New Mixed-Media Jewelry Book
Posted by Leah on Mar 28, 2007
Making Designer Mixed-Media and Memory Jewelry: Fun and Experimental Techniques and Materials for the Home Studio
This isn’t exactly a review, since I haven’t read this book yet, but it looks like fun. My friend Cyndi (author of the Bead Arts blog) has a piece in the book. If anyone reading my blog has seen this book, would you mind posting a comment to let me know what you thought of it? I haven’t seen it in stores yet, and I’m dying to see how Cyndi’s project turned out!
Jewelry: Fundamentals of Metalsmithing
Posted by Leah on Mar 5, 2007
Jewelry: Fundamentals of Metalsmithing (Jewelry Crafts)
This book is an excellent introduction to the basics of metalsmithing, as well as some more advanced techniques. In addition, the selection of photographs is very inspiring. I refer to this book often when I want to try a new technique, or one that I haven’t used in a while. McCreight is a highly respected metalsmith and author, who also wrote books on precious metal clay, casting, and design, just to name a few. His books always seem to be highly recommended by other jewelers and metalsmiths, so even though I can’t personally recommend any except this one, I expect that his other books are also excellent.
Vickie Howell’s Book Tour
Posted by Leah on Feb 2, 2007
Vickie Howell, host of the DIY Network show Knitty Gritty, and a member of the Austin Craft Mafia, came to Berkeley yesterday on her book tour for a new knitting book she wrote. I thought it would be really fun to check it out, even though it’s not a jewelry event, because I’m a member of the Pleasanton Craft Mafia - a spin-off of the Austin group.
Vickie is talented, fun, and very sucessful at what she does - it was really fun to meet her and see some of her work in person. I like to knit - I find it relaxing, and something that keeps my hands busy when I’m watching TV - but I’ve never tried anything nearly as detailed as the things she makes. Her book, Knitty Gritty Knits, has a lot of cute projects in it. I think most 20-30-somethings who knit would like a lot of the projects in the book. There were things in it that I would wear, or that I’d like to have for my home, and honestly, that isn’t usually the case when I look at knitting books!
The event, which was held at Stash in Berkeley, also included a “yarn tasting” where people got samples of Vickie’s new line of yarn. So…I now have very small balls of three really nice yarns to play with, and I think I’m going to work up some knitted or crocheted jewelry with them. The yarns are all made from natural fibers, and they are sport weight, which is pretty thin, so I think they will be perfect for making jewelry.
Here’s a link to the Vickie’s book on Amazon; it’s also available at yarn stores, I’m sure.
Knitty Gritty Knits (DIY): 25 Fun & Fabulous Projects (DIY Network)
She has a couple other knitting books, one for kid stuff & one for teens:
New Knits on the Block: A Guide to Knitting What Kids Really Want
Not Another Teen Knitting Book
The Pearl Book
Posted by Leah on Jan 24, 2007
The Pearl Book, 3rd Edition: The Definitive Buying Guide: How to Select, Buy Care for & Enjoy Pearls
By Antoinette L. Matlins
This book is the most informative guide to pearls I have read. If you love pearls, this book will give you lots of information on how to determine pearl quality, the kinds of treatments commonly used on pearls, and the difference between natural and cultured pearls, and freshwater and saltwater pearls. It’s not a quick read - there is a ton of information - but it’s very useful for anyone wanting to educate themselves about pearls and the pearl industry. That goes for jewelry makers as well as consumers.
Book Review: The Art of Resin Jewelry
Posted by Leah on Jan 3, 2007
The Art of Resin Jewelry: Layering, Casting, and Mixed Media Techniques for Creating Vintage to Contemporary Designs
This book is a great introduction to working with resin. It covers the basics of resin, including tips on eliminating bubbles and other common problems that people encounter when starting to work with resin. There are a good number of projects to complete, and an overview of the jewelry techniques you will need to know to complete the projects (in other words, stuff you need to know how to do in addition to the resin stuff).
Haab recommends different resins for different projects, which was interesting to me. I don’t think this is practical for most hobby jewelry makers, since one resin kit (resin plus hardener) will last quite a while - but it was interesting to me to learn about some of the products out there that I haven’t tried.
My favorite part of the book is the section that covers making molds for casting resin. This is something I’ve been wanting to explore, and it’s nice to have clear instructions and recommended products for moldmaking. The projects in the casting section aren’t necessarily my style, but they show several different techniques that I can potentially use to create designs that are more “me” with casing resin.
I would recommend this book to people with some basic bead stringing and wireworking skills who are interested in trying resin for the first time, and also for people who have experimented a little bit with resin but want to learn more about some of the different techniques that can be used in creating resin jewelry. The photographs are very well done, and many of the projects look like they would be fun to make. The basic techniques used in the projects are more than enough to get someone with a little creativity started making up their own designs.
