Textured Sock Monkey

I know, I know, this isn't even a whole card yet...I'm just so excited at how this turned out that I can't wait to show you...plus...my camera battery just ran out so it has to charge up before I can share anything else :-)

I used Close to Cocoa Textured card stock for the monkey, and to get the "heathered" look, I used the brayer and gently rolled the brayer over the Very Vanilla Craft pad, then rolled that lightly over the card stock. I let it dry just a bit, then took a paper towel and dabbed and wiped most of it away.

Now, I had already stamped my monkey in StazOn black ink before I thought about the Very Vanilla, so I had to go over the black lines with a marker after the Very Vanilla was dry. You may want to save yourself the trouble and prepare your card stock first, and then stamp the monkey. Although, when I tried that, the dried ink seemed to have changed the surface of the card stock, and I didn't like how the image turned out. If you wait til the Craft ink is totally dry, you could use black Craft ink to stamp the monkey on the surface, and heat black embossing powder to get a really dark and shiny outline.

I stamped the monkey once on the Close to Cocoa Textured card stock, then on Creamy Caramel card stock, and then stamped the head on the new Riding Hood Red card stock. The Close to Cocoa monkey is on the bottom, then the lighter parts were cut out of Creamy Caramel, and the mouth was cut out of Riding Hood Red. I found it easiest to glue the pieces with Two-Way Glue, because it applies such a thin amount of glue to the surfaces. I applied the glue to both surfaces, then adhered them while they were wet. Afterwards, I added some highlights on the Creamy Caramel, using the Blush Blossom brush end of the marker.

UPDATE: you can get a similar look by using the Very Vanilla Watercolor Wonder Crayon, holding it on its side, and lightly coloring. Try coloring in a circular motion to get the best coverage. Wiping with a paper towel is optional, and this is something you can do AFTER you stamp the monkey...plus there's no wet ink to worry about.

I added the Watercolor Wonder Crayon to the light parts of the same Sock Monkey I showed you at the start of this post, and you can see how it turned out below. It's very subtle, but I think it keeps the texture consistent to have it on all the pieces. (Remember to click on any picture to see it full size--open each of these pictures in their own window, and compare them side by side!]: