Chris' Review	Renee's Review	Tammy's Review	Stephanie's Review	Pam's Review

Indus Trading Company is the home to an assortment of unfinished wood products for crafting and jewelry-making. Marketed in several different lines, their wood products are finely detailed with a smooth finish, ready for the crafter to get right to work, creating with them. The "Time Together" collection features over 40 different wood shapes. These Cutouts have a finely detailed profile and are perfect for a wide variety of crafting projects. The "Build UR Beads" collection features wood beads in 4 different shapes, available in sizes ranging from 10mm to 32mm.

The website for this company is DIYBangles.com. There you can find high quality images of the various products available. The consumer can purchase directly online from them; their products also are available through other online vendors and at local craft stores. At the website, the crafter will find a gallery full of beautifully decorated examples as well as a link to their Facebook page for additional samples and company announcements.

Please join us in welcoming Pam Bumbaca to the Review Team this month. Pam will be making Guest Reviewer appearances from time to time. She is an experienced scrapbooker, both in traditional and digital formats. We think you'll find her reviews informative and enjoyable to read.

Each Reviewer received, free of charge from Indus Trading Company, an assortment of wood cutouts and a variety of wood beads for their use and evaluation. Neither they, nor ScrapFriends, received any additional compensation or consideration for this review.

Review by Chris

I must confess that I don't use wood very often in my crafting projects. And I don't think I have ever used wood cut-out shapes. When I learned we would be reviewing wooden cut-out shapes and beads from Indus Trading Company, I was a little perplexed. Sure, I knew what I might do with the beads, but I truly had no idea what I would do with the cut-out shapes.

I received five packages of cut-out shapes: dog, lion, cake, leaf and heart. Each package contains two wooden shapes, each about 2 in. by 2 in. These shapes are nicely finished, with detailed profiles and a smooth finish. The crafter does not have to do any prep work to begin using these shapes. They are ready for paint, ink, decoupage or whatever finish the crafter wishes to use. I laid the various shapes out on my table and considered what I might use them for. As I looked at the shapes, they reminded me of a baby's toys: the dog, lion, cake. And I thought of a mobile. And thus my project was born!

Once I had conceptualized my project, it was fairly simple to create. I embellished the cake, painted one dog and one lion, and decoupaged paper on the other dog and lion. I added a little Flower Soft to the lion's mane to give the figure some added interest. I painted some wooden tube beads to match and added flourish rub-ons around them. I then drilled the holes in the figures, tied on the ribbon, and threaded a bead on each hanging element. I tied the other ends of the ribbon through holes I had drilled into the cake and my mobile was complete.

Baby Mobile
Products used: Wood cutouts (Indus Trading Company, lion, dog, cake)
Wood Beads (Indus Trading Company, tube beads)
Patterned paper (Karen Foster Design, Baby Boy Collage, Green Prince)
Adhesive (Mod Podge)
Paint (Ranger acrylic paint dabber, cloudy blue, lemonade, willow)
Rub-ons (Fancy Pants)
Markers (Sharpie)
Flower Soft, Ribbon

I have had a wood burning tool set for some time now, but have never used it. These plain, smooth-finished beads presented the perfect opportunity for me to try out my wood-burning skills. I burned three different designs into three different beads. I really like how they turned out. The beads are super smooth, and the burning tool left nice, clean marks on them. I added a few glass beads to the wood beads and created a fun key fob which I'll use for my extra house keys. I can see a necklace in my future, using more of these beads and my wood burning tool once again!

Key Fob
Products used: Wood Beads (Indus Trading Company, diamond barrel, tear drop)
Wood burning tool
Beads, wire, clasp

There are so many uses for these wood cut-outs and beads from Indus Trading Company. With over 41 different designs in the cut-outs, there are shapes for every season and event. The different sizes and shapes of the beads allow for many uses. These pieces of wood are well-finished and need little to no prep for the crafter. That's a huge bonus to me! If you're in the market for some cute, well-made wood elements for your craft projects, I definitely suggest you seek out these products from Indus Trading Company.

