Festive Beading Three by Julie Ashford

It's here! For all those bauble beaders and collectors, the greatly anticipated third instalment in the Festive Beading series has arrived!

My copy landed on the doormat just a day after it arrived at Spellbound HQ and provided the perfect reading material for my overdue visit to the hair salon. Bev, my hairdresser, was a little bemused by the fact I was reading a 'Christmas book' in March but as I explained to her, if you want to make a few of the designs in time for the festive season, you really do need to make a start now!

That's not to say that many of the designs in this latest book can't be displayed and enjoyed at any time of the year but given the complexity of some of the more intricate baubles, it really does make senses to get going now, especially now the clocks have sprung forward and we are enjoying lighter evenings!

Those of you familiar with the previous festive beading books will know what to expect from this edition. If you haven't discovered Julie's projects up 'til now then there is no reason why you shouldn't dive straight into this book (you are sure to be ordering books 1 and 2 this year!) and be beading beautiful baubles in no time.

As is usual with Julie's books, all the projects are given a grading of difficulty from one star through to four. For beginners, it's a good idea to start with one of the two easiest projects but intermediate beaders might want to jump straight into the two or three star designs. It is nice that the largest junk of the tutorials in this book are graded three stars which makes them achievable for most of us. There are 13 main projects plus an additional four earring designs contained in this book.

As in previous titles, there are stunning main projects to master plus smaller projects - Inspiration Mini Projects - that will allow you develop a motif further. There is nothing to stop you having a go at one of the mini projects before you start on the main event either. Many have standalone instructions whilst others use clear sections from the main project. The Celestial Bauble is a good example where you might like to begin with the Snowflake Strand. It gives you a faster finished item and gets you up to speed with the technique before you attempt the bauble.

I have to say that I am really tempted by the beautiful Holly Wreath project but can't see myself managing to complete the whole piece in time for next Christmas let alone this year! Having looked at the instructions though, I am pretty confident that I could devise my own brooch using the holly and berry motifs included in the main project. Because the stages are so clearly summarised at the start, it's easy to see which steps you need to complete the component(s) you want.

It's always a good idea with any complex beading project, to read through the instructions before you start. Julie provides lots of useful hints and tips in the form of 'Extra Info' boxes for all the projects and mini inspiration projects. You'll find lots of help with techniques (in addition to the comprehensive chapter at the beginning of the book) as well as details of common pitfalls.

As I mentioned previously, there are projects that could easily be made for other times of the year beyond Christmas. Perhaps try the present earrings in non-festive colours for a special birthday or make a cute Owl bauble or Prague bauble that is perfect for any season?

Even the Wenceslas Bauble would be a gorgeous decoration with jewel colours that remind you of an Indian Summer.

I always like to try a project from the book I am reviewing and so it's really useful to find a comprehensive list of all the bead packs available to buy to complement the designs in the book. You'll find a sheet with all the pack details and prices (with handy page references) tucked into the front cover of your copy. You'll even find a separate section on the Spellbound website containing all the packs to go with the book.

I decided to try the Seraphim angel and completed it in around an hour. You'll find enough beads in the pack to make at least three angels so at £6.95 is really is good value. It's also available in silver. You'll need to provide your own coordinating thread but a needle is included in the pack. 

GIVEAWAY!Like our Facebook page and like and share our giveaway post to win a copy of this book and a Snowflake Strands bead pack too!

Festive Beading Three is available from the Spellbound Bead Co website, priced at £14.95

ISBN 978-0956503084

Book review - Spellbound Floral Beaded Jewellery by Julie Ashford

All small bead enthusiasts will have been eagerly awaiting the latest book from expert designer, Julie Ashford. 
‘Floral Beaded Jewellery’, published by Spellbound Bead Co, is 112 pages of beautiful, nature-inspired jewellery designs for beginner beaders through to experienced beadworkers.

Open the front cover and the first thing you will find is a very useful loose page that lists all the available bead packs to accompany the projects in the book. Each pack is priced and the different colour options are referenced to pages in the book which is a really helpful detail.

Turn the page and you’ll see that the book is divided up into two sections, the first covering basic information and techniques (including a double page spread on the supplies you will use) and the second (divided into chapters) presenting the projects themselves.

