Craft Focus - Page number 10 - August/September 2021 (Issue 86)

10 New Lead Designer for Ella Rae Knitting Fever is excited to welcome Ursula McGrath, the new Lead Designer for Ella Rae. A highly skilled, experienced and artistically creative knitwear designer who has worked in the wonderful world of wool, designing and knitting for over 25 years, Ursula started her design work with leading Irish brand Tivoli Spinners, designing and writing knitting patterns along with designing high fashion ladies’ knitwear. Using a Design-thinking methodology, she puts the customer at the heart of everything she does. Her niche expertise is in taking products from concept and design, right through to a finished knitting pattern or a ready-to-wear garment. Her designs are inspired by her love of Heritage Aran knits, natural landscape and how we treasure family. Ursula lives in Co Cork with her family, hens, ducks, dogs and a very productive vegetable garden. She spent many years sourcing quality yarn and selling on a national and international level representing Ireland and all it stands for with Irish wool, Irish designs and Irish knitters. She grew up in the Ireland of the ’60s-70s with her nine siblings on a remote farm, in north Cork. Her mum, an industrious mother of her time, always had a pair of knitting needles close at hand. This played a vital part in Ursula developing a natural passion and talent in Irish Crafts, with handknitting being her favourite. She then turned her passion into a career, and becoming a knitwear designer was a dream come true. For further information visit www.knittingfever.com Craftfoam introduces new white shade to the range Craftfoam, the robust extruded polystyrene material known for its strength and versatility manufactured by Sheffield-based Panel Systems, is now available in white, extending the choice even further for customers. White Craftfoam benefits from the same versatile properties as other colours in the range, including grey and green. The material is lightweight but strong and can easily be cut, shaped, sanded and modelled using a variety of different hand tools and without the need for any specialist equipment. The uniform closed cell structure of Craftfoam also guarantees the best finish, as its smooth surface can be painted and is suitable for use with non-solvent based adhesives such as PVA. The material is also suitable for use with hand or powered knives and saws, drills and routers. This makes it ideal for use in modelling and therefore popular with sculptors, crafters and artists. A spokesperson from Panel Systems said: “This new white Craftfoam offers a completely blank canvas for any modeller, sculptor or crafter to work with and is ideal for use in most projects including wargaming, cosplay and even architectural modelling. The material can be easily cut, shaped, painted and moulded for use in anything from decorations and cake stands to small-scale models. It really is one of the most versatile crafting materials available.” New white Craftfoam is available to buy online, alongside grey and green, in handy sheet sizes and a range of thicknesses including 600 x 600 x 10mm, 600 x 600 x 25mm and 600 x 600 x 50mm. The material is also available in bespoke sizes for larger quantities and can be delivered anywhere in the UK. For more information about Craftfoam or to place an order call +44 (0)114 249 5626 or visit the website: https://www.panelsystems.co.uk/products/modelling-foam Rex London launches EU hub in Belgium Rex London is committed to providing outstanding service to every one of its customers, whether stockists carry one or 100 Rex London products. In response to Brexit, and the teething problems that came with it for many organisations at the start of 2021, Rex London has established a distribution centre in Belgium to better serve its customers in the European Union − without customs delays or additional costs. This means that Rex London customers in the EU can continue to order with confidence, with all orders being imported into the EU by their new Belgian company, Rex London BV, which is wholly owned and managed by their UK company. Trade customers will still have access to thousands of Rex London products, which they’ll be able to order online or with the team of dedicated account managers in the usual way − in fact, nothing will really change for stockists ordering from Rex London. Current delivery forecasts estimate a total transit time of up to two weeks for most EU orders, however Rex London is investigating further measures the company can take to reduce delivery times in the future. For more information, please contact Anna Williams, Marketing and Communications Manager on +44 (0)20 8746 1700 or visit the Rex London trade website www.rexlondontrade.com

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