| Jewelry Making & Beading for Dummies was | | | | book and really cover everything you need to |
| first published in 2005 and is probably the | | | | know as a beginner. I should also mention |
| most popular book available for teaching | | | | that there are simple projects spread |
| beginners about the basics of jewelry making | | | | throughout both sections so that you can |
| and beading. | | | | practice what you are learning as you go |
| | | | along. |
| When the book was published a few years back | | | | |
| I had already been making jewelry for quite | | | | Looking at this from the perspective of a |
| some time so I wasn't really interested in | | | | complete beginner, I think Parts 1 and 2 of |
| getting it. | | | | the book are all you really need. |
| | | | |
| Now that I focus more on teaching jewelry | | | | Part 3 of the book consists primarily of |
| making I am always looking for jewelry making | | | | beading projects, and while they are all very |
| information that can help beginners, so I | | | | nice pieces of jewelry, there are very few |
| decided to get the book and review it. | | | | graphics showing step by step how to make the |
| | | | pieces. In my experience working with |
| Here is an overview of the contents of the | | | | beginners I think many would find it |
| book and my opinion about each section. If | | | | difficult to make these pieces without |
| you are new to beading and/or jewelry making | | | | detailed instructions or hands-on help like a |
| I hope you will find this useful. | | | | class or video. |
| | | | |
| The book is divided into five parts: Part 1: | | | | So if I were a beginner, I would learn |
| Creating Irresistible Jewelry, Part 2: | | | | everything in Parts 1 and 2, and put the book |
| Discovering Simple Jewelry-Making Techniques, | | | | on the shelf for a while, and then maybe |
| Part 3: Implementing Design Ideas, Trends, | | | | revisit Part 3 later after I had gained more |
| and More, Part 4: Building on Your Jewelry | | | | experience. |
| Making Hobby, and Part 5: The Part of Tens. | | | | |
| | | | Part 4, in my opinion, goes off on a tangent |
| The first part, Creating Irresistible | | | | that I don't think has much to do with |
| Jewelry, covers from A to Z everything a | | | | learning beading and jewelry making. |
| beginner needs to know about the different | | | | |
| strings, chords, and wire options available. | | | | Things are covered like how to decorate other |
| There is also a complete explanation of the | | | | objects with beads, making jewelry with kids, |
| basic jewelry making tools and the different | | | | hosting a jewelry party, and tips for what to |
| kinds of connectors (head pins, eye pins, | | | | do if you want to turn your jewelry making |
| jump rings, etc.) and clasps. | | | | hobby into a business. |
| | | | |
| There is also a very comprehensive | | | | I will say that the part about turning your |
| explanation about bead types, crystal beads, | | | | jewelry making hobby into a business has some |
| pearls, and stones. A small section is also | | | | very good tips, especially on how to |
| dedicated to explaining where you can find | | | | correctly price your jewelry. It shows you |
| jewelry making materials both online and | | | | how to make sure that you include a cost for |
| offline. | | | | how long it takes you to make a jewelry |
| | | | piece. Most jewelry makers forget to do this |
| The section finishes with a chapter dedicated | | | | and it leads them to significantly underprice |
| to explaining how to best set up your | | | | their jewelry. |
| workspace. | | | | |
| | | | The final section, Part 5: The Part of Tens |
| So Part 1 of the book is basically a | | | | is so named because it gives you three |
| description of "what" whereas Part 2, | | | | chapters of Top Tens. The first top 10 is |
| Discovering Simple Jewelry-Making Techniques, | | | | jewelry suppliers. It is good but a little |
| gets into the "how." | | | | dated. New suppliers have emerged since the |
| | | | book was published that are better than some |
| Not surprisingly, it starts with stringing | | | | listed in the book. |
| and knotting and how to use crimps. The next | | | | |
| chapter is dedicated to Bead Weaving and | | | | The second top 10 is common jewelry making |
| focuses primarily on weaving with seed beads. | | | | mistakes to avoid and has very good tips for |
| | | | avoiding mistakes that beginners commonly |
| I thought it was a little unusual to focus so | | | | make. |
| much on seed beads as there are many | | | | |
| beautiful pieces you can make weaving with | | | | The third top 10 is ideas for making money |
| beads other than seed beads. So I think this | | | | selling your jewelry. There are some very |
| chapter could be greatly improved by showing | | | | good ideas in this section. |
| more details in that area, but still it does | | | | |
| cover basic weaving patterns. | | | | Overall, I would recommend this book to |
| | | | beginners as a good resource to get started. |
| Part 2 ends with a chapter on wire wrapping | | | | But keep in mind that if you're learning |
| which includes how to choose wire, basic wire | | | | style is more suited to learning by seeing |
| wrapping techniques, and a nice section on | | | | things in action then you may have trouble |
| how to use a wire jig. | | | | actually learning beading by looking at this |
| | | | book simply because there are not a lot of |
| So Parts 1 and 2 take up about half of the | | | | "how to" graphics. |