Book reviews - Beach Chic Jewelry and Earthy Boho Jewelry by Holly Witt-Allen

We love the series of jewellery making booklets produced by Leisure Arts. They may be just 32 pages but each one has plenty of project ideas that are both accessible and wearable.

Beach Chic Jewelry and Earthy Boho Jewelry are the perfect additions to your beading library at this time of year. With summer (hopefully!) hotting up and many of us planning beach holidays and festival fun, these two books from Holly Witt-Allen are sure to get you making the ideal accessories to your outfits.

Each book has a quick and easy reference at the beginning with a photograph of each project and a page number. I love that all the pieces together form a cohesive collection of jewellery with beautiful colour palettes and a distinct style that permeates through all the designs.












All the pieces in both books can be made with simple stringing, linking and knotting techniques and all the skills you will need are covered in the General Instructions sections at the back of each booklet. This means that both are the perfect choice for beginners or those makers who just struggle for ideas on materials or colour combinations.

Choose from necklaces, bracelets and earrings (left two from Beach Chic Jewelry, right two from Earthy Boho Jewelry)

You can choose to follow the instructions to the letter and use the same supplies as the designer. There is a list of those supplying beads for the designs right at the back of the book and I am sure you could locate the exact same components if you wanted. However, the great thing about the designs in these books is that you can easily adapt them to work with beads and materials you already have in your stash. 
Here are two gorgeous bracelets I made using materials I already had to hand, inspired by the 'Splash of Color Bracelet' and 'Relics Bracelet'. The instructions were really easy to follow and I just picked out beads in similar colours and took inspiration from the relaxed style.

I would definitely recommend these two booklets to newcomers to jewellery making and also for those looking for colour ideas and ways to make more layered and textural pieces. They would make a great and inexpensive addition to your bookshelf.

Beach Chic Jewelry is available from Amazon, priced at £5.99
ISBN 978-1-4647-3525-7

Earthy Boho Jewelry is available from Amazon, priced at £5.99
ISBN 978-1-4647-3524-0

Book Review - How to make Hammered Wire Jewellery by Linda Jones

We test drive expert wireworker, Linda Jones' latest book.

I own many of Linda's books on wirework and I knew that if these were anything to go by, her new book was going to be full of achievable and wearable designs. I wasn't disappointed. 

Whether you are an experienced wireworker or just starting out in this addictive medium, you will be certain to find some new techniques and ideas amongst the stunning pieces of jewellery in this book. 

And, as is usual for this type of publication, there is a section at the back covering all the basic skills you will need to complete the projects. With nothing more than basic jewellery pliers, a hammer and steel block you too can be creating striking and original pieces with or without beads. 

Divided into four main sections, the projects range from necklaces, links and pendants made using a 'feathering' technique — flattening and spreading wire by stroking with your hammer rather than bashing it, an entire section of shaping wire into freeform 'doodles', another on 'scrunching' wire into frames and focals and finally, a chapter of projects that will inspire you to combine multiple techniques into single pieces.

Classic design using modern techniques

One of my favourite tutorials from the 'Feathers' section is this flower brooch that can also be adapted into a pendant or into a focal on a necklace. One of the great things about this book is that Linda always provides further inspiration for adapting and extending each project. Each idea is beautifully and clearly photographed so you are able to see exactly how to recreate the designs at home.

Learn to wiggle wire into freeform shapes

For a more modern look, why not have a go at a 'Wiggles' necklace from the 'Shapes' chapter which can incorporate your favourite glass or gemstone beads and give you practice in binding wire as well as shaping and hammering.





If you are a regular reader of reviews at The Beading Library, you'll know that we always like to try out a project or two from our books. This time around, I really was spoilt for choice. In the end, I looked at what gauges of wire I had in my  rather chaotic wire drawer and chose a couple of projects to try using 1mm bare copper wire.

