Colorbox Glitter

1/4″ wide double sided glue tape

I brought some bowls from Ikea and had these cardboard rings between two bowls. Since the rings were narrower I glued two rings together.

Then I stamped the image using crafter’s ink in berry.

I then cut out the image in the width I need

I stuck these pieces to the cardboard bangle

I then colored the edges with crafter’s berry ink color. Finally I stuck the double sided tape to the edges and poured the glitter.

Hope you enjoyed this project and thanks for stopping by………….

December 5, 2014 By Steph Ackerman Leave a Comment

Stenciled Christmas Cards and Gift Bag

Hi everyone, Steph Ackerman here today using Ann Butler’s new inks and stencils. If you play around a bit you’ll find lots of ways to use the inked stencil in assorted ways.

Using the new Stars Art Screen, I placed it on the canvas bag then inked it with Evergreen and Canyon Crafter’s Ink using an art dauber.

Hating to waste the left over ink on the stencil, I placed a sheet of white cardstock on top and rolled over it with the ColorBox Art Wheel. I got the negative image on the left as my second generation inking. There was still ink on the stencil so I placed a baby wipe on top of the stencil to pick up the remaining ink. I placed the baby wipe on a piece of white cardstock and gently rubbed to remove the color – the image on the right is the third generation inking.

The second generation inking was used to create this card. You can still see the pattern, and it appears larger because it is the negative image. The other elements on the card are Clearsnap’s Design Adhesives and Designer Foils.

This card uses the third generation inking with the baby wipe. The pattern is less visible, and appears almost water colored. It’s the perfect backdrop for a die cut Christmas tree.

So next time you have ink remaining on your stencils, play around with it and see what else you can create.

Thanks for stopping by today.

My blog.

December 3, 2014 By Design Team Leave a Comment

Create and Inspire Mixed Media Art

Hello my dear crafty friends! This is my new project made for Ann Butler’s blog and this time I made a fancy, stamped into clay card using Ann’s stamps and inks and Makin’s clay and tools.

Supply list:

Cardstock: Black

Stamps: Stripes, Dots, Hearts 2”, Doily Picnic 2”, Leave all over 2”- Ann Butler

Inks and reinkers: Aquamarine, Limelight, Berry, Sunshine, Lilac, Tangelo- Clearsnap

Crackle clear paint-

Stickers: Paper House Productions

Dies: Cardmaker nesting dies- Cherry Lynn Designs

Clay: Makin’s White air dry clay

Tools: Makin’s round cutters

Glue: Becon Zip Dry

How to make this card:

1. Make a basic card with black cardstock.

Cut a frame from thin chipboard. Cover it with clear crackle paint and let it dry. Apply brown ink over the crackle frame.

2. Stamp a few different stamp patterns into white air dry clay and cut circles of stamped patterns with different cutter sizes. Let the clay dry. Ink the dry stamped clay circles with 6 colors of inks and let it dry. You can help it a bit with your heat gun, but the air dry results are the best.

3. Arrange the mix of dry clay circles over your black base and glue them with good permanent glue. Becon Zip Dry glue is a perfect one for this matter. Add a few drops from the same colors of inks re-inkers and let it dry.

4. Glue the frame over your “art piece” and adhere the frame and the sentiment stickers as shown.

Hope that you liked my project and that you got some ” out of the box ” inspiration.

December 1, 2014 By Larissa Pittman 1 Comment

Quick and Easy Stamped Christmas Card

Good morning friends. How is everyone today? Hopefully everyone had a Blessed Thanksgiving! So I am here today to show you a quick and easy Christmas card you can make.
First off I took 2 stamps from Ann Butler 1″ Rail Fence Set A. I am using the stripe and diamond shape. I stamped the stripe straight across with red ink and the diamond shape in the middle a few times with green ink.
to finish it off I added some Christmas twine and a pretty red button. Of course a Merry Christmas sentiment is fitting for the middle of the card.

