Ayana's Creations

A Card & Some Personal Ramblings.....

Hello again sweet friends!

I'm back again with a card that I made for the newest Challenge #1 at A Blog Named Hero. It's a brand new blog and I'm excited to be a part of their first challenge: "Playing Favorites".

This is actually my THIRD post for the week!.... Wow!.... That is actually something that I would like to touch upon, although it may seem a bit silly and insignificant to some.

Today's post is the first card (within the past year) that I have made on my own that has not been a DT-related assignment or part of any other craft commitment that I have had. I know that seems weird, considering that I have posted several times. However, it's been a very long while since I have freely just sat down and made a card for no reason. :(

Some of you took notice last year when I sort of fell off the"Blogging World" for a bit. LoL... A few of you even wrote to me to see if everything was okay, and asked if there were reasons why I was rarely posting and why my posts became so generic and short. (I can't express how truly grateful I am for those who reached out to me). 

Around this same time last year, I had unfortunately fallen into a very scary and painful depression. It was by far, one of the worst experiences of my life. 

I have debated whether or not to write about my struggle on here and whether there would even be a purpose in sharing it on my blog some time in the future. I KNOW that I am not the only one that has suffered in this particular way. I've realized and learned so much simply by reading experiences of others, so perhaps it might help to communicate my story in a another post and write everything out some time.

Anyways, I apologize for getting into such an awkward mood during this post. I hope that you guys are still able to appreciate my card. The challenge called for us to utilize some of our favorite stamps from Hero Arts. I decided to keep the color to a minimum on this one, so I simply stamped my image with plain Versamark ink and then just enhanced it with some black and turquoise details.

I hope I was able to inspire some of you. Thank you so much for reading today. I always appreciate your visits!

SUPPLIES:

You're Special Card 

Paper: "Kraft" (PTI)
Stamps: "" (Hero Arts)
Ink: "Tuxedo Black" (Memento) & Versamark
Other: turquoise rhinestones, thin black marker, corner rounder

Fabulous Flowers

Hey Everyone!....

Just a quick post here.... I just wanted to upload these pictures in order to enter this card into the current Hero Arts Challenge for the month of May. This month's theme is "Fabulous Flowers" and we also have the option of incorporating coloring techniqes using colored pencils. 

I used both a flower image, as well as colored pencils for my card. Hope you guys enjoy it! 

It's been sooo long since I've had the chance to play along with a challenge other than my usual DT work. I miss it SO much. However, things have still been kinda hectic for me lately, and it doesn't help that all of my craft supplies are currently being kept at my parents' house. So it makes it harder to just be able to sit down and craft whenever I wish.

Anyways... things will eventually get organized... slowly, but surely. LoL

I also just wanted to thank everyone who continues to stop by my blog and those who leave such sweet comments. I LOVE each and every one of them, and I feel so bad that I have been such a terrible commentor lately! :( My Google Reader is currently over-flowing big time, at the moment and I hate it. But I truly appreciate those who read my posts and take the time to leave such kind words. Your visits totally make my day!

SUPPLIES:

Wood Background with Colored Pencil Flowers Card

Paper: Kraft & Black (PTI)
Stamps: "" (Hero Arts)
Ink: "Antique Linen" (Distress Ink) & "Versamark"
Other: Prisma Colored Pencils, Martha Stewart Butterfly Punch, turquoise rhinestone, white gel pen

Three Hearts....

Hey guys!.... One of my sweet blog friends, Linda, is featuring some of my previously made Valentine's Day cards over on her blog today! I sure hope you'll take the time to visit her site and check them out, along with her own fun creations too. 

I've posted one of my cards on my blog today. It showcases these adorable hearts from Hero Arts. It's actually one of the first stamp sets that I ever owned.

I sure hope you guys like it! Please be sure to stop by Linda's blog too and say hello. =)

Thanks so much for stopping by today!

SUPPLIES:

Three Hearts Card

Paper: "Solar White" (Neenah Paper) & PTI cardstock
Stamps:  (Hero Arts)
Ink: "Tempting Turquoise" (Stampin' Up) & Versamark
Other: scallop border punch (SU), crochet string, button

Hero Arts Vday Cards

Hey Everyone! :) Hope you all are having a fabulous week so far. 

