book recommendations, new listing

There are several new jewelry/bead weaving books that I've checked out lately that I haven't mentioned here yet. The first is Custom Cool Jewelry: Create 200+ Personalized Pendants, Charms, and Clasps by Melinda Barta, which I got for my birthday. This is not specifically a bead weaving book and only has a couple ideas that incorporate any bead weaving. However, I will still get a lot of inspiration from this book. I really think that anyone who makes jewelry will. Melinda combines a lot of different materials in unique ways. The pictures and directions are pretty good.

There are also a couple books that I've recently checked out from the library. The first is The Pattern Companion of Beading by Ann Benson. This book covers a wide range of projects in a number of different stitches for both loom and offloom techniques for a pretty wide range of skills. The only thing I was really disappointed about with this book was the pictures. The directions are decent but the only pictures are small and honestly of pretty poor quality. They don't reflect the genius and beauty of the bead work. The second is The Art of Beaded Beads: Exploring Design, Color, & Technique edited by Jean Campbell, which has been the most inspiring book of the three. Any of you who bead weave probably already know that Jean Campbell is awesome. This book is no exception. That's really all there is to way about that. If you are interested in bead weaving at all, you will be inspired by something in this book.

I listed another square stitch cuff today. This one is in dark blue and dark turquoise. I posted a sneak peak of it a while back. Click on the pictures to check out the listing!


I am still thoroughly enjoying these square stitch cuffs. I completed a neutral one this weekend. I'm thinking about doing a bright one next: orange, yellow, and maybe some bright red...kind of a tropical color theme. This weekend I also took pictures of my newest 3D triangle earrings, the new cuff, and a couple more vintage button studs, plus I assembled a handful of new earrings, magnets, and tacks. Yay for nice weather!