The Complete Idiot's Guide to Beading Illustrated

Although this book doesn't give you the complete story on each beading technique, it gives enough information to know what you'll need to buy and how to proceed.

The Complete Idiot's Guide to Beading by Georgene Lockwood seems like it was a long time coming! The only thing I really didn't like about it was that the images and illustrations in it are mostly black and white, but it is a very comprehensive guide to beading. It explains basic seed bead weaving, how to make perfect wrapped eyepins and regular eyepins, how to use crimp beads, picking the right finishing method for the materials you are using, and has a truly fantastic list of resources both online and by mail. It explains how to clean stones and metal, and how to care for completed beadwork. The projects and a lot of the information may seem a little too basic for advanced beaders, but the sections on caring for jewelry and the resources make it worthwhile for experienced beaders. The little cartoons at the start of every chapter made me grin. I enjoyed it, and it's one I'll be sharing with my children as the get interested in beading.

FLAWLESS TRANSACTION WITH A PLATINUM SELLER WHOM I WOULD HIGHLY RECOMMEND; THANKS SO MUCH!

As the frenzy to learn the beading craft continues to heat up, many beginning beaders seek answers to the many questions they have on the dizzying variety of beads, stitches, techniques, and beading components. What is Nymo? What is fireline? Flexible wire, what's that? And these "findings" -- how do you use them? Many beading books offer help, but most are written to teach one stitch, offer inspiration with beautiful pictures of professional work, or to address color theory and design. Georgene Lockwood fills a gap for the beader who needs an overview to know where to begin. Although the book focuses in this area, the compilation of resources and reference material make this book a valuable one for the advanced beader as well. Overall, the book is extremely well-written, and the "Put on your beading cap" idea is sheer genius. I have seen only one other beading book that has learners create a project with their samples, but Georgene Lockwood's is the only one that ties that idea with a piece of clothing the beader can wear, as well as linking the same idea with sidebars throughout the book. This makes for an integrated concept I really appreciate. Any beginning beader who follows along with the project while reading Lockwood's book will not only learn many valuable techniques, but complete the book owning a valuable piece of wearable art. This book is one I highly recommend to beginning beaders. I wish I had this book when I was starting out. As a bead designer using advanced techniques, I know the appendices are ones to which I will turn to many times in the future.

If you are new to beading or even an old hand at it, this book has something for you! It's full of tips and techniques for all those things you wished you lnew how to do, but couldn't figure out on your own. Plus, it's inspirational!! It makes you want to get out the needle and thread and start beading. If you don't buy this book---you're a "complete idiot." It's absolutely the best!