April 24, 2020
Want to try something new this weekend? Why not master the popular gradient techniques and create this colourful bumblebee-themed letter bunting! With a bright and beautiful colour scheme, this project is the perfect decoration to brighten your home in the summer months. This week, we’ve put together a helpful step-by-step by guide on how to ink, stamp and decorate your own bumblebee letter bunting.
(Scroll to the bottom for the full video)
You will need:
- Alphabet Bunting 10cm Letters – A name or word of your choice.
- Mini wooden bees.
- Ink pads: Cloud White (optional), Red Brick, Mango Madness, Sunflower Yellow, Pearlescent Chocolate.
- A floral rubber stamp of your choice – We’ve chosen Rico Nature Stamp Set.
- Glossy accents.
- Glitter.
- PVA craft glue.
- Choose from: Mustard medium jute string, lemon sorbet rick rack ribbon, gold glitter cord, fine gold cord, yellow satin ribbon.
How to blend multiple ink colours:
Step 1: Apply the sunflower yellow sponge ink pad straight onto your first wooden letter, covering the entire shape.
Step 2: With the mango madness ink pad, gently dab the colour over the top of the yellow from roughly half-way down the letter. Apply the yellow ink pad again where the two colours meet to blend the colours together.
Step 3: Gently apply the red brick ink pad at the very bottom of the letter. Again, use mango madness to soften the blend.
Step 4: Dab your floral stamp with the red brick ink and test the impression on a scrap piece of paper. When you’re ready, stamp directly onto the wood working your way from the bottom of the letter upwards to about a quarter of the way up. Twist and turn your stamp for different angles and remember to re-apply your ink between every impression.
How to make your bumblebee embellishment:
Step 5: Apply mango madness to the body of the wooden bee embellishment. You can mask of the wings with a piece of paper to avoid inking the wings.
Step 6 (optional): Colour the wings of the bumblebee with the cloud white ink pad.
Step 7: To achieve the bee’s stripey body you can either: carefully cut some stripes into a thin piece of card to use as a template or cut/rip thin pieces of paper and mask off sections of the wooden bee.
Step 8: Gently apply the pearlescent chocolate ink pad to the bee’s body, firmly holding your template in place.
Step 9: Apply glossy accents to the bee’s wings and sprinkle iridescent glitter whilst the glossy accents is still wet.
Step 10: Apply a thin layer of PVA glue to the reverse side of your decorated bee and glue to your finished wooden letter.
Step 11: Repeat all these steps for the rest of your wooden letters, placing the mini bee embellishment in different spots each time.
Step 12: String up your bunting letters with jute string and your personalised bumblebee bunting is ready for hanging!
Watch the full how-to video here:
