Creativity Stirs The Soul

Change this Easy Valentine's Day Card...

2012-02-15T00:01:00.004-06:00

Here is a super simple

Valentine's Day Card

that can be created

easily and used for

other times of the year

by changing out the colors.....

I cut white card stock to create

a 5" x 4" card,

cut a print piece of card stock

4 1/2" x 3 1/2" and

a piece of white card stock 4" x 3",

I layered these on top of each other,

wrapped a ribbon around them and attached

this piece to the card.

I made a ribbon bow and attached

it to the ribbon on the card.

I glued a heart on the card and

stamped "I Love You"

Super quick and easy and

by changing the colors

can be used any time of year....

Here are a few variations of the card that were

made by the some of the ladies

in the class I taught

last weekend!

Valentine's Day Surprise with my Grandson

2012-02-14T00:01:00.003-06:00

While watching my 2 1/2 year old grandson Blake

Monday evening....we decided it would be a

good idea to make a surprise for his mommy

(my daughter in law)

for Valentine's Day

as his daddy (my son)

is working out of town for the week....

so we decided to bake

some Valentine Day Cookies....

He enjoyed cutting them out....

and sprinkling on RED Sugar....

before baking some....

while others we baked, then frosted

with icing and sprinkled RED Sugar onto the icing....

We made a box out of Card Stock,

Added a Doily Heart and

the word Love....

placed some tissue paper inside

and filled it with cookies....

Then it was ready to give to his

mommy....while I could not get

him to learn to say

"Happy Valentine's Day" he did

get excited when she came to pick

him up and said he had a

"Surprise for her that he made for her"

and then he ran to get it....

Oh these are precious MEMORIES!

Quick & Easy Valentine's Day Craft

2012-02-13T00:01:00.002-06:00

Are you looking for a

Quick and Easy

Valentine's Day Craft?

Grab a Mason Jar, some

scraps of scrapbook paper

to get started on this candy jar....

I layered a 4 1/2" x 3 1/2"

piece of paper

(the edges of this one I distressed a bit)

with a 4" x 3"

piece of paper and glued

them to a Mason Jar....

I cut "LOVE" out of glitted

fun foam with a sizzix die....

and glued that on top of the paper.

I glued a scrap of paper to the lid

and added a sizzix die cut glittered

fun foam heart to the top,,,,

added a bit of ribbon around the

lid and tied a bow!

Filled with candy and it is ready to

give as a gift!

So quick and easy.....

Here are several more of the candy jars....

each a bit different

but all quick and easy.....

I taught a group of ladies at church this

past weekend and these are their jars....

Give it a try!

CHA Flash Mob for Charity

2012-02-10T00:01:00.001-06:00

Here is the FLASH MOB Video

which we preformed at CHA for Charity....

FaveCrafts CHA Round-Up

2012-02-09T00:01:00.002-06:00

While I was not able to get around the

show floor as much as I would have

like to last week....

I have a great way for you to

see more of what I missed....with the

FaveCrafts Round Up

click on the above link to be

brought to a page where

there are more than 40

recaps of the show....

ENJOY!

Westcott Brand Sponsors T-Shirt REMIX Contest at CHA!!!

2012-02-08T02:56:00.001-06:00

While at CHA I was able to be part of the

Westcott Brand sponsored a LIVE TShirt REMIX Contest

which was hosted by Modern Surrealist (Marisa Pawelko)!

Contestants put their

Westcott Brand Extreme Edge Adjustable Tension Scissors

to the test by slicing and shredding tshirts!

There were 4 days of competion with

three designers each day....

pictured above is

Marisa, me, Kerry Goulder and Jill McKay;

we competed on day 2 of the competition....

We each had 20 minutes to work and
we each came up with totally different designs,

as did each of the designers each day

of the competition....

Results will be available along

with a video soon

which I will post when available!

I LOVE to Create is Amazing

2012-02-07T00:15:00.002-06:00

Being a Designer Member of CHA

(Craft & Hobby Association)

I have the opportunity to display

my work at the Designer Showcase

held at the both the winter and summer shows....

