Complete Beading: Jewelry & Accessories

This is a wonderful book for any beader, beginner or advanced, and is one you can continually use as your beading skills improve. The book includes an informative introduction on tools, threads, beads and findings. I especially appreciated the description on the "threads" which explains what each can be used for. There is also a short section on techniques, but each project contains a few pages of photos that show the specific techniques needed. I selected this book for its beautiful designs (and there are many) and its variety of projects. It includes everything from basic bead threading to wire work, looming, embroidery and bead weaving (for those more advanced beaders). The egyptian-style netted necklace is quite impressive and the beaded dragonfly pin is really lovely. In the beginning projects the focus is on jewelry, but towards the end many projects demonstrate how beading can enhance other items such as scarves and handbags. One other note: this book is spiral bound, which makes it easier to keep open while working on a project. Overall, I think this is a great book of ideas and techniques that can appeal to beaders of all levels.

Book is very easily understood and shows exactly what I was looking for.

This is generally a carefully laid-out book: vivid photos, clear descriptions and photos of techniques, good definitions of materials, types of beads, findings, etc., nice variety of projects implementing many different methods, styles, and skill levels. Includes wire work, looming, bead weaving, embroidery, with projects for each technique. The spiral binding is nice, as the book lays flat for easy referral while you work. My only criticism is that some of the photo layouts could be better: * None of the finished projects are shown on models, so it's hard to tell what the drape/dangle/twist of a particular technique will look like when worn. * Some of the photos of finished projects only show part of the item, so even coupled with the detailed how-to photographs, you don't get a clear picture of what the end result looks like.