August Polymer Cafe! – Craft Gossip

polymer_cafe_31_t The August issue of Polymer Cafe has arrived, with lots of treats to inspire and instruct. The “Random Layers Pendants” by Christi Uliczny featured on the cover show a fantastic way to use an assortment of both translucent and opaque canes.

If you’re interested in expanding your repertoire to include Precious Metal Clay, the “Fish Frenzy” pendant by Shirley Rufener would be an excellent place to start.

This was an excellent issue for learning new skills, as the “Steampunk Business Card Case” by Eugena Topina also includes clever instructions for working with small amounts of resin as a finish on polymer clay. Also in the steampunk genre was the “Just the Gears” article by Lisa Heller. The idea of being able to make my own custom polymer clay “gears” for any Steampunk projects is tickling my muse already.

Other projects include an elegant “Altered Jewelry Box” by Michelle Herren, a stately ” Mayan Necklace” by Jacqueline Josten, and cute as can be “Play-on-Words Pots” by Laura J. Schiller.

Congratulations go out to the winners of the “Touchy Feely Challenge” winners, Cheryl Watt for her “Leafy Leah,” Reanna Bower for her “Twysted Roots,” Jennifer Miller for her “Ocean Tides,” and Cathy Clark for her “Here, Fishy Fishy.” And as always, the Reader’s Gallery is full of eye candy and inspiration!

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The designs from Bella Rose Craft look like they would be good for beginner cross stitchers and others who like relatively simple and small designs that are quick to finish for gifts or decor.

I’ll mention up front that this Etsy shop based in Indiana has no organization whatsoever. There are two categories: kits and patterns. So it’s a bit of a treasure hunt to find what you might be interested in.

As mentioned there are lots of minis and small looking projects with simple lines and minimal colors. There are holiday projects, animals, summer motifs like palm trees and beach umbrellas, a bathtub with a rubber duck, some text based designs (like hoppy spring and merry and bright), some biblical and religious designs, flowers, bunting and more.

On a site like this its difficult to pick something representative of the whole page, but I liked this bees and beehive design, so it’s the one I picked to share. This one illustrates a lot of my general points about the patterns from this shop. It’s small (2.79 by 2.57 inches, or about 7 by 6.5 cm on 14 count fabric), it looks like it’s all whole cross stitches and probably uses only six colors, and a couple of colors are only used for a handful of stitches.

Of the 300 plus cross stitch patterns available as of this writing, 140 are also available as cross stitch kits. These would be great to give as gifts if you’re trying to get someone interested in cross stitching. The kits include the pattern, fabric and floss, and you can choose to have it include a needle or not. The hoop is not included but the patterns explain what kind of hoop is shown if you want to get one to match.

So if you’re looking for cute, beginner friendly patterns for yourself or you’re trying to be a crafty enabler for someone else, check out Bella Rose Craft on Etsy.

[Photo: Bella Rose Craft]

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