Ayana's Creations

"You Are My Sunshine"

Hey Friends!.... Happy Wednesday to you all! :)

Today i'm sharing a card that I made up for the new Repeat Impressions Sketch Challenge.

For this card, I used the sunflower from the "You Are My Sunshine" stamp as the focal point. I colored it in with Copics, and then added a brown button with string to the center. I also stamped the "Flowering Vine" image in the background with Versamark. Overall, this card was super simple to make! I really hope you guys enjoy this card, and I urge you all to play along in the sketch challenge! All participants could have the opportunity to win a gift certificate for some free stamps So be sure to check out the Repeat Impressions Blog today for all of the info. and also to browse through more samples from the fabulous design team!

So, by the way.... did any of you notice anything different about my card photo today?... I actually used "natual light" this time. I almost always take my pictures during the night time, so therefore I'm always using a light tent. But since it was bright and sunny over the weekend, I figured i'd take advantage and try going outside for once.

What do you all think?... Do you prefer natural light over artificial lighting set-ups?.... Unfortunately, I work full time during the day and I usually stay late at work a lot. So I don't really have a choice when it comes to taking pictures of my cards. But it was nice to give this "outside setting" a try for once.

How do YOU take your photos of your cards?? I always think it's fun to learn what others are doing. So please share your techniques, if you have some time. :)

Ok, well.... I think I've rambled enough for today. LoL... Time to get my day started and hopefully be productive! Thanks for stopping by! I appreciate you all SO much! ♥

SUPPLIES:

You Are My Sunshine Card

Paper: Neenah Paper (Solar White) and PTI Cardstock
Stamps: "You Are My Sunshine" & "4314-K Flowering Vine" (Repeat Impressions)
Ink: "Tuxedo Black" (Memento) & Versamark
Other: Copics markers, Lemon Tart satin ribbon (PTI), oval punch & scallop border punch (Stampin' Up), brown buttons, & corner rounder

Halloween in June!

Hiii guys! So glad you stopped by! Today is Tuesday and DeNami Design is featuring more new stamps from their upcoming release on July 1st. Yup! That's right!.... Only TWO days left until you get to see their entire release of 55 brand new fun and exciting stamps!

Today I am going to be showing you all some fun HaLLoWeeN cards that I made using various images from their new line. I have four cards to show you in total. So I won't bore you with so much writing. Instead, i'll just let you browse the cards and see what you think for yourself. I'll let these fabulous images do all the work! haha....  Aren't these pumpkins just adorable??!!....

Soooo.... What do you all think? Like? Dislike?... Love??.... hahaa.... I have to tell you, these images were seriously lots of fun to work with. I think the spiders and pumpkins are just so cute. I almost wish it was October already ! :)

I can't wait for you all to see the rest of the images from the upcoming release. I have seen and worked with many of them already, and I am very impressed with the new line! Don't forget, they will all be available to you on July 1st, (which also happens to be my birthday). LoL.... Luckily, I have the day off from work that day. So i'll be checking out the new line in the comfort of my own home! :)

If you'd like to see more images, samples, and sneak peeks on the upcoming DeNami line, you can check out the following links here & here.

I hope everyone is having a great week so far! I have much more to blog about this week, so I really hope you come back to visit again soon! :)

SUPPLIES:

Halloween Bare Tree Card

Paper: Neenah Paper (Solar White) and Kraft & Basic Black (Stampin' Up)
Stamps: (DeNami Designs)
Ink: "Tuxedo Black" (Memento) & Versamark
Other: twine, Copics, sponge dauber

Halloween Spiders Card

Paper: Neenah Paper (Solar White) and Stampin' Up Cardstock
Stamps: (DeNami Designs)
Ink: "Tuxedo Black" (Memento)
Other: Copics, Martha Stewart border punch, purple string, Orange Grosgrain, spider's web embossing folder, sanding block

Halloween Orange Pumkins Card

Paper: Neenah Paper (Solar White) and Stampin' Up Cardstock
Stamps: (DeNami Designs)
Ink: "Tuxedo Black" (Memento)
Other: Copic markers, scallop border punch (Martha Stewart), twine, and button

Halloween Pumpkin Strip Card

Paper: Neenah Paper (Solar White) and Kraft (Stampin' Up), )
Stamps: (DeNami Designs)
Ink: "Tuxedo Black" (Memento) 
Other: Copics, embossing folder, & Fiskars border punch

Owls, Owls, Owls!!!

