Elizabeth beat me to the punch when she selected this book for her review this month. It is a fabulous, well written book by: Sharilyn Miller and published by: North Light Books.
This book features full color pictures and is 128 pages full of information and inspiration. Sharilyn combines the two worlds of wirework and beaded jewelry to make 25 projects and variations. The book begins with an introduction and what you will need in your jewelry tool kit to follow along with the techniques and projects featured. She walks the reader through basic wirework techniques, from working with pliers, to preparing the wire for use and then onto making several basic components that will later be combined to make jewelry in the project section of the book. Even though I have some prior jewelry making experience, I found this section extremely helpful as a refresher and also to learn a few new components that I hadn't made before. The instructions are step by step and the close up pictures make it easy to follow along and make the same components as those shown. In the second half of the book, Sharilyn illustrates how to make 25 different bead and wire jewelry projects, beginning with basic earring hoops and ending with a very intricate twin-spiral bracelet. One of the things I like best aboout this book is that the projects graduate from easy to more difficult as you acquire more experience and skill by working your way through the book. Each project is outlined with the basic skills that you learned in the first half of the book. I would recommend beginning with the skill building section before proceeding with the projects. The projects are specific enough to teach a particular technique, but also allows you to put your own personal spin on them to create jewelry to fit your own style. Overall, this is an excellent book and I would recommend it to beginners who are just starting out, as well as intermediate jewelery makers, who are looking to acquire new skills and stretch their creativity with some of the more advanced projects.
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