Customer Reviews

Quick & Easy Beaded Jewelry (Beadwork Books)

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

 

 

The title says it. The projects are fairly simple and the authors have some pretty clever ideas. Tools, thread, wire, findings needed are a standard beginning for a how-to book like this. Usually relegated to an appendix are jewelry standards, such as beads per inch, but here they precede bead stringing, knotting and weaving. How to make and use jump rings rates a special mention. Most jewelry-making books neglect the handy jump ring. Pressed for time to make a quick jewelry gift? Yes, check out this book.

I have bought many beading books and have been disappointed in many, but this book in no way disappoints. It offers the same information for beginners on findings and needed supplies that the other books do but has an easier to follow format. All (yes, all ..no duds in this book)of the projects are actually jewelry pieces that I would like to make and own or that can be easly altered to better suit the jewelry maker.

What fun! This guide, especially the technique section was very easy to follow. I just completed the Metal Flower Anklet. It turned out great. I have tried other beaded jewelry books but this one I like the best.

I also found the photographs quite lovely. In fact, you can find this book on my coffee table, alongside a cup of tea. I am not one to write reviews, however this book was so great, I just had to.

This is a great new book, both for beginners and those with more experience! A variety of projects are included which incorporate bead stringing, knotting, weaving, and wirework. Directions are clear and easy to follow, complemented by helpful drawings illustrating the placement of tools, beads, and knots. The large, colorful photographs entice the reader to try the projects, and the step-by-step directions make it possible to accomplish. This is a great addition to any jewelry library!

I've never written a review before, but after spending over an hour trying to decipher the sizes (and even the types in 2 cases) of beads in one of the particularly pretty designs, I have finally thrown up my hands. And I am an experienced jewelry maker! It's so odd how some of the beads are named properly and given the appropriate sizes while others are not. How is anyone supposed to work with that? I'm also not all that impressed with most of the designs in this book -- unfortunately there was just this one and one other that I already knew how to do...

Wonderful book for those new to beading. Easy to follow directions have great illustrated drawings. Each project lists a few items(you can jot down before you shop for the items) and don't forget pliers and cutters to put it all together and some sort of clip so the beads don't slide off the string.

This is an excellent book with clear explanations and interesting projects. I am relatively new to beading and picked up this book in the library to learn how to add clasps correctly. This book is great. It had terrific section on techniques. In the table of content below you see that there is a lengthy chapter on techniques. It helped me solve the issue I was having with clasps. In addition the book has a lot of interesting projects, in particularly I enjoyed the section on weaving necklaces techniques (I am attaching an example under Customer Photos). It gave me a lot of new ideas and showed me the tools that will help me get the job done better and quicker.

This book has 127 pages, lots of images, and clear explanations. It has a nice index at the end, which helps to find a specific topic. The projects are suitable for new and experience beader, some are quick and some a lengthy. Here is the content with my annotations. I hope you will find it helpful.

CHAPTER 1
Introduction - Excellent chapter for a beginner as me, I finally undersood what exactly falls into "Findings" category.
Tools
Threads and Wires
Findings
Beads

CHAPTER 2 - My favorite chapter, very clear explanations, shows many options for each area.
Jewelry Standards
Techniques
Attaching Clasps Using:
- Thread
- Crimp Beads and Tiger Tail
- Bead Tips
- Cones and Eye Pins
- Cord Tips
Using a Head Pin or an Eye Pin
Making a Jump Ring
How to Open and Close a Jump Ring
Tying Knots
Tying a Stop Bead
Making Stitches, Netting, and Angle Weave:
- Ladder Stitch
- Chevron Chain
- Daisy Chain
- Vertical Netting
- Square Stitch
- Right Angle Weave
- Making Even-Count Flat and Tubular Peyote

CHAPTER 3 Bead Stranding Projects - Very nice, project range from simple to complex.
Metal Flower Anklet and Earrings
Lemon Necklace and Bracelet
Black and Silver Necklace and Earrings
Tooth Necklace and Earrings
Pink Stretchy Bracelets and Earrings
Grapes Necklace and Earrings
Three-Strand Flower Necklace and Earrings
Seven-Strand Twist Necklace and Eyeglass Chain
Three-Strand Braided Necklace and Headband
Seven-Strand Braided Bracelet and Barrette

CHAPTER 4 Knotted Projects
Knotted Pumpkin Necklace and Bracelet
Blue Ribbon Crystal Heart Choker and Bracelet
Knotted Pearl Necklace and Anklet

CHAPTER 5 Bead Weaving Projects - Stunning results, detailed explanation on how to achieve them.
Green Ladder Stitch Bracelet and Ring
Purple and Black Ladder Stitch Necklace and Earrings
Blue and Green Chevron Necklace
Purple Chevron Choker and Earrings
Topaz and Lavender Daisy Chain Necklace and Bracelet
Black and Turquoise Triangle Daisy Chain Necklace and Earrings
Blue, White, and Purple Netted Choker and Earrings
Vertical Net Necklace and Headband
Peyote Stitch Bracelet and Barrette
Tubular Peyote Sunset Bracelet and Earrings
Square Stitch Scarab Choker and Belt
Square Stitch Flower Broach and Earrings
Crystal Right Angle Weave Pink and Purple Bracelet and Earrings
Blue and Roses Right Angle Weave Dog Collar and Ring

CHAPTER 6 Wirework Projects - Very interesting, I became interested in trying wirework which I was not considering before reading this book
Memory Wire Choker and Ring
Wirework Rosebud Bracelet and Anklet
Rhinestone Necklace and Earrings
Carnelian Daisy and Chain Necklace and Earrings
Red Glass Beads and Wire Necklace and Earrings
Jump Ring Netted Necklace and Bracelet

Excellent book, clear instructions, projects in the book will inspire you!

Ali Julia review

The cover of this book shows a good sampling of the pretty projects you'll find inside. The book starts with a short section showing photos of tools, threads, and findings typically used in jewelry-making. It's followed by a very good section showing basic jewelry-making techniques, including one of the best diagrams I've ever seen for making wire-wrapped loops, a simple but basic requirement for general jewelry work. Other techniques include using different stitches to join seed beads for the projects in the book.

The projects give the beginning jewelry maker a good introduction to many different techniques and styles of jewelry, some very simple with basic stringing of beads to more time-consuming, though not too difficult, sewing and netting of seed bead necklaces. A cute, simple new style includes beads knotted onto ribbon, and there's an attractive wire-worked necklace.

Though I think the instructions are good for beginners, this is great for experienced beaders also, because there are ideas I haven't seen in other beading books for design, bead combinations, and even techniques. Something new for me was a necklace of wire-wrapped bead sections linked together with lots of jump rings to form a netted design. I am also inspired by her grapevine necklace, the lemon bead necklace, and a beautiful blue right-angle weave choker. The only necklace that makes me say, "hmm", is a necklace incorporating a child's baby teeth; I need to think about that one.

The projects in this book are very basic and unimaginative! My five-year-old child can make them!