One side-note: you can probably do a lot of the projects in the book with just one kind of resin to start with. I’ve been using the Colores brand resin for all of my resin work, and I know that it would work for most of the projects in the book. There are a few that use a special opaque colored resin, which might be tricky to duplicate using a clear resin, but otherwise one type of resin is probably sufficient to start trying out the different techniques in the book. That way you don’t have to go broke buying six or more different kinds (unless you want to try all the different kinds - if so, please tell me which you liked best).
The Jeweler’s Directory of Decorative Finishes
Posted by Leah on Dec 28, 2006
The Jeweler’s Directory Of Decorative Finishes
I got this book as a Christmas gift, and I’m really enjoying it. It is organized into chapters for various techniques used to addd color and/or texture to metal. Some examples are fusing, patinas, roller printing, and etching, although he covers at least twice that many techniques. An explanation of each techniqe is given, followed by ten or so samples of sheet metal that has been colored or textured using that technique, and an explanation of exactly how the technique was used to obtain the given finish. The samples are numbered, and then the chapter ends with a few pages of inspiring finished jewelry. Each piece of jewelry in the gallery has a number (or numbers) next to it that correspond to the sample finishes, so that you can see how a given method might look in a finished piece of jewelry.
This book is geared toward someone who already has a basic knowledge of how to craft metal jewelry. An advanced jewelry maker will probably still find inspiration in the variety of finishes McGrath shows in the book. A complete beginner might be able to acheive some of the finishes shown, but without knowledge of how to make jewelry out of there colored/textured metal, might feel frustrated, as the book does not go into detail on basic jewelry making techniques. For me personally, it is a book I will probably refer to often. I already know some of the techniques, but others, such as enameling and granulation, are on my list of things to learn someday. Even in the chapters on techniques I am more familiar with, there were a few effects shown that I wouldn’t have thought of trying on my own.
The Beader’s Guide to Color by Margie Deeb
Posted by Leah on Dec 4, 2006
Margie Deeb’s book “The Beader’s Guide to Color
Whether or not you use beads in your chosen art/craft, the beautifully illustrated discussions of color theory in this book make it a good read. Professionally photographed pieces of beadwork accompany pages on specific color combinations, and small diagrams show suggested accent colors to go with a chosen main color. I refer to this book whenever I need color inspiration.
For seed beaders, the book has an additional perk: all suggested color combinations are listed with the color number of the recommended Delica bead for that color. Also, since there are so many inspirational pictures of beadwork, many beaders will like this book just for the inspiring work shown. I don’t do a lot of seed beading, however, and this is in my top 10 list of art and craft related books that I own.
Bead Crochet by Bethany Barry
Posted by Leah on Nov 28, 2006
Bead Crochet: A Beadwork How-To Book (Beadwork How-To series)
I bought this book a year or two ago, based on the picture on the cover, which I think is really beautiful. I personally like freeform designs, and the necklace pictured incorporates lots of color in what looks like a semi-random mix, but done with a great eye for color and design.
The book starts with a section on the history of crochet and lots of how-to information on crochet stitches as well as beadwork techniques. For someone who doesn’t have a lot of experience with either beads or crochet, this section would probably be pretty useful - since I do have experience with the techniques, I mostly glossed over it.
Then there is an illustrated project section. The projects include jewelry as well as purses using several different bead crochet techniques. I liked some of them, others not as much - but of course, that’s just a personal preference. I’m more drawn to the freeform-style projects, and there was a mix of these and some much more structured designs.
Finally, there is a small gallery of bead crochet, by Bethany Barry as well as other artists, some of whom were familiar names to me from back when I did more beadwork. I would have liked a bigger gallery section, because that’s always my favorite part of a jewelry book, but otherwise I have no complaints about this section of the book.
Overall, I like this book. I refer to it now and then for inspiration (the pictures are good), but I find myself wishing it was longer - I’d like to see more projects, especially for someone a little more advanced, and an expanded gallery section. On the other hand, it was pretty inexpensive for a jewelry book, and I think it is a good introduction to bead crochet and some of the possibilities for using it as a design technique.
Textile Techniques in Metal
Posted by Leah on Nov 21, 2006
Textile Techniques in Metal: For Jewelers, Textile Artists & Sculptors
This book, by Arline Fisch, is one of my favorite jewelry books of all time, and was one of the first non-bead jewelry books I owned. It inspired me to learn how to knit and crochet so that I could try knitting and crocheting wire. It also inspired me to learn more about needle lace, basketweaving, and fiber arts in general. In addition to discussion of many techniques that can be adapted to metal, there is a very inspiring gallery section in the back.
Fisch has a new book out on crocheted jewelry, but I haven’t had a chance to check it out yet. I’ll post a review once I’ve gotten the chance to read it.