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Review by Renee

For this review, I received a selection of wood blanks which included one package each of the lion, cake, heart, dog, and leaf. Each package included two wood blanks. In addition, I received a generous selection of wood beads, including the tear drop, diamond barrel, tube and round beads. Each package contained approximately six to eight beads. The beads are a nice blond shade, which lends itself easily to a variety of methods for covering. I painted mine, but they would easily work with ink or just plain decoupage of scrapbook papers.

When I sat down to plan my projects for this review, I was initially skeptical about working with the beads. I am not a jewelry maker and was not sure how I could use these beads. However, the more I thought about my paper crafting, the more I realized that the products could be used in regular paper crafting projects that I would make everyday. In addition to the ideas I used, the blanks can be used on various layouts and cards because of their relatively flat size. The beads can be covered with scrapbook paper and hung from many different paper crafting projects.

For my first project, I decided to use the tear drop and tube beads and one of the heart flats to decorate a paper party favor/candy holder. I chose to paint my beads. I used a simple paint pen and found that one coat was sufficient to cover the beads. I used a tip from the packaging and stood my beads on a skewer from my kitchen to help keep the beads from rolling around while they dried. This was a quick and easy project that can be used in a variety of situations.

Title: Party Favor
Products used: Patterned Paper (Basic Grey Bittersweet collection)
Wooden beads and flat (Indus Trading Company)
Paint Pen (Marvy Uchida)
Ribbons (May Arts and Ribbon Bobbin)
Adhesive (Adhesive Tech, Permanent Bond Glue Runner)

For my second project, I used a flat from the lion package in place of a die cut on a simple card. I painted it with a simple acrylic paint from my stash. Because the flat has a relatively low profile, it works extremely well as a double for a die cut.

Title: Lion Notecard
Products used: Cardstock (Prism Prismatics black)
Patterned Paper (Cosmo Cricket Mr. Campy collection)
Felt Ribbon (The Little Yellow Bicycle)
Die Cut machine and cartridge (Cricut Home Decor)
Adhesive (Adhesive Tech, Permanent Bond Glue Runner)

After initially being skeptical about this review, I found that I really enjoyed using the products in my paper crafting. They have a variety of uses and really make a great addition to your projects.

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Review by Tammy

These 100% natural wood beads and cutouts from Indus Trading Company are lightweight yet sturdy. Each piece is sanded smooth without rough edges and the beads have large enough holes that it made it easy to string them together.

Each of the cutouts was packaged in a clear cellophane resealable wrapper making it easy to store each of the designs.

I wanted to make a handle for this purse and the various size and shape beads would work perfectly. I started by inking two round beads with embossing ink and rolled them in chocolate embossing powder. I used the end of a paintbrush to hold the beads and heated the embossing powder with my heat tool. In a matter of minutes I had beads that were beautifully colored and coordinated with my purse. I then repeated this same process with 2 of the barrel beads. I also wanted to add a secondary color along with some sparkle, so I covered 3 of the tube beads with WonderFilm (a double-sided clear adhesive), and then covered them with glitter. Once all of my pieces were complete, I used wire to string them together and attach to my purse. The entire process took very little time and I had a very trendy handle to match my purse!

 
Title: Purse Handle
Products used: Beads (Indus Trading Company, Round, Barrel, Tube)
Cardstock (Quick Quotes Tessa's Fairytale Collection)
Die Cut (Quick Quotes Tessa's Fairytale Collection)
Brad (Quick Quotes Tessa's Fairytale Brads 'n ribbons)
Rub on (Quick Quotes)
Purse (Creative Imaginations)
Embossing Powder (PK Glitz, Chocolate)
Glitter (PK Glitz, Sea Mist)
WonderFilm (PK Glitz)
Embossing Ink (Ranger, Inkssentials)
Wire
Adhesive (Adhesive Tech, Permanent Bond Glue Runner; Xyron)

The wood cutouts appeared to have a lot of potential. While I am not an artist and cannot draw, I did find the silhouette shapes to be very helpful in creating a realistic design. Of all of the cutouts I received the Leaf was the one that piqued my curiosity. To me, this shape appeared to be more of an acorn shape than a leaf, so that is what I decided to use it for. Because the WonderFilm worked so well on my wooden handle beads, I decided to use this medium again on my wooden acorn. I traced the shape of the acorn onto my WonderFilm then adhered it to the top of the cutout. I used glitter in appropriate colors to give it the appearance of an acorn. For added detail, I used a stylus to create the crosshatch in the acorn top and I used a brown Copic marker to color in the sides and give it a finished look. I attached it to the front of my pouch using a double sided adhesive. I can just see these stuffed with special treats at each place setting at a holiday gathering.