Getting started

Stitches, thread tips and basic motifs

The introduction explains the difficulty levels assigned to the projects — two rosebuds indicates a design where you will get to practise a technique with a repeating motif, whilst a four rosebud project will involve several stages building to a finished piece. There is a good balance of easier and more difficult projects in the book.

The tips and techniques chapter covers basic stitches and has some good ideas for making following the instructions easier. Creating a bookmark as a quick reference for beads and their codes is definitely a simple idea that I will be using! And if you want to practise on something small before diving into one of the projects, you can create a finished item in relatively quick time using the instructions in the simple motifs section.

'Inspiration' designs based on the main project

The projects

A good project to begin with is the two rosebud rated ‘Carmen’ which teaches you a star-shaped flower motif that is then repeated to create a necklace or bracelet. The main project is shown in the olive/purple colourway but the other available colourways are also pictured in the project pages. In addition to the main project, there are more designs inspired by the original design including one which adds texture and depth to the flower motif you learnt for Carmen.

Two-rosebud project - Eloise

There are two more two-rosebud level projects (Daffodil and Eloise). You’ll learn to create foliage as well as flowers and add some sparkle with faceted beads. The inspiration projects will have you adding beaded tassels.

Stepping up a level, you’ll find some brightly coloured project choices in the ‘Papillon’ and ‘Sunflower’ chapters. I particularly like the sweet honey bee earrings included in the sunflower collection and the additional projects in the butterfly themed chapter could actually be a great place to start if you want to create a finished piece quickly.

A beehive box!

Also in the three rosebud category are the ‘Bluebell’ and ‘Honeycomb’ collection of designs.  The white variation on the bluebell necklace would make a stunning bridal piece whilst the honeycomb chapter even includes a unique beaded beehive box!  (I have the Honeycomb bracelet bead pack and will let you know how I get on with it in a later blog post!).

Serene Senensis

There are two four-rosebud rated projects to have a go at. If you are a confident beadstitcher already I am sure you could jump straight into the rather delicate and beautiful ‘Kyoto’ necklace. This design is one of the pieces on the front cover and includes herringbone rope sections as well as the buds and blossoms. The other cover star is the ‘Sinensis’ necklace and this project is another example where simply changing the colours of the beads used could transform the motif from flower to catkin! (Don’t be afraid to play with the colours in any of Julie’s designs to get equally beautiful results!).

The verdict

If you loved the previous titles from Julie Ashford (Spellbinding Bead Jewellery, Beaded Tassels, Festive Beading 1 and 2), you will certainly not be disappointed with this latest book.  If you are new to Julie’s designs then you will find her instructions clear and easy to follow with plenty of diagrams and helpful hints to ensure you get great results. The book is full of photographs of the finished pieces in virtually every colourway and with ready-made bead packs available for many of the designs, it couldn’t be easier to get started.

‘Spellbound Floral Beaded Jewellery’ is £14.95 and can be ordered via the Spellbound Bead Co website.

Beads & Beyond....and beyond!

Another exciting chapter begins...

I would never have foreseen the huge jewellery making journey I was about to embark on when I took my first steps into the world of beads. Looking back over the last six years or so, I have grown so much in my creativity and had some wonderful opportunities - how can the next six years live up to it? 

An unexpected journey

When I first picked up a pair of pliers in 2009 and was shown how to make simple loops and open jump rings, little did I know that it was the beginning of a passion that would become so much more than a hobby. When I began making jewellery for friends and set up my own little craft business on Facebook in 2011, I still had no idea where it might take me, and when I won the Beads & Beyond Jewellery Maker of the Year competition in 2012 and became a regular designer for the magazine, I could never have thought that I might one day be Editor of my favourite beading title! 

A month in the life of...

In my 22 months as Editor, I was often asked what it was like to work in publishing and on a monthly craft magazine. When I first applied for the role, I have to admit that I was imagining a glamorous office with a whole team working on each issue and a big photography studio where projects were left to be styled and photographed by a team of photographers. I was more than a little worried that my lack of editorial experience or knowledge of publishing would be very obvious and that I would struggle in such a fast-moving and high-powered environment. 

