AllCrafts.net Arts & Crafts Book Review Basic Jewelry Making
AllCrafts.net Arts & Crafts Book Review
Basic Jewelry Making: All the Skills And Tools You Need to Get Started.
(Spiral Bound)
Why aren’t more jewelry books like this one? "Basic Jewelry Making" has
page after page of large, close-up photos of each step in a technique or
project. It is spiral bound so it lays flat as I compare my wire
wrapping with the one in the photo. Incredible. Each page has about 3-6
photos. The text is in the step by step captions underneath each photo.
There are three main sections to this book:
- Working with Beads
- Beads with Wire
- Bending Silver and Gold Wire
The introductory section explains the tools and materials you will need
to get started. There are large photos of each tool and material. The
first technique illustrated is essential in creating great-looking
beaded jewelry – crimping. The photos give a clear view of how to do it
and what the finished results should look like. The project that follows
walks you through each step of creating a simple necklace with a clasp.
The finished piece looks very professional. The next few projects in
this section illustrate more techniques, including an elegant floating
crimp. Using elastic cord, crimping on silk cord, and making polymer
clay beads, are also helpful and are a nice bonus.
The next section of this book, Beading with Wire, is a comprehensive
course in intermediate techniques. Here’s where I learned lots of new
ideas. This chapter focuses on working with headpins, loops, dangles and
wire wrapping. A complex necklace separated by wire-wrapped loops is
fantastic and each step is shown with photos. The final project lets you
have fun with just wire by making a nice wire-wrapped pendant.
Once you’ve mastered these techniques, you’re ready to play with the big
boys. The last section, Bending Silver and Gold Wire, will show you how
to make gallery quality pieces. The tools and materials section is full
of pictures and explained thoroughly. All of this material was new to
me, and quite interesting. From sterling silver and gold wire, you bend
and hammer it into earrings, bracelets and more. The finishing
techniques add that extra pizazz to your jewelry. From these lessons,
you can go in many creative directions.
I was really struck by the quality of the instructions in this book. The
photos are large and close-up and the captions are detailed and helpful.
I’ve learned some of the secrets to the beautiful jewelry that I’ve seen
at fine craft shows. "Oh, so that’s how they do that," I thought more
than once while reading and examining the photos. By far, one of the
best jewelry making books on the market today.