It is a way to showcase our work and

hopefully get additional design work.

This year a manufacturer;

"I Love to Create"

offered to provide a repair kit

to the designers participating in the

Designer Showcase event.

Since we have to either ship or

pack our showcases in our suitcases in order

to the get them to the show,

sometimes damage happens....

When "I Love to Create" offered

to supply repair a kit I was thinking

it would be one maybe two kits

for all of the designers to share....

Well this was not the case.....

they had a repair kit for

each designer....(60 of us)!

These kits were filled with a

variety of their adhesives....

Paints and paint brushes....

and AMAZINGLY....

Alyson (from I Love to Create)

thought of every last detail

because the kit included

bottled water, candy,

tissues, band aids, screwdrivers,

safety pins along with a

note note from Alyson

wishing each of us a Fabulous Show,

hoping that each of us would not

need the contents of the the kit

and saying that the repair kits

were ours to take home....

I must say that

"I Love to Create"

went above and beyond

for the designers who

participated in the showcases

at the winter show this year....

I respectfully say

"Thank You"

and wanted to personally

give a shout out to

"I Love to Create"

for being so thoughtful and kind!

Inspiration from CHA & Graphic 45

2012-02-06T02:10:00.001-06:00

Last week at the CHA Winter Show

I found myself without a lot of

time to see the show floor

so I do not have as many pictures

as I would like to have taken....

But the first day of the show

while I was passing the

Graphic 45 Booth the displays

caught my eye and I took the

opportunity to take some photos....

Everything they had coordinated perfectly...

They had the finishing touches....

That make displays wonderful....

They had a great assortment

of products that made you want to....

take a selection of them home to play....

these are only a few photos of their booth....

they had so much more

but as I was on my way to an appoinment

I did not have the time to take

pictures of the entire booth....

but these are inspiring enough

for you to check out their new

line at the Graphic 45 web site.

To check out other highlights from the

CHA Winter Show click on the

Designer Crafts Connection icon

on the left side of my blog.

I will also be posting more throughout the week!

To see more CHA Round Up posts visit the FaveCrafts Round Up.

Home from CHA Winter Show

2012-02-03T00:54:00.000-06:00

I just returned home for the

CHA Winter Show

about an hour ago....

am busy unpacking and will

be posting pictures and

info about the show over the next

week or so....stay tuned!

Taping a Segment for a New Web TV Show

2012-02-01T02:18:00.000-06:00

While at CHA Winter Show this week

I taped a segment for a

New Web TV Show with

Danielle Forsgren (The Craft Diva)

I showed how to make

Changeable Headbands with

VELCRO® brand fasteners;

I will share the link to the segment

when it airs!

CHA Winter Show Sneak Peak

2012-01-31T02:32:00.000-06:00

I am part of a group of CHA Designers

that have gotten together to

post pictures of Highlights of the

CHA Winter Show 2012

while we are at the show and

when we return from the show

to give you a sneak peak into what

we are seeing that is so cool

You can check out the link

to the photos on Pinterest....

ENJOY!

Off to CHA

2012-01-27T01:55:00.002-06:00

I am off to the CHA Winter Show

(Craft & Hobby Association)

leaving my house at 2 am to

go to the airport....

I will hopefully be posting

next week while I am gone

things from the show....

if not I will catch you up

when I return....

This show holds tons of

possibilities!

Playing with Cool2Cast and Dew Drops...

2012-01-26T00:01:00.000-06:00

Check out my blog post on

The Hive to get a tutorial on how to

create this ring with

Cool2Cast and

Robin's Nest Dew Drops...

So quick and easy!

Wordless Wednesday

2012-01-25T08:09:00.000-06:00

Winter CHA Scheduled Appearance Line-up

2012-01-24T00:01:00.000-06:00

I thought I would share with you

a link that Claudine Hellmuth shared

which has a schedule of where

Celebrities & CHA Designers

will be; whether it is a book signing,

demo or make & take....

What is cool about this list is that you can sort it

by date, who, or company to find

what you might be looking for....

