Book Review: Wanderlust - Travel Inspired Jewelry

Hi friends!

Today I'm reviewing a jewelry craft book I received from Leisure Arts entitled Wanderlust .  These easy travel-inspired jewelry designs  are created with different destinations in mind.  Whether you like the beach, the wide open west or you are more of a city person and favor New York or Paris, there is something for you in this book.  You can create them to wear in your travels or in remembrance of them.

Wanderlust

I especially recommend this book for those who are new to jewelry making.  The only skill needed to create these jewelry designs is opening and closing jump rings.  That's it!

The designs were created by the very accomplished Lena Prima, a singer, recording artist, songwriter, artist and author.  She also has her own line of jewelry "Pennies from Heaven".  Her jewelry line is named in remembrance of her father, Louis Prima, who was a famous singer.  Depending on your age, you may remember his rendition of "Pennies from Heaven".  If you are younger, you'll remember the song "I Wanna Be Like You" from Disney's The Jungle Book.

Here's the design I chose as inspiration.  It's called New England Weekend, and I thought it would be perfect for the upcoming fall season.  Plus, I happened to have some of these brass leaves in my stash!

New England Weekend

This set is created with beaded chain, which makes it super quick and easy.  I didn't have that, so I created my own chain with beads in fall colors.  Turning a simple loop is the only added skill. 

Here's my version:

You might notice that there is some variation in the color of the leaves.  I added some brown alcohol ink to give the leaves more interest and dimension.  I added more dimension by curling and twisting the leaves with pliers.  These filigree leaves are so easy to bend, you can do it with your fingers.

Here's another photo of the necklace in different light.

You can see the effect of the bending and the ink more clearly on my earrings.  You could also use patinas on these leaves for interesting effects.

I recommend this book especially for those of you new to jewelry making.  With the use of only one skill and pre-made chains and components, you will become a jewelry maker in no time!  Those who are more skilled will also find lots of great ideas.  You'll love the looks created with layered necklaces and chains to create a trendy fashion statement.

Have fun creating travel-inspired jewelry while you listen to Lena's music.  You can find this book on the Leisure Arts website here.  And, listen to the wonderful song styling of Lena Prima here.

Book Review: Bead Weaving Made Easy

Hi all,

Today I'm reviewing a book I received from Leisure Arts:  Bead Weaving Made Easy.  These projects are made using square stitch and peyote stitch. Now, if you've seen my work, most of it is made using stringing, wire work and mixed media usually with larger beads, so this was quite a change for me.  It was truly a challenge!  But, I've long wanted to overcome my fear of these teeny beads, so I bravely charged onward!

To begin, I needed to learn peyote stitch.  I started out following the instructions with 11/0 beads.  After struggling, I decided to use some larger beads until I got the hang of the stitch.  I recommend this if you have never worked with the stitch or size 11/0 beads.  I switched to 6/0 beads, which are larger, and was able to get into the rhythm of the peyote stitch.  Here's my first attempt below:

So, switching back to the smaller beads, I followed the instructions to construct a bead for the Tower Pendant featured in the book.  This project looked like a good place to start - small in size and I liked the look of it combined with the other beads.

Tower Pendant from Bead Weaving Made Easy

Since the instructions said 12 rows, that is what I did.  So far, so good.  Here's my work. 

I connected the ends into a tube and noticed that my bead was squishy and wanted to go flat - not like the bead in the photo. Hmmm...I looked at the photo and counted the rows.  Six rows!  No wonder I had a floppy bead.  So, there is a small mistake in the written instructions. 

But, I was too proud of my first real attempt at making a beaded bead to let it go to waste!  So, when making the pendant, I inserted a small round bead into the center of the tube to give it some sturdiness and it worked fine.

Here's my pendant:

My Tower Pendant

There are a few things I learned while stitching this project that might be of help to you:

Getting started with the base row is the hardest part.  Once you have the first two rows, it's an easy stitch.

Keep your thread tight and keep working with the piece to tighten it if it loosens up.  Tighten your work after each row to keep the beads in line.

To keep the work tight, hold it in your non-dominant hand while stitching.

If you use larger beads, you need heavier thread.


Not content with my first attempt, I decided to make two more beads (the right size this time!) and use them for a pair of earrings.  Here are my beads.  They are only about 1/2" long.

I combined these with faceted blue glass, crazy lace rondelles, turquoise howlite rondelles and indicolite crystals to create long dangles:

Now, that I've got the hang of peyote stitch, I'm excited about learning more and trying more of the projects from this book, Bead Weaving Made Easy.  And, even with just this one bead design, there are so many ways to use it.  I'm happy to finally have this stitch in my beading repertoire!

Happy Beading!

Terry

PS  I received a copy of this book free from Leisure Arts as part of their blogger review program.  All opinions are my own.

Book Review: Button Lover's Jewelry

Hello crafty people!

On my desk today is a lovely new book that I received from Leisure Arts:  Button Lover's Jewelry.  I love using buttons in my craft and jewelry designs, so I was eager to look through this new book. 

Button Lover's Jewelry

As you can see from the cover, there are bracelets, earrings and necklaces made with very interesting buttons in this book.  And the buttons used are some of my favorites from Dritz® .

As part of my review, I wanted to create one of the projects.  There were so many cute designs that it was hard to choose.  All of these projects could be successfully made by a beginning crafter following the clear and easy instructions.  I think this book would be perfect for tweens, teens and anyone who loves buttons.

I decided to try the Denim and Lace Cuff Bracelet as I love to work with denim and have a lot of it around.  It's one of my favorite craft materials.

There are a few denim cuffs in the book.  This one is the Denim and Lace Cuff Bracelet.  I love the contrast of the denim and lace.

Denim and Lace Cuff Bracelet

I didn't have a cuff from a jacket, so I cut part of the waistband from a pair of old jeans.

A heavy pair of scissors is needed for this.  This pair from Fiskars is perfect for cutting through heavy fabric like denim.  I cut close to the edge of the waistband.

Then, I removed the belt loops.

I'm going to use the buttonhole as part of my bracelet design, but if you want to attach the button closures as the author did in the book, you can cut a strip of fabric or cut a piece of the waistband without the buttonhole.

Dritz® buttons are featured in the book, and I had a lot of those in my button collection already as I love using them in my jewelry.  These are the ones I had, but I needed a few more!

Here's what I finally decided on for this bracelet.  Most of the buttons are coconut with one yellow patterned polyester set. 

I found my sewing machine, dusted it off, and used it to tack down the ends of the lace.  But, you could do this with a fabric glue also, or you could hand sew it.  I sewed around the buttonhole also since I needed to cut through the lace for the opening.

Then, I sewed on the buttons.

Denim and Lace Cuff

Denim and Lace Cuff

Here's the back:

This cuff turned out to be a combination of a couple of the cuff designs in the book.  I used the lace and stacked buttons from this design and the placement from another cuff design in the book.   

Most of the other designs in this book are simpler than this and involve stringing on cord, gluing, simple attachments with jump rings or easy jewelry-making skills.  There is something for everyone to make easily with this great assortment of jewelry designs.  I think this book plus an assortment of buttons and stringing materials would make a great gift for anyone who loves jewelry.  And, of course, you can't beat the buttons!

I hope you enjoyed this book review.  I received a copy of this book for review, but the opinions are completely my own.  Stop in again next month for another jewelry book review.  Interested in this book? Check the Leisure Arts website.

Happy Crafting!
Terry