Wild Bluebells in Spring

May 8, 2019

Wild Bluebells in Spring
Introducing our new Wild Bluebells Stencil..

It’s a wonderful thing when suddenly we’re surrounded by shrouds of bluebells in every shape and variety, in the country lanes, the woodlands, the hillsides, the riverbanks and in every nook and cranny in the country gardens. I count myself very fortunate living in the Brecon Beacons to witness the unfolding happening of each season and to be amidst such constant inspiration – in Spring as new life bursts onto the scene.

Coed Cefn – the most spectacular bluebell woods, with thousands of wild British bluebells, carpeting the floor of this ancient woodland. The native British bluebell (Hyacinthoides non-scripta) is in strong evidence in the Brecon Beacons countryside.

The native British bluebell (Hyacinthoides non-scripta, above left) has delicately draped more sparsely placed flower bells, usually a darker gentian blue or more rarely, white – you see it growing as single stems spread amongst green foliage, a wonderful site when you come across it. Cottage gardens can’t help but overflow with the thickly bunched, more upright, densely flowered Spanish bluebells (Hyacinthoides hispanica, above middle), these are rapacious growers, spreading very easily. And of course the hybrid when the two species cross (Hyacinthoides x massartiana, above right), which has both the delicacy of the native bluebell and the fullness and vigour of the introduced garden variety, seen in lanes, hedgerows, growing alongside streams and often found next to either the native bluebell or Spanish type.

When designing the Wild Bluebell Stencil I focused on the hybrid type bluebell, to create a flower design with more falling bell flowers and stems closely grouped together, but with the delicacy of the indigenous species. As well as the aesthetics for a stencil design it also seems apt tribute to the myriad multitude of bluebells we have here and perfect for the latest addition to our stencil range the ‘Wild Botanical Stencils – inspired by the Hedgerow & Woodland of the Brecon Beacons’.

This single motif design is perfect for fabric printing onto home furnishings – cushions, curtains, bedding or kitchen linen. We stencilled the Wild Bluebell Stencil onto a white canvas cushion cover for this elegant bedroom setting. This design lends itself to cosy cottage style or simple elegant decor.

Stencilling onto fabrics is great if you’re starting out on stencilling – because the fabric is an absorbent surface, stencilling tends to be less prone to bleeding under the cut out shapes, so crisper results can be achieved more readily. We used a combination of Bright Purple, Cobalt Blue, Pure White and Olive Fabric Paints for this white canvas cushion cover. Our Fabric Paints are really colourfast once ironed, very useful on household items that are washed on a regular basis.

The Wild Bluebells Stencil is a great design for creating gift bags, wrapping paper and cards. Our silver gift bag has been stencilled with Forget-me-not, Indian Purple and Hedgerow Stencil Paints, blended and merged together to create this graduating colour effect.

Great for home accessories the Wild Bluebell Stencil is brilliant on this small wooden block hung on a painted stone wall above a country cottage fireplace. The stencil technique used involves multi layering the stencil paint, allowing it to dry between each layer to create a slightly raised effect (the stencil is kept in place whilst each layer dries). Stencilled with Vanilla Stencil Paint.

The Wild Bluebells Stencil adapts brilliantly to different colour palettes. Stencil in natural flower and leaf colours for that clean Spring feeling. Or try using single silhouette colours light on dark backgrounds, or dark on light backgrounds. Alternatively try some unexpected zingy colours for gift wrap and cards.

This design lends itself well to ‘Arts and Crafts’ style repeat patterns. Use muted colours to create this effect, or contrasting silhouette colours for more contemporary style.