Hi. guys! :) Have you all checked out the DeNami blog lately??..... If not, then what are you waiting for?

Throughout the past few days, DeNami has been featuring "sneak peeks" on their blog of their NEW stamps from their upcoming release on July 1st. I was lucky enough to get the chance to play around with these adorably cute Owls.

These owls are part of a 'Petit-Four" set. The set contains three boy owls and one girl owl. Once I started stamping with them, it was hard for me to stop. I ended up making three cards to share with you today.

For my first card, I decided to make it a "girly" one. I stamped the girl owl several times, and then used my Copics to give them each a hint of color. I also added dimensionals to pop them up.

My second card features all four of the owls from the set. Aren't they just the cutest?.... Oh, and check out the fun sentiment to match the owls ----> "Owl Always Be Your Friend"..... So appropriate, huh?

And last, but not least... I also made up another owl card with the Petit Four Owl set. I used Versamark to make my own pattern paper with watermark images. Very simple!

Sooo.... What do you guys think??... Do you like the Owls?... I did indeed have lots of fun with this new set.

Like I said before, be sure to visit the DeNami blog today, for more owl samples from the Design Team, and more information about the upcoming release on July 1st. DeNami has LOTS of fun new images that are going to be available with this upcoming release. You don't want to miss all the details!

Hope you enjoyed today's cards. Have a Happy Sunday! :)

SUPPLIES:

Owls- Girls Night Out Card

Paper: Neenah Paper (Solar White) and Kraft (Stampin' Up), & Magenta Cardstock (DeNami Design)
Stamps: "Petit Four Owls" "Teeny Tiny Swiss Dot", "Let's Get Together Stamp Set" (DeNami Designs)
Ink: "Tuxedo Black" (Memento) 
Other: lime grosgrain ribbon, Copics, Spellbinders dies "Labels Trio", white gel pen, pearls, scallop border punch (Stampin' Up)

Owls- Four Circles Card

Paper: Neenah Paper (Solar White) and Stampin' Up Cardstock
Stamps: "Petit Four Owls" & "Small Dot Circle Frame" (DeNami Designs)
Ink: Stampin' Up & Versamark
Other: Copics, circle punches, scalloped oval punch (Stampin Up), Lemon Tart satin ribbon (PTI)

Owl Always Be Your Friend Card

Paper: Neenah Paper (Solar White) and Stampin' Up Cardstock
Stamps: "Petit Four Owls" & "Owl Always Be Your Friend" sentiment (DeNami Designs)
Ink: Stampin' Up, Versamark, & "Jet Black (Archivers)
Other: scallop border punch (Stampin' Up), thin black marker (for faux stitching)

"I Heart You in the Rain" and StampFest Pics!

Heyyy Blog World!!

Today's post is a bit different than my usual ones, so I sure hope you stay with me ti'll the end! First, i'm sharing one of my mini Lawn Fawn cards that I made a while back, when I first received the set in the mail. I used three different sets to make this card. Can you tell which ones they are? I decided to make the cat and dog be an "item" on this card. Haha!... Very cheesy, I know!... But I just thought they looked adorable this way! :)

Did you notice that the umbrella is being held by the cat's tail??... Haha, I always have fun with these sets!

You can check out some of my other recent LawnFawn creations HERE, HERE, & HERE.

Ok, so next up... I'd like to share a few pics from this past weekend, when I went to my first stamp show, in Orlando. If you've been following my blog lately, then i'm sure you've read that I was helping out at the DeNami booth for this "StampFest" show and how I also got to finally meet up with Nami and Paulina from DeNami Designs.

