Handmade Jewelry: Simple Steps to Creating Wearable Art (Decorative Painting) [Paperback]

Carol Grape (Author)

Book Description

Series: Decorative Painting | Publication Date: September 1996

Want to create unique and wearable pieces of art? These 42 clever jewelry-making projects offer both fun and fantastic results.

Product Details

• Paperback: 125 pages
• Publisher: North Light Books (September 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0891346600
• ISBN-13: 978-0891346609
• Product Dimensions: 10.8 x 8.3 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #891,953 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Forward Thinking and Quirky!, October 15, 2008

By 

Cindy Gimbrone "Glass Beadmaker" (New York State) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Handmade Jewelry: Simple Steps to Creating Wearable Art (Decorative Painting) (Paperback)

My friends describe me as "quirky" and when they say that, they mean it in the best way possible - strikingly unconventional. So, around 1996, I decided I wanted to start making my own jewelry. I didn't like what I saw in the stores, so I wanted to make my own. I was living in Tucson, Arizona at the time, home of the world's largest gem, jewelry and bead shows and the area was and still is always full of ideas and raw materials.

Carol Grape's Handmade Jewelry: Simple Steps to Creating Wearable Art was the book I picked up. It's the first book I ever bought on jewelrymaking and although a bit dated now, it's quirky, DIY style was and is just right.

In Chapter one, step by step photos for basic construction such as making a headpin, glueing a pin back, opening and closing jump rings and more are perfect for the beginner. Chapter two uses Found Objects and Hardware in the designs - very trendy now in 2208 and ahead of its time in 1996; Chapter three uses Paper, Fiber and wood in its projects while Chapter Four uses Plastic and Rubber. The last chapter in the book incorporates Polymer Clay into the jewelry. In total, there are 43 projects in all different kind of media. Some of my favorites are: Fancy Resistor & Bead Necklace (pg 28) - a project you could make today by recycling old electronics; Layered Tissue Paper Earrings & Pin - can be updated by using recycled wrapping paper or making your own paper (pg 52); Fabric Collage Pins (pg 54) - can be made with the bits and pieces of fabric left over from a sewing or yarn project.

Handmade Jewelry was worth every penny I paid for it in 1996 and it's still forward thinking and quirky today.

3.0 out of 5 stars Somewhat dated, but covers a lot of ground, February 24, 2011

By 

Jody Nobles (Kansas City, MO) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Handmade Jewelry: Simple Steps to Creating Wearable Art (Decorative Painting) (Paperback)

When I began crafting jewelry in the late 1980s, there weren't nearly as many materials available as there are now. I had to improvise, using things like fabric, wooden and paper shapes, buttons, hardware items, leather scraps, little wooden dowels, sequins, and most anything I could find. Handmade Jewelry by Carol Grape reminds me a lot of my early days of jewelry design. There are a lot of ideas that will help a new designer, or even a seasoned one, and a lot of techniques to discover.

One thing I come away with is that if craft stores and online jewelry sites didn't abound, what would a jewelry designer use to craft jewelry? This book might be a good place to start. Even after 20+ years of jewelry design, I got a couple of ideas I never thought of before. While I wouldn't pay big money for this book, if you can get a really cheap price, you might want to add it to your library.