Faux Woodgrain Technique & Brutus Monroe Stamp of the Month

I still can’t believe it! I am on the Brutus Monroe Instagram Design Team! I’m still pinching myself – maybe it’s a dream! I am very honored and grateful to be in the company of very talented people.

My first Design Team Project is an inspiration for the Brutus Monroe Stamp of the Month Club. For those of you who are new to Brutus Monroe, this wonderful crafting company offers monthly subscriptions, from boxes of crafty goodies to individual items like Die of the Month, Stencil of the Month etc. The Stamp of the Month for March is this adorable little pig holding a watermelon.

I imagined him sitting behind a window of a barn or a shed about to eat his watermelon. My little nephew who is turning four years old this month loves eating fruits, actually he just loves eating, period! So I thought this would be a perfect birthday card for him.

I did not have woodgrain paper and I really didn’t feel like coloring or drawing woodgrain, so I took the Brutus Monroe Alabaster Ink Pad (which is an amazing White Pigment Ink, by the way) and swiped the ink pad over red cardstock from left to right. I used the edge of the ink pad to do this. I do not recommend to lay the ink pad down flat on the cardstock, it won’t work as well. Just the edge of the ink pad and then swipe with one motion. Then continue to do the same all the way down the paper. You will see the edge of the ink pad will create thin stripes that will look like planks of wood.

I did the same on 2 pcs of kraft cardstock.

To make the window of the card, I used a Spellbinders Square die to cut out the window. To create a frame, I used two consecutive sizes of the square dies to cut out a frame. Then I cut 1/4″ strips of the woodgrain craft cardstock and made a window frame on top of the white white frame by cutting it on the diagonal for each corner. I then used a white gel pen to add a couple of “nails” to each corner of the frame.

For the sentiment, I used the Lowercase Alphabet Outline & Fill stamp from Brutus Monroe and stamped it with Raven Pigment Ink on the red faux woodgrain cardstock. What is so practical about this alphabet stamp set is that it has multiples of commonly used letters so you can actually line up the word “HAPPY” with having to double stamp the “P”. I cut the word “HAPPY” into a strip and used my scissors to cut the edges irregularly to mimic a red woodplank. I also added a couple of White Nuvo Drops on each end for the “nails”. The birthday sentiment is from Altenew Label Love Stamp Set.

I colored my little piggie with copics and adhered him with foam tape on the windowsill. Then mounted the whole card onto a white 4.25″ X 5.5″ card base.

I must say, this little piggie was so fun to play with. You can get a lot of use out of this little stamp and for a very reasonable price of USD5 including shipping!! (US only) – International is USD 10 including shipping. How cool is that! You can check this and other Brutus Monroe monthly subscriptions here.

Hope you found this helpful and give this technique a try in your projects.

‘Til next time!

❤️

Anna

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