NOT a Good Beginner's Book, But Great Projects

books:


	• Bead & Wire Art Jewelry: Techniques & Designs for all Skill Levels J. Marsha Michler Krause Publications, 2006 - 128 pages average customer review:based on 26 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

Great Projects For EVERYONE!!

I found this book to contain a lovely selection of projects. There's something for everyone's style, as well as their skill level in creating it. The instructions are good, but not spectacular, and that's why it got 4 stars from me instead of 5. But basically, this book has broad appeal with it's great jewelry and terrific photos.

inspiring for your own projects

I purchased this book after looking through it at a crafts store and think it is just great. There are a lot of 'do-able' projects for the beginner to advanced level. The book contains basic fundamentals to get you started on the beginning to intermediate level, and clear photographs of all the projects. It does not spoon feed step by step instruction beyond that. Some reviewers have disagreed with this, they want the step by step. However, once you have mastered the basics of wire work much more instruction isn't really needed. Many pieces can be figured out by the photos alone. The value of this book lies in the inspiration it provides you, the wire artist, to look beyond someone elses work and become original with your own pieces.

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Nice little idea starter..

I like to look at this book to spark my creativity... While there aren't a lot of original ideas... it is a nice way to get my ideas flowing...

NOT a Good Beginner's Book, But Great Projects

This book seems to want to be a beginner's guide to bead and wire art. It doesn't come close to achieving that goal.

If you are a bead and wirework novice (like me) do not purchase this book. Wait until you have picked up a few skills, and have a few projects under your belt. Then reconsider this book.

The book starts out with tools needed to use this book. If you are a novice, this section makes a nice "to buy" list, but does not go into details like what each tool is used for or whether you really need it at all. For example, it would list "round nose pliers" with a picture of a round nose plier. Another example: it would list a "wire twisting machine" with a picture of a wire twisting machine. No discussion of relative merits of the tools, or brands, or any of that helpful stuff.

The book then has roughly 30 pages of "how to" instructions. How to create a loop, how to wrap a bead, how to make a chain, how to make a toggle clasp, etcetera etcetera.

The instructions are very very adequate. For example, a nine step instruction for something will only have four steps illustrated. And the illustrations will be of the first two and the last two steps, not the complicated stuff in between. And that's in the "how to" section, not the "project" section! Not helpful.

The pictures that are illustrated, are not well thought out. If the instructions indicate that a wire must be twisted so that it loops around itself (picture an "O" with a line across the top), the illustration will be a Microsoft Paint version of a circle, with a Microsoft Paint version of a line on top of it. It WILL NOT show the loop, or any indication that the wire is of one piece, wrapped around itself. It will look like two seperate wires. This sucks for a beginner. Not helpful.

FYI -- None of the projects require a knowledge of soldering. It's all bead stringing and bead wrapping.

The projects are all rated by difficulty -- "Easy", "Intermediate", "Advanced". This is good. Helpful.

The pictures of the project are nice (in a shopping sort of way, not in a learning to make it sort of a way). Cute but not helpful.

Each project has a list of tools needed to do the job. Most seem fairly simple -- pliers, beads, wire, wire cutter. Some projects require things like jigs and wire twisters and jewelry holders (if you want to braid the wire, there is a machine that holds onto the other end that the author recommends you buy). She also recommends you have an anvil, a hammer, and a hammering block. All good, but if you're going to tell people to buy a pile of stuff, knowing a little more about the pile of stuff would help, if not anything else to know how to shop for it. At least in a book ostensibly geared toward - not just beginners - but novices.

A "for example" that is NOT in the book and I feel should be: Why a hammer and hammering block? To work harden the jewelry. What does work harden mean? Well, wire is very pliable. Work hardening strengthens it and makes it less bendy. The process can also add texture to a piece. Caution: do not over hammer, or the wire will break.

Another "for example" that would help in a beginner's book: what type of wire to buy. (This is also not in the book, but I feel it should be). The book merely instructs that "18G wire" should be purchased. It does not indicate - well, what does "G" mean? Gauge. What is gauge? How wire is sold, based on numbers by American Society of Something or Other. The larger the number, the smaller and more bendy the wire. What type of wire -- copper? silver? brass? gold? Does it make a difference? How? Why?

All these questions remain unanswered in this book. For a true beginner's guide, purchase "Creating Wire and Beaded Jewelry: Over 35 beautiful projects using wire and beads" by Linda Jones, Paperback $13.59 and "Getting Started Making Wire Jewelry and More (Getting Started series)" by Linda Chandler, Hardcover, $11.53. Both are available on Amazon. I purchased both for that hard core beginner's guide to beading and wirework.

Nice things I have to say about this book:

The projects make you want to buy this book. They are lovely, and would be fun to make and wear. They are in the trendy style of the bracelet on the cover. They are creative, but not artsy. They look like jewelry you could wear to work as a professional. Some of the styles even an attorney could get away with in the office, though maybe not in the courtroom. None of that awful big multicolored wire flower garbage, or beads strung on a wire and twisted into a spangled mess with feathers.

Final verdict: If you are a novice or a beginner, definitely do not buy this book. Consider the books I suggested above. If you are an intermediate or advanced beader/wire worker, consider this book for its nice projects. At that level, holes in instructions and crappy pictures mean less, it's the project ideas themselves that have value.

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Great Projects!

I have been a beader for a long time, and I have always wanted to try wirework. However, many books looked too simplistic, or chunky, or had too much wire coils for my taste. I finally saw this book in a store, and bought it on the spot, along with the materials needed to get started. I love the variety of projects, and the differing skills levels in the book. I definitely reccomend this book.

reviews: page 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6

-50+ stunningly beautiful projects for beaders of varying experience

-Full color photos show details of each piece of jewelry

-Trendy craft: beading books rank among today's best sellers in national book chains

This clever and complete guide to beading will have novice and expert beaders hunting for more materials, and freeing up more time to create beautiful jewelry.

Inside this must-have beading resource readers learn:

-Wirework techniques such as bending, hammering, wrapping and coiling

-To make clasps, links, bails, drops and ear wires

-Step-by-step instructions and more than 250 illustrations and photos demonstrating projects for a variety of skill levels

Best of all, beaders create jewelry that's a conversation piece, artwork and unique!

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