For DAD

With one month remaining of what, until now, has been a lovely spring season, summer is definitely pushing its way in.  The temperatures are quickly rising, and this is the last week of school in many areas.  For the Card A Day Blog this week is for 'Father's Day' inspiration, and I decided to go with what is always a challenge for me - CAS - or, as most of you know, Clean and Simple.  My card is the base layer only, with just a bit of dimension.  So this will be a very quick post.

I started with a basic design in mind, but while I was pulling supplies I remembered some inch-square matboard pieces I had purchased a couple of years ago and not yet used.  Knowing I had LOTS of inchie-type stamps I decided exactly how to design my card.

I chose three coordinating inchie stamps as well as a frame stamp for the center.  I played around with several blue inks before selecting the three that I would use, going from light to dark.  I used the lightest ink for the frame as a background for the center image, which I stamped with the darkest ink.  The two side images were stamped with the mid-range tone.  All three images were stamped on the inchie squares, and I used the mid-tone ink on the edges of all the squares to give them more of a framed look.

I liked the tropical feel of the stamps I used, and gave the card a simple sentiment.  Looking closely at all the stamping on the card front, you may notice a kind of water-color effect.  This was not intentional, but I quite like it.  It was merely the result of how the ink reacted on the particular stamps I used, which were all clear polymer from two different companies.

I used a simple "Happy Father's Day" stamp on the inside.  This one was rubber, and gave a nice smooth impression which I really liked for the sentiment.

Here is an angled shot where you can see the dimension of the inchie squares.

Just for fun, I took one photo of my card using a different background color.  I prefer the blue, but the new color gave an interesting contrast.  Which do you like?

That's it!  Here are your details:

     Stamps:  Inkadinkado (EK Success) 'Nautical Inchie' and 'Thoughts for the Day' sets, Stampin' Up 'Best Dad Ever' and Fiskars 'Squarely Sentimental'
     Squares:  Inchie Arts
     Inks:  Stampin' Up 'Bashful Blue,' 'Marina Mist' and 'Island Indigo'
     Cardstock:  Georgia Pacific (I think)
     Adhesive:  Scotch ATG

Sooooo simple!!  Thanks for visiting today.  I'm approaching a milestone in number of hits --- I'm really quite amazed and grateful.  It's so lovely having all of you stopping by to see what I'm doing.  When I get just a bit closer there could very well be some blog candy to celebrate.  Keep watching; I'll let you know when it's coming.

'Til next time.....

BIG Hugs!!!
CHRISTINE