 
Title: Acorn Pouch
Products used:Wood Cutout (Indus Trading Company, Leaf)
Patterned Paper (Heidi Grace)
WonderFilm (PK Glitz)
Sticky Tape (PK Glitz)
Glitter (PK Glitz)
Marker (Copic)
Ribbon (Misc)
Adhesive (Adhesive Tech, Permanent Bond Glue Runner)

Cards are a lot of fun to make, but what about using one of the embellishments as a gift? I used the Heart cutout with the same technique as I did with the acorn embellishment and when I was finished, I added a pin back to the back side of the heart cutout. I then attached it to my card front and voila - a gift in a card!

Title: Heart Gift in a Card
Products used: Wood Heart Shape (Indus Trading Company)
Cardstock (Prism Prismatics)
Patterned Cardstock (Prima)
WonderFilm (PK Glitz)
Glitter (PK Glitz)
Stamps (See D's & Autumn Leaves)
Embossing Ink (Ranger, Inksenssials)
Marker (Copic)
Adhesive Pin Back (Hobby Lobby)
Machine Stitching
Adhesive (Adhesive Tech, Permanent Bond Glue Runner)

I found the wood cutouts and beads from Indus Trading Company to be very easy to work with and the ideas for these products to be endless.

When looking for wood products to add to my altered art or general craft projects, I will be looking for Indus Trading Company products!

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Review by Stephanie

Indus Trading Company provided us with an assortment of wood pieces this month and I must say I was quite intrigued with the supplies. I received several individually packaged items which included, dogs, acorns, cakes and assorted wood beads. My first thought was how on earth would I incorporate these items within my projects!! I don't work with wood and while I do like lumpy and bumpy projects, I was afraid these items would be too lumpy and too bumpy to display on a project. So I waited in anticipation for my package to arrive before deciding what I was going to do with them.

I was drawn at first to the look of the wood pieces. They are finely cut and finely finished which meant I didn't need to sand them before working with them. That was a definite plus because when I want to work with an item, I don't want to have to prepare it first! Now that I had all the wood pieces in front of me, I had to decide how to use them. I liked the shape of the cake so I decided to make a birthday card. I began by painting one of the cakes. Once it dried I added ink and Stickles for some shimmer and shine. Putting it aside to let it dry, I then created my card. Once it was finished, I added the cake to my card with some wet adhesive. I was concerned that it would not adhere (or remain adhered) to my card, but I must say that the adhesive is holding up very well.

Title: Happy Birthday Card
Products used: Cardstock (American Crafts, Butter)
Pattern Paper (from my stash)
Wood cake (Indus Trading Company)
Paint (Making Memories, Butter Cream)
Stamp (MSE)
Ink (Tsukineko, Memento, Tuxedo Black)
Acrylic (Maya Road)
Stickles (Ranger, icicle)
Ink (Smooch)
Ribbon (Michaels)
Adhesive (Adhesive Tech, Permanent Bond Glue Runner; ACMoore liquid glue)

Since we adopted a puppy several months ago, I decided to create a mini album and I wanted to incorporate one of the wood dogs I received. After designing my book, I painted the wood dog, then added it to the front cover of my album. How fun this was to create, and so personal with the addition of the wood dog on the front cover.