Go ahead and check it out at

Scrapbook Update

For those of you not attending the

Winter CHA Show

I will be taking lots of pictures

maybe even some videos

and posting to my blog

during the month of February....

Impress ART Metal Stamps

2012-01-23T01:44:00.000-06:00

I want to share a one of the projects

I did for the ImpressArt booth for

the CHA Show next week....

ImpressArt makes great Metal Stamps

they wanted some displays

for their booth that were

"Out of the Box" or

different then what is normally done

with their stamps which of course

is stamping on metal....

Since I work a lot with

Makin's No Bake Polymer Clay

I thought it would be the perfect

product to try with the stamps....

I chose to make a

Memory Frame

using the stamps to

create the weight in clay

Then I used the Foot Print Stamps

to impress a boarder

into the clay background....

I brushed on

Metallic Powders

to bring out the detail in the

stamped images....

If you are going to be at

CHA next week stop by the

ImpressArt booth (#2719)

to check out all of the great stamps

they have, do a make and take

and to see the other great

projects that were made for the booth

by my designer friends:

Eileen Hull,

Theresa Cifali,

Carol Heppner

and Jen Goode

If you will not be able to attend CHA

be sure to check out their

web site at ImpressArt

And The WINNER Is....

2012-01-20T01:41:00.000-06:00

I'd like to thank everyone who

posted to win the TICKET to:

A Shout Out for Eileen Hull

2012-01-19T01:12:00.000-06:00

CHA is right around the corner and

my friend Designer Eileen Hull

is releasing another great set of Dies....

check this out,,,,

This "Cake Slice" is a great die....

to see more check out Eileen's Blog

A Shout Out for Julianna Hudgins

2012-01-18T01:35:00.001-06:00

Here is a sneak peek of the

WONDERFUL NEW DIES

by Julianna Hudgins

for Spellbinders....

LF-013 Jewel GoddessMSRP: $59.99
PRODUCT SIZES:

Grand Goddess: 9½ x 4¼”
Small Goddess: 6 x 2¾”
Heart LG: 1⅞ x 1¼”
Heart SM: 1½ x 1⅛”

S5-098 Jewel StonesMSRP: $29.99
PRODUCT SIZES:

Square/Princess: 1 3/8”
Oval: 2 3/8 x 1 1/2”
Triangle/Trillion SM: 1 ½ x 1 3/8”
Triangle/Trillion LG 1 5/8 x 2 1/8”
Oblong: 2 ¾ x ¾”
Rectangle: 1 ½ x 2”

S5-097 Jewel TreasuresMSRP: $29.99

PRODUCT SIZES:

Coil SM: ¾ x 5/8”

Coil LG: 7/8 x ¾”

Hand: 1 1/8 x 1 ¾”

Crown: 2 5/8 x 1 ½”

Star: 2 1/8”

Kite: 3 ¾ x 1 5/8”

Flower: 2 7/8 x 1 ½”

To see some AWESOME Projects made with

Julianna's New Dies check out her blog "Positively Me"

This is just a taste of her New Line....

the rest will be revealed at the CHA Winter Show

at the end of the month so

check Julianna's blog often to see what's new....

The Best Little Helper!

2012-01-17T00:01:00.000-06:00

When cutting hundreds of items for CHA

a good helper is key

to getting the job done....

I had my 2 1/2 year old grandson this past weekend

and sometimes I think his favorite place

to be in my house is my studio....

asking if he can play with me....

So since I had a huge project and he

wanted to help...I put him to work...

I showed him how to run the sizzix die cutter....

He stayed on task;

and had to use one finger

on top of the other....

and he got the job done....

we actually worked and played

in my studio for hours

and he was just as happy as can be!

He was the best little helper!

Be Part of a LIVE from CHA Event

2012-01-16T03:25:00.001-06:00

How would you like to be a part of

the CHA Winter Show in an

interactive way.....

I have an AWESOME surprise for a lucky reader of my blog!