'Hoopla Spiral Earrings'

These hoopla spiral earrings are from the 'Get Creative' chapter and were really quick to make. The texturing on the hoops was achieved using a ball pein hammer (the ball end!).

Don't be afraid to combine techniques from more than one project!

I had some gorgeous 8mm Fluorite rounds left over from a previous project so I made a bracelet that combined techniques from a couple of projects in Linda's book — 'Hinged Links' and 'Ring Chain Bracelet'.
I also followed the instructions at the back of the book to make a wire clasp.

I will definitely be trying some of the other designs in this great title and might even see about getting myself one of Linda's Whammer hammers too as it is the perfect tool for flattening wire without marking it. Watch this space!

You can buy 'How to make Hammered Wire Jewellery' from Amazon, priced at £12.08ISBN - 978-1-78221-298-0

We have a copy of this book to give away to one lucky reader! Simply comment on this post and tell us about your adventures in wire! We will pick a winner at random, after midday on Friday 13th May (lucky for some!).

Good luck!

Book Review - Timeless Beadwork Designs by Cynthia Rutledge

We asked Vicky Pritchard, a regular designer for Beads & Beyond magazine and member of the Spellbound Bead Co team to review this new title for bead stitchers...

It is hard to believe that this is Cynthia Rutledge’s first book, as she has been a name in the beading world for many years. This book, aimed at intermediate to advanced beaders, is most definitely worth the wait. With inspiration taken from beautiful historical paintings, the fifteen projects in this book have a classic timelessness that will appeal to a wide range of beaders.

The designs in the book use a combination of seed beads, cylinder beads and pearls alongside faceted beads and crystal rondelles. 

The Cubic Zirconia stones and settings that are used are a little harder to come by, but are available directly from Cynthia Rutledge’s website. 

A web search reveals that a limited number of stones are available from UK suppliers too.

'Time in motion' ring project

The projects use a variety of stitches, including Herringbone, Netting, Right Angle Weave and Peyote Stitch. For the ring band on the project I tried, the Time in Motion ring, Cynthia describes a modified thread path for odd count peyote stitch that I will most definitely be using in the future, as it eliminates the stiffened edge of the beadwork
 that you normally find with a traditional odd count peyote turn.

Clear diagrams and instructions for all projects

I found the instructions and diagrams for the projects to be very clear, with every step well described and illustrated. I did find the working sequence to be slightly out of order to the way I would have done the piece, as at one point I had three half finished components on my beadmat, with all of the associated thread tails. By altering the order in which the components of the ring were made, you could have worked the pieces and finished them off as you were going along.

Vicky's version of the 'Time in motion' ring

I did substitute the CZ stone in the ring for a 10mm rivoli that I had in my stash, and it seems to work as well as a CZ for this design. I’m not sure if it would work as well for the other designs - but I can’t wait to find out!

Timeless Beadwork Designs is published in hardback by Lark Books and is available from Amazon, priced £16.58

ISBN: 978-1454708759

Book Review - Metal Clay Animal Jewellery by Natalia Colman

Cute and quirky metal clay projects for animal lovers!

This is the latest book on Metal Clay from Natalia, author of 'Silver Clay with Style' (2012) and 'Metal Clay Jewellery' (2014). It contains 20 projects, each with an animal theme and the designs are as cute and quirky as you have come to expect from Natalia! 

'Perfect Pets' - delightful designs for all

The book is divided into five chapters, including ‘In the Jungle’, ‘Feathered Friends’ and ‘Beneath the Ocean Waves’. We particularly love the ‘Perfect Pets’ section with tutorials to make a Scottie Dog ring or Sausage Dog pendant (for the dog lovers) or a sleek, stylised cat necklace (for the fans of felines) amongst others. The cute little mouse charms are a particularly good beginner project as they don’t use a lot of clay (depending on how many you make!) and the silver version can be fired on the hob or using a torch.

