January 29, 2015 By Design Team Leave a Comment

Photo Cube With Ann Butler Designs

I had a GREAT time at CHA and am finally getting my mojo on! Hard to not be inspired by the FABULOUS new products by Ann Butler and brought to you by Clearsnap!

I love my family and friends. I enjoy having photos out and about rather than always having to get out an album I have made shadow box style “albums” to sit out so I can see my family. This inspired my thought for some photo cubes.

So here are the supplies used:

Ann Butler Designs – Crafter’s Ink and Stamps by Clearsnap/Ann Butler Designs – Earth Safe Finishes/Smoothfoam – Cubes/Connie Crystal – Crystal Sheets/Tombow – XTREME Tape Runner & Mono Multi Glue/Golden – Acrylic Paints.

I painted the Smoothfoam cubes with the paint and let dry. I then inked up the stamps and stamped all sides of the cubes. Because the ink stays wet longer I worked on a paper towel and as I rotated the cube to stamp each side, the ink blotted on the paper towel.

I then added the Earth Safe Finishes to the sides that had the square pattern. I then printed and cut down the photos I wanted to use. I made a Disney Cube, a CHA cube with my designer friends and a Highway Patrol Graduation cube. The EXTREME tape holds the photos to the cubes very well. I added a little black ink on the edges then added the rows of crystal! Photos and Bling!

I am so pleased with the way these came out! I love the way Ann’s Ink worked on the Smoothfoam! This is a wonderful project to make with your kiddos for vacation photos, school friends, pets and so much more. The pictures showing are of some of my favorite peeps including ANN BUTLER with her two co-owners of Bella Publishing, Lisa Rojas and Theresa Cifali! What a really fun and creative trip!

Happy Creating! Find me on Facebook!

January 23, 2015 By Design Team 1 Comment

DIY Crafted Rosettes and Stamped Treat Bags

Hello, it’s Graciellie and today I want to show you an easy and elegant way to customize pretty treat bags for Valentine’s. Ann’s stamps and Crafter’s inks were key during the process of making these projects I’m showing you today!

Main supplies
Colorbox Background Basics by Ann Butler
Colorbox Crafter’s Inks by Ann Butler in Sunshine
Colorbox Crafter’s Inks in Bark and Snow
Colorbox Background Basics by Ann Butler – Basket 1 and Picnic 1
Colorbox Color Blender
Other supplies
Velcro Mini Fasteners – Round 3/8″ Dots
Westcott Titanium Bonded Trimmer and Titatium Non-stick Scissors
Ad-Tech Crafter’s Tape
Enviromental Technologies Easy Cast Resin and Easy Mold Silicone Putty
Miscelaneous
Grip Liner
Leather textured cardstock
White tulle
Linen thread
Jute twine
Vintage button
Resin flower
staple
Mini tag

I absolutely love the final look of these pretty treat bags, but for them to look like this I had to create every single thing from scratch. That’s right! The embellishments, the bags themselves were all made from scratch! Let me start with how I made those vintage looking rosettes:

1. Get a roll of white Grip Liner and your choice of Ann Butler’s Crafter’s Inks. I made one yellow rosette and a vintage brown one (mixing Sunshine and Bark to create a lighter brown).

2. Color a section of the Grip Liner pressing the ink pad directly onto it.

3. Tap lightly the colored section with a clean cloth if needed. Since I wanted a weathered look, doing this made the hues softer.

4. Cut strips from the colored Grip Liner. The width of the rosettes is your choice, but remember that you can always trim them after they’re done if you want them smaller.

5. Use a wide piece of two sided tape as a base and start putting the rosette together. You won’t be able to stick completely the strip, but it will help you put the structure of the rosette together. In the end, add a generous amount of silicone glue to the center of the rosette so that it stays put.

6. Embellish the center of the rosettes as desired. I added a vintage gold button to the brown rosette and a clear resin rose to the yellow one. In the end, I decided I would darken the edges of the yellow rosette with a mix of Sunshine and Bark inks, and I also added a large tulle rosette to the back of the brown one.

I find this is a GREAT way to get the most out of everyday materials and upcycle them!

