Be Bold Jewelry REVIEWS

Instruction Quality: 4/4

Photo/Illustration Quality: 3/3

Project Quality: 1.5/3

Techniques Covered: Twisting, knotting, interloping, weaving, braiding, ply-split darning, working with beads, beginnings and ends, and using narrow wares

Recommended for: Everyone. Beginners will benefit the most, but even experienced users will find the visual dictionary of the different techniques helpful.

Comments: I love this little gem. I checked it out from the library initially, but after spending some time with it, decided it was a must-own. There are enough techniques here that I will want to use it again and again for years to come. The Materials section offers a quick and pretty overview of the types of materials you can use to create the braids and trims in the book. The Techniques section has about 80 pages covering 9 techniques and their variations. Big thumbs up for not skimping here – tons of photos and illustrations covering each step, easy-to-see colors, and helpful tips. You may have to learn a little bit of language, such as warp or bodkin, but the book explains what these are. The spiral bound nature of the book works great here too because the book always stays open and flat. I’ve even used the spiral as a place to tie up the end of a braid I was working on! (more…)

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It’s probably a little cliche to exclaim, “Suppliers and Artists and Links, oh my!” but I’m going to do it anyway:

“Suppliers and Artists and Links, oh my!”

I hope that wasn’t too painful for anyone.

Moving on to business, I’ve added two new pages to the site: Favorite Suppliers and Favorite Artists. I’ve added just a few resources to the suppliers page as place holders and will add more later. These are all online suppliers that I have personally used and have had positive experiences with.  For the artists, these are some I’ve bookmarked. My rationale: if I love looking at their work, maybe you will too. There are other fantastic artists out there as well, and I plan to add them when I have a chance. Some of my links are on a different computer (a good argument for using del.ici.ous) and, of course, there are just artists I haven’t discovered yet.

Along the right side of the site, on every page, you should see a list of jewelry forums and tutorial/pattern sites. Most of these tutorial sites are going to be free/for sale mixed sites. If you hover your cursor over a link, you will get a brief description. 

-M.G.

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Instruction Quality: 4/4

Photo/Illustration Quality: 3/3

Project Quality: 3/3

Techniques Covered: Wire Work

Recommended For: Everyone; simple tutorials for beginners and complex projects for more advanced wire workers.

Comments: I’ve only used two of the tutorials – the free marble Cage Pendant and the $9 Off Beat Pendant tutorial, but I imagine the othes are written with the same care. Photos document every step and clearly demonstrate the step. Each tutorial ends with photos and a brief descrioption of some variations you can make using the same technique. (more…)

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Instruction Quality: 3/4

Photo/Illustration Quality: 1.5/4

Project Quality: 3/3

Techniques Covered: Bead Embroidery

Recommended For: Beaders who already know how to create a beaded bezel but who are looking to tackle some larger projects.

Comments: This is a nice book with some very attractive projects by two amazing artists. If you know how to create a beaded bezel around a cabochon,  you are ready to tackle anything in this book. If you do not know how to do this, I’d recommend you check out Jamie Cloud Eakin’s book “Beading with Cabochons” before starting this one. (more…)

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Instruction Quality: 4/4

Photo/Illustration Quality: 2.5/3

Project Quality: 2.5/3

Techniques Covered: Plaiting, Coiling, Knotting, Looping, and Twinning

Recommended for: beginners in fiber or metal; people looking to intergrate these ideas into their current style.

Comments: I have really enjoyed this book. I like that she provides fully fleshed out instructions with ample illustrations for the various weaving techniques outside of the projects. Because the general instructions are so well written, people can chose to complete the projects or to venture out on their own to use the new technique any way they want. I couldn’t give the photo/illustration quality the full three points since the actual projects occasionally skimp on providing a photo for a step that could have really used it and the general instructions could have really benefited from some color. (more…)

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Hello Everyone!

As part of SLA’s 23 ThingsI’m starting a blog. Although they recommend blogging about the experience, there are over a thousand other participants, and I guess I just always have to be different. So I asked myself, “what can I write about that would be of real interest to others?”

I received a new jewelry book (thanks Mom!) just befor starting 23 Thingsand while waxing on to my enduring husband about how fantastically produced it was I realized that reviewing these books and other jewelry making resources was something I would enjoy doing and would be happy to maintain even after completing 23 Things.So that is what I hope to do: write reviews of books, magazines, websites, etc. I’ll try to hunt down the best resources I can and concentrate on those.

I plan to write a new review each week. Each review will rate the book on instruction quality, photo/illustration quality/quantity, and project quality. I’ll also provide an overview and any pictures of jewelry I’ve made using the reviewed item. If there is additional information you would like included in the reviews let me know. Also, feel free to ask me specific questions about the books and I’ll do my best to answer them.

-M.G.

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