Just wanted to share a couple of Valentine's Day cards that I made recently. 

I'm entering this first one into the Color Throwdown#128. I guess it could be used as more than just a Valentine's Day card. The sentiment is pretty general, so it could also be used for other occasions as well. 

This next card, shown above, is for the OTWC Challenge #44. It's been a long time since I've been able to participate in one of Kim's challenges. She always has such fabulous color combos and I'm always wishing I had more time to play along. But I'm so busy with life lately, that it's hard for me to find the free time. So I'm happy that I'm able to enter this week, at least.

Ok, that's all for today. Hope you guys enjoy these cards. =)

SUPPLIES:

Sending You Lots of Hugs Card

Paper: "Solar White" (Neenah Paper) and "Vintage Cream", "Kraft", & "Pure Poppy" (Papertrey Ink)
Stamps: "Large Cupcake", "Truly Appreciated", & "Large Canvas Stripes" (Hero Arts)
Ink: (Stampin' Up)
Other: Copic markers, red button, crochet string, Stickles, Glossy Accents

Hugs & Kisses Card

Paper: "Solar White" (Neenah Paper) and Papertrey Ink cartstock
Stamps: "Hugs & Kisses" (Hero Arts)
Ink: (Stampin' Up)
Other: Spellbinders Circle Nestabilities dies, white pearls, black satin PTI ribbon, Swiss Dots embossing folder

Doily Masked Backgrounds

I was so inspired last week when I saw Kelly Rasmussen's Doily Masked Background Video over on the Hero Arts Blog. If you haven't seen it yet, I definitely recommend that you check it out!

Kelly did such a fabulous job at showing how to mask off pieces of white cardstock by using doilies, and then simply applying Distress Ink in order to form a beautiful background. I knew instantly, after watching the video, that I definitely wanted to try out the technique!

If you follow me on My Twitter Account, then you might recall that I posted this photo (below) of the three backgrounds that I created last night. There are a few minor flaws on them, but overall I was pretty happy with how they turned out:

Here's a quick close up of one of the cards. You can see that I ended up adding some embellishments (rhinestones, ribbon, pearls, etc.) along with a sweet sentiment to each of the cards.

And here are my final results.......

I had so much fun doing this technique. I sure hope that you all enjoyed my cards today. I'd love to hear what you think about them!

Thanks so much for stopping by my blog today and for reading. Your comments are always so encouraging to me and very much appreciated. Hope you all have a Happy Thursday! =)

SUPPLIES:

Doily Masking Cards

Paper: "Solar White" (Neenah Paper) and Papertey Ink cardstock
Stamps: "" (Hero Arts)
Ink: Tim Holtz Distress Inks
Other: doilies, pearls, rhinestones, lace ribbon (Hero Arts), satin ribbon (PTI)

You're So Special

Hey Friends!

I'm just sharing a super quick post tonight. I'm actually trying to rush with this post in order to meet the deadline for the latest CASE Study Challenge #7. I made this card over the weekend, however I didn't get around to taking a picture of it until tonight. This month, the CASE Study blog is featuring one of my all-time favorite stampers, Mariana Grigsby. I absolutely LOVE stalking following her blog and checking out her amazing designs! :)

I'm also entering this card in the current Caardvarks: Clean & Simple Challenge using Hero Arts stamps. You all should play along too, if you get a chance.

Before I end this, I just wanted to remind you all to:

*** CLICK HERE to enter my current GIVEAWAY!!! ***

Hope you enjoyed my card! Thanks for visiting!

SUPPLIES:

You're So Special Card

Paper: "Kraft" & Black (Papertrey Ink)
Stamps: (Hero Arts)
Ink: "Tuxedo Black" (Memento) & Versamark
Other: PTI Ribbon & pearls

Tropical Summer Cards & Giveaway Winner Announced

 

Hello Everyone!... So, today is my first day back at work, after a nice longgg weekend. I had a total of 5 days off, and I was just in heaven! haha.... I say this because I don't really take that many days off just to do "nothing". Usually when I take time off, it's always to go on vacation somewhere out of town. So this was a nice change, just to have "free time" at home. I loved it! Buttt... as the saying goes, "All good things must come to an end"... So now it's back to reality for me!... Luckily, it will be a short week, so hopefully it will go by quickly.

