Customer Reviews

Irresistible Bead

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I've never beaded before and this is the first book that I bought. The instructions and diagrams were precise and easy to follow - I finished two projects within the first week.

The designs are beautiful, and are very easily adapted to your own tastes . In addition, the author includes a "designer's notebook" at the end of every chapter, with her own variation ideas.

I'd definitely recommend this to a first time beader - and I'm sure that the beautiful designs would provide great inspiration for a more experienced jeweler.

This book starts with a chapter on color, design, and the texture. It ends with a basic list of tools and supplies for making the projects in the book.

There are chapters on wireworking, bead stringing, bead embroidery, woven beadwork, and polymer clay. There are a few projects in each chapter but I really love the Designer's Notes at the end of the chapter. These pages include sketches of other ideas that can be created with the technique just learned.

The gallery is yummy with enough to whet your appetite for more or better yet, making your own masterpiece(s).

But the Appendix is what I really love about this book. There are guides to bead sizes, a standard list of jewelry lengths, and pictures of basic jewelry findings. Plus a glossary of precious and semiprecious stones; a beader's glossary of terms; birthstones - both traditional and astrological; blank graphs for loom/square, peyote, and brick stitches.

I purchased this book after I had been doing bead weaving for two years. I have found it to be helpful in providing ideas and directions for making bead jewelry. The back section is very helpful because it covers standard lengths and sizes for jewlery and beads, and it has some graphs for designing. I have not made any of the projects in the book--several struck me as rather unattractive--but I have used many of the techniques illustrated in creating my own designs.

I must agree with Linda -- beads are definitely irresistible. And, like potato chips, you can't have just one. Unlike most bead books, this one does not start with tools needed or techniques. Linda starts with the elements of design, important to all art. You need to know about line, shape, texture, color, and creating a focal point before learning how to make a piece of art. Linda does not neglect techniques, leading you through wire work, bead stringing, beading on a ground, woven beadwork, and the use of polymer clay. To inspire, she includes a 12-page gallery and designer notes. What makes this book a handy reference is the appendix which includes bead sizes, standard jewelry lengths, findings, gemstones, birthstones, design charts, and a metric conversion chart. So helpful!

The projects in this book range from easy to advanced, but all are very lovely. I can't wait to jump into the Starburst necklace.

The images and instructions are very clear and easy to follow, and the author even gives ideas for variations to each of the projects in the book.

And, the resources in the back of the book (bead and seed bead sizes, necklace sizes and even some sample graph paper) are very valuble to have on hand. I absolutely loved this book.

...Unfortunately, it really didn't live up to my expectations. I was looking for something that would cover all of the basics, i.e knots etc. But after reading through, I realized that the author takes allot for granted. I would certainly not recommend this to anyone looking for something to start with.

This is a wonderful resource for both beginners and advanced beaders. Covering a myriad of beading projects, I had a chance to try different mediums without having to purchase a book on each one. The color photographs make it exceptionally easy to follow the directions. You'll be beading like a pro in no time!

She covers it all, from the basics (what materials you'll need, color coordination) to more complex design thoughts... She gives clear, concise directions on how to create several types of projects as well as pages presenting variations on themes. The Phoenix necklace is simply amazing, I hope to someday be good enough to make it!

A good book for beginners, but surely has good ideas for those more advanced!

I bought this book to add to my collection. It wasn't my first purchase but after borrowing it from someone I had to have one. Great photos and great information! This book has given me many ideas for various projects!

I thought this book would be a lot better based on the cover photo. What I found instead were amateur projects which left a lot to be desired. I did see one very interesting project and tried to track down the author. In fact all I found were a number of dead links and dead ends with no forwarding e-mail addresses.

The one lone 'live' e-mail address that didn't bounce back was a complete disappointment in that the author made a big fuss about reading all her e-mail and assuring readers she'd reply to sender's questions was all rubbish: I had asked Linda what her source was for an interesting watch, and waited for her reply.

Nothing. I had even complemented her on her book. It's just bad customer service on her part. If anyone liked this book - more power to them. I'm sorry I bought it.

The interesting thing is that people who have authored several/many books are will write back to further explain this or that technique!

For sheer friendliness and helpfulness a polymer clay artist will always find the time to write!

So~ lesson learned: I'll continue to purchase beading and claying books but I won't be supporting Linda as an author.