Cascading through America

As soon as I saw Chris's stunning Retail Therapy Cascading Card at Calla Lily Studio, I knew I just had to make one! But I didn't get around to it ... until this week, when I saw the Cascading Card Challenge at Technique Tuesday. The instructions are fantastic, and I was able to make the base very quickly and then spend lots of fun time decorating it!

It's funny how a concept comes together; people often ask me where my ideas come from, and all I can really say is everywhere. One idea leads to another, and this type of card is perfect for complicated ideas! In this case, the concept for this card started with the paper I chose for the base card; from there, I pulled out these lovely Bark Map Prima Flowers and epoxy brads from Studio G. At this point, I wasn't sure what I was making this card for ... so I decided to make something for my folks, commemorating the trip they are currently on. Every summer, they take their trailer out onto the vast U.S. highways for a couple of months of visiting friends, family, and the country in general.

Thanks to the magic of cell phones, I still get to talk to Mom almost every day; I called her early yesterday morning to find out what States they were going to be going through this trip, and she & dad happily obliged, despite the fact that I wouldn't tell them why I needed to know ... They understand creativity! And, thanks to the magic of the Internet, they will be able to see this card long before I'll be able to get it into their hands.

So, Mom and Dad, here's why I needed to know!

I pulled the Flag images of the requisite States off of Wikipedia, printed them, and wrapped them around colored toothpicks. I also raided my box of Wood Veneer States from Studio Calico's Abroad Collection for four of those States, which I then decorated with a Polka Dot stamp & heat-embossing (I used the emboss-resist technique for the white-on-black).

The tags were totally inspired by my conversation with Mom ... after talking about the States, we started chatting & she asked if I'd been playing with my awesome Cricut Imagine, and it occurred to me that it would be useful for this project. So I used the Imagine More Art Cartridge to print & cut some layered tags as well as the "journey" sentiment.

The sentiment on the back, I used stamp markers to ink this stamp from a Postage Laugh set by C.C. Designs.

As I was hand-printing the States on the tiny tag, it occurred to me how my years of summer camping with my folks (we always traveled in the summers) really gave me a perspective on beauty and creativity ... for every fabulous Museum we visited, we spent equal time in wandering the streets of small and large towns, and just hanging out in the nature of the campgrounds. Thanks Dad & Mom, you're awesome!

Inspiration/Challenges:

• Technique Tuesday Challenge: Cascading Card
• My Mojo Monthly July Challenge: Your Style (describe)
• I often wonder what exactly "my style" is, as I like so many different styles, but whatever it is, I definitely think this card portrays it! I really like clean lines, but I like a certain amount of chaos within it too.
• Simon Says Stamp and Show Challenge: No Rules! (Vintage/Shabby Chic)
• Dream Valley Challenges: Anything but Square
• Here Come the Boys: Tag on a Card

Update: This card was showcased for the Cascading Card Challenge at Technique Tuesday. Quite an honor! All the submitted projects were amazing. 

Thank you for visiting,