Customer Reviews

Laura McCabe's Embellished Beadweaving: Jewelry Lavished with Fringe, Fronds, Lacework & More (Beadweaving Master Class Series)

5 star:		(16)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I have been a Laura McCabe fan for a number of years and this book fantastic. She takes a handful of beads, a needle an thread an turns it into art! It's great to see how her creative process works, taking things from nature and transforming them into beautiful pieces of wearable art. The diagrams and the instructions are very helpful. I have all three books in this series so far and constantly find myself going back to them for reference in my beadwork. The basic stitches and techniques sections are great.

Thank you for another great book and keep them coming!

First, I am in the bead business so I am biased. Most of us do not get to walk down the red carpet. Crystals are way too over rated!!! In this book, Laura uses Japanese and Czech seed beads to accent natural materials and frosted(matte) glass, as in her "Nudibranch Bracelet"(page 83). Laura states, "embellish means to decorate, to enhance, to add beauty through ornamentation or fanciful details". The components are not the star, but the artist is. Laura's jewelry can be worn at your local coffee shop or at your most cherished event. Either way, they make you feel unique, not one of the crowd. Thanks Laura.

This book draws the reader in instantly. Just one glimpse of the fabulous necklace on the cover will lead to the delightful realization that a master of jewelry design is at work. Laura McCabe is famous for her beadweaving, and rightly so. The reader can clearly see the whole intention of a piece of jewelry which she has designed, through her beadweaving skills. At the same time it is obvious how her choice of embellishments specific to each piece add a sort of remarkable brilliance and depth to her designs. If you are new to beadweaving, have no qualms. The book begins with an introduction which explains the point of embellishment. The author knows that if you embellish your beadwork with further beads, you reach another level. Beads are empowering in more ways than one, and she notes many of the purposes of wearing or carrying beads. Then the question is asked, "How do we use these beads to their best advantage, to make ourselves beautiful and add fanciful details to our world?" She answers her own question by revealing the point of this book: to "provide the knowledge and inspiration to take your beadwork to the next level by embellishing beads with yet more beads..." I particularly like the freedom this book imparts in the introduction by Ms.McCabe.
As she says, "Although I give you step by step instructions, don't feel you have to reproduce the projects in this book exactly; instead, use them as basic building blocks for your own embellished forms. I genuinely hope you'll take what you learn here and apply it liberally to your own creative endeavors." This quote marks an exciting and challenging beginning to what is a super fun and educational journey into the world of embellished beadweaving. Chapter One is a succinct commentary on beads through history. The beautiful photographs of both antique and vintage beaded items such as purses and Victorian beaded wrist warmers counterpoint the author's own modern offerings. She seems to possess an ability to soar in her designs the way the master painters do in their paintings. It adds a third dimension to appreciation of art within jewelry design, to my mind.
Chapter Two contains a nicely laid out list of items required for the basic beader's kit. If you want to make this sort of jewelry, this is what you need to have at the ready. I found this very illuminating, as the author took the time to explain why she chooses certain products over others.
Chapter Three is devoted to the basic stitches and techniques. This is great! I assure you that all is well explained, and here you will garner the understanding of the stitches which you will need to build your embellishments upon. This chapter contains nice clear graphics which are easy to grasp, even for a beginner.
Chapter Four is a Comprehensive Guide to Embellishments. This is really fun! The author's intention is to take the reader, step by step,through organically inspired embellishment forms. She exudes a femininity and sensuality in her work which is hers alone. The reader will sense this, viewing how to make basic buds, berry clusters, and basic beaded leaves, among other embellishments.
Then get your socks knocked off by her phenomenally creative and unique creation, "Eyeball Creature". It is great to see a fantastic piece like this to encourage your own creativity.
I want something like this for myself! So, how to obtain this sort of creation? Keep on learning, using this book, Embellished Beadweaving, as your mentor and guide.
The designs which are shown in this chapter may make you say "Wow!" out loud. I am certain you will not be frightened off by the loveliness and ingenuity of Ms. McCabe's well photographed pieces. Quite the opposite. With the solid graphic drawings and explanations backing you up, you will be eager to continue learning.
Chapter Five is entitled Approaching Color and Design. Early on, in this lovely book, it is clear that one of Ms. McCabe's finest talents is her appreciation of the beauty of color and its balance within a design. She discusses where her inspiration comes from: items such as weeds and berries from nature, items from the past, and even old National Geographic Magazines. She explains why woven beadwork holds such an appeal to her in this chapter. For one thing, she states that she wishes to "channel the feel or emotions conveyed by the object [which she has been inspired by] to create a fantasy world version of the real-world piece.
I cannot think of a more wonderful way of approaching jewelry design!
Chapter 6 is called The Projects. Here is where you beadweave and embellish, utilizing your newly found knowledge. There are delightful earrings offered, a Rosebud Ring I particularly love, and a fabulous matching Rosebud Bracelet which almost made me faint with delight when I got to that page. There are necklaces such as the Cherry Blossom Pendant Necklace, an unexpected surprise in a colorway of teals and gold, employing peyote stitch, beaded beads, Czech glass spacer beads, and pearls with Ndeble; well worth the effort, I have to say, if you try it! There is a great Eyeflower Pendant Necklace for you to try. All the projects are wonderful.
I enjoy the fact that she beads her own toggles with great frequency. It is a wonderful added uniting touch to this sort of embellished beadweaving. When I got to the gallery, my breath was taken away. Nothing but the best from her friends. An awe inspiring collection to finish an awe inspiring yet easy to use book, by a truly great teacher who honestly and openly displays to her readers her true love of beads on every page. If you love beads too, owning this book, Embellished Beadweaving by Laura McCabe, will be well worth the investment.