The treat boxes were made out of a digital template and a gift bag punch board. To make them unique I roughly stamped them (before putting them together) with the new Background Basics stamps by Ann Butler. They are large and made the job easy! To make the stamping uneven, after inking the stamp I cleaned parts of the block. That technique gives a nice worn, mixed media look to any project! I used Sunshine ink for the smaller box and snow on the large bag to heat emboss it in gold. I completed the treat bags with jute twine, linen thread and a “love” tag I sponged with a mix of Bark and Sunshine inks. To close the bags I simple stapled the smaller one and then on the large one I adhered a set of mini Velcro fasteners.

I hope you enjoyed today’s post. Thanks for stopping by!

August 25, 2014 By Vishu Reberholt 1 Comment

5 minute – Card Background

A sunny hello to everybody and I hope you all are enjoying the lovely outdoors…..couple week s ago we went on our first tent camping with the kids and we had a blast and so did the mosquitoes now only if they sucked fat instead of blood :). Since the summers are very busy and tough to find time for crafting today I want to share a quick card with you…..I had the most fun making this background.

Products used:

Ann Butler’s Faux Quilting Stamps – 2″ Diamonds and Plaid,

Ann Butler Colorbox Crafter’s Ink by Clearsnap: Tangelo, Aquamarine, Lilac, Limelight, Berry, Sunshine

white cardstock, spellbinder dies, rhinestones, vintage photo distress ink, momento black ink and clear embossing powder.

first I stamped the plaid image and heat embossed it.

then I kept adding the ink to jazz up the background.

Just loved how this background turned out and quickly put together.

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

August 18, 2014 By Larissa Pittman 3 Comments

Monogram Coffee Wrap

Good Monday morning everyone! Larissa here with a cute little altered mini coffee cup.
These are the absolute cutest cups ever! I decided to make a little party favor out of it.

First off I cut pieces of pattern paper.

Then I attached it around the mini coffee cup with Tombow Mono Multi adhesive.

I then punched a tag out of Black cardstock. Then using my favorite
Ann Butler Designs Crafters Ink color “Berry”, I stamped the letter “L”
on a piece of white cardstock and cut it out.

I attached it to the black tag again using Tombow Mono Multi adhesive.

I then used small dimensional pop ups on the back of the tag.

I attached it to the outside of the cup.

I was wondering what to put in the cup. I thought maybe
chocolate covered coffee beans or something similar.
Then it came to me. It was the perfect size!

Hope you enjoyed today’s post. For more of my creations
check out my blog www.muffinsandlace.com.

Have a wonderful day!

August 7, 2014 By Design Team Leave a Comment

Faux Quilting Stamped Yardstick

Hi everyone! This is Carmen and today I wanted to share with you a super easy stamped project that is so fun to make – a stamped yard stick! When I was at the craft store a few weeks ago I found this plain wood yardstick in the sewing notions section and thought that it was missing a little pizazz and in my head “pizazz equals Ann Butler’s stamps”! Those one inch increments are perfect for the 1″ Faux Quilting stamps. It was a blast using all the different colors and stamps starting at number one and stamping all the way down the yardstick to number 36. I felt so victorious crossing that finish line!

Here’s how:

Materials and Supplies:

Ann Butler’s Faux Quilting Stamps – 1″ Diamonds and Plaid, 1″ Stripes/Dots/Hearts, 1″ Doily Picnic, 1″ Leaves All Over

Ann Butler Colorbox Crafter’s Ink by Clearsnap: Tangelo, Aquamarine, Lilac, Limelight, Berry, Sunshine

Plain wood yardstick

Acrylic stamp blocks

Heat embossing tool

Instructions:

1. Use a different stamp and color on each inch of the yardstick. You might have to stamp each design several times to build up the color if yardstick is particularly porous.

2. Heat set the inks when you’re done with the heat embossing tool.

That’s it! How easy is that? I keep my pretty new yardstick handy by leaning it against my desk but you can also tape it to the edge of a table and use it to measure fabric. Another cute idea is to use pieces of Velcro to attach it to a wall and use it as a growth chart for kids! Hang it one or two feet above the ground so you can continue to use it when the kids get big. Enjoy!

