Sure butterflies are pretty, but it also turns out that ‘butterfly’ is the most often Googled stencil on the Internet right now, so this post should SEO well. Let’s dive in, and check out the video for all the steps!
Choosing your butterfly image
The Interwebs are a great source of images of butterflies. We’ll pick one that has the background already isolated.
Stencilize your butterfly image with Bay Stencil
It’s easy to turn your image into a stencil: just upload it, and (in typically a minute or less) get back nine variations to choose from by email. Pick the one you like best, and the stencil breakdown is sent to you almost immediately.
The butterfly stencil used in this video is a free download from Bay Stencil.
Cut the butterfly stencil
We chose to cut this one on the laser cutter, because we’re cutting paper. Delicate filligree patterns with thin bridges tend to tear when you use paper and a craft (blade) cutter. The reason is that the paper material is stuck to a cutting mat that you have to pull the stencil off of when you’re done. Pulling the stencil off the mat can tear the stencil if there are lots of delicate bridges in place.
Paint the butterfly stencil
We’ve chosen to paint our monarch butterfly in non-Monarch-y colors, because the paint store didn’t open early enough for the time we set aside to make this. But we have a pretty butterfly stencil still (it’s just pink and green and red rather than orange and black and red).
Live freely ever after
Having painted our carefree butterfly, you can live freely and happily ever after. Spending time with butterflies (why paint just one?) always puts me in a good mood.