 

Ahh! I can't say enough about how AWESOME these ladies are! They were SO incredibly sweet and friendly and i'm just so happy that I got the chance to meet them in person. If you check out their blogs, you'll see how fun and talented they are... And trust me, their personalities are just as charming!

Below is another picture of myself and my pretty new friend, Paulina. She's such a sweet girl! My only complaint is that she lives soooo far! Ugh! :-( But I guess that's just me being selfish. LoL

Oh, and wait... there's more!

I also got to meet the fabulous Wendy, from Repeat Impressions! I was very excited about this. Wendy and I have been communicating through emails and such for the past few months, so I already knew how friendly she was. But it was so nice to finally get to meet her and her super sweet husband in person!

I also got the chance to meet Wendy's adorable niece! She was such a fun and happy little girl!

 
Ok, well if you're still with me, then I sure hope you enjoyed today's mini-card, as well as these snapshots of my fun weekend. I really was so very happy to finally meet some of my "blog friends" in person. There are so many of you who regularly leave me comments, and I always think of how much I would just LOVE to meet you all in person!...... Hopefully someday! :)

Once again, I just want to say that because I was away this weekend, I got really behind with my Google Reader and keeping up with all your fabulous blogs. I'm in the process of catching up with things though. I sure have missed my daily doses of inspiration from you guys!

Hope everyone is having a super fabulous week!!! Thanks for spending a part of your day with me!

SUPPLIES:

I Heart You in the Rain Card

Paper: Neenah Paper (Solar White) and Real Red (Stampin' Up)
Stamps: "Critters in the Burbs" & "Partly Cloudy" & "Just My Type, Too" (Lawn Fawn)
Ink: Stampin' Up 
Other: Copic markers, scalloped border punch (SU)

Taylored Expressions Blog Hop- "Blast from the Past"

 

Hey Everyone!

Today I am participating in the "Blast from the Past" BlogHop, which is being hosted by Taylored Expressions. 

So, if you're new to my blog, then I would just like to say "Welcome"! I'm so happy you stopped by! My card for today features the adorable "Elephants in Love" stamp. I stamped the image and then colored it in with Copic markers. It may be hard to tell from the pictures, but I used the Swiss Dots embossing folder on the pink layer of the card. I also added the white satin ribbon and the faux stitching to match the white circle in the center. Then, finally, just to add a little more dimension to the card, I applied some Glossy Accents to the hearts. I love the look and feel of this technique! Here's a close-up shot........

 

Hope you all enjoyed this card. Overall it was fairly simple and quick to make. I wasn't even sure if I was going to be able to participate in this Blog Hop today, because I went out of town over the weekend, and I thought I wasn't going to have enough time. But luckily, once I started the card, I was "on a roll" and things went pretty smoothly!

Hopefully some of you will find some inspiration from this. And for any new visitors, I really hope you stop by again soon!

Be sure to check out the rest of the blogs in this Blog Hop. You can find all of the names and links below, at the bottom of this post. 

Thanks so much for reading! Have a fabulous day!!! :)

SUPPLIES:

Elephants in Love Card

Paper: Neenah Paper (Solar White) and Papertrey Ink Cardstock
Stamps: "Elephants in Love" (Taylored Expressions)
Ink: "Tuxedo Black" (Memento) 
Other: Copic markers, white satin ribbon (PTI), Swiss Dots embossing folder, Nestabilities, white gel pen, Glossy Accents

Land of the Free

Hi guys!

Today is Monday, and that means there is a new "Stamp of the Week" being featured over at Repeat Impressions' Blog today! This week's stamp is called "Land of the Free", and it's currently being offered at 50% off the regular price for all blog readers. Be sure to check out the blog for more details and for the code in order to receive the discount. Here are a few samples that I made using this great patriotic stamp:

This image is definitely a great one to use for the upcoming 4th of July Holiday! Once again, don't forget to stop by the Repeat Impressions' Blog today for details on how to receive the discounted price on this image and also to check out some more fun samples from the fabulous design team!!

