Just a Note to Brighten Your Day

Here's my card for the current Mix It Up challenge at SugarPea Designs.  I took my inspiration from the umbrellas on the challenge graphic and put together this simple design using SPD's Whatever the Weather stamps and dies.

I started out by creating a pale blue inked background with distress ink and an ink blending tool.  I tried to fade out the color as I got farther from the center of the colored area and think that I may have actually managed to do that!  Before adding anything else to the panel, I used the raindrop die from the Whatever the Weather die on the panel--I love the look of the simple detail from the broken lines.

I topped the inked and cut background with a pair of shimmery white clouds and a contrasting red umbrella, positioned over the raindrop lines.  A few clear sequin "raindrops" were positioned beneath the clouds for a fun accent.  The "just a note to brighten your day" sentiment was stamped to the left of the cluster of die cuts using coordinating blue ink.  The finished panel was adhered to a turquoise card base. 

Materials Used:
Whatever the Weather stamp set, Whatever the Weather dies (SugarPea Designs); Memento Bahama Blue ink (Tsukineko/IMAGINE Crafts); Mermaid Lagoon distress ink (Ranger); Tempting Turquoise, Real Red and Shimmery White cardstock (Stampin' Up!); Recollections Silver cardstock (Michaels); Sparkling Clear sequins (Pretty Pink Posh); foam tape