Book Review: Big Book of Beautiful Beads
by Terri Wells
The Big Book of Beautiful Beads: Over 100 Beading Projects You Can Make describes itself as “the only beading book you’ll ever need.” While I would hesitate to go that far, this huge hardcover tome (500+ pages) will keep any beader happy and busy for a very long time. In fact, with more than 100 projects featuring a wide variety of techniques and styles of beading, even experienced beaders will find something new to explore. Best of all, since you can easily find the book online for under $5, you’re guaranteed to get plenty of bang for your buck.
The book collects four separate works on beading under one cover: Quick and Easy Beaded Jewelry, Beaded Adornment, The Complete Guide to Beading Techniques, and French-Beaded Flowers: New Millennium Collection. Each section was previously published separately and it would cost you far more to purchase the individual books. Each of these sections focuses on somewhat different styles of beading, for different purposes. All four sections include copious pictures and illustrations to help you understand the techniques they cover, and to show you the materials used. Clear, fairly jargon-free directions guide you through all the projects.
I’d like to compliment the writers and the editors for their choices. Each section proceeds from the simplest to the more complicated projects, teaching you one or two new techniques each time. Likewise, the sections themselves have been arranged in a similar order, so that each part is more advanced than the part before. Considering that each of these sections was an independent work before being brought together for the Big Book of Beautiful Beads, this is a nice accomplishment.
The first section, Quick and Easy Beaded Jewelry, covers exactly what its title implies. Authors Elizabeth Gourley and Ellen Talbott share their eagerness for beading in the brief introduction. They go on to describe the tools you’ll need (pliers, scissors, knotting tweezers, needles, bead boards, etc) and the supplies you’ll use (clasps, head pins, etc), with pictures of the items so you’ll know what to shop for. Standard jewelry techniques come next, including how to use a clasp, how to finish off a multi-stranded necklace, how to tie a stop bead, and how to make stitches such as the ladder stitch, chevron chain, daisy chain, vertical netting, two kinds of peyote stitch, and more. The authors are aiming to reach those who have never beaded before.
Next come the projects, which take up the bulk of this section. These are divided into four chapters: bead stranding projects, knotted projects, bead weaving projects, and wirework projects. Some of the more unusual projects in the basic section include a tooth necklace and earrings (you can substitute stone chips for the teeth!), a lovely necklace and earring set featuring beads that look like bunches of grapes, and a seven-strand twist necklace. Knotted projects include the obligatory pearl necklace, but also at least one project that makes good use of ribbon. The bead weaving section is where the ladder stitch, chevron chain, daisy chain, and more come into play; I was impressed with the formal look achieved by the topaz and lavender daisy chain necklace and bracelet. Finally, though there are only a few projects in the wirework section, they make an excellent impact; I particularly liked the carnelian daisy chain and necklace earrings, which featured three strands of chain to set off the carnelian “flowers.”
In Beaded Adornment, author Jeanette Shanigan immediately explains the way the book will proceed and that she has developed her own preferences (she won’t use plastic beads because they are “too tacky”), but encourages beaders to “find your own revelations through trial and error.” This section of the book is divided into seven chapters: getting started, back stitch techniques, netting techniques, brick stitch and edge beading techniques, peyote stitch techniques, split-loom techniques, and a gallery of beadwork by Alaskan artists. Unlike Quick and Easy Beaded Jewelry, the techniques are described at the beginning of each chapter. Also, beaders who work through this part of the book will be using somewhat different and esoteric materials, as evidenced by the instructions in the getting started chapter on how to work with porcupine quills.
The projects are stunning, making use of copious beads and cabochons. The butterfly cabochon set, for example, is guaranteed to catch the eye wherever it is worn. For those who prefer something a little more understated, the netted choker set at the start of the netting section carries an elegance that wouldn’t be out of place at either the office or on a date. You can also find amulet bags in this section, and a gorgeous bugle collar set. Many of the projects in the other sections use peyote stitch or a loom to create images, such as the snowflake set in the chapter on split-loom techniques. The beaded gallery at the end of this section encourages the ambitious beader to stretch her skills.
The Complete Guide to Beading Techniques, written by Jane Davis, clearly strives to live up to its title. While its 19 chapters cover some of the ground gone over in the two earlier sections, you’ll find much that is new here. In particular, you’ll find chapters that explain how to combine beads with other fiber techniques, such as knitting, crochet, tatting, tambourwork, needlepoint and cross stitch, and embroidery. Before each project, Davis helpfully provides a “learning sample” for beaders to work through to familiarize themselves with new techniques. In the first chapter she thoroughly covers the basics; she even explains how to break a bead if you belatedly discover that you’ve put one in the wrong place in your work.
You’ll find a lot more than just jewelry in the projects. A beaded loomwork floral tray comes up as one of the first projects. Rather than include a gallery at the end, Davis scatters pieces created by artists (but not included as projects) throughout her section of the book – a necklace with beaded beads made with peyote stitch in the chapter on peyote stitch, for example. There are pluses and minuses to this technique; several times I admired some lovely items and was disappointed to see that they were just there “for show” as opposed to being an actual project with instructions included. There is jewelry, but there are also Christmas ornaments, purses, pillows, scissors cases, and more. You can not only deck yourself out in beads, but your entire home and craft area, as well. I admit to being tempted by the cross stitch and beads business card holder; what a gorgeous way to make a statement!
For those who want to design their own projects, Davis helpfully includes pages of graph paper suitable for photocopying that have been specially designed for all of the graph-based techniques in the book (a project graphed on normal square graph paper won’t look right when worked in brick or peyote stitch, for instance). You’ll also find addresses for supply sources, a bibliography, and a glossary.
Finally, French-Beaded Flowers: New Millennium Collection, written by Dalene Kelly, provides patterns for 38 different flowers to make with beads. You can make entire beaded bouquets. Sure, you’ll find the classic rose here, but you’ll also find Queen Anne’s lace, cactus, orchids, lilies, hyacinth, and much more. You’ll also learn about tools not mentioned in the other sections, such as a bead spinner.
The four individual sections each stand on their own as a separate book and really complement each other in the combined work. I didn’t feel cheated because of the small amounts of overlapping information among the separate sections.
While the Big Book of Beautiful Beads may or may not be the only book a beader ever needs, it is certainly one book that belongs on every beader’s bookshelf. You’ll find projects and advice to cover nearly every possible occasion, whether you’re a beginning beader or ready to take on more advanced beadwork.
Links
Order Big Book of Beautiful Beads
from Amazon.com.
About the author
Terri Wells has been a crafter for most of her life and a writer for nearly as long.
© 2009 neatinformation.com. All Rights Reserved.
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