Customer Reviews

Designing Jewelry with Semiprecious Beads

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Whatever your skill or interest level, you'll find lots to inspire you in Designing Jewelry with Semiprecious Beads. The premise of this book is that by adding a few gemstones to your jewelry designs, you can create a stunning piece that is affordable as well!

This book starts with info about the book, materials and tools and then a section on buying stones. I think the buying section is brilliant and very helpful. New jewelry makers sometimes don't know whats a real deal and whats a sham when buying stones they are unfamiliar with.

Chapter one: The Stones. This has a bead directory of semi precious stones by color. Each section describes characteristics like typical color and shapes of the stones, relative price point as well as some interesting facts on each. This is a wonderful resource for beaders who aren't familiar with gemology. It also makes it easy to compare each stones facts, colors, cost, suitable stringing companions, etc... to each other. Its a great way for a new jewelry maker to learn about gemstones.

Chapter two: The Directory. There are over 75 earring, brooches, and bracelets projects from international designers for you to choose from. This sections starts with a photo gallery called the "Project Selector" that is broken down into catageories - Necklaces, Earrings, etc... I REALLY like this. I like being able to look over everything at once and then decide which I want to make first. After the photo gallery are the projects that are broken down by type. Each project has great photography, well written step-by-step instructions, shopping list, and easy-to-follow stringing diagrams.

Chapter three: Core Techniques. In this section are all the techniques you need to know to make the jewelry. There are step-by-step instructions such as stringing beads, wire wrappung, using headpins and crimping multiple strands. All with photos to help you master them. Following this section is a resource guide.

The abundance of projects, as well as the gemstone directory makes it a great book for any jewelrymakers library.

Kim Gover's beautiful book, Designing Jewelry with semiprecious beads, urges you back to your roots if your first love was stones, as mine was. If that was not where you began your jewelry journey, congratulations! Here is the book to learn from about designing with semiprecious stones! You may think they are all expensive, but this is not the case. There is a good guide within the book which marks with dollar signs how expensive the range for each type of stone is, along with photos of the stone, a bit of lore about it, where it is sourced, and some of the forms it comes in, such as rounds, rondelles, etc.
There is no question that I thoroughly enjoy equally wandering into mixed media, lampwork (the author is a lampwork artist as well, and there is a lovely necklace with a lampwork bead on it in this book), polymer, plastic and other types of beads used for designing. However, once again, because of this book, I intensely understand to my core what it is to gather up that first strand of semiprecious stones, and hold it up to the light. It becomes a sort of glorious potential in my fingers, calling to me as a designer to work with it!

As you can see, I feel this is a great book. With over seventy five projects from a variety of designers, who lay out their techniques beautifully clearly, with explanations for why something goes with what, and wonderful photography, the author hits a complete home run with this collection of inspiring, glamorous, lyrical, colorful, fascinatingly put together pieces.
I wish that this had been the first jewelry book I purchased. The reason for this is that if you can design with color, understand your stones, learn your techniques, and get a lesson in what semiprecious stones have meant since each type was discovered, you have a book to return to time and time again.
You will learn to make wraps on beads, use head pins and eye pins, knot onto a clasp, knot cups on a multistrand piece, and more. As well you will learn how to choose which stones to put with which other stones. This is where people might consider beginning when they are eager to learn everything but don't want to lay out the cash for a number of books or DVDs or online tutorials. Specifically, if you want to learn about, or to work with colored semiprecious stones, even just seeing what the newest ones like Larimar look like, if you want to perfect your design layout, or your understanding of WHAT those materials are you are working with, what you will generally need to expect to spend, and what sort of cuts you might be able to find, along with (deep breath!) what kinds of tools you will need, and what sorts of styles you might like to try, you will see that here is a panoply of beautiful ideas available for you to peruse.




A super job by author Kim Gover and her contributors, Designing Jewelry with semiprecious beads is well worth your time!

This is hands down my favorite stringing book to come out in a long time. There are a lot of good ones that have come out in the last few years, but this one is the one I'd teach my daughter the basics of stringing from if I hadn't already taught her, and it is the one I'll let her use as a reference book.
It's primarily for beginners, and the bright colors and easy to read text make it fun and easy to follow, the first couple of chapters are the reason I love this so much for learning stringing. The introduction to the tools is pretty short, but don't worry, at the end of the book is a basic techniques section that covers techniques very well with photographs. The next section is about how to buy semiprecious beads, and it's a great resource for learning how and where to buy them. The 24 pages following that are descriptions and photos of semiprecious beads, 3 to a page, organized by color. It's a fantastic resource.
After that, the projects. They are well laid out with good color diagrams. They are simple, but elegant in design and execution and wouldn't be at all threatening to a beginner. Most of them could be completed in an evening or less.The balance and color of the projects make them very wearable, and there are some lovely quick earrings I'm looking forward to making myself.
If you're an advanced beader, this may make a good gift to someone you know who wants to learn the basics of stringing, or a good supplement on your own shelf just for that 24 page stone guide. If you're a beginner to stringing, it's a wonderful book to have.

This is a great book for beginners as it explains tools, stringing materials and the gemstone grading system and treatments. There are also lots and lots of inspirational pieces and a short jewelry making basics tutorial in back. I only wish there were more stones highlighted in the directory and that full instructions were included with each highlighted piece, but overall I am very pleased that I purchased this book.

I found this book to be one of the better ones out there. It is a coffee table size, has the most gorgeous photos, even of the pages where the author goes through the different type of stones available. I love good colour co-ordination and so this is just perfect to always remain 'hanging around' somewhere in the lounge room for when someone else wants to watch a program and you find yourself at a loss for something that interests you but don't want to get up and move far. Also it is always handy when you think of a particular stone you've had for some time but are [still] at a loss for what to do with it to really show it off to its best potential. If I get a flash of colour combination in my head, or see a newsreader wearing a necklace that catches my eye, it's a great book to turn to for inspiration with differing combinations of stones.

I love Interweave Press but this one is outstanding if, like me, you rarely use anything except semi-precious stones in your jewellery making. I give it 4stars as no book is perfect but I highly recommend this one for inspiration with these natural wonders that women since Cleopatra have been drawn to and simply had to adorn themselves in...we're still doing it today and they are just as mesmerising and must haveable.
Jo.

I am new to this craft and wanted to get some basics before I jumped in. This book has helped me more than I expected. Learning about the stones first thing explained to me why I was drawn to some and others left me cold. It also gave very helpful direction on what is needed to begin. This can be an expensive hobby but doesn't have to be which I caught onto here. I simply LOVE this book. I am so happy I found it.

I really value this book. Not only are the stone facts and descriptions well written and interesting, but the projects are fun and gorgeous. I like that there are pictures and drawings of the pieces, so you can see the details in the drawings, as well as photos of the finished product. I've gotten a lot of inspiration just paging through the book. I think beginners and old hands alike will enjoy Gover's take on beading!

This book is wonderful! If you are looking for a good beading book, look no further. Everything is laid out so that it is easy to understand and so easy to find what you are looking for. It gives great information on the gemstones and suggestions on how to use them. The pictures and instructions for each project are extremely easy to follow so that you can make the exact same project or use your own creativity to make a similar item. It gets you over that beginners hesitation and gets you started actually beading instead of just buying the beads. I would definitely buy this book again!

This book has many new ideas for using semi-precious stones and beads in jewelry. Instructions or deconstructions are also included. I love this book.

A great book--I really like that she has ideas for mixing the stones with other stones and designs to make or take off from. I think it's a great book.