Gail Nettles

Archive for the ‘Beading Books’ Category

For the first time in awhile I went on a flea market search for beads, beaded jewelry and vintage signed costume jewelry.  What fun I had, looking through the piles!  But my eyes hurt from squinting to see the signatures on the jewelry (even with a loupe it was difficult at times).

My mission today was simple; I was on a hunt to find vintage costume jewelry with one of the three "R's" -- re-sellable, re-usable or restorable.  And yes, I found nice examples of all three.

I took my husband David with me, and he was a big help, in pawing through the jewelry looking for signatures.  In fact, he found two pieces that I immediately snatched up!  And he suggested that we go to a much bigger flea market tomorrow to see what we can find.  So we'll go early and probably stay all day (it's a very, very large flea market).

Were They All Treasures?

Well, I did make a few mistakes, about $2 worth.  Don't ask me why I picked up 3 Christmas pins that I didn't mean to buy...but I bought anyway, by accident.  They are pretty, for sure, but I realized that one tree had a branch broken off.  Another was a necklace that I thought had a particular designer's signature, but I didn't check with my loupe.  Oops, once I got home, the signature wasn't what I thought.  But at 50 cents each, my mistakes didn't cost too much.

Like Vintage "Redux"?

Jennie sent me an email this morning about a book by Kalmbach publishing (you know, the Bead & Button people) about taking vintage pieces and remaking them into new pieces.  Naturally, I checked on Amazon and they have it (for a much better price).  If you think this is a cool idea, check out Vintage Redux: Remake Classic and Collectible Jewelry for some ideas and inspiration.  So, if this sounds interesting to you, why not pick up a copy (I have one in my Amazon shopping cart right now).

Well, I'm going to go for now and go play with today's finds.  So I'll leave you with some (if you don't have any good flea markets nearby).

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Beading books have been a staple for me, ever since I became interested in bead jewelry.  I've mentioned before that I don't have much in the way of bead stores near to me.  And unfortunately, a lot of their classes are held during the day when I'm at work.  While they do have weekend classes, most times they aren't the classes I need.

So, beading books have been more the rule than the exception for me. I've both learned a lot and have been inspired by various books. From lampworking, to seed beading to other types of jewelry-making involving beads, I've got the books! So, I thought I'd share my reviews of some of them.

The first is The Beader's Guide to Color by Margie Deeb. Ultimately, this book is about how to choose colors for your beading projects. But to me, this book is about eye candy and inspiration! There are 135 pages with tons of color pictures. Sure, it goes through the standard analagous/complimentary color pallets, but it also describes combinations I had never thought of before.

One photo and "color set" that I really liked was page 63, with a piece called "Rhapsody in Flowers - Cascade". The colors, and the necklace itself, are lovely.  Although the book is far more about seed beads than anything else, there is some lampwork.  I think the necklace on page 32, done up in earth tones, is something I would wear in a heartbeat -- absolutley gorgeous!

There's a short bit at the end about how to do some of the seed beading (peyote, brick and loom work), but it's more of a refresher than really how to do the stitches. I do like this book, and recommend it to anyone who is looking to break out of their standard color combinations. Or anyone who just loves photos of beadwork!

Let's see, the next book is one I put in the "coffee table books" category. It's called Beadwork: A World Guide by Caroline Crabtree and Pam Stallebrass. It's a big book, hardcover, with tons of (mostly color) photos. It details beads, beadwork and beading traditions from around the world. It's not exactly a book that you want to read straight through. Instead, it's one to be savored slowly, over the course of days or weeks. But it isn't just pictures; there's a lot of good information on the history of beads in different cultures -- actually fascinating reading.

And I just love looking at all the photos.  The chair on page 71 is totally awesome; I don't even want to begin to think of how long that took to make!  If you're a Star Wars fan, you will immediately recognize the "look" of the Mongolian woman in the drawing on page 113.  And since I am a fan of colorful designs, page 122 appealed to me.

So, I recommend this book if you are a dyed-in-the-wool bead lover. And have a coffee table strong enough to hold the book!

The last one for today is called Passing the Flame by Corina Tettinger. If you are interested in making lampwork beads, I can't recommend this book highly enough. I bought it at the original price of $75, and now I understand that it's under $60 these days. Even at $75, it was totally worth it!

Corina's style and my style of making beads are about as opposite as you can get, but you know -- it didn't matter. The information she gives can be applied to about any bead style. So if you want to learn lampworking, and can only buy one book -- this one is it.

Those are the beading books for today. I'll write more reviews here and there of other books I think are worth sharing. Meanwhile, have a great day!