I just read Fabric Jewelry: 25 Designs to Make Using Silk, Ribbon, Buttons, and Beads by Teresa Searle. Loved this book. Sewing is one of the few crafts I haven’t really gotten into, but not because I don’t want to - I just keep trying not to buy a sewing machine, or a dress makers [...]

Have a craft business? Go to craftypod.com right now & listen to the marketing interview with Jennifer Perkins of Naughty Secretary Club.
Jennifer is one of the most successful craft business owners I know of, so I think she knows what she’s talking about. (She makes fun, kitschy style jewelry using vintage and vintage-look components, which [...]

The Art of Jewelry: Paper Jewelry by Marthe Le Van is a beautiful book loaded with pictures of jewelry made using paper.
Some of the projects use paper as the primary material, while others combine it with more traditional jewelry materials such as precious metals and beads. Many reinforce the paper by coating it with lacquer [...]

Crafting a Business is a great book for anyone thinking about starting a craft business - I wish I had read books like this when I started mine!
My guess is most people start their crafty businesses in much the way I started mine. Friends and family compliment your work, and you realize that you’ve spent [...]

The Altered Object: Techniques, Projects, Inspiration by Terry Taylor is a mixed-media art book that is half inspiration, half technique. It has inspiring artist profiles, beautiful photos of mixed media artwork, and tips and techniques for altering objects.
Altering objects to create art is definitely in style these days - you can make very unique, interesting, [...]

I’ve written quite a few book reviews on this blog, so I added a page (see the new link up at the top?) with links to each one. Enjoy!

Beading with Charms: Beautiful Jewelry, Simple Techniques (A Lark Jewelry Book) would be a good book for someone just starting to work with wire. The projects use mostly basic wire techniques such as making simple loops and wrapped loops to attach all kinds of beads and trinkets to earrings, necklaces, bracelets, and more. There are [...]

I’m feeling a little silly that I never listened to the Circa Arte podcast before - it’s the podcast of the mixed media art group ZNE, which I’ve been a member of for a while. Silly me - it’s a great show so I’ve been missing out!
Chelise Stroud Hery hosts Circa Arte, and in the [...]

I am loving my local library as a source of craft books lately - except that the jewelry making books are in the art section, which for some reason means I can’t check them out. So if you were wondering why I’ve been reviewing so many non-jewelry craft books…that’s why. I love reading about all [...]

The Coiling Gizmo is a fun little tool I picked up recently. It is used for making wire coils that can be used in jewelry making.
It’s really easy to use - you wrap some wire around the “eye” at one end of the winder, and push it into the base, then start turning the winder [...]