Crystal Beading Jewelry: Easy DIY Techniques for Stunning Handmade Necklaces, Bracelets & Earrings - Perfect for Gifts, Parties & Special Occasions

In the past few years, there has been an explosion in the number of bead books. Many are worthless, and most are written for beginners. As a result, there are a whole bunch of beading books that get a quick read, and then end up on the shelves in my bookcase, gathering dust. This book isn't gathering dust. It features many projects at an intermediate level, and is written in a very clear and precise way. The directions are so clear that many beginners will attempt the projects and could get into trouble, due to a number of editing mistakes in the directions. One grumble could be made about the pictures: they don't always match the beads listed for the project. Be patient, though: the beads they show are listed as a variation, along with a bead list that is right for the featured project.Like most beading books, there are 20-ish pages in the beginning that deal with the most basic of beading topics (Beads usually have a hole in them) and can be skipped if you have read even one bead book before. One of the authors is Jean Campbell of Bead and Button magazine, and the book has a very similar reading style. Like B&B magazine, this book has many submissions from talented bead artists. B&B magazine claims to work every pattern before publication, which makes the mistakes in the book very surprising. The projects begin with simple stringing techniques and basic wirework, then become more complex. By the time you finish the 36 projects in the book, not only will you have an amazing collection of bling suitable for wear at any Oscar or ribbon-cutting ceremonies you might attend, you will know all the basic beadwork stitches and quite a bit of beginning wirework as well. Most beading books cover a much narrower scope.I loved the way that the author took relatively inexpensive bicones and rounds and used them to create complex, expensive looking components. I also like the way she saved me time/skill buy using readily available Swarovski components in some designs. However, she often called for 3mm bicones, which are relatively new to the Swarovski lineup, and many beaders will have to order the beads before attempting the projects in this book. Not always fun if you are like me - I see a project and want to start beading right away. In order to save myself money and frustration, I made the projects using inexpensive Czech fire polished beads before deciding whether to go to the expense of Swarovski or Presciosa crystals. By doing this, the projects cost approximately 1/10 the price of working them in cut crystal and are more suitable for daywear. It has the added benefit of helping me find any mistakes in the directions (or changes I want to make), and I write the corrections in the margins.For inspiration and eye candy, this book is a lot better than many of the competing publications, which try to teach beading with crystals. It has an almost unheard of scope in beading books, by having both beginner projects and almost advanced projects in the same volume. If you want to buy only one book on crystals, this is it. It will never gather dust on your bookshelf, and you can use it again and again.