Book Recommendations

 
















I've been asked a couple of times now what books and/or magazines I would recommend to the beginning beader. Just to be clear, I know virtually nothing about stringing, lampworking, chainmaille or wirework. (Wirework actually intimidates the heck out of me.) Bead-weaving, though, I know pretty well.

My first recommendations to any beginning bead-weaver would be Beth Stone's two excellent books - Seed Bead Stitching and More Seed Bead Stitching. Both are easily found at Chapters-Indigo or Amazon.

I love Beth Stone's attitude towards beading - grab some beads and play! You'd be amazed as to what might happen. It has certainly inspired me to go beyond some of my many "oops" moments when I'm creating a new piece to see what would happen if I kept going. Her instructions are very clear and the visuals are genuinely helpful. At first I was taken aback a bit on her choice of beads to photograph for her examples - many books are as pretty as they are informative. To be blunt, some of the bead choices I find butt-ugly. However, it makes extremely clear how the stitch builds on each preceding section. Who can really argue with that? 

I've seen this disclaimer on other sites, so I figure I'd add it here - Beth Stone has no idea who I am. I just really like her books.

Wouldn't it be neat if she did know who I was though!

Bead Artists I admire: Sandra D. Halpenny

I realized that it has been a long time since I updated by blog. Things got crazy-busy at my school this past month, and I let this slip. My apologies.

Although this is a blog about my own beadweaving adventures, I thought I'd do a few entries on Bead Artists who have had a genuine influence over my work, whether they know it or not.

The first person who comes to mind would be Sandra D. Halpenny. Living in Ontario, Canada, her online web presence has reached beaders worldwide. Her for-sale patterns consist primarily of net-weave variants (and oh, what variants they are!), and peyote, but don't be fooled. She has entered many a contest as a beadweaving professional, and it's not just net-weave! She was one of the first Bead Artists I discovered, first through her free patterns. As a beginning beadweaver, I found her instructions extremely clear, both written and in her diagrams. The diagrams were so complete, I hardly looked at the text after a while. It was her designs that really let me enjoy beading and start to treat it as a meditative exercise.

I highly recommend Sandra's patterns for any skill level - I truly believe that whether beginner or advanced, you will find some quiet joy in completing one of her patterns. To let you know I put my money where my mouth is, I have purchased almost all of her e-books available on her site, and they have given me endless hours of beading enjoyment. I have not completed all of the patterns I have purchased, else I wouldn't be experimenting with anything else!

Sandra, thank you for sharing your talent with the rest of us!