Book review: Quick & Easy Beaded Jewelry (Beadwork Books) by Elizabeth Gourley

Excellent! Clear and detailed instructions

 This is an excellent book with clear explanations and interesting projects. I am relatively new to beading and picked up this book in the library to learn how to add clasps correctly. This book is great. It had terrific section on techniques. In the table of content below you see that there is a lengthy chapter on techniques. It helped me solve the issue I was having with clasps. In addition the book has a lot of interesting projects, in particularly I enjoyed the section on weaving necklaces techniques (I am attaching an example under Customer Photos). It gave me a lot of new ideas and showed me the tools that will help me get the job done better and quicker.

This book has 127 pages, lots of images, and clear explanations. It has a nice index at the end, which helps to find a specific topic. The projects are suitable for new and experience beader, some are quick and some a lengthy. Here is the content with my annotations. I hope you will find it helpful.

CHAPTER 1
Introduction - Excellent chapter for a beginner as me, I finally undersood what exactly falls into "Findings" category.
Tools
Threads and Wires
Findings
Beads

CHAPTER 2 - My favorite chapter, very clear explanations, shows many options for each area.
Jewelry Standards
Techniques
Attaching Clasps Using:
- Thread
- Crimp Beads and Tiger Tail
- Bead Tips
- Cones and Eye Pins
- Cord Tips
Using a Head Pin or an Eye Pin
Making a Jump Ring
How to Open and Close a Jump Ring
Tying Knots
Tying a Stop Bead
Making Stitches, Netting, and Angle Weave:
- Ladder Stitch
- Chevron Chain
- Daisy Chain
- Vertical Netting
- Square Stitch
- Right Angle Weave
- Making Even-Count Flat and Tubular Peyote

CHAPTER 3 Bead Stranding Projects - Very nice, project range from simple to complex.
Metal Flower Anklet and Earrings
Lemon Necklace and Bracelet
Black and Silver Necklace and Earrings
Tooth Necklace and Earrings
Pink Stretchy Bracelets and Earrings
Grapes Necklace and Earrings
Three-Strand Flower Necklace and Earrings
Seven-Strand Twist Necklace and Eyeglass Chain
Three-Strand Braided Necklace and Headband
Seven-Strand Braided Bracelet and Barrette

CHAPTER 4 Knotted Projects
Knotted Pumpkin Necklace and Bracelet
Blue Ribbon Crystal Heart Choker and Bracelet
Knotted Pearl Necklace and Anklet

CHAPTER 5 Bead Weaving Projects - Stunning results, detailed explanation on how to achieve them.
Green Ladder Stitch Bracelet and Ring
Purple and Black Ladder Stitch Necklace and Earrings
Blue and Green Chevron Necklace
Purple Chevron Choker and Earrings
Topaz and Lavender Daisy Chain Necklace and Bracelet
Black and Turquoise Triangle Daisy Chain Necklace and Earrings
Blue, White, and Purple Netted Choker and Earrings
Vertical Net Necklace and Headband
Peyote Stitch Bracelet and Barrette
Tubular Peyote Sunset Bracelet and Earrings
Square Stitch Scarab Choker and Belt
Square Stitch Flower Broach and Earrings
Crystal Right Angle Weave Pink and Purple Bracelet and Earrings
Blue and Roses Right Angle Weave Dog Collar and Ring

CHAPTER 6 Wirework Projects - Very interesting, I became interested in trying wirework which I was not considering before reading this book
Memory Wire Choker and Ring
Wirework Rosebud Bracelet and Anklet
Rhinestone Necklace and Earrings
Carnelian Daisy and Chain Necklace and Earrings
Red Glass Beads and Wire Necklace and Earrings
Jump Ring Netted Necklace and Bracelet

Excellent book, clear instructions, projects in the book will inspire you!


You can find it on Amazon by following this link.


Ali Julia review ★★★★★