Love this little monkey...

...but it has taken quite some time to turn him into this card! I have had this image colored in just sitting on my craft table for weeks with the intent of using it for my littlest's guys thank you cards for his birthday party last month. I was so excited to use my new square nesties and copics, but then I just stopped. Don't really know why, and it's not even like I stopped papercrafting altogether - in fact its been quite the opposite! But now I really think it was because something was telling me to wait until I got the new SU in-colors in my hands. I ordered all of the inks and paper (which I haven't done with any in-colors until now) - I just loved the colors when I saw them... they were so calling out to me. And they must have been calling loudly, b/c as I've told my friend, Jennifer, I need more ink and paper like I need a hole in the head! Oh well. I couldn't resist.

Anyway, I was pretty pleased when I figured out the colors I used to color the image matched 3 of the in-colors perfectly. So the rest of the card came together pretty quickly tonight. And it's a good thing, because all in all, this card took me about 3 1/2 weeks to make. The next 20 definitely can't take that long. My goal - have them done by the time my vaca is over and the kids are back to school.

I have been trying to mix-up the layouts I used, even though they tend to clean and simple, so they are not always the same (and without just using someone else sketch EVERY SINGLE TIME - trying to get my own creative juices going for once!) This time, I made myself not put the image in the middle just to see how it turned out... I don't usually do top left corner, but I think it works.

PS - This is the first set that I have gotten from CC Designs at All That Scraps. He and other images from the set are too fun. I usually don't like animal images that are too cutesy (or too realistic for that matter), but these I could not pass up. I've actually bought a few sets from new companies (to me, I mean), like ATS, so I better get creating!

Details: Stamps - CC Designs Summertime Fun, PTI Paper Trey; CS - SU Pacific Point, Kiwi Kiss, Riding Hood Red, PTI-Stamper's Select; Ink - SU Pacific Point, Kiwi Kiss, Palette Hybrid Noir; Other: Dimensionals, Nesties, Paper Piercer, Copics.