Fabulous Jewelry from Found Objects: Creative Projects, Simple Techniques

The projects inside were very innovative and beautiful! Also, the picture guides and instructions were clear and easy to follow. I would definitely recommend this to anyone who loves craft and jewellery!

This was a gift for a friend who is always looking for ways to be creative. She also wanted to learn some basic jewelry making methods, and this seemed to fit the bill. She says she loves it and learns a little something new each time she tries a new project or modifies a project from the book!

Marthe Le Van has put together a fun collection of easy to locate "found objects", the designs are usually funky and are achievable if you have a gerneral understanding of jewellery making. With written directions only, no pictures of the step by step, this is not for a beginner. There is a good introduction, listing the tools and terms together with basic instructions at the start of how to do certain tasks - i.e soldering, wire wrapping etc. Loads of ideas from pencils, to toothpicks,fur, bone and broken records etc. I especially liked the Check it Out section contained in each project, this section gives a brief overview/history of the material used. Not all projects have a Track it Down Paragraph, but when it is listed it is very handy, listing ideas such as "The electrical wire in the brooch came out of an old radio". Gallery was good but not brilliant as it could have been. Overall a nice book,glad I added it to my collection. I am sure my Mixed Media Jewellery students will appreciate it.

Like all Lark books, this book is exceptional in it's choice of imagery. There are so many outstanding examples of found object jewelry, that this book is enough to give anyone's muse a hefty jolt of adrenalin. I would like to emphasize that I do not believe this would be the best choice for a novice artist looking to learn techniques for making such assemblages. Many basic and advanced skills such as sawing, riveting and soldering are briefly covered, but I do not believe that they are meant to be the main focus of the book. Projects included in the book list step-by-step instructions, but none show photos of the work in progress. This appears to be a major oversight, but it does allow the instructions be open to interpretation of the reader for future projects. If looking to learn more about the various jewelry making techniques which could be used in found object jewelry, I highly recommend Joanna Gollberg's "Making Metal Jewelry: Projects, Techniques, Inspiration" which specifically covers cold connection techniques, (connections made without the use of heat) Tim McCreight's "Jewelry: Fundamentals of Metalsmithing" for cold connection and soldering techniques, or Carles Codina's "The Complete Book of Jewelry Making: A Full-Color Introduction To The Jeweler's Art." As a side note, I was quite amazed that no pieces were represented from two of the most prominent found object artists, Thomas Mann and Keith Lo Bue.

This book was just what i had hoped. It showcases some of the best offbeat jewelry artists with their techniques and instructions on how they did certain projects. It is a winner.