Blurb: Beads have been used for decoration for centuries. Available in a huge array of colours, shapes and sizes, they are beautiful, adaptable, and easy to work with. These practical projects show how you can add detail, texture, colour and originality to garments and accessories by incorporating beads into your knitting, crochet and needlework. Learn traditional and contemporary techniques such as bead weaving, stringing, wirework and strand-knotting, and even find out how to make your own beads.

My thoughts: Just in case you were wondering, no, this blog is not turning into a craft blog. But since I recently started to look into jewelry making and at the same time try to review every book I read, I decided to have a shot at this non fiction book.

If you want to make your own jewelry, don’t know what you might like, what techniques you might want to use and generally have no clue as to how to do what, this is the perfect start. It is exactly what the title says, an encyclopedia that talks about materials, tools and techniques in detail. Everything is explained with the help of great photos that show exactly what to do and how to do it.

Sara Withers doesn’t lecture on what colors to use and what materials to get but rather encourages the reader to find their own style and gives them the knowledge to go and try stuff out until they do. You won’t find any projects that tell you exactly what materials to get to recreate exactly that one piece of jewelry. The books very effectively gets you acquainted with what materials and techniques are out there, so you are able to go and create jewelry your way.

Highly recommended.

Available on amazon (you can have a look inside there as well)