Title: Paulie
Products used: Pattern paper (K&Company)
Wood dog (Indus Trading Company)
Paint (Pebbles, Inc.)
Other (Coasters, ribbon)
Adhesive (Adhesive Tech, Permanent Bond Glue Runner, ACMoore liquid glue)

Since I had so much fun incorporating the dog and cake into my projects, I decided to play with the beads. I tried to paint them, but didn't like the colors I was using, plus I was getting covered in paint. I tried to use glitter, but I couldn't get the glitter to adhere properly. Then I pulled out my glimmer mists and really began to play. Yes, I did get messy, but it did not take long to cover the beads, plus it was fun just playing with colors to see what I could achieve! In the end, I used 5 different colors of Glimmer Mists on the beads. The mists dried almost instantly and I was able to create my necklace with some twine which I also glimmer misted. I just added a knot between the beads for a funky look. I absolutely love the funky, chunky necklace I made. And it even matched the outfit I wore after I created it!

Title: Wood Necklace
Products used: Wood beads (Indus Trading Company)
Glimmer Mists (Tattered Angels: Red Velvet, Walnut Gold, Sunflower, Vanilla Breeze, Forest Green)
Other (twine, stash)

I was really surprised at how easily I could incorporate these wood pieces in my projects. It just took a little thought. Thanks Indus Trading for providing me with products that made me "think outside the box."

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Review by Pam

Hello there! My name is Pam Bumbaca. I'm a traditional and digital scrapbooker and I've been a member of ScrapFriends for some time now. I've always loved reading the fabulous reviews from the Review Team. Now I get the pleasure of doing one of my own!

I received a fun package full of Wood Beads and Wood Cutouts from Indus Trading and I couldn't wait to get to work! My box had several different shapes of beads and cutouts and I must say, with such a great selection it was hard to choose! I finally decided upon some large round balls and barrel shaped beads to make necklaces as well as an acorn and dog shape in the wood cutouts.

I decided to make some ribbon necklaces with my beads. I used ink on one set and acrylic paint on another set. The paint took very well to the wood, but the ink took a few more coats as the beads were a bit porous. I also used some thick ribbon which was very hard to get through the holes. Next time I might use something else like hemp or leather cording because it would take much less time and effort. Or if you had a ribbon needle on hand that would work too! I am definitely going to invest in one for future projects like this.

Barrel Shaped Beaded Necklace
Products used: Build Ur Beads (Indus Trading)
Distress Inks (Ranger, Frayed Burlap, Faded Jeans)
Distress Crackle Paint (Ranger, Rock Candy)
Ribbon from my stash

Round Shaped Beaded Necklace
Products used: Build Ur Beads (Indus Trading)
Paint (Ranger, Adirondack Dabbers, Sunflower, Purple Twilight, Raspberry, Sailboat Blue, Sunset Orange)
Rub-ons (Basic Grey, Floral Border and Urban Border)
Twill from my stash

The cut-outs are a bit too thick to use on a layout as you can see from my scan. I recommend if you want to use them on a layout, you saw them in half. Also if you use them on a card you are planning on mailing, it will cost extra postage due to their thickness. But they are perfect if you are handing the cards out in person. They would also work great for an altered project! I had so much fun making my little acorn and dog to resemble my puppy! Because the cutouts are plain, they are totally customizable.

Fall Card
Products used: Acorn is Wood cut out (Indus Trading)
Paint (Making Memories, Acorn, Chocolate)
Marker (Slick Writer, black)
Ribbon (Basic Grey Hang 10 Collection)
Cork Alpha (The Paper Studio)
Cardstock and Pattern paper from my scraps
Adhesive (Adhesive Tech)

Star Student
Products used: Cardstock (Bazzill)
Patterned Paper (Unknown)
Dog is Wood Cut-out (Indus Trading)
Paint (Making Memories, Acorn)
Marker (Slick Writer, black)
Flower (Sweet Vintage Etsy Shop)
Ink (Ranger Distress Ink, Frayed Burlap)
Ribbon (Making Memories (around chipboard) and Basic Grey (on dog))
Photo Corner (Tim Holtz Ideaology)
Adhesive (Adhesive Tech)

And there you have my finished projects. Would I recommend these products to fellow crafters? Absolutely! They were different for me because I tend to stay with the traditional things. They so much fun to use, I'll be keeping my eye out for other Indus Wood Products to try in the future!

Thank you for reading my review. I hope I was able to provide you with some useful information!

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