Marcia DeCoster's Beaded Opulence: Elegant Jewelry Projects with Right Angle Weave (Beadweaving Master Class Series) [Hardcover]

Marcia DeCoster (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 1, 2009 | Series: Beadweaving Master Class Series

This classic book in Lark Jewelry & Beading's Beadweaving Master Class series features two dozen spectacular jewelry designs from renowned master beading teacher Marcia DeCoster. DeCoster specializes in the popular right angle weave stitch, and she presents beaders with a comprehensive primer on her beautiful techniques. Readers will learn how to use the stitch to create fabulous effects—including a supple beaded fabric, beaded ropes, shaped curves, and embellished layers—in gorgeous modern jewelry designs. These pieces are fun to make and wonderful to wear, and yet nothing less than true artwork!

 

Marcia DeCoster is a featured artist in the book Masters: Beadweaving. Other books in Lark Jewelry & Beading's Beadweaving Master Class series have been authored by Diane Fitzgerald, Laura McCabe, Sherry Serafini, Maggie Meister, Rachel Nelson-Smith, Sonoko Nozue, and Sabine Lippert.

 

Editorial Reviews

Review

“Right-angle weave is one of the more versatile beadweaving stitches, and in Marcia DeCoster's Beaded Opulence, Marcia has created a volume that showcases just how intricate — and easy — beading with right-angle weave can be. Once you have mastered the thread path for right-angle weave, you can complete any (or all) of the twenty-four projects in (the book).

 

While some of the designs in the book take literally minutes to make, there are others that will surely take days or weeks to complete. The projects use both flat and tubular right-angle weave with so many beautiful variations in between that you will find yourself well on your way to being fluent in this beadweaving stitch after making just a few of them. But be warned: if you start making these projects with their generous use of metallic seed beads and sparkling crystal bicones and pearls, you are probably not going to be able to stop after making just one or two.

 

Get your copy of Marcia DeCoster's Beaded Opulence: Elegant Jewelry Projects with Right Angle Weave and see for yourself just how beautiful right-angle weave can be.” — Beading Daily, November 2011

 

“You'll find 128 pages of invaluable instruction in right-angle weave, mouthwatering photographs of Marcia's deliciously detailed and textured beadwork, and endless inspiration for any beader, from aspiring to advanced. This is an absolutely beautiful book!” — Bead Unique

 

“Marcia DeCoster is one of the smartest, most elegant designers in the bead world today. Not only does she create sumptuous jewelry designs, her projects are deceivingly straightforward and fun to make.” — Jean Campbell

 

“A great book with wonderful projects—these are the pieces that people will want to make to enrich both their right angle weave techniques and their jewelry boxes.” — Carol Wilcox Wells

 

“Marcia DeCoster launches contemporary seed beadweaving into sophisticated high fashion. . . . Follow her well-written instructions for these gorgeous projects, and your work will become the haute couture of beaded jewelry.” — Margie Deeb

 

“Marcia DeCoster’s Beaded Opulence delivers all that the title promises and more—beautiful, interesting jewelry projects, clear instructions, and true inspiration for beaders.” — Diane Fitzgerald

 

“Twenty-four beautiful bead projects from Marcia DeCoster, one of the very best beading artists and teachers out there, make this book a standout essential. It’s the second title in the Beadweaving Master Class series — the first was the wonderful Diane Fitzgerald’s Shaped Beadwork: Dimensional Jewelry with Peyote Stitch — and Marcia maintains the series’ true excellence for serious beaders. The instructions and illustrations are clear, and the stunning photography reveals the lovely elegance of these spectacular jewelry pieces. This book and its designs will astonish and please you.” — Best Selling Books

About the Author

MARCIA DECOSTER teaches national and international workshops specializing in designs using right angle weave. She is a featured artist in Masters: Beadweaving (Lark Jewelry & Beading), and her work has been published in Carol Wilcox Wells’s The Art and Elegance of Beadweaving (Lark Jewelry & Beading) and Margie Deebs’s The Beader’s Color Palette (Watson-Guptill). She has taught for many years at the annual Bead&Button Show in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 128 pages
• Publisher: Lark Crafts (September 1, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1600592929
• ISBN-13: 978-1600592928
• Product Dimensions: 10.2 x 8.7 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (60 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #65,672 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Marcia's love for beautiful jewelry and the desire to create her own designs brought Marcia to beads in the early 1990's. Marcia designs colorful and fun to wear jewelry and shares her designs through teaching and writing. Remembering her own early attempts, Marcia recognizes that everyone learns differently and so takes great care to provide clear, concise and comprehensive instructions, graphics and text.

Her work has been published Carol Wilcox Wells's The Art and Elegance of Bead Weaving and Margie Deeb's The Beaders Color Pallette.

In 2008 her work was featured in Masters Beadweaving and her urchin lariat graces the cover.

