Artistic Seed Bead Jewelry

Experienced seed bead artist and Bead&Button contributing editor Maggie Roschyk gives friendly advice on topics like choosing bead colors and finishes, how to “audition” beads, and deciding which stitch to use to achieve a desired effect as they create necklaces, earrings and bracelets. Using rich cultural imagery from around the world as a teaching tool, Maggie Roschyk examines how decisions about bead color combinations, texture, and finish affect the finished work as she helps readers think like designers.

Theresa Meister’s fine-scale wirework provides structure, and her beaded patterns bring on the color! Colorful seed beads, pearls, and crystals are used to create delicate jewelry components. Now link all these components together with wirework connections including wire loops, chain, and jump rings. The results are thirteen jewelry sets (each set includes a necklace, bracelet, and earrings) plus variation ideas giving readers a lot of options for exploring techniques. All jewelry makers will find this wearable jewelry to be classy and timeless.

Beaders everywhere are discovering the extraordinary creative potential and pleasure of making unique, one-of-a-kind beads from existing beads themselves. This lushly illustrated guide. now in a paperback version, offers them a blast of inspiration, with 40 fabulous designs from today?s finest beadwork artists. Ranging from understated to pure dazzling glam, these projects showcase a range of innovative techniques. Among the standouts: a peyote-stitched Tetrahedron Beaded Bead; a Peek-A-Boo Bead, using steel nuts from the hardware store; and a cylinder-shaped Pi?ata Bead, decorated with smaller beads resembling tiny, colorful party balloons.

"Beadwork is a puzzle with infinite solutions," says author and bead artist Beth Stone. In Seed Bead Stitching, she explored the many possibilities for creating jewelry with colorful seed beads and charming accents such as pearls and gemstones. In More Seed Bead Stitching, Stone, whose encouraging tone, creativity, and expert knowledge made the previous book so popular, includes new techniques, more variations on techniques, and more detail on concepts she previously introduced. The book contains a wealth of options for making gorgeous beaded jewelry. After outlining the basics and supplies, Stone presents a series of styles such as Ndebele, Daisy, Inspiration, Peyote, and Spiral, with variations for each. Equally useful for crafts of any skill level, the book includes a dozen different fringe techniques; strategies for combining tubular stitches and accent beads; a section on skinny stitches; and a bonus project of square pillows.

“Elegant contemporary jewelry....What artist-author Wells and her 30 colleagues conjure up in more than 30 bracelets, earrings, and necklaces is nothing short of breathtaking. All the projects can be readily mastered by beginners....One hundred percent of the fundamentals, from graphic illustrations and charts to accompanying text and great color photographs.” —Booklist.

After breezing through a history and overview of equipment, the authors emphasize the how-to in such elaborate processes as tubular beaded crochet. Every one of the more than 25 projects focuses on a specific tool or technique, complete with color graphs, a list of materials, size and measurements, a color photo, and diagrams. ...Directions...are presented with plenty of details.” —Booklist.

At last, a book that explores the origins and renaissance of lampwork glass beads and offers a one-on-one journey with fourteen exceptional glass bead artists as they create more than 20 projects. Step-by-step instruction and beautiful photography shows crafters how to create stunning necklaces, earrings, bracelets, and much more. This new reference gives an inside look at the artists' creative processes, including how they choose color and materials and how they add the finishing touches. Most importantly, they reveal how serendipity plays a role in their creative processes. Readers will be inspired to embark on an artistic journey to create magnificent works of art for future generations to behold.