Customer Reviews

Elegant Wire Jewelry: Contemporary Designs & Creative Techniques (Lark Jewelry Books)

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3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
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I usually am quite pleased with Lark jewelry books, but this one was a disappointment. While the instructions are clear and the photographs are helpful, the projects were so very easy and there was so much repetition between the projects this book is appropriate only for people who are just beginning wire craft. Of the twenty-one projects offered in this book, there are only six discrete jewelry types. The remaining projects are near copies of each other, rendered in slightly different shapes. Even for those who are just beginning with wire, there are much better introductions to the craft, such as Mark Lareau's All Wired Up: Wire Techniques for the Beadworker and Jewelry Maker (Beadwork How-To series).

This is a wonderful book for anyone who wants to explore jewelry design and creation! Frey's writing style is accessible and inviting and the photography is amazing. Frey tells readers who are just beginning, how to get started, complete with advice about what tools and materials to buy. She then offers a variety of projects, which will interest jewelry makers at various levels. This is an informative and inspirational book!

This book had a number of projects that appealed to me; I still haven't had the chance to try them out, but the instructions seem straightforward. At least one reviewer noted that there is a lot of repetition in the projects in this books, and I would have to agree, but so far I've found that that is the case with most jewelry-making books. As far as purchasing the books, I can't say if it's worth your while - I borrowed it from my local library - but there are several themes/motifs/techniques that this book shows and explains very well. There is some introductory information about supplies, tools, and basic techniques in the first part of the book- after rifling through over a dozen jewelry-making books I find this section to be unnecessary, since just about every book on the topic has a similar if not identical section, but there are a few bit of information that are especially relevant to the approach to wire-working that this book has, such as hammering and oxidizing.
One thing that baffled me about this book, was the constant mention of emery cloth or emery file; I've never heard of this tool before, though it's easy enough to figure out what they mean.
My favorite projects so far are Circque Ensemble, Hip 2 B Square Pin, Beautiful Bubbles Pin, and Captured Memories Pendant.

This is an excellent tutorial book for creating wire jewelry. Kathy creates wonderful designs as I have seen them myself at a local artists' show we have twice a year in Houston

For me it was just good because I did not learn more than I new already.