When I arrived at the publisher's offices on an industrial estate in Malvern, I was relieved to find a family company based in very unglamorous offices. There was a small team of editors working on numerous craft and model-making titles with an even smaller team of designers, a single photographer and just one editorial assistant to support all the craft titles. I couldn't believe that such a great magazine could be produced by so few people, but loved the idea that the editor had complete control of each issue, from commissioning projects right through to the final proofs. It was my dream job and when I received the letter offering me the position, I knew I had to take such a fantastic opportunity even though it was initially just a temporary position while the current editor took maternity leave. Within three weeks, I was commuting to the Traplet offices from Tamworth and starting an intensive handover! Three weeks later and we had relocated to Malvern, renting an amazing house right on the hills and I was editing my first issue of Beads & Beyond ON MY OWN!

Unless you have worked in publishing, you probably wouldn't be aware just how far ahead editors work to allow time for commissioning, editing, designing and printing. I would spend many days each month working ahead by at least three months, sometimes more, to come up with themes, decide on which techniques to include and contact contributors for project ideas as well as co-ordinate the designer challenge and pick an interviewee for the meet and greet pages. There would then be a short period of to-ing and fro-ing before projects were finally scheduled for an issue along with all the other regular features. Designers were generally given 4-6 weeks to make and write up a project then you needed a week or two to edit and get it photographed before the designer could lay it up in the right format for the magazine. Whilst the designers were working on their tutorials for a future issue, I would be editing and proofing the next issue, writing blog content to accompany it all whilst promoting it and the current issue on social media. At any one time, I would be juggling a minimum of three issues on a day to day basis which required fastidious organisation and a real focus on deadlines. I relied on a single Excel spreadsheet to tell me exactly where I was at with every issue and to track issues that could impact on print date. There could be all sorts of minor issues or mishaps that could suddenly require me to re-jig the magazine, find additional content or rework several pages. Being editor was not always plain sailing. I would often have to reorganise the issue several times before the pages were final - projects might turn out to be more or less pages than planned, or occasionally not arrive in time. Designer challenge beads have been known to go missing or challenge pieces not make it in one piece. On more than one occasion I found myself writing a last minute project or making some challenge pieces to fill some missing pages - it certainly helped to be a contributing editor in these situations!

Alongside the writing and editing of projects, articles and regular features, I was also responsible for styling all the jewellery pieces for photography with help from my assistant, Aimee. Aimee took over from Rosa at the end of 2013 and managed all the administrative tasks for the magazine like sending projects and prizes out. However she also wrote some great blog articles and even modelled the occasional piece of jewellery for photographs. There was a huge array of props to choose from but I also provided a lot of styling bits and bobs from my own stash of interesting and quirky items. You would not believe the amount of 'useful' stuff that I have amassed over the years from charity shops, antique shops and jumble sales. I also really enjoyed shopping for 'real life' props such as oranges, cocktail snacks and even a Cornish pasty! Take a look through your back issues and see how many 'fresh' props you can spot!

One of our regular features was the Top 10. This was planned months in advance and our beautiful projects were provided by our advertisers to promote their beads and their beading expertise! Some months, we were inundated with top 10 pieces and I would be forced to leave some out of the printed magazine and publish them on the website. Other months, both myself and Aimee would need to make something to make up the numbers and keep the feature to the planned number of pages. This was always a bonus because it gave me the chance to make something and to teach Aimee a new technique!

Whilst all this work was going on with magazine content, both myself and Aimee would be managing all the social media for the title, including the very popular mini design challenges on Facebook. I would also be working with my designer, Ruth, on revamping features, coming up with new ideas (such as the 'make it easy' series) and organising additional bonus content on the blog. For the final issue, we even filmed a project video. We'd also be planning special features and competitions, sourcing the latest hot products and books for review,and organising giveaways.

The onward journey...

There was never a moment spare in the Beads & Beyond schedule and I have to say that it has been a welcome relief to step off the publishing treadmill and take a breather. I am enjoying creating for fun and writing for me again. I am really looking forward to bringing you some of the same content I used to provide for the magazine but to my own schedule! Online craft content is the way forward and I have lots planned for the coming months here on this blog, over on my Facebook page and on Pinterest. I do hope you will join me on my onward journey...