Bee Golden

Today I am excited to have a tutorial for you all

yay!! 

I'll try and explain how to make these 

Golden Bee prints

:)

So here we go! 

Supplies Needed:

Styrofoam take-out box

Pair of scissors

Mechanical pencil with sturdy tip

Sketchbook with quality paper

Paper towels 

Foam brush

Craft paint

First things first, 

You need to decide what you are going to bee making the print off

(see what I did there :) 

One of my good friends asked me to do a project for her living room that happens to have a bee theme

so that was easy enough for me

this was my reference photo for drawing

Cut your take-out box top off and trim off all but the flat top

Using your mechanical pencil lightly sketch out your image

i drew this bee out quite a few times on paper before going to the actual styrofoam

you really only get one shot

once the image is how you like

press the image in using either the graphite tip or the plastic/metal tip of your pencil

just make sure not to press all the way through

just make a nice groove

choose your paint

I used a gold craft paint

this type of paint will work best and can be bought in any local craft store

also, if you don't have a palette or plastic plate you want to use

fold a few pieces of cling-wrap up and tape them down

it doesn't look pretty

but it gets the job done

and makes clean up a snap 

Using your foam brush paint very very VERY lightly onto the top of your image

you don't want to press hard at all

otherwise you'll get paint into your grooves and the image won't show up when you press it

Once you're set with paint take out a sheet of your quality paper from your sketchbook and press it on

you might need to experiment a couple times with pressure

if you press to hard the paint will squish into your grooves, ruining your image

but if you don't press hard enough the image wont show up at all

it takes a few tries but you'll get it

Carefully peel back your paper

make sure not to let it slide around

Voila!! 

If you find that you used too much paint

you can use a fresh paper towel

(i find Vita brand works best)

and press it lightly onto the image to remove any excess paint that might be bubbling on your image

Also, if you are wanting to make multiple prints

you might find after a few the paint starts to build up in the grooves

to keep it as clean of a print as possible simply use a clean towel to wipe excess paint out 

You can also wash your template with water

either way :) 

once they are dry all that is left is 

pulling off the fringe of your pages

and you're done! 

 you've got golden bee's to hang on your wall

or send to a friend :)  

What do you guys think? Is this something you'll try out? 

Would you guys like to see more crafts and tutorials here? 

Let me know and I'll do my best :)