I’ll ask this of the fusers and stained glass folks and the mosaic enthusiasts as well as the blowers this question soon, but tonight’s question goes to those that make beads. The most popular glass used is COE 104, Moretti/Effetre or Murano or Vetrofond or Double Helix, some Reichenbach and Uroboros. There’s also TAG and some more 104’s I’m not mentioning. I love 104. The colors available are fabulous! It has a good amount of time to work it while it’s still soft. But there’s also Bullseye, COE 90. And Spectrum 96…Uroboros makes 96 as well as Gaffer, which has some amazing, magical colors. We must not forget the extremes too, Boro and Satake. One is very hard and one is very soft. Neither is my personal favorite, but I’ve seen spectacular glass made with both types. So what’s your favorite?
Have you read?
Designer Spotlight: Bella Rose Craft
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]