Baby Monkey

Ok, so as many of you know, I am all but laid up with a bad back and now a cold / the flu to boot.  It is had to tell if my muscle pain is back or illness related, so suffice to say I am just a mess all around.  However, my will to craft is strong, and although it has taken me the better part of 4 days to put this together, I managed to do a card that fits a couple of challenges.

The first challenge / inspiration came from the Crafty Bloggers Network Challenge 4 - Sketch Challenge.  I have never entered a sketch challenge, because I usually let the card's format come to me as a result of the elements.  However, I remembered seeing this adorable digi stamp at Pollycraft  - Christmas Chester, Chester's Star   and I thought he would be a nice way to follow the sketch.

Here is the card:

 

Here is the sketch:  

 It is really a lovely set up for a card and I don't know that I would have thought of the checker board backing.

Here are a couple more pics of the card to show some of the detail in the monkey and a bit truer representation of the colors with the flash.

I colored Chester the Monkey with Letraset flex markers and pro markers.  I wasn't happy with the color the star ended up, so I thought some heat embossing with gold sparkle embossing powder would do the trick (and I think it did).  Finally I wanted to bling it up a bit with various colored gems and a few small pearls.  (What is Christmas without a bit of bling?)

I was lucky that my brand new Hunkydory paper came in the post today (yes, on Sunday - my mailman chooses random days to take off and / or deliver the mail).  Anyway, I used two different sheets of the beautiful lavender / purple with gold flourishes paper as the checkerboard in the back.  I cut a small strip of gold mirror board and put some purple Happy Christmas ribbon on it.

Then for the layers behind the monkey I used dark blue holographic card from the Hunkydory pack topped with a textured white paper that has been in my stash for ages.   You can see the texture a bit better in the close up of Chester (above).

In addition to The Crafty Bloggers Network Challenge, I would also like to enter this card in the following challenges:

Passion for Promarkers - Week 127 Theme Swirls and Sparkles
ends Monday 28/11/11

Pollycraft Monday Challenge - Challenge 120 - Christmas Fun 
4 week


I think that is about it for now, as it has taken me literally 3 hours to put this post together..lol.

Thank you as always for looking and I love to get your comments!

Take care and keep on crafting!

xxDenise