Basic Jewelry Making: All the Skills and Tools You Need to Get Started (How To Basics) [Paperback]

Ted Walker (Editor), Sandy Allison (Editor), Alan Wycheck (Photographer)

Book Description

Series: How To Basics | Publication Date: February 20, 2006

The basics of using beads and wire to create custom pieces

Each technique carefully described and illustrated

Create pieces for yourself and friends, or to sell

This fully illustrated guide shows how to make all kinds of funky and elegant bracelets, earrings, necklaces, and pendants using beads and wire. It begins with the basics--planning a design, attaching fittings, making secure crimps, selecting beads--so crafters can quickly get started creating one-of-a-kind pieces. Simple wire-bending techniques allow them to make beaded drop earrings as well as more elaborate necklace and bracelet designs. Advanced techniques use metallic, sterling silver, even 14-carat-gold wire to make gallery-quality jewelry in almost any style and size. Featuring design ideas by a variety of jewelers, this book includes pictures and descriptions of tools and materials, a guide to common types of beads, advice on proper lengths and fit, and inspiration for creating a wide range of styles.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Alan Wycheck is a concrete specialist and former partner in The SO Factory, a concrete design company. He is also an award-winning photographer and lives in central Pennsylvania.

Ted Walker is a juried member of the Pennsylvania Guild of Craftsmen and the owner of a handcrafted jewelry company based in central Pennsylvania.

Product Details

• Paperback: 116 pages
• Publisher: Stackpole Books (February 20, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0811732630
• ISBN-13: 978-0811732635
• Product Dimensions: 11 x 9 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (22 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #439,533 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

134 of 135 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Full of photos, spiral bound - great book., May 11, 2006

By 

AllCrafts Wendy "Arts and Crafts Fun" (NJ USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Basic Jewelry Making: All the Skills and Tools You Need to Get Started (How To Basics) (Paperback)

Why aren't more jewelry books like this one? "Basic Jewelry Making" has page after page of large, close-up photos of each step in a technique or project. It is spiral bound so it lays flat as I compare my wire wrapping with the one in the photo. Incredible. Each page has about 3-6 photos. The text is in the step by step captions underneath each photo.

There are three main sections to this book:

* Working with Beads
* Beads with Wire
* Bending Silver and Gold Wire

The introductory section explains the tools and materials you will need to get started. There are large photos of each tool and material. The first technique illustrated is essential in creating great-looking beaded jewelry - crimping. The photos give a clear view of how to do it and what the finished results should look like. The project that follows walks you through each step of creating a simple necklace with a clasp. The finished piece looks very professional. The next few projects in this section illustrate more techniques, including an elegant floating crimp. Using elastic cord, crimping on silk cord, and making polymer clay beads, are also helpful and are a nice bonus.

The next section of this book, Beading with Wire, is a comprehensive course in intermediate techniques. Here's where I learned lots of new ideas. This chapter focuses on working with headpins, loops, dangles and wire wrapping. A complex necklace separated by wire-wrapped loops is fantastic and each step is shown with photos. The final project lets you have fun with just wire by making a nice wire-wrapped pendant.

Once you've mastered these techniques, you're ready to play with the big boys. The last section, Bending Silver and Gold Wire, will show you how to make gallery quality pieces. The tools and materials section is full of pictures and explained thoroughly. All of this material was new to me, and quite interesting. From sterling silver and gold wire, you bend and hammer it into earrings, bracelets and more. The finishing techniques add that extra pizazz to your jewelry. From these lessons, you can go in many creative directions.

I was really struck by the quality of the instructions in this book. The photos are large and close-up and the captions are detailed and helpful. I've learned some of the secrets to the beautiful jewelry that I've seen at fine craft shows. "Oh, so that's how they do that," I thought more than once while reading and examining the photos. By far, one of the best jewelry making books on the market today.

24 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars MUST HAVE for beginners learning jewerly making!!!, June 21, 2007

By 

R. Zadorozny (Texas United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Basic Jewelry Making: All the Skills and Tools You Need to Get Started (How To Basics) (Paperback)

This book is not only spiral bound to make it easy to use, the COLORED, detailed pictures can make anyone master the jewerly making techniques. For instance, I really needed some help figuring out how to make the wrapped loops and learned I wss using the wrong kind of wire AND not holding the pliers correctly. What a difference it has made for me as I expand my new hobby!

I think this book is well written and worth every penny. I will refer to it again and again.

Now if only writers would now produce a book for more advanced techniques!!

19 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars More than a once-over lightly tutorial !!!!!, January 9, 2007

By 

Sandra Kyle "Sandra" (Western Australia) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Basic Jewelry Making: All the Skills and Tools You Need to Get Started (How To Basics) (Paperback)

The title of this well presented book tells all--I found the layout, flow, diagrams and index all extremely helpful as a 10-thumbed beginner to beading. Every topic is clearly and concisely covered so that a beginner of any age group can understand the hows, wheres and whyfores.