In 2009 her own book 'Marcia DeCoster's Beaded Opulence' will be published by Lark.

Marcia is one of the featured 'Designers of the Year' in Beadwork magazine.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

73 of 73 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Beautiful designs!, August 13, 2009

By 

Leanne (San Diego, CA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 100 REVIEWER)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Marcia DeCoster's Beaded Opulence: Elegant Jewelry Projects with Right Angle Weave (Beadweaving Master Class Series) (Hardcover)

I pre-ordered this book back in March of this year, and have eagerly been awaiting its publication. I've been fortunate enough to have taken a class with Marcia before and have also completed a few of her kits. Her designs are always beautiful and elegant -- and the projects in this book are no exception.

The book is divided into six chapters: Chapter 1 covers beading basics; Chapter 2 provides a good overview of right-angle weave (RAW) that will benefit both experienced beaders, as well as novices; Chapter 3 covers projects that involve flat beading that resembles fabric; Chapter 4 covers rope-based projects; Chapter 5 covers beaded armatures; Chapter 6 covers embellishments; Chapter 7 covers curved projects; and Chapter 8 covers layered projects. The Appendix also contains a lovely Gallery of RAW projects by other bead artists such as Nan C. Meinhardt, Huib Peterson, etc. that makes for great eye candy.

In total, there are 24 projects to choose from; some of them (like Terracita and Etruscan Treasure) are older designs of Marcia's, but there are also plenty of new designs to choose from. There is also a good range of projects for both beginning beaders (such as earrings and bracelets/anklets) and more advanced ones.

Another nice feature is that the supply list for each project lists the precise colors of the beads being used, which should make it easy to replicate the exact look of each piece. A few of the supplies (like various widths of rubber tubing for the projects that involve armatures, etc.) looked like they might be a bit hard to find, but a quick Google search revealed that they should be easy to track down, and Amazon even carries some of them. This is a definite plus since it's always frustrating to discover that a beading project requires hard-to-find materials.

What I also noticed is that the directions in this book are very thorough and clear. I've had a few problems in the past following along with Marcia's directions, but the directions here are very clear and the diagrams are excellent. The instructions have definitely benefited from some good editing by the publishers of the book.

I don't have the first book in this new series by Lark, so I was also pleasantly surprised to see that the book is hardback since hardback books are so much easier to work from while you're beading.

I can't wait to get started on some of these projects!

27 of 27 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Amazing, elegant designs from a true beadwork master!, August 11, 2009

By 

Fine Craft Fan - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Marcia DeCoster's Beaded Opulence: Elegant Jewelry Projects with Right Angle Weave (Beadweaving Master Class Series) (Hardcover)

Twenty-four beautiful bead projects from Marcia DeCoster, one of the very best beading artists and teachers out there, make this book a standout essential. It's the second title in the Beadweaving Master Class series -- the first was the wonderful Diane Fitzgerald's Shaped Beadwork: Dimensional Jewelry with Peyote Stitch (Beadweaving Master Class) -- and Marcia maintains the series' true excellence for serious beaders. The instructions and illustrations are clear, and the stunning photography reveals the lovely elegance of these spectacular jewelry pieces. They simply shine.

All the projects are done in right angle weave, and Marcia covers all the needed techniques for this stitch in her Fundamentals section. The complexity of the pieces varies, but there are many serious, challenging designs in this book, as well as straightforward ones for a beginner to try her hand at. Marcia makes pieces using woven beads as ropes, fabrics, armatures, embellishments, and more. This book and its designs will astonish and please you.

Marcia also is one of 36 featured artists in the fabulous gallery book Masters: Beadweaving: Major Works by Leading Artists (Masters (Lark Books)), as is Beadweaving Master Class pioneer Diane Fitzgerald.

25 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This book is a must have for every bead weaver!, August 11, 2009

By 

Susan Kazarian (San Mateo, CA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Marcia DeCoster's Beaded Opulence: Elegant Jewelry Projects with Right Angle Weave (Beadweaving Master Class Series) (Hardcover)

We in the beading community have been waiting a long time for a truly inspiring book about Right Angle Weave. Well, the wait is over and may I say that it has truly been worth it. Beaded Opulence is the second in a series of books by Lark and this book is going to be hard to top. Its projects are absolutely awe-inspiring! How is it possible for one artist to comprehensively design from basic to advanced with the end product resulting in a stunning piece of jewelery? It simply boggles the mind!

For you beginning beaders, don't be afraid! Marcia has a whole section devoted to learning the basics of Right Angle Weave and for you advanced beaders, there are many challenging pieces that you will want to make for yourself.

Beaded Opulence is beautifully done with fabulous graphics and incredible photographs. It's eye candy for bead weavers! What a wonderful testimony from Marcia as one of the country's premier Right Angle Weave designers.

Buy your copy soon, if just for the beautiful photos. This book is a guaranteed sell-out.