July 7, 2014 By Design Team Leave a Comment

Note To Self Clip Board

I find I am always making lists for myself. It is a great thing until I forget where I put the list! So I decided I needed something I could add a magnet to and attach to the fridge to hold my never ending pile of lists!

Basic Supplies: Mini Clip Board, Golden Acrylic Paint, Ann Butler Faux Quilting Stamps, Crafters Ink from Clearsnap, Saying Stamp From Verses.

I started with a blank small clipboard. I added a couple of coats of paint and let dry. I then used the 1″ stamp to make a boarder around the edge. I decided to make yellow the main color. I changed the direction of the stamp with each color change then stamped the saying in th middle. I think adding color to your life is always a very wondrful thing.

Now to attach the magnets to the back and start getting organized! Hope you all have a wonderful and creative day!

Kristi

June 29, 2011 By Ann Butler Leave a Comment

Craft Quick and Easy Memo Holders

It is time to Craft up some Handmade Gifts to have on hand for a small birthday gift, a thank you or a just because gift…and memo holders were on the list!

Craft these Quick and Easy Memo Holders as they are are great gifts to have on hand. I used the Memo Holder Scoreboard Die that my friend designerEileen Hull created for Sizzix and Velcro® Brand Press & Close Fasteners.

I chose some fabric and decoupaged it onto the front and back of matboard before die cutting it.

I placed two Press and Close Fasteners on the inside of the memo holder.

Then placed a post it note pad on top of the Press & Close Fasteners which will help to hold it in place.

I used Velcro® Brand Mini Fasteners to stack the flower pieces.

Then I attached a Press and Close Fastener to the back of the flower and placed in onto the front of the memo holder…

which makes it easy to open and close….

Here is a side view of the memo holder…Quick and Easy!

June 21, 2011 By Ann Butler Leave a Comment

DIY No-Sew Changeable Purse

Make a DIY No-Sew Changeable Purse Quickly & Easyly with Velcro® Brand Fasteners and great Trims from Expo International!

To make this DIY No Sew Changeable Purse start with a pre-made purse or denim pocket; I used a denim one. Expo International has some great trims and Velcro® Brand Press and Close Fasteners make this DIY No-Sew Changeable Purse.

I used Non- Stick Scissors by Wescott to cut the 3/4″ Press and Close Fasteners that I had in half since some of the trims I was using was narrower than 3/4″. I placed hook side of the Press and Close Fasteners onto the purse around the edge where I wanted the trim to be.

I placed the loop side of the Press and Close Fasteners onto the trim.

Then, pressed the trim in place on the purse.

I cut more of the 3/4″ Press and Close Fasteners in half and placed loo[ side on this white trim so I am able to change out the purse Quick and Easy.

This purse can now be changed out Quickly and Easyly with an assortment of trims that have the loop side of the Press and Close Fasteners attached. How cool is that…..

How cool is that…..

May 17, 2011 By Ann Butler 1 Comment

DIY: Changeable Candle Holder with Velcro® Brand

Candles are always the perfect accent but the cost of candle holders can add up quickly especially when you do a lot of decorating, which is why this changeable candle holder is a great solution.

Why not buy the candle holders once and use Velcro Brand Adhesives to make Quick Changeable Candle Holders…There are a variety of Velcro Brand Adhesives to choose from to make these.

Above is a tea light candle holder; gems are attached with Velcro Brand Adhesives.

The gems were removed and this trim was added with flat back beads.

Then the trim was taken off and ribbon replaced it.

One side of the Velcro Brand Adhesive stays on the candle holder and the other side is on the gems, trim, ribbon or anything else you choose to decorate with making these Quick Change Candle Holders Quick and Easy!

March 28, 2011 By Ann Butler Leave a Comment

DIY: Create A Ring with Options

By using one Ring Base, an Assortment of Buttons, Flowers & Gems and Velcro Brand Fasteners you have a DIY “Ring with Options”!

I used Velcro Brand Press and Close Fasteners for this DIY Ring with Options as they are super thin and strong….

Depending on the look your going for…

you can just change out the top to match your outfit!

for a ring with options!