My Ballard-inspired Bee Bulletin Board:
Here are some before photos so you can really appreciate the size of this bad-boy. I think it's about 36x24" with a 2.5" crown molding border. It's pretty big! And, it's a message center for us, directy across from our kitchen. You may have also see that I posted Christmas cards on it during the season.
Anyway, I finally settled on a bee that looked slightly vintage, slightly whimsical, and not all furry and fuzzy, cause you know I don't really want to look at a full on INSECT. (Which Z reminded me, it is a BUG... zoinks.)
This was a project inspired by two Ballard Items- Their framed bulletin boards, which are super fancy and a bit overpriced (!) and their bee designs on items such as totes, bags, towels and lampshades:
Their "Madison Corkboard" which is $299:
And things like the "Queen Bee" tote:
or the "laptop tote": or or the "Bee Pillow":
So, here's what I did:
I taped some paper together, and brought the image up on my desktop. I freehanded this one, by starting with the body shapes, adding in the lower legs, then wings. I added the detailing of the strips and the upper legs last.
I transfered my drawing to the bulletin board, and made sure the scale was good, and then cut the whole pattern out. I didn't worry about cutting the stripes out yet. Then, I pinned the pattern down, and traced the outer edge with a black ballpoint pen. (Black, since my paint was going to be black, and my pencil didn't work on the corkboard :) )
Here's a straight on view in case you want to use this one as a pattern:
Then, I took a squirt of cheapo acrylic paint in black (even though it's not a true black, more a very dark grey) and watered it down with a few drops. I knew I could make the painting darker later, but I was attempting a more vintagey look.
Paint! Just use your outline, and a brush with a flat edge, and cover your traced pattern.
I love that the cork sucked the paint in, and while I didn't water it down enough initially, the cork did the rest by getting me to almost the look I was going for.
Finished product again:
Up close on the paint:
Now, I just need to find (or make?) cuter push pins. :) And one question: Should the bee body be colored in solid black? Or, would it look like a flying termite (as Z so eloquently put it) if it were solid? The stripes let you know it's a bee, but a solid version would look more whimsical? I don't know! Help!
I guess this bee thing isn't just a fad. My first puppy, Kadee, had bee toys. And Lexi and Gunner share a few bee toys too:
So anyway, I love it, and now just need to work on the rest of that big, blank, brown, boring wall. Alliteration my friends, alliteration.
**Oh, and did you SEE IT?! I finally made my curtains. Go check out the sneak peak, with a full post coming soon.**
Until next time!
