Be Bold Jewelry REVIEWS

Instruction Quality:  3.5/4

Photo/Illustration: 2/3

Project Quality: 1/3

Techniques Covered: Beadweaving for creating bezels for cabochons and clasps.

Recommended for: Intermediate beadweavers, lovers of Swarovski.

Comments: I wanted to love this book more than I did. At first glance it appears to be a superb book. There is a great deal of wonderful photos, a section on materials to be used, some instructions on the stitches…but pretty quickly it became apparent that the book is a bit shallow. The 65 designs promised really comprise of variations on four different concepts: basic beaded bezel, the star burst beaded bezel, the beaded beads, and beading to connect crystal squares. (more…)

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In case you haven’t noticed, I’ve added some new pages to the site. These are still works in progress and I’ll continue to add to them as I have time.

About the Reviewer – just a little bit about me.

Associations and Meetups – I’m compiling a list of jewelry making associations, guilds, societies, and meetups (sites that allow you to form local meetup groups). Although the list leans heavily to the US, there are quite a few from other countries as well. I’m creating different lists for type of groups – beading, glass, metal, etc.

Research Links – so far I just have some links for researching beads. I plan to add links for other jewelry related research soon.

If you have know of any links that should be included on these or any of the other pages please send them to me.  The more resources I can provide access to the better!

Until later,

-M.G.

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Instruction Quality: 4/4

Photo/Illustration Quality: 2.5/3

Project Quality: 3/3

Techniques Covered: Bead embroidery

Recommended for: First time bead embroiders, anyone wanting to know how to bead around a cabochon.

Comments: This is a book I discovered in the library while working on a class assignment. Boy am I glad for that assignment! This is a great book for learning how to bead with cabochons. The book is very specific in its scope – it deals only with beading around cabochons, so do not look for general bead embroidery instruction here. Its specificity allows for a very complete exploration of its subject. The basic cabochon beading instructions are thorough and in a nice touch include both drawings and photos. (more…)

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Well, the holidays are finally over. I haven’t had a chance to write any new reviews in the last two weeks, but I did manage to celebrate Christmas a total of 6 times! I’ve been gifted with a variety of new books (mostly beading, but one warm glass) which I plan to review in the upcoming weeks.

Check out the line up: Beaded Collarsby Julia Pretl, Creating Crystal Jewelry with Swarovskiby Laura McCabe, The Exotic Art of Glass Bracelet Forming by Ron Jr and Rocia Bearer  (came with graphite tongs and a bracelet form), and I finally have my very own copy of Jamie Cloud Eakin’s Beading with Cabochons.  Christmas was good to me this year!

I have also decided it is time I expiremented with some beading software. Years ago I had a program for designing patterns for the loom. It was faster than graphing the design by hand and it could automatically convert jpegs to patterns. My New Year’s resolution is to familiarize myself with the following pieces of software and try a project with each: Beadtool, Bead Creator, Bead Pattern Designer, BeadWizard, Stitch Painter, and Bead Cellar.  I started playing around with Beadtool 3 last week. I should have a review in the next month or two. One awesome feature I will mention here briefly are the Palette options which include multiple sizes of Miyuki Delicas, Toho Treasures, and Pony Beads. Although raises the question – who beadweaves with 9mm Pony Beads? 

Time to write up my review of Beading with Cabochons!

-M.G.

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