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Bead Fantasies: Beautiful, Easy-to-Make Jewelry (Bead Fantasies Series)
 
 
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Bead Fantasies: Beautiful, Easy-to-Make Jewelry (Bead Fantasies Series) [Paperback]

Takako Samejima (Author)
4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (35 customer reviews) |

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Book Description

Publication Date: October 31, 2003 | Series: Bead Fantasies Series (Book 1)
71 fantastic jewelry projects requiring only the basics beading skills.|Jewelry artist Takako Samejima specializes in bead jewelry, and has been working with beads since she was a child. Her designs, which combine different types, shapes, and sizes of beads, have won acclaim for their beauty and originality. BEAD FANTASIES features over seventy of her most original and dazzling designs including necklaces, bracelets, rings, earrings, brooches, hair ornaments, cell phone straps and eyeglass chains.

Each design includes detailed instructions for creating the jewelry, supplemented by small color photographs and detailed color drawings. For the novice, BEAD FANTASIES also includes descriptions of the beads used to make the jewelry, beading supplies, and some lessons covering basic bead-stringing, weaving and finishing techniques.

Editorial Reviews

From the Publisher

Jewelry artist Takako Samejima specializes in bead jewelry, and has been working with beads since she was a child. Her designs, which combine different types, shapes, and sizes of beads, have won acclaim for their beauty and originality. Bead Fantasies features over seventy of her most original and dazzling designs, including necklaces, bracelets, rings, earrings, brooches, hair ornaments, cell phone straps, and eyeglass chains.

Each design includes detailed instructions for creating the jewelry, supplemented by small color photographs and detailed color drawings. For the novice, Bead Fantasies also includes descriptions of the beads used to make the jewelry, beading supplies, and some lessons covering basic bead-stringing, and weaving and finishing techniques.

About the Author

Ms. Samejima is the author of several Japanese beadcraft books and her jewelry is often featured in Japanese fashion magazines. This is her first book in English.

Product Details

  • Paperback: 84 pages
  • Publisher: Japan Publications Trading (October 31, 2003)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 4889961283
  • ISBN-13: 978-4889961287
  • Product Dimensions: 7.4 x 8.3 x 0.4 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 8.5 ounces
  • Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (35 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #232,245 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews
178 of 180 people found the following review helpful
Amazon Verified Purchase
Over the years, I've come to love Japanese books because of their instructions. Certainly, they are not for everybody. But for beaders with a little experience, the thread path instructions will be enough. The instructions are printed in color, and each bead shape is shown, which makes a lot of sense. It took a while for me to figure out that the tiny black star indicates the start and the teeny black crescent moon indicates the end, but that wasn't a lot to overcome.
There is a lot to like in this book:
1. The different projects--bracelets, rings (lots of rings!), pendants for necklaces, necklaces in several lengths, eyeglass leashes, barrettes, even cell phone leashes--If you don't own a cell phone with a leash attachment, you can easily use the patterns for necklaces.
2. The color photography and the color directions. Makes flipping through the book like a walk in the garden. Also makes the small-format-size book cost $18.00 in paperback.
3. The additional information in the back on techniques and materials, all with lots of photographs.
4. Once you learn the basic technique that Takako Samejima favors, you can zip through her ideas and start working on your own. I've found the circle-style weaving can be achieved with two needles, but using one as Samejima does makes the work easier.
And a few things that can make a reader cranky:
1. The book is perfect bound, so you will have to weight both sides down to follow a diagram.
2. The pages on tools have tiny pictures, so you can't really tell crimping pliers from round-nose from cutters.
3. The author seems to favor nylon filament, which, if it is fishing line, will disintegrate in five years or so. Use Nymo, Silamide, Fireline, or for the larger projects, SoftFlex.
4.The instructions tell you to use your jewelry pliers to work with memory wire. Don't. Memory wire is steel and will damage most jewelry tools. Use hardware store tools or those especially designed for memory wire,
The book is a treat and well worth the money for beginners with a little experience, intermediate beaders who want to expand their product line and advanced beaders who need a gallery to get their inspiration kick-started again.
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75 of 75 people found the following review helpful
Amazon Verified Purchase
Samejima Takako is the author of several beading books (in Japanese) and owner of the studio Crystalloid. Her first book in English is nothing short of fantastic! As with other Japanese jewelrymaking books, it's better to have some previous beadwork experience before attempting any of the projects. None of the projects is difficult and the book does contain a section on techniques, but it's more like a quick refresher and less like a tutorial. A wide range of projects are represented: rings, earrings, bracelets, necklaces, brooches, cell phone straps, hair accessories, eyeglass chains, tiny purses, and even a beaded card holder. The color diagrams are very clear and well-labeled. The written instructions are numbered and to-the-point. Supply lists are general (no brand names or color numbers, but you will see bead sizes, shapes, and colors) and metric (e.g., 1.5 mm seed bead instead of size 11 seed bead). Most of the projects use seed beads, bicone crystals, and Czech firepolish beads with clear nylon line or wire. Some projects use chains and other beads, such as pearls, bugles, or artglass. Color schemes are elegant and understated; the jewelry is reminiscent of the Victorian era.

