The Impatient Beader Gets Inspired!: A Crafty Chick's Guide to Instant Inspiration [Paperback]

Margot Potter (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 10, 2006

INSPIRATION IS ALL AROUND YOU, and this is the book to help you make the most of it! Every chapter is a celebration of all things arts and craftastic. Every project is fun to make and every technique is easy to master. So, get out a smock and beret and forget the naysayers - you are about to reintroduce yourself to your inner art girl! Hip, Hip Hooray!

Throughout the pages of The Impatient Beader Gets Inspired, you'll learn easy ways to full design inspiration from your day-to-day world to make fabulous jewelry and accessories. You'll discover a delightful diversity of fun techniques like jewelry making, decoupage, soldering, embroidery, Hot Fix crystal application, polymer clay and more.

Inside you'll find:

• an accessible and friendly guide to design principles, from how to keep an art journal to the basics of color theory
• a huge selection of gorgeous, one-of-a-kind jewelry and accessory projects including necklaces, bracelets, rings, pins, embellished tops, handbags and more
• the design inspiration for each project, including a picture of the object that inspired the piece
• an easy-to-follow skill level guide that tells you whether a project calls for the skills of a "Crafty Virgin," a "Crafty Vixen" or a "Crafty Goddess"
• "Patience Booster" and "Take It from Me" tips to help make your beading go smoothly

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Adult/High School—The strength of this title is evident from the subtitle: instant inspiration. Since the author uses several unique beads that might be hard to duplicate, it is the inspiration that will have lasting value. To set the stage, a pictorial list of common tools and other materials are listed, as are hints for gathering ideas. Some jewelry-making how-tos for novices are included before jumping into the actual designs. Illustrated instructions are given for each step, as well as tips for adjusting the overall design. Each one is labeled according to difficulty, although none are particularly basic. The layout is colorful and highly attractive, although, somewhat impractically, many of the tools pictured are hard to see since they were laid out across the gutter. The book concludes with a detailed list of supply resources and source notes that tell where each of the pictured beads was purchased. Though not for beginners, teens with some crafting experience will indeed find this book inspiring.—Jamie Watson, Harford County Public Library, MD
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

About the Author

Margot Potter is the author of The Impatient Beader and sells Suspicion Marcasite as a proprietary guest on QVC and is a regular project contributor for Simply Beads.

Product Details

• Paperback: 128 pages
• Publisher: North Light Books (August 10, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1581808542
• ISBN-13: 978-1581808544
• Product Dimensions: 11.1 x 8.5 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #701,338 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

I have had an amazing journey thus far, with various professional and personal incarnations along the way. I have been an actress, a cowpunk, jazz, swing, country, blues and folk vocalist, a poet and performance artist, an author, a thrift store afficionado, a backyard chicken farmer, a Mom, a TV personality, a waitress/psychologist...the list goes on.

I currently reside in an old Amish school house with my family near Lancaster, PA. We searched high and low until will found this peaceful valley to call our home. Our Amish neighbors are wonderful and I think my antics of chasing stray chickens in high heels keep them in stitches.

My new career as a writer and craft expert started after my professional world collapsed five years ago. I decided then that it was time to reinvent myself and find a career that capitalized on my creativity, intellect, passion and unique vision. (Besides, I can't work in an office, as my snarky know it all attitude would be my undoing.) I queried and published a book and two sequels, wrote articles and created projects for magazines, became an on air jewelry expert at QVC, create projects for manufacturers, teach annually at the Tucson Gem Show for Swarovski and appear as the host of the Memory Makers Magazine videos filmed at the CHA shows twice yearly.

I realize now that it is entirely possible to do anything you can imagine if you are willing to be flexible about how it all transpires. Once you begin to move in the right direction, everything unfolds with amazing serendipity. After years of struggle, this has been a sweet success!

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

26 of 27 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Key word: INSPIRATION! ...with a dash of sass and wit!, August 13, 2006

By 

Jean Yates "jean, jewelry designer, book and... (United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Impatient Beader Gets Inspired!: A Crafty Chick's Guide to Instant Inspiration (Paperback)

Margot Potter's second craft and jewelry book, THE IMPATIENT BEADER GETS INSPIRED!, is an appealingly written, informative collection of ideas and techniques designed to encourage the inner artist in all of us to wake up, look about at the world and create! As a jewelry designer,I was enthralled by every page of this book. More than once I found myself interested in the more crafty projects, which are not within my specific arena. THAT IS HOW GOOD MARGOT POTTER IS! She makes you want to do things you don't normally do. She is so vibrant and encouraging! Additionally, her projects are inventive and original, yet not so very difficult that you couldn't try something you have always wished to take a shot at (like soldering, or polymer clay). She works with fabric, feathers, polymer clay, wall paper, vintage magazines, grommets, Mod Podge, traditional jewelry findings and you name it!!! You have to read it to believe it, and I guarantee you, you will love it!
I was happy to see that she continues to categorize her projects from easy to difficult ("crafty virgin", "crafty vixen", "crafty goddess"), and to give excellent "patience booster" tips. This is so helpful.

Additionally, however, she has added a new measure of fun by give the reader chapters such as "Wild Women" and "Brave New Girls". Her trademark little Margot cartoon has a cute and appropriate change of clothes for each of these chapters. I love this!

Margot Potter is a very fascinating teacher. Her projects are uniformly cool, well thought out, and always, when she addresses color, you learn something new. This is one of my favorite things about her projects. I spent a long time looking at her wallpaper earrings (terrific!), her net bracelet, ALL of her bags and pocketbooks (WOW!) and my special favorite, her advertastic earrings.

I was pleased to see that the basic tools and tutorials required for anyone to utilize this book properly are right up there in the front, pure and simple.
I was also happy to read some inspiring quotes from people as diverse as Mark Twain to Dorothy Parker.

When you enter Margot Potter's world via this book, you truly come away energized! I found THE IMPATIENT BEADER GETS INSPIRED! to be worth my time and money! I know I will read it over and over, and get something fresh and different out of it every time!

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Another fabulicious beading book by Margot Potter!, January 3, 2007

By 

Kathy Cano-Murillo "The Crafty Chica" (Phoenix, AZ USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Impatient Beader Gets Inspired!: A Crafty Chick's Guide to Instant Inspiration (Paperback)

Margot's bead designs are just as vibrant, shiny and sparkly as her heart. I'm amazed at all the colorful energy she pours into each new book, such as "IB Gets Inspired". Each project is original, edgy - yet classy and chic too. The chapters in this book are sorted by personality and they come with cute and kitschy visuals, directions and illustrations. As a craft columnist, I see a lot of craft books on the market and I find Margot's among the best because of her playful kitty kat style and sense of humor!! This book is a treasure, buy a copy and have fun with it!!

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fun & Informative, January 29, 2007

By 

reddheddgirl "reddheddgirl" (Oklahoma) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Impatient Beader Gets Inspired!: A Crafty Chick's Guide to Instant Inspiration (Paperback)

What a great follow-up to Margot Potter's first book. This one is also filled with inspiration and humor. If you are a new beader, start with the first one. If you are a seasoned beader, you'll enjoy this book very much!