This card took me all of about 15 minutes from picking out stamps to adding the button to the twine. So for those of you who think you can not make cute Christmas cards because it takes to long, this one is for you. You could even start an assembly line. Stamp all your red then all your green. Adhere them together then add your twine or even some cute Christmas ribbon. And you are done.

Let us see your cards when you create them. Send them to me at Larissa@AnnButlerDesigns.com and I will post them to our Social Media pages. Who knows you may even see them on our blog this month. 🙂
Have a wonderful week everyone.

November 25, 2014 By Ann Butler Leave a Comment

99 Handmade Gift Ideas Blog Hop – Faux Quilted Pillow

I love making projects that are quick and easy yet look like they took more time to make then they actually did. This Faux Quilted Pillow is a perfect example and would make a wonderful gift. It was inspired by a Quilted Pillow created by my creative girlfriend Rebekah Meier for a blog hop using my Faux Quilting line of rubber stamps from Unity Stamp Company …..you can check out her pillow here!

Materials:
Ann Butler’s Faux Quilting Stamps by Unity Stamp Company
Ann Butler’s EZ-De’s Stamps
Ann Butler Crafters Ink by Clearsnap: Aquamarine Berry, Sunshine, Lilac, Tangelo, Limelight
Warm & Natural Batting by The Warm Company: 13″ x 13″ (2), 4″ x 4″
VELCRO® Sticky Back for Fabric: Ovals
Muslin: 13″ x 13″(3), 4″ x 4″ (2), 1″ x 22″
Light Steam-A-Seam 2 by The Warm Company 13″ x 13″
Poly-fil
Button
Floss by Kreinik Threads

Tools:
Westcott Brand Non Stick Scissors, needle, thread, sewing machine (optional), baby wipes, acrylic block, ruler, iron

Instructions:

Gather you supplies

Attach desired stamps to an acrylic block and stamp out pattern with stamps on a 14″ square piece of fabric; heat set with an iron.

You can check out a video on how to do this by clicking here!

Layer stamped fabric with batting and a piece of muslin then quilt together

by stitching between the stamped blocks and diagonally if desired.

Trim to 12″ x 12″. Thread 6 strands of floss and stitch through the center of the block,

doing so now is easier then once the pillow is stuffed.

Press Steam-A-Seam onto second piece of batting, peel paper layer and attach to muslin, iron together.

Put right sides together (batting side of batting piece and stamped side of quilted piece);

stitch together with a 1/2″ seam allowance, leaving a 4″ opening for turning.

Turn to the right side, stuff with poly-fil and stitch opening closed.

Stamp onto one of the 4″ square pieces of muslin, iron to heat set.

Fold into eight’s and cut into circle shape.

Layer this with 4″ square batting and muslin.

Sew together with free motion.

Zig-Zag around the outside edge.

Stitch through circle piece and button and tie off tightly.

For a second look…..

Place the loop side of the VELCRO® Sticky Back for Fabrics onto the back side of circle.

Place the hook side onto one end of the 1″ x 22″ piece of muslin;

wrap around pillow and repeat.

By using the VELCRO® Sticky Back for Fabrics you will be able to have the band on or

remove as desired giving you two looks for one pillow!

November 24, 2014 By Design Team Leave a Comment

Mixed Media Tag – Life is good

Hello Crafters!

Zoey‘s here again for another mixed media project!
If there is something that I love, that would experimenting new things (at least that are new for me!) ! I love to start my projects with one idea and then end up with something else because in the process, there is in the back of my head my little “talking cricket” that whisper to me “why don’t you try that!”.

To create this tag I used :

I started by smudging Ann Butler’s Crafter’s Inky by Clearsnap over an acrylic block. In the image you see I used Berry , Tangerine and Sunshine.

I spritzed over the acrylic block a bit of water, waited two seconds and the I let my piece of paper completely adhere to the block. I waited other few seconds to make sure the ink soaked into the paper completely. This was my first time trying to have a watercolor effect with Ann Butler’s Crafter’s Inky by Clearsnap…and I have to tell you that I was quiet impressed by the result I got!