Ok, so for today, I have two cards to share with you all. Both cards are very similar because they both have a "tropical, summer" theme and they both use the same set from Hero Arts, called "Let's Chill". I think this set is so fun to use! 

I also decided to participate in a few challenges. My first card is for Jenny's WeeMemories Challenge #13: Free for All. I stamped the hibiscus flower image several times in order to make my own pattern paper. Then I just colored the flowers in using my Copics.

You may notice that for my second card, below, I used the remaining piece to my "home-made pattern paper". I didn't want to throw any of it away, after spending so much time coloring it. So I just figured i'd make another card.....

 

This card was made up for Ingrid's Summer Challenge and its colors were inspired from this photo here, which I found on Kimieprout's Etsy shop. So I will also be submitting this card to the EtsyInspired Challenge #95. 

 

 

Hope you guys enjoyed these summer cards!... Ok, so now on to something else.....

Last week I posted a small giveaway on my blog and first off, I would just like to say Thank You for all of the sweet birthday wishes that I received. I really appreciate your visits and all of your kind words! 

Yesterday was the last day to leave a comment for the giveaway, and so I closed off the comments last night. Then I used Random.org to generate a random number... and here are the results:

The winner is # 19----> DANA!!! 

Here is her comment below:

 

Yaaayyy Dana! Please email me your address so I can get your prize mailed out to you as soon as possible! :) 

I am actually familiar with Dana's blog, and I have visited it many times. She does great work! I always enjoy getting to know my visitors and being able to recognize people's names and their work. So it was nice to see a familiar name pop up on the generator. 

Thanks so much to everyone who left a comment! Hopefully I will be able to do more giveaways soon! And thank you for stopping by today! I hope you all have a fantastic day!!!

SUPPLIES:

Fun in the Sun Card

Paper: Neenah Paper (Solar White) and Kraft & Chocolate Chip (Stampin' Up)
Stamps: "Let's Chill" (Hero Arts)
Ink: "Tuxedo Black" (Memento) & Versamark
Other: Copics markers & orange string

Let's Chill Card

Paper: Neenah Paper (Solar White), Kraft & Basic Black (Stampin' Up), Hawaiian Shores (PTI)
Stamps: "Let's Chill" (Hero Arts)
Ink: "Tuxedo Black" (Memento)
Other: Copics markers & orange string

Tall Flower Card and a Small Giveaway

Hey Friends!

Hope everyone is having a great day so far. Today has been pretty special for me, since it's my birthday. I took the day off from work and was able to sleep in late for a change. I hung out with some friends last night to celebrate and tonight i'm going out to dinner with my family. Other than that, I don't have any big plans. But i'll probably end up doing something else over the weekend. I don't have to go back to work until next Wednesday, so i'm veryyy excited about having few days off! :)

Anyways, my card for today is one that I made up "just for fun". No specific challenge or theme. I just really like this Tall Flower stamp from Hero Arts, and I wanted to do some more practice with my Copic coloring. I stamped the image twice and then used dimensionals to pop up the flowers. Hope you guys enjoy this card and hopefully gain some inspiration from it.

Ok, well on to another note.... I recently won a giveaway contest a couple of weeks ago from Hero Arts and they sent me a package full of some fun stamps! I was so excited when I got the package. It was as if Hero Arts took a peek at my wishlist, because they sent me some images that I was already planning on getting. They are so awesome and generous for doing all of their giveaways for their fans. THANKS Hero Arts!

Well, the reason for explaining all this is because one of the stamps that I received is actually one that I already had in my collection. So now I have a duplicate of this Artists Butterfly image below:

Basically, I don't want the image to go to waste and I'd love for it to have a good home with someone who loves it as much as I do! :) So in order to keep the generousity going, i'm going to pass it on to one lucky reader who leaves me a comment on this post.

No need to answer any questions and you are not required to start following me... (unless you want to, of course). :) .... So just a simple comment about anything will do. You have up until Tuesday, July 6th to enter, and then I will choose a random winner after that.

***UPDATE: Giveaway has already ended for this post. Thank you to all who entered! :)***

In addition to the stamp, i'm also going to give away two other small items. I recently went to a stampshow and came back with lots of goodies that I had bought there. This is a bit embarassing to admit, but I actually ended up coming home with two items that I had already purchased before, and I forgot that I had them. (I know... I'm pretty bad, huh?).... So i'm also going to send the following two items below, to whoever wins the stamp.

