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]

I don’t know why a vintage red truck with a Christmas tree in the back became an iconic Christmas cross stitch pattern, but you might be surprised by how many of them I found. Let’s take a look at a few Christmas truck cross stitch patterns.

I started with this free cross stitch pattern from Ugly Duckling House, which also has a wreath on the front of the truck for extra holiday cuteness. The design uses 16 colors and is 46 by 49 stitches. On 14 count fabric it comes out to about 3.3 by 3.5 inches, or 8.3 by 8.9 cm. You can grab that pattern when you enter your email address on the website.

DMC takes it to another level with the tree being tied to the top of the truck, which is driving past a mountain stitched in the background. This one is also a free pattern, and the listing doesn’t give a ton of information, but it is pretty.

Another one in a similar vein is this design from Actually Makeable, which has the tree tied in the back of the truck, which has a bit of snow on it, and there are snowy trees and a shape in the background that could be a cloud or a mountain. It measures 126 by 51 stitches and uses 17 colors. On 14 count fabric it will be 9 by 3.6 inches, or 23 by 9 cm. The back stitching is optional but does help to define the design.

The watercolor look of this one from Ethno Ua Stitch is so pretty, but it uses 37 colors to get that painterly effect. The design is 138 by 165 stitches, and it includes full cross stitches and back stitching.

If you’re looking for an easier option, this one from Etamine Patterns looks pretty straightforward. I love how the tree almost looks like an applique. It uses six colors and is 109 by 120 stitches.

Laser Art Designs has another version with a giant tree in the back of the truck and the words Merry Christmas at the bottom (which you could of course leave off if you want). This design uses four colors and comes out to 8.3 by 5.7 inches, or 20.9 by 14.4 cm, when stitched on 14 count fabric.

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