Customer Reviews

Art of Seed Beading

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

A well-presented book, but the majority of it is projects - the techniques section at the beginning is relatively brief, although it does cover a wide range of beadwork. If you like the projects, you'll love the book.

Unfortunately, the projects are not to my taste. I don't much like pictorial beadwork (beads creating pictures and images using peyote or brick stitch, or miniature objects made of beads (cups, little people and so on), or objects like glass jars being covered with beadwork. Most of the projects in the book seem to be of this type.

Speaking personally, I prefer Carol Wilcox Wells' book "Creative Bead Weaving". She describes various techniques with the aid of very good diagrams (whereas "The Art of Seed Beading" often uses photos, which aren't as clear). Her projects and ideas are glorious, and much more to my taste. But be aware that she doesn't cover as many techniques as "The Art of Seed Beading" does, for example crochet and embroidery with beading.

Tired of amulet bags? This book does not contain a single one. Instead there are needle-cases,a necklace depicting elephants, and teeny-tiny cups and loaves of bread. Maybe a bit precious, but certainly not run-off-the-mill. But a word to all authors and editors of beadwork: Photographs (and, similarly, scans) of size 11 beads printed at 100% are too small for a beader to understand what's going on. And when the beads and thread are both dark, it's futile to try to understand the thread path. If you want a book for inspiration, this one is nice. If you want a book for instruction, go to one of the lovely books that has clear diagrams, Carol Wilcox Wells's books, for example.

I was disappointed not to find more jewelry patterns in this book. The first chapters have very helpful and enlightening descriptions about types of seed beads and how they are made. The instructions on basic stitches are well-described, also; however, I found many of the projects themselves to be of little general interest given what one finds in most other beading books. (I realize that this could be my own bias!) With a title as general as "the Art of Seed Beading," I thought there would be more instructions on how to alter basic techniques such as peyote or netting to create unique pieces. I did like a couple of the projects, though, and I found the opening chapters very helpful and useful.

I bought this book for the patterns... especially a wonderful elephant necklace... and they are great. Unfortionately, I also bought this book to learn from and ended up with alot of trial and error time before I understood the directions. She doesn't explain how to hold the work in order to maintain tension only mentions that it is important. The pictures of techniques are misleading but if you ignore them and read the instructions only it makes alot more sense. Good point though... the projects are not as hard as they look and come out wonderfully. All in all this book was well work the money.

This book renewed my love for beads. The beautiful photos and illistrations would inspire anyone to create a work of art. I liked the wide range of projects to choose from, amulet bags, jewelry, photo frames, bookmarks and many more! If you love beads, you will love this book.

This book is your standard seed bead how-to fare. First you learn the stitches, followed by projects using the stitches. The trouble with this book is that the projects are far beyond beginner level. If you are just starting out with seed beads, their size alone is daunting, so look for a book with easier projects.

I was not too impressed with this book. It was the third book on beading I had purchased, and I found it did not enhance my collection of beading books. It does have some interesting projects, but it offers limited information on techniques. I'd recommend it only for the specific projects, if you like them. For general instructions there are better book sout there.

When I had lost all confidence in my beading ability because of botched projects and other such failures, I picked up this book. It pulled me up from the depths of beading disparity with its wonderfully easy yet beautiful projects and displays. I can finally show off to my friends. Thank you for writing such an excellent book. It has touched me in ways that no other book has.

This book is destined to be a classic!!! Just pick it up and you can feel the creative energy dripping from its beautifully illustrated pages. I can't wait for a sequel!

Each page has brilliant designs and lovely pictures that are easy to follow.