Lavender Stickles & a "Shabby Shutters" Distress ink pad. Both by Ranger and both brand new. 

Oh, and if you'd like some inspiration for this stamp, here is a card that I made with it a while back. You can find the post for it here, or just click on the thmbnail pic below.

Ok, well that's it for now. l'm off to go get ready for dinner. Hope you all have a fabulous evening! Thanks for stopping by! :)

SUPPLIES:

Tall Flower Card

Paper: Neenah Paper (Solar White) and PTI Cardstock
Stamps: "Tall Flower" (Hero Arts)
Ink: "Tuxedo Black" (Memento) 
Other: Copics markers, Stampin' Up border punch

One Layer Birthday Card

Happy Friday! :)

Today I just wanted to share a super quick one-layer card that I made up for the One-Layer Wednesday Challenge #7. This week, the challenge was to incorporate "repetition" into your one-layer card. So I simply reached for some of my Hero Arts stamps & some Copic markers, and came up with this quick and easy birthday card! Hope you guys enjoy!

Hope everyone has a fabulous Friday and a fantastic weekend!!! Thanks for stopping by! :)

SUPPLIES:

Friendship Butterfly Card

Paper: Neenah (Solar White)
Stamps: (Hero Arts)
Ink: "Tuxedo Black" (Memento) & "Jet Black" Archival Ink
Other: Copic markers & black permanent marker

Bright & Colorful Summer Cards

Hi Everyone!

Today i'd like to share two very bright and colorful Summer cards that I made up for a few different challenges that are currently being held. The color scheme for my first card (shown above) is from Moxie Fab's Tuesday Trigger inspiration photo:

I absolutely fell in love those colors the second I saw them! Lots of white space with splashes of vibrant greens, pinks, and oranges! Love it!...

I also wanted to play along in the Wee Memories' "Piece It Together" Challenge #8... Therefore, I figured the new Artists Butterfly, from Hero Arts, would be a perfect match for this project, because I was able to stamp it onto colored paper from "Basic Grey", and then cut it up into different sections in order to form layers. I paper pieced the inside portion of the butterflies in a different color than the base, and then adhered the top layer on with dimesionals. Then to finish up the card, I also added some liquid pearls and Glossy Accents to the butterfly wings, in order to add some extra details. Here's a close up:

My next card was made up was made for the Off the Wall Craftiness Challenge #9. I used the gorgeous color combo from the inspiration photo shown below. And the sketch is from 2S4Y #53.

I also made sure to meet the requirements for the Creative Inspirations Challenge #35: "Sewing/Faux Stitching" and the Cupcake Craft Challenge #93: "Summer Delights". Thus you will notice my white gel pen stitch marks, along with the images of one of my favorite "Summer treats"... Ice Cream!

I'm not sure if you can tell from the picture or not, but I also added Glossy Accents to the "scoops" of ice-cream. It took a little while for it to dry comepletely, however the result is fantastic, in my opinion. I think I use it more on cards, as an embellishment, than I do for adhesive! lol

Well, that's all for today! I really hope you enjoyed these two cards. Using bright and vibrant colors is something that I love to do! So that is mainly why I was instantly drawn to these particular challenge inspiration photos.

I hope everyone is having a fantastic day! Tomorrow is finally friday! Yay! :-)

SUPPLIES:

Friendship Butterfly Card

Paper: Neenah (Solar White), New Leaf (PTI), & Basic Grey pattern paper pack 
Stamps: "Artists Butterfly" "Clear Design: Friends" sentiment & "Dots and Flowers" background (Hero Arts)
Ink: "Jet Black" Archival Ink
Other: PTI Razberry Fizz satin ribbon, embossing folder, liquid pearls, Glossy Accents

Ice-Cream Trio Card

Paper: Razberry Fiz, Hawaiian Shore, & Orange Zest (Papertrey Ink)
Stamps: "Sweet Scoops" (Stampin' Up)
Ink: Razberry Fizz, Hawaiian Shore, & Orange Zest (Papertrey Ink) & Close to Cocoa (Stampin' Up)
Other: scalloped border punch (Stampin' Up) & white gel pen