Laura McCabe is one of my favorite beading instructors, and I've been eagerly awaiting the publication of her new book, which I pre-ordered a few months ago. Her new book was definitely worth the wait! It has eighteen lovely projects in it, and each one teaches you new skills.

This book differs from her first book in that that first one focused on using Swarovski crystals in all of the projects. This second book of McCabe's doesn't have that "bling bling" factor her first book had, but each piece is truly lovely. The pieces are slightly more subdued since they don't use Swarovski crystals quite as much, and instead focus more on using pearls (especially keshis), magatamas, and seed beads.

The book is broken down into several main sections:

* 1: Beads through History
* 2: Basic Beading Kit (goes over supplies that every beader needs)
* 3: Basic Stitches and Techniques
* 4: A Comprehensive Guide to Embellishments
* 5: Approaching Color and Design
* 6: The Projects
* Gallery of projects (by several other beaders, not just Mc Cabe)

The first five sections total 53 pages, and they do a really nice job of covering background, design principles, and techniques. I was pleasantly surprised to see so much space devoted to these important fundamentals. There is a bit of overlap with her first book in some of the stitches covered (such as Ndebele and basic spiral rope), but the embellishments section is completely new and unique, and it covers many unique embellishments, which is an area that McCabe really excels in.

As another reviewer pointed out, the embellishments section is just wonderful. Almost all of the designs are very natural/organic in nature, with designs like sea forms, berry clusters, and various petals.

The patterns/instructions themselves are also very clear and are broken down quite a bit. There aren't as many illustrations as there are in Rachel Nelson-Smith's new book, but the instructions are so clear that the lack of extensive figures/illustrations shouldn't be a problem. Also, there are plenty of illustrations and photos in the embellishments section, so it should be easy to flip back to that part of the book while working on a piece.

As for the actual projects, I was pleased to see that there were instructions for some of the newer pieces that I'd seen on McCabe's website, such as Keshi Pearl Necklace (the cover piece), Dahlia Necklace, A Well-Kept Secret, and April Showers Necklace.

I also love how this new series by Lark is all in hardback format. It makes beading from a book so much easier if the book lies nice and straight while you're working.

As for the target audience of the book, I would say that it is designed more for intermediate and advanced beaders. There are a few earring and ring projects that an advanced beginner might attempt, but you'd probably want to be pretty comfortable reading patterns.

As of writing this review (5/1/10), Amazon doesn't have the "Look Inside" feature available for this book, but, as with all beading books, I usually recommend trying to look at some of the projects before purchasing to make sure that the style of the projects appeal to you. Hopefully Amazon will enable the "Look Inside" feature soon! If you like the necklace on the cover of the book, you'll most likely find that the projects inside are pretty similar in design aesthetic.