I also wanted to give a really little detail by stamping with white ink and Ann Butler Design Faux Quilting Stamp. The result is very very subtle …but that was what I was looking for

I kept stamping using the same color ink and another stamp from Ann Butler Design Faux Quilting Stamps.

I cut my paper into a tag shape and then I wanted to experiment a little bit more. Since the first watercolor effect attempt worked just fine, I wanted to see if I was going to get the same result by applying color with a brush. And….yes! Even this time the result was what I was looking for. So I added color where the paper was white.

I was really happy with the result of this experiment, for me it was a new thing with this ink pads, and I really hope you will give it a try as well!
Here is a photo of a small detail. As you notice my edge are dark. To achieve this result all I did was applying color directly to the edge and then with a wet brush I let the ink blend into the rest of the paper!

And that is all for today! I hope you had fun and got inspired…stay happy stay creative, till next time!

Ciao, Zoey

November 21, 2014 By Design Team Leave a Comment

Mixed Media Happy Holidays Card

Hi Everyone! Paula here with today’s project. It’s hard to believe that the holiday season is upon us, but I have to say that I am really excited! It’s time to start thinking about cards! Ann Butler’s new stencils and new colors of Crafter’s Inks were just the right combination for me.

Here’s how I made this card:

1. I started by stamping the chevron pattern from Ann Butler’s 2″ Leaves All Over Faux Quilting Stamps in Colorbox Crafter’s Ink by Ann Butler in Canyon. This is one of the new colors and I LOVE it! I stamped this on watercolor paper and loved the effect!
2. Although I love the look, I wanted a bit more muted colors, so I started by sponging Colorbox Crafter’s Ink by Ann Butler in Sand, then again with Colorbox Crafter’s Ink by Ann Butler in Bark (also two new colors!!)

3. Next, I stamped a winter cottage scene onto ivory cardstock using the Bark ink. I chose a holiday sentiment and again, stamped in Bark. While the ink was still wet, I embossed with Colorbox Embossing Powder in Clear. Excuse the image, as I could not get a crisp photo of this. After embossing the image, I cut it out around the image itself. I wasn’t trying to be perfect, just not too close to the image.

4. Love this next step. Using Colorbox Art Screens by Ann Butler (NEW!!), I was able to make a “snow” theme on my card. This particular stencil worked perfectly. To get this effect, I used a watermark stamp pad, Colorbox Clear Embossing Powder, and Clearsnap Glitter in Winter Frost. I started by stamping the watermark stamp pad over the stencil in various locations (where I wanted my snow banks), then sprinkled with a mixture of the embossing powder and glitter. Then heated. I did this a couple more times to get the desired effect. To get the ‘snow glitter’ on the house rooftop, I used a blending pen, dipping on the watermark ink pad and then coloring over the area I wanted, then added the embossing powder/glitter , and heat again.

5. To make the snow “pop” a bit more, I sponged more Colorbox Crafter’s Ink by Ann Butler in Sand all over the card. The white snow will now really show up. I then added another stamped image in the corner of a couple redbirds on a pine branch. To do this, I used a blender pen, dipping on the ink pad, coloring the specific area of the stamp with one color, then the second color (colors used were the new Crafter’s Ink in Canyon and Crafter’s Ink in Deep Woods). Did I say I love these new colors??

6. Now back to the base of the card – the chevron design in Canyon. I added a piece of vintage lace, and sponged it in a bit of Bark ink.

7. I wanted a bit more of a distressed look, so I took my scissors and ran it along the edge of every individual piece. Some I ripped a bit more, some not so much. After distressing the edges, I did ink just a bit more around them.
Last step – just put it all together. I can’t wait to use these new inks and stencils again!!

I hope you enjoyed this card. Thanks for stopping by!

November 17, 2014 By Design Team 1 Comment

Upcycled Cardboard Mini Canvas

Hello and welcome to the blog . This is Roberta and I hope you like my project for today.

Upcycling is always a fun challenge for me. Today I have created an adorable mini canvas from discarded cardboard packaging. This little square wedge is really a diamond in the rough.

