Book Review – Mind Melt

Extreme Art mazes to color and confound. RRP $15.99

Coloring in books are all the rage/fashion/trend right now. So how do publishers take the trend to the next level? By combining puzzles and coloring in one “Mind Melting” book. I love the designs in this book, the fact that they are puzzles is simply a wonderfully arty bonus.

Mind Melt: Extreme Art Mazes to Color and Confound is a unique book that features 25 beautiful, colorful, and challenging mazes, along with black-and-white versions of the same artwork for coloring in. Fun for adults and kids, artist Sophie Roach’s mesmerizing designs offer a stimulating visual challenge to both maze and coloring enthusiasts. Maze solutions are included at the back of the book. Source

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If you like seasonal samplers and cross stitch patterns with a primitive twist, you’ll enjoy the collection from Curious Carrie Designs.

You’ll find alphabet designs, biscornu, patriotic projects and more. The summer category is the largest on the storefront, with Americana and floral designs. There are also categories for the other seasons and more general designs.

One of my favorites is this pretty sunflower cross stitch pattern, which is shown styled as a biscornu but it wouldn’t have to be. The pattern features sunflowers and bees and a little beehive. It uses 12 colors of floss and each side of the pattern is 51 by 51 stitches, which comes out to 3.64 inches or 9.2 cm square.

I love the fabric she used for the sample, which she actually dyed purple herself, but it would also be pretty on a purchased light blue or other color if you don’t want to dye your own.

There’s also a whole set of themed biscornu with a four letter word on one side (crow, home, love and snow, to name a few) along with a seasonal pattern on the other side.

The shop has a rather small selection at around 90 patterns as of this writing, but it’s a nice collection of traditional looking designs heavy on samplers and biscornu designs, so if those are things you like you’ll want to be sure to check it out. Visit Curious Carrie Designs on Etsy to see all her pretty designs.

Are you a designer or do you have a favorite cross stitch designer who hasn’t made it into the spotlight yet? (You can see all the featured designers in the craft businesses category on the page.) Let me know in the comments, or you can submit more detailed information by clicking on “suggest a craft” at the center top of the page.

[Photo: Curious Carrie Designs]

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