I highly recommend this book for the quality of the projects, clarity of the instructions/diagrams, and variey of project types. You'll find some great eye candy! The projects are very attainable, providing you have a good supply of bicones (e.g., Swarovski) and Czech firepolish rounds/ovals in 3-mm, 4-mm, and 6-mm sizes.

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27 of 27 people found the following review helpful
Her designs are exquisite, her "directions" had me pulling my hair until I finally figured out that she uses two needles on the same thread. My daughter, who loves making beaded jewelry, took one look, said "You figure it out and show me!" Once I finally had her technique figured out, though, the results are just beautiful! (By the way, the occasional strategically placed knot helps considerably!) Her "necklance with seed bead motifs" made with Swarovski crystals is to die for and I made matching earrings with the same motifs. My advice? If you can follow diagrams rather than words, gather your patience and buy the book, you'll love it!
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Cool book and easy projects
I first reviewed this book at my local library before I purchased it. I thought it was well worth adding to my library. Very nice and easy projects.
Published 1 month ago by Cassandra Jordan
Not happy with this book
The patterns in this book are beautiful, but I found it very hard to follow diagrams as opposed to written instructions. Read more
Published 6 months ago by Jean Ernsky
good projects..
.. but for the novice it wont be.
This book rely on thread paths and images more than any other book I own, and although I'm an advance beader, I can see why this will trouble... Read more
Published 21 months ago by Gianna
Fabulous for inspiration
The projects in this book are beautiful, no doubt about it - which is why I bought the book in the first place. Read more
Published on February 6, 2009 by Stephanie Jones
great book
I like this book. The design are nice, but it would be better if there are more ideas of desinging beads.
Published on February 13, 2008 by T. CHING
Love bohemian, love this book!
The beadwork taught by this book is even more exquisite as a finished product than the inspiring photos. Read more
Published on October 12, 2007 by S. Borland
Great for beginners like me.
I've been tinkering with beads for a few months and have taken 2 beginner classes. This book really helped with ideas for projects on my own. Read more
Published on October 10, 2007 by JayBee
I don't mean to be the naysayer, but...............
this book has beautiful colors and interesting designs. However, as has been mentioned by only a few other reviewers, the directions are a bit sparse. Read more
Published on July 26, 2007 by Ms. Kathryn Houseman Lobert
This is good stuff!
I originally saw Bead Fantasies IV in the local library. After checking it out, I had to buy it. Then I saw the previous 3 books by the same author and immediately put them on my... Read more
Published on January 6, 2007 by Talula_Rouge
Beautiful japanese projects
I have bought the Bead Fantasies series (also II and III) is, for me, the very best beading project book.

Beautiful, not difficult. Read more
Published on November 10, 2006 by Herine_Almad
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Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
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Inside This Book (learn more)
First Sentence:
Three round flower motifs, strung beads and bright blue faceted-glass bead accents combine to create this lovely, romantic choker Read the first page
Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
bicone crystal beads, adjustable chain closure, bicone bead, designer beads, freshwater pearl beads, crimp bead, lengths nylon thread, spring clasp, seed beads, polished bead, jump ring, tie threads, bead tip, cut excess, bugle beads, cut tabs, ear wires
Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Instructions Weave, Instructions Make, Instructions String
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Get Started Beading by Editors of Bead&Button magazine
 

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