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Review: Craftcycle by Heidi Boyd

by

craftcycle cover meting toy soldier project

Craftcycle: 100+ Earth-Friendly Projects and Ideas for Everyday Living
by
Heidi Boyd

Let me just say I love this book for it’s comprehensiveness.

It covers all sorts of crafts (and for us hobby surfers this is a big plus!)

It includes excellent illustrations, photographs, patterns and directions so that even the most beginner crafter is sure to have all the guidance needed to complete a recycle craft project either exactly as the directions state or to veer off the path and truly make their own creation. To see a variation I made and an inside peek into Craftcycle pop on over here.

Also included are recipes, because we all have to keep our strength up for tons of up-cycling.

From the Publisher (North Light Books):

“Inside Craftcycle, you will find a mix of over 100 ideas for crafts, recipes, sustainable living ideas and construction projects – all organized by season to offer year-round green living. Within each chapter, there are larger projects to build, quick crafts to complete using basic materials or recycled items, seasonally appropriate tips, and recipes using seasonal ingredients. Detailed diagrams accompany the larger-scale projects, while the basic crafts feature step-by-step photographs and illustrations, making them accessible for the entire family.
Heidi Boyd is the author of seven North Light craft books. She brings her simple and pretty approach to green crafting in this book. Her husband Jon Boyd, an architect, is certified in sustainable building practices, and he brings his expertise to this book. He provides the larger-scale simple wood construction projects, all of which are be accompanied by clear diagrams.”

To see tons more of Heidi’s creativity pop on over to mycraftivity.com.

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Colorful Christmas Tree Cross Stitch Patterns

There’s no rule that says Christmas trees in real life have to be green, and there’s no rule in cross stitch that Christmas trees have to be green, either. While I love a good traditional looking tree (in reality or in cross stitch) there are lots of fun other choices, which we’ll explore here.

Looking for more Christmas tree cross stitch patterns? Check out this post from last year.

I am going to start with a traditional tree, but this one has a lot of color thanks to the lights and other decorations on it. This one is form xCountingtheStarsx, and it uses 20 colors. Worked on 16 count fabric it comes out to about 5.6 by 9.25 inches, or 14.2 by 23.5 cm, with a stitch count of 90 by 148.

These fun designs from Catholic Sprouts have traditional tree shapes but are filled with fun patterns and colors. These would be fun to stitch as a set or you can make each of them and give them as gifts to different people or use as holiday cards.

The Christmas tree shape is a little less literal in this swooping design from Well Stitches. I like this one because it only uses one color so it’s great for beginners, but it still looks dramatic. It is 109 by 155 stitches, which comes out to 7.99 by 11.07 inches, or 19.78 by 28.12 cm on 14 count fabric (dimensions for other counts are also included if you want to make it smaller).

And if you want to go for all color, check out the Merry and Bright Christmas tree cross stitch pattern from Tapestry Barn. This pretty skinny tree is surrounded by multicolored snowflakes. The designs on the tree remind me of knitting patterns. And even though it’s lots of colors, it’s only worked with whole stitches and no back stitching. It looks lovely on dark fabric! The piece measures about 7 by 7 inches, or 18 by 18 cm, on 14 count fabric.