Hope you all are having a great day! =)

SUPPLIES:

Kraft Patriotic Card

Paper: Neenah Paper (Solar White) and Stampin' Up Cardstock
Stamps: "Land of the Free" (Repeat Impressions)
Ink: "Real Red" (Stampin' Up) 
Other: red grosgrain ribbon and Quickutz Stars embossing folder

Blue Patriotic Card

Paper: Neenah Paper (Solar White) and Stampin' Up Cardstock
Stamps: "Land of the Free" (Repeat Impressions)
Ink: Brilliant Blue (Stampin' Up)
Other: polka-dot grosgrain ribbon, star punch, and  Quickutz Stars embossing folder

White Patriotic Card

Paper: Neenah Paper (Solar White) and Stampin' Up Cardstock
Stamps: "Land of the Free" (Repeat Impressions)
Ink: "Brilliant Blue" (Stampin' Up)
Other: small star punch & Quickutz Circles embossing folder

DeNami Theme Challenge #2

Hi Friends!

Today is the 20th of the month, which means there is a new challenge going on over at the DeNami blog. You can check out all of the details here ------> DeNami Design Theme Challenge #2. The theme for this month's challenge is anything "tropical or summer". When I think of "summer" I usually think of lots of flowers. So for this card, I decided to grab the Tulips image from DeNami Design. I used some of my Copic markers to color them in, and then added some stitching to the card, along with some pretty Sheer Mossy Green Ribbon.

I'll share a funny story real quick... (even though it's a bit embarrassing)... But while I was making this card, when it came time to do the stitching part on my sewing machine, I guess I wasn't paying attention very well, because I actually forgot to keep the top layer seperate from my card base (like I usually do), and I ended up sewing my entire card together!! So basically, I didn't notice until once I was done sewing, and I then realized that I couldn't even open the card! Ooops!! LoL... I hope i'm not the only one this has happened to. If any of you have any similar stories, please share them... so I won't feel so silly and dumb! haha... =)

As some of you already know, I am currently still in Orlando this weekend, at the StampFest show, helping out at the DeNami booth. I am having a great time! I really wish I could write more right now on this post, but unfortunately, the internet at the hotel here is extremely SLOW! I am getting pretty frustrated just trying to get through this post. However, I defintely plan on sharing my experiences and even some pictures of how my weekend went here at the show. I met a few new super sweet friends and even got to finally meet Paulina and her WONDERFUL family! I have lots to share, so I promise to update my blog once I get home and have access to faster internet!

Hope you all are doing well... and be sure to join the DeNami Theme Challenge #2 for this month!

SUPPLIES:

Mini Sailboat Card

Paper: Neenah paper (Solar White) & Kraft, Basic Black (Papertrey Ink)
Stamps: "J30- Tulips" (DeNami Design)
Ink: "Jet Black" Archival Ink
Other: Sheer Mossy Green Ribbon, Copic markers, dark green thread, & sewing machine

Mini Sailboat Card

HeLLooo Blog Friends!

I am doing a really quick post for today. This is a mini CAS card that I made up earlier this week for the WeeMemories Challenge #10- Stitches. The challenge required us to incorporate "stitching" into our cards. For this entry, I used a portion of the digital image that I had previously used in this card here. I separeated the sailboat and the sun, and decided to make a mini card. I used Copic markers to color in the images, and then I used pop-dots in order to give the images dimension (it might be hard to see that in the picuture). Then I drew the faux stitching marks with a very thin black marker. I kept this card very simple and I purposely did not add a sentiment, so that I could have the option of using it for any occasion. Hope you guys enjoy. =)

I'm really excited about this weekend. I am currently in Orlando, which is three hours away from my house in Ft.Lauderdale, (Florida). For the next few days, I will be attending a Stamp Show here, and I will get to meet some of my blog friends that I have met online this year. I will also be helping out at the DeNami Design booth with Paulina and her family. I am super excited about this!

Before I end this post, I just wanted to say "Thank You" to all of you who have left me comments recently! I always LOVE to read your feedback! Sorry to be so short today. I've been pretty busy this week and I've actually gotten really behind on keeping up with my Google Reader and checking up on all of your fabulous blogs. But I will definitely catch up again soon, and I'll be sure to share more details about this upcoming weekend.