The Craft & Hobby Association ( CHA),

has their winter show coming up the end of this month;

(Jan 29th to Feb 2nd).

It is the place where all the major craft companies,

crafty celebrities, editors, publishers, designers

and retailers from all over the world come together!

Get your own front row interactive seat to the show!
Charity Wings will be running a LIVE from CHA event
hosted by Charity Wing's own Elena Etcheverry
along with some talented CHA Designers!

You can register for the event HERE ;
also I have ONE ticket to this event that I am giving away!
Along with the ticket the prize includes a gift bag
full of craft goodies worth over $50.00
PLUS a chance to win one of some wonderful raffle prizes
during the event!

So from now until Thursday January 19th at 9pm Central
you can enter to win the ONE TICKET I have to give away
simply by:

1. Tweet a link to this blog post on Twitter with @AnnButlerDesign in the post
or
2. Leaving a comment on my blog
or
3. Leaving a comment on my Face Book Page

I will announce the winner of the Ticket
here on my blog
Friday January 20, 2012!

It could be you.....

Please note Charity Wings only ships

to the USA and Canada

at this time!

Decorate those Containers...

2012-01-13T00:01:00.001-06:00

Check out my post on

The Hive

to see how super easy it is

to give those jars filled with

craft supplies a face lift....

Using beautiful card stock from

The Robin's Nest and

VELCRO® Brand Adhesive Dots

Westcott Brand Sponsors T-Shirt REMIX Contest at CHA!!!

2012-01-12T00:01:00.001-06:00

Westcott Brand is pleased to announce

their upcoming series of creative competitions

to be held in their booth #2773 at the

2012 Craft & Hobby Association Winter Trade Convention!

This fast paced competition hosted

by Modern Surrealist Marisa Pawelko

and is sure to be the talk of the show!

There are four competitions lined up

with some amazing

CHA Designer Member Contestants!

I am honored to say I am one of the contestants

in the T-Shirt REMIX Contest....

Not sure what to expect....but....

expect the unexpected!

Below is the ALL-STAR Lineup!

If you happen to be attending the show,

please come the Westcott booth

and see who makes the cut!!!

Addicted to Cool2Cast

2012-01-11T01:08:00.000-06:00

I have been so busy with deadlines

and creating projects for the CHA Winter Show

that I decided to take a break and

play with something NEW....

I thought it would be a good time to

try Cool2Cast....

I love how easy Tiffany Windsor

makes it looks when she

demo's it on Cool2Craft

Plus I have the necklace and ring

Tiffany gave me, so I know it really

does look amazing, you would never

think that is was a fiber plaster....

I got out my package of Cool2Cast

a measuring cup, water and

a plastic zip lock bag.

I measured the Cool2Cast and water

into the zip lock bag.

Mixed to to a pancake like batter...

I poured it into molds...

It only took about an hour

for the Cool2Cast to set...

I turned the molds upside down

and the pieces popped right out...

I let them dry completely.

Then I got out crayons, inks, paints and stamps

it was so quick and easy to color them...

then I added dimensional glaze on the top,

let that dry and added some glaze to the sides...

now I have several pieces for jewelry and

other projects,,,,

What I found was that Cool2Cast is

very addictive because it is so easy

and I do not really see how it can

messed up....

What I know now is that

I need to look for some more molds

and get some more

Cool2Cast...

Playing is a very good thing!

CHA Designer Giving Tree

2012-01-10T02:22:00.000-06:00

The 2012 CHA Winter Show

is less than 3 weeks away...

This year there will be a

CHA Designer Giving Tree Display

Every CHA Designer member

has the opportunity to create an ornament

reflecting one of the nine exhibiting charities.

My ornament was made for:

Charity Wings/Scrapbook Royalty

(www.charitywings.org )

Charity Wings hosts and sponsors crafting events

across the county in order to raise money for

worthy, charitable causes.

I choose to make an ANGEL with WINGS

which will represent CHARITY WINGS....

Although you can not tell by the photo

this Angel is made with

Makin's No Bake Polymer Clay,

Wire, Glitter &

Styrofoam.