Tuesday, July 17, 2012

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:
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,

14 comments:

  1. Hi CG saw this fabulous creation on SSSS challenge and thought I would take a closer look. So much to see it's a truly brilliant piece. Thank you for sharing and good luck in the challenge. Crafty hugs from your newest follower, Annie x

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  2. Marvelous card, love all the flags, Thanks for joining us at Here come the boys 'Tags' Challenge. Teresa xx

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  3. This is super duper fabulous!!! LOVE all the amazing elements--and such a wonderful description of why you put them on there! Thank you SO MUCH for joining me at Technique Tuesday--I hope you come back for the next challenge!!! :)

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  4. Wow CG, absolutely outstanding! Your folks are sure to love it and appreciate your thoughtfulness in commemorating their fun!

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  5. This is awesome!! You are so creative to use the states! Love it! :)

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  6. this is fabulous - love the layers, colours and flags - so much to see and wonderful details...quite agree on the ideas too! I get mine swimming! Thanks so much for sharing with My Mojo Monthly! Sarah.

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  7. Amazing card, Wow. Thank you for playing along at Here Come The Boys.
    Becky xx

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  8. AnonymousJuly 19, 2012

    Wow!!! What a fab card! Love all your flag tags too! Thank you for sharing with us on Here Come The Boys! Woo x

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  9. Great cascading card!

    Maggie H

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  10. Wow, it looks utterly fabulous! Thanks for joining our Anything But Square challenge at Dream Valley. Susie x

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  11. Brilliant design! Lovely cascading card and your parents are sure to love it! Glad you joined us at Simon Says Stamp and Show!

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  12. What a brilliant card! Love it! Thank you for joining us at Dream Valley :-) Love 'n' hugs, Mel xx

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  13. What a brilliant idea! Love those flags. It would also make a fun travel / vacation project. Now you got me thinlking.... ! Thanks for sharing.

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  14. Love this casading card. The flags and map flowers are so cool!

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