Ash2Ash Give-Away Announced and Traci's Cards!

Hi Friends~

I thought I would share a few cards with you today that I have recently made.  We had over 19 birthdays this month in our family! I have most of them done, but I am coming into the home stretch now...and then it is time to start June birthdays and two Father's Days cards and a graduation ...at least!  I know some of you are getting ready for June festivities also!  We did not have any comments from people who are not a part of the He IS Able Blog Team, so the very cheery card on the side bar, made and donated by Michele will be available to the person who leaves a comment before 8pm on Tuesday and that person will be randomly chosen.  The Winner will be announced on Wednesday.

 KEEP READING THERE IS AN ASH2ASH GIVE-AWAY ANNOUNCEMENT in this email...somewhere...

You saw this top card a while ago.  It had the lily and the ring, and the distressing around the edges...and then it was all empty!  Well, most of you know that I don't usually write the Sentiment on the card unless I know what the card will be used for specifically.  That way I don't usually get caught off guard without a card when I need it.  I spoke with a friend who suggested, I lift up the ring and stamp "thank you" a couple or few times.  Well, I decided to show just how thankful I really am! I stamped it a few extra times! Do you think it is easy to know what this card's purpose is?  lol

I made this card yesterday.  I don't know if I showed one similar to it to you a few months ago or not.  I used Basic Grey Wisteria's paper (I love it!) for the background, and I cut the page that was solid with the flowers in half vertically.  This card has the flowers on the left side...there is a matching card with the flowers on the right side!  The dark purple paper has very small swervy lines going across it.  The butterfly is an old sticker I still had.  Two easy cards very easily made.
I like the way this card came out.  I used a technique I learned from Our Daily Bread Designs two weeks ago.  It uses embossing in a unique way.  I used some Stampin' Up! kraft paper as my base, I used a scrap of Wisteria paper by Basic Grey on top of it.  Some sheer purple and sparkly blue Offray ribbon are on the right hand border.  It was tacked down with Crafer's Companion Glue Runner on the top and bottom only.  Then I had already stamped 5 pages of these butterflies out.  (I like to color them while a passenger in the car, waiting at the doctor, or watching TV.)  I did not put the pink and lavender Stickles by Ranger on yet...and the flower was not on yet, either.  I took the card as it was and placed it with the cover only on the inside of the D'Vine Swirls Embossing Folder by Cuttlebug.  Then I gave it a pass through my dear Cuttlebug machine...and take a look at all of the swirls on this cover.  It seems like they are left in the air from the butterflies.  It embosses the image on anything that went through the machine.  If you look carefully on the purple (bottom) butterfly, you can see her wing has swirls on it!  I then added the flower, and carefully added small dots of Stickles on the butterfly.  You do not want to put the Stickles on and then put them through the machine!  You would get a mess and a ruined card.  You'd get a very glittery EF.

Sing to the Lord with thanksgiving...

Who covers the heavens with clouds,

Who provides rain for the earth,

Who makes grass to grow on the mountains."

Psalm 147:7-8

I didn't know I was on a butterfly kick until I was putting this together today!
This card has many similarities to the card above.  There are several different things, also.  I used a SU! Kraft card base. I used
 the same embossing procedure.  There are two butterflies...Brocade blue and Crushed Curry, both with Studio G Apricot and Lapis glitter glue...put on after being embossed.  The ribbon is a twill ribbon from Paper Wishes.  The floral bg paper...one of my all time favorites...is from Hot Off The Press from their book called "Floral Backgrounds."  Pretty fitting don't you think?  I used 3 small flowers from Paper Wishes.  Can you find the 2 white flowers on this also?  They are the same shape and size as the blue.  They are standing on the bg paper!  One over the Brocade Blue butterfly's right wing, and one over the left Crushed Curry butterfly's left wing!  The big blue flower on the bottom was actually several Prisma flowers together.  I put 4 of them together before the embossing procedure.  They came back stuck like glue.  So, I needed to come up with something.  I used several more flowers and I glued half of each flower to the bottom (now flat flower)  In the center I put glass pearl beads and glass clear beads to add some sparkle.  I glued them down with the Stencil Collection's Hollogram Glitter Glue.  I don't believe you can have too much sparkle!  I folded the top of the petals in after the inside was dry, and put a book over it.  They opened up slowly after the book came off.  Like a real flower opening.  I don't know what kind of flower it would be in real life...but I would take one bearing pearls!

 It is my hope that these paper butterflies and flowers will remind you of the beautiful Creation He has put all around us.  We have birds singing and nesting in our yard, squirrels trying their best gymnastic moves to get to the bird seed.  We have beautiful purple and white and pink and red flowers in bloom around our yard. 

If you listen, you will really hear the trees sing in the wind. I hope you will go look at all of the beautiful things of nature...and see them with love for His creations. Why did he make lady bugs? Why do they have spots? Why do the trees each have their own fingerprints...on the inside? He put them there! Enjoy your walk...and...

Psalm 96:11-13:

"Let the heavens rejoice, let the earth be glad;

let the sea resound, and all that is in it;

let the fields be jubilant, and everything in them.

Then all the trees of the forest will sing for joy."

Announcing Our Ash2Ash CD Give-Away!

And, we know that Ash2Ash knows how to make a joyful noise to the Lord!  As a special treat, we have a link to the You Tube version of the Title Cut of their newest CD...Rise Up!  Be sure your volume is ready...and check out this video!

This is what Ash2Ash shared with us...
"Our mission is to lift up the name of our Lord Jesus Christ by sharing God’s love through testimony and song. Our Prayer is that our music will touch the hearts of the lost and strengthen Christians in their faith."

Rise Up is our fifth CD, and more contemporary than our past CDs. We are hoping to reach more youth with it and I know that YouTube, Twitter, FaceBook, etc. are ways that the youth of today are communicating so much more, so we are hoping to reach them through those channels as well."

OK-- we were going to wait to announce it...but...We will be giving away the Ash2Ash CD--"Rise Up!" on June 1st!  It could be a great graduation gift, Father's Day gift, or you could keep it!  I loved the whole CD!  All you need to do is leave your name and a way to reach you. And, Great News!  Anyone, anywhere in the world is eligible to play!  That's wonderful!   The winner of this CD will be announced on June 1st!  Is that a great way to start a month?  Now, go to Ash2Ash and check things out!  And, don't forget to leave your name or user name and email, so we can put you in the drawing!  Yes, you can email it to Traci, if you don't want to post your email.

Have a blessed day!  We will see you on Friday.  Please leave a comment, so you will be entered to win the beautiful butterfly card...to bless someone with the "Card of the Week."

He IS Able,
Traci S.