I forget where it came from, but my first instinct was ‘Gee, that would make the most awesome stamp!’. And it did. I inked one of the sides a delicious blue and it created a stunning image.

Here is what I did:

Apply DecoArt gesso to prime and seal the canvas.
once dry, stamp background using Ann Butler Designs EZ-Des faux-quilting stamps. I used Clearsnap Colorbox stamping ink in Night (black) because it is amazing on almost every surface. I think these stamps in black, against the white background really anchor the canvas and make everything else pop!
create more texture with a stencil and DecoArt texture paste. Let it dry.
Color the dried medium by painting or rubbing, and embellish as desired. I used Stickles and DecoArt acrylic paints.

: thick and dense cardboard 4×4

: Priming with gesso

: gesso top and 2 ‘uglier’ sides, paint pattern sides

: stamp with faux-quilting stamps onto gessoed surface. The surface is a little irregular so stamping will not be even.

: place and secure stencil

: using DecoArt texture medium to create a raised feature

Added Bonus! Once I removed the stencil there was enough residual medium to get a second impression so I grabbed some patterned paper and got another raised floral feature.

Thank you for visiting the blog today!

November 12, 2014 By Design Team Leave a Comment

Iridescents Stamped Bracelet

I love using Ann Butler’s Iridescents paints from Earth Safe on Makin’s Clay! When I saw the wood bangle I was so excited to combine some fun elements to make a bracelet you could LOVE!

I rolled out the clay and stamped into it with my Ann Butler Faux Quilting Stamps. I then used the heart cutter from Makin’s Clay. I actually put the on the panted bangle before it was dry so it would have a nice curve. To my happy surprise, it STUCK! No clue required! I then painted and over painted and painted some more to get the fun shades of all the colors! Of course, I had to add some Connie Crystal BLING!

Here are some photos of the finished product up close and full shot!

I could have added another coat of paint to the bangle but love the look of the sheer coat!

Hope you like the sparkle and shine! Find me on Facebook and check out my blog!

November 10, 2014 By Design Team Leave a Comment

Stamped Spring Floral Bracelet

Hello my dear crafty friends!
Irit is here and this is my post made for Ann Butler’s blog for November.
Wee all know that in our hemisphere it’s fall going to winter. But as my favorite season is Spring, I decided to make a project in lovely spring colors and just to pretend it’s a Spring time here.
So here is my small tutorial- easy to make bracelet made over DIYBANGLERS Ready to decorate wooden flat small size wooden bracelet.

1. Flatten Makin’s white clay to fit your bracelet size . Use Makin’s tools for the better result. Stamp over the flat clay strip, roll the stamped clay around the wooden bracelet and trim the edges.I used a strip from Ann Butler’s EZ-De’s 1” Rail Fence Set. Let the clay dry.

2. Flatten another piece of clay; stamp with another stamp (I loved diamonds from 2” Diamonds and Plaids Ann Butler’s Faux Quilting set from Unity. Then cut all sizes of flowers with Makin’s Flower cutters. I made one big, 2 medium and a lot of small flowers. Let them dry.

3. Ink the dry bracelet with Ann Butler’s Aquamarine Clearsnap Crafter’s ink.
You can use Clearsnap Color Blender tool or just to roll the bracelet over the ink as I did after all.
Dont’ let it dry as we are going to heat emboss the inked pieces.

4. Ink your dry clay flowers with the same Ann Butler’s Aquamarine ink and with Ann Butler’s Berry and Limelight inks from Clearsnap.

5. Heat emboss the bracelet and all the flowers with Clear embossing Clearsnap powder and your heat gun. It make the color pops and now all clay pieces are bright and shiny and durable too.

6. Adhere your flowers over the bracelet with Beacon Zip Dry glue. This is a perfect glue for this craft project: you can arrange the flowers as the dry time is not too short and you can’t see the clear leftovers if you have them.

And the 3d view of this finished craft project. I decided not to ink the inside wooden bracelet as I like the natural color, but you can paint the inside too if you wish to do so.

Thanks for reading this tutorial and hope you will do some similar projects with Ann Butler’s delicious products.