Until then... I hope you all have a fantastic weekend!!!

Thanks so much for spending some of your day with me! =)

SUPPLIES:

Mini Sailboat Card

Paper: Neenah paper (Solar White) & Kraft, Basic Black (Stampin' Up)
Stamps: "Happy Sailors" Digital Stamp (SoftPencil Digital Stamps)
Ink: printer ink
Other: Copic markers & black marker for faux stitching

"What If Wednesdays" Sketch Challenge #3

Hello Friends!

I'm back again with another post today, in order to announce that Repeat Impressions is holding another fabulous sketch challenge over on their blog! For more details, along with some great samples from the design team, just head on over to the Repeat Impressions blog here ----> The House that Stamps Built.

All participants will have a chance to win a $25 Repeat Impressions gift certificate! So what do you have to lose?!... Hope you guys can give it a try! :)

SUPPLIES:

Sending Healing Thoughts Card

Paper: Neenah Paper (Solar White), Basic Black & Kraft (Stampin' Up)
Stamps: "Sending Healing Thoughts" sentiment & "Tumbling Hearts" (Repeat Impressions)
Ink: "Jet Black" (Archival Ink) & Versamark
Other: purple grosgrain ribbon, circle punch, purple rhinestones, embossing folder

Rosevine Heart

Good Morning Everyone!...... Today on my blog, I am showcasing three different cards that I made up which all use the exact same image. They all have the lovely "Rosevine Heart" by DeNami Design on them, which is also the current 'Product Spotlight' today, over on their blog. 

Hope you all enjoy these cards!....

My first card incorporates bright and fun colors. I stamped the image twice and colored them in with Copic markers. Then I cut out only the flowers from one of the images, and popped them up over the other one. I also added a few rhinestones and some yellow Stickles on the flowers for some extra details. 

For this second card, I chose to emboss the image with black embossing powder and a heat gun. Then, once it was cooled off, I simply colored it with some Pixie Pink ink, from Stampin' Up, and a sponge dauber. I just made small circles and blended the color together until I was satisfied with the results. Once I was done, I then just added on some faux stitching and a few black pearls and that's it! .....

And finally... for this last card.... instead of using the image as the main focal point, I decided to use it for making this background instead. All I did was ink up the stamp with some silver ink, and then I just randomly stamped it onto the card base. Then I added some ruffled ribbon and a sentiment to the card. I didn't want to add too much to it, because I wanted the background to be able to show througn as the main pattern.

Well, I really hope you all enjoyed these cards today. :) They were indeed very fun and super easy to make. If you'd like to find out more information about the Rosevine Heart image or also see some really nice samples from the rest of the design team, then just head on over to the DeNami Design blog and check it all out!

I hope I was able to inspire some of you today! 

Thanks so much for stopping by!... Until next time.... Have a fabulous week! :)

SUPPLIES:

Rosevine Heart (Pink & Purple) Card

Paper: Neenah Paper (Solar White) and Papertrey Ink Cardstock
Stamps: "Rosevine Heart" (DeNami Design)
Ink: "Plum Pudding" (Papertrey Ink) 
Other: Copic markers, pink grosgrain ribbon, yellow button, twine, border punch, rhinestones

Rosevine Heart (Pink & Black)  Card

Paper: Neenah Paper (Solar White), Basic Black (Stampin' Up)
Stamps: "Rosevine Heart" (DeNami Design)
Ink: Versamark & Pixie Pink (Stampin' Up)
Other: black embossing powder, heat gun, sponge dauber, corner rounder, black pearls, black pen for faux stitching

Rosevine Heart Background Card

Paper: Neenah Paper (Solar White), Black & Pink
Stamps: "Rosevine Heart" & "All Occasion Sentiments Stamp Set" (DeNami Design)
Ink: "Jet Black" (Archival Ink) & Silver (Encore)
Other: white grosgrain ribbon, circle punch, & circle scallop punch