Happy beading!

Laura McCabe's new book is the third book in Lark Books wonderful Beadweaving Master Class Series, so it has high standards to live up to. I think it does a pretty good job of that. The books in this series focus on one or more techniques and explore many ways to vary or embellish those techniques and this one follows that format.

This book begins with some background information including: beads through history, basic beading kit, basic stitches and techniques. Then the meat of the book begins on page 27 with Chapter Four: A Comprehensive Guide to Embellishments. Here Laura describes more than twenty different embellishment techniques that are used in the projects found later in the book, such as simple bud, simple flower (uses a flower bead), simple leaf (uses a leaf bead), simple drop, simple dagger, flower cluster, berry cluster, basic beaded leaf (leaf made of seed beads), frond form, star flower, pointed peyote petal, rounded peyote petal, lacy stitch rosebud (lacy stitch=netting stitch), cherry blossom, pokeweed, basic peyote leaf, peyote grape leaf, tentacles, coral/branch fringe, bubble fringe, dagger fringe, peyote frond, rings and rods (for toggle clasps) pagoda (I just gotta do this one soon!), and bell flower.

There are photos of each technique, written instructions and clear diagrams in color. The diagrams are such a big help if you are not quite sure what the written instructions mean. Sprinkled throughout this chapter are photos of various pieces of Laura's beaded pieces. Just browsing through this chapter many ways of incorporating these techniques into my beadwork kept leaping to mind. It's inspirational and makes me want to head for the beads. Laura specifically invites you to take these ideas as springboards for your own: "use them as basic building blocks for your own embellished forms. I genuinely hope you'll take what you learn here and apply it liberally to your own creative endeavors" That's a real teacher talking and that is exactly how I envision myself using this beautiful book.

Chapter Five discusses color and design. Chapter Six contains 18 projects aimed mostly toward beaders of intermediate skill level. The projects may be described as lovely, detailed, beautiful, lush, strange, or thought-provoking, depending on your point of view. They are not projects that appeal to me to simply copy. But they do provide ample inspiration to get me thinking about how I would use the featured techniques in pieces of my own design.

At the back of the book there is a gallery section featuring embellished beadwork of other artists.

First, I must qualify that I'm a true die-hard Laura McCabe fan. As a beginner to low-intermediate beader, I had the incredible good fortune to be able to take her Keshi Pearl Necklace class a year or two ago. I learned so much in that one class that I have been hooked for good on beading, and when I completed that necklace I definitely improved my skills to a higher level. Don't be afraid to try something new and more challenging - that's how we get better.

I think Laura has wonderful talent, skills, and knowledge. She's also very good at writing explanations and training. She inspires me to attempt new things and to 'think out of the box'. If you make one of her designs, you will definitely get notice when others see it!

Even if you don't want to make/wear personally some of the pieces in this book, the skills you learn studying these techniques can be applied to other beading projects you attempt. Besides the techniques and projects, I especially like seeing how she looks at things around her to get ideas and colors. And even though I've already been dabbling at beading for several years and have completed many of her projects, I still learned some new techniques in this book. The instructions for the various components can be generalized to fit your own projects and ideas. And, of course, the gallery of works from other master artists was wonderful!

Like some of the other reviewers, I'd say this is generally intermediate to advanced level. But don't let that scare you - it's a wonderful book.

I love Laura McCabe's work and this is the second book of hers that I own. Clear instructions, excellent illustrations, great photos. It is a gem!

Great book with exciting ideas/designs. Good for experienced and intermediate beaders and great inspiration for beginners. Really easy to read and understand directions and uses easy stitches.

This book gives lots of inspiration for those who want to think outside the box. Go with her instructions or take a bit of this one and and a bit of that one to go on your own path.
There are basics for creating the foundations to embellish, embellish, embellish!

I always enjoy reading Laura's articles and books.

She's good at "teaching" the basics and more and her designs are always inspiring, if not always the kind of beading I do. And, this book demonstrates her skills from "teaching the easy stuff" to designing the "edgy"... with eyeballs peeking out and spikes portruding.

Larry Linson