The book includes a comprehensive ‘basic techniques’ section which would act as a great refresher to those already familiar with metal clay jewellery (perhaps from Natalia’s previous book!). However, the projects incorporate several more advanced techniques, which, whilst accurately and clearly described, may be a little daunting to beginners. It should also be noted that many of the projects will require access to a kiln for firing, particularly those using copper and bronze clay. We certainly think that those new to this medium, would be advised to read Natalia’s Metal Clay Jewellery Book before embarking on the projects in this one, particularly as some require quite large amounts of metal clay to complete.

Clear and detailed step by step instructions

This being said, the book is beautifully photographed and very clearly laid out, with detailed step by step photographs and easy-to-understand written instructions. The reference section at the back is particularly useful with a firing guide for a large range of gemstones plus a quick look up for the firing requirements for each project.

Learn new techniques!

Overall this is a fantastic book for those who already have some experience with Metal Clay and who are looking to learn new techniques to complement this exciting medium. Additional skills you will learn in the projects include making clay rope, stone setting, mixing metals, adding colour and mould making.

Metal Clay Animal Jewellery is published by Search Press and is available from Amazon,
priced at £14.99

ISBN 978-1-78221-077-1

GIVEAWAY - We have a copy of Natalia's book to give away. Look out on our Facebook page for a competition post this week!

Totally new website!

Helen test drives the brand new website from Totally Beads

Totally Beads have been one of my favourite bead suppliers ever since I first started beading. They are one of the first stands I visit at all the major bead shows for their fantastic range of Chinese Crystal in every shape, size and colour imaginable, as well as their great value glass pearl strands. But Totally Beads are not just about supplying popular beads, they also have a huge range of stringing materials and always have some brand new products to get excited about.

When I heard that TB had launched a new website, I was surprised as I thought the old one was pretty good! However, the new site is slicker and much cleaner from the home page on, and the focus is really on inspiring you to try new products and techniques.

Weekly project inspiration

 As soon as you land on the site, you’ll notice the week’s hot projects. Click on one and you can find out more and order all the materials you need plus the downloadable instructions right there. (Note: you pay for the instructions as a separate item in your basket). 

Beyond the two featured projects, there are also many more tutorials available by selecting a category under the ‘Let’s make it’ link at the top of the home page. You can purchase a tutorial on its own or find one as part of a kit for all sorts of items and using a variety of TB products including their Wondertube.

Clear categories for quick navigation

And if you aren’t enthused by the latest project ideas, you are sure to be inspired by the products, all accessed via the home page and all under familiar product categories. 

Dreamy Druzy Beads

I am pleased to see that the crystal range is still substantial and am excited to see a great range of semi-precious beads too including some pretty amazing round and heart-shaped druzy beads in nine colours! Each category is further split into sub-categories making it really easy to find what you are looking for (or just browse around for things you aren’t!).

As an ex-editor of a beading magazine, there are two things that I ALWAYS look for on a jewellery-making website — an effective search engine and a new products category or link. 

I am pleased to say that the new Totally Beads site has both. A quick test of the search facility looking for ‘dark blue’ products brought back a completely relevant and far-reaching range of products, all laid out in an easy to view format with large photographs and brief descriptions. Bravo Totally Beads – search function = big tick!

The new products page accessed at the top of the home page will certainly be my first stop on future visits. At the moment, no products are listed in this category (the whole website is new after all!) but I am sure it will equally easy to navigate and as clear as the rest of the site! I am looking forward to seeing what new products appear there over the coming weeks.

If you are an existing online customer of Totally Beads you will almost certainly have taken advantage of their regular sales. The site has a Clearance category accessible from the home page which has all sorts of offers including a tempting £15 pounds of beads for a fiver and quarter kilo bead mixes.

So, while you are visiting the new website, don’t forget to check out the Bead Shows link to see when Totally Beads will be at a Craft Show near you. I love online shopping (and by the way TB offers free shipping on orders over £30) but you can’t beat seeing all the lovely beads in the flesh can you!

Visit www.totallybeads.co.uk and place an order!