Bead Jewelry 101 (101)

by Ann Mitchell and Karen Mitchell

[annieb123]

Originally published on my blog: Nonstop Reader.

Bead Jewelry 101: Master Basic Skills and Techniques is a reformatting and updated re-release of the original tutorial book from 2011. Due out 3rd Sept 2019 from Quarto on their Quarry imprint, it's a comprehensive 200 pages, and will be available in paperback and ebook formats. This is part of the 101:Workshop in a Book series.

There is a deep satisfaction in being able to make unique beaded items to coordinate with an outfit or specific room decor. This book has 30 well illustrated tutorials for projects including earrings, necklaces, brooches, and more. It also contains links to additional online content with short video tutorials on a broad range of beading related topics. The jewelry tutorials can be adapted for lamp pulls, curtain tie-backs, window sun-catchers, tassels, limited only by the reader's imagination.

The layout and graphics are attractive and easy to read. The introduction (16% of the page content) contains definitions, tools, supplies, and concepts used in the following chapters. Most of the tools and supplies are easily sourceable; most readers will already own some of them. The tutorial projects are arranged thematically, 3 per chapter. The chapters incorporate different techniques or units of construction. I especially liked the chapter on repurposing found objects and old jewelry into new components. The end of the book contains a good resources list (including links for non-North American readers!), as well as an artist bio and index.

This is a good introduction to stringing bead jewelry. Note, this book does not cover bead-weaving and none of the projects use weaving techniques such as right-angle-weave, Peyote, or similar.

Four stars. A valuable addition to the bead crafter's library.

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.