I’ve recently been lamenting about how few creative books I have. Most often, I get books from the library and sadly return them, hoping I’ll remember all the good ideas. I usually rather spend money on supplies than books, but I’ve recently come to value collecting books that are worth keeping and noting pages & ideas to revisit. So in my effort to build a quality personal library, I’m setting a goal of buying at least one new book every month. Plus I’m happy to give you a book review so you’ll know if it’s worth purchasing for yourself.
Book Summary: This book is for the jewelry maker with intermediate beading & wire-working skills (no metalsmithing skills are required). There are 30 projects divided into sections by metals (gold, silver, base metals, faux metals, and a section on mixing metals), and each section includes history & facts about the metal. The back of the book contains a section on caring for metals plus some beading/wire-working 101 skills.
Rating: On a scale of 1-5, I’d give this book a 4. It’s good, but I’m content to buy it on sale, or I’d be happy to get it as a gift.
For me, 1 means it’s terrible, 2 means don’t bother, 3 means it’s ok but it’s been done before and doesn’t stand out as anything special (I’d borrow it from the library), 4 means it’s good but I’d only buy it on sale, and 5 means it’d be worth buying full-price and I’d use it somewhat often.
Review Notes: Visually, the photos, decorative page artwork, and layout of the book are very beautiful. The jewelry itself includes a variety of unique beads & metals, and some fresh design ideas. I like the asymetrical designs and interesting mixtures of bead shapes, colors, and sizes. I learned a lot more about each metal’s history and how to properly care for it. My favorite projects are: “blooms in brass” pg 47 (bracelet with a great color scheme, dynamic combination of a metal ring, leaf connector, and interesting clasp), “feather your nest” pg 80 (bracelet with an engaging collection of bird-themed beads & charms), and a necklace called “golden blush” pg 20 (the bead combination & metal chain spacing is perfect).
I rarely design with gold or wear it, so there are some projects I don’t love for that reason. Plus there’s some other jewelry that I’d never make or wear, although I can still learn & appreciate the design elements & techniques.
Another thing to note is that if you are a beginner, this may be a good book to give you some design ideas, but each step of the instructions does not include visual support, so you’re on your own. There is a useful how-to section at the back of the book. It includes clear instructions & diagrams for those who are newer to certain basic skills.
Also, the authors’ philosophy of “mixing metals” is that anything goes and they give no guidance. I wonder if they considered creating a section that showed similar jewelry with only the metals changed. This might help designers see the visual impact mixing metals can have on a piece.
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