Cynthia Thornton, jewelry artist and storyteller, has combined her love of both to produce a book which is the portal to a magical journey. Filled with techniques she developed in the Green Girl Studios, Cynthia introduces you to characters that each need a special piece of jewelry, for a very special reason. You’ll find yourself getting just as caught up in the narrative as you do in the projects, wondering how it is all going to end!

Enchanted Adornments begins with a wonderful technique section, where readers are taken step by step through creating mixed-media jewelry with resin, PMC, polymer clay, …read more

Here is a book that I can whole-heartedly recommend to beginners who want to make great looking jewelry, and want it FAST!
Chain Style
by Jane Dickerson
There’s nothing like adding chain to your design, or even designing an entire piece around chain, to make the design work up quickly. Chain is an excellent material for both beginners and those with advanced skills, because the complexity of your projects is only limited by experience and imagination.
The techniques and materials section is minimal but sufficient.  Largely this is because the projects are all so accessible.  There are 50 designs to inspire you, many …read more

Think of this new book as an overview of what is possible.  It’s not nearly detailed enough to be a true how-to book, but it covers so many different materials that it will probably boggle your mind with possibilities and send you racing for your notebook!

The Encyclopedia of Contemporary Jewelry Making Techniques
by Vannetta Seecharran
This book covers far more than beading techniques, so look elsewhere if you’d like an introduction to beadwork.  This is a guide for an experimental jewelry who wants to create one-of-a-kind jewelry using modern techniques and materials.  There are instructions and photographs outlining how to work with …read more

Seed Bead Fusion
by Rachel Nelson-Smith
Rachel Nelson-Smith has decided not to be bound by the usual rules about beading. Instead of starting with one stitch and sticking with it, she invites us to mix them up. The results are 18 projects of stunning beauty. Rachel likes to add bumps, waves, ruffles, and other textures to her work, which takes each of these projects from merely nice to amazing. She also likes to showcase several different color schemes, so that you’ll never feel hemmed in by just one choice.
The highlight of this book for me is that I can heartily recommend it …read more

Contemporary Copper Jewelry
by Sharilyn Miller
I love Sharilyn Miller’s work. Primarily known as a wire jewelry artist, Sharilyn also works in many other media. She was the original editor of Belle Armoire magazine, which I adore. This new book contains a great techniques section, followed by page after page of Sharilyn’s one-of-a-kind designs. The best feature of this book is the photography. There are a gazillion photos, one for each major step in the process of creating your own wire and metal pieces.
Several other designers have contributed projects to this book. I love many of them, a few I’m not so …read more

This is one of the most unique polymer clay books that I’ve seen!  It begins with the usual solid information on materials, tools, and techniques that you’ll find in many books, but that’s where the similarity ends.
Ronna’s style is primitive, organic, and full of joy.   If you’ve been looking for opportunities to shed the rules and just see what happens, this may be the perfect book for you.

Ancient Modern Polymer Clay and Wire Jewelry
by Ronna Sarvas Weltman
The style of this jewelry will not be for everyone, so if you don’t care for the piece on the cover, it is very indicative …read more

Oh good!  Another beautiful wire jewelry book to review and give away to a lucky reader!

Denise Peck is the editor of Step by Step Wire Jewelry magazine, and she has written 101 Wire Earrings, Step-by-Step Projects and Techniques.  The first part of the books covers the basics of wire, the tools, and all the techniques you’ll need to make all of the projects in the book.  This section is excellent, with clear photos and well-written instructions.
The main part of the book is devoted to the projects.  Each of the 101 earring designs has a photo, a list of all tools …read more

Glass, affordable, stylish…and sparkly!   What a winning combination that is.  Beaders and jewelry makers have had a long term love affair with glass beads, and now Marlene Blessing and Jamie Hogsett have teamed up to bring us a wonderful beginner guide to working with glass beads.
Create Jewelry Glass
Create Jewelry Glass is divided into three main sections: classics, special occasion, and fashion forward.  Techniques are explained and build upon each other so that you can create more advanced designs as you work through the book.  None of the techniques are really difficult, so this would be a nice book for beginners …read more

Another wonderful entry in the Dummies series!  This one, Jewelry and Beading Designs for Dummies was co-written by Heather H Dismore and my friend Tammy Powley.  Both have extensive experience with writing directions for beginner projects, making both simple and complicated steps clear.
Jewelry & Beading Designs for Dummies
by Heather H Dismore & Tammy Powley
This book is a follow up to the original Jewelry Making and Beading for Dummies, so if you are a complete beginner, you will probably need this book first.  The current book is focused more on designs and creating finished pieces, although they do cover many basic …read more

More than 75 different designs, with fool proof instructions and lots of backstory information on the materials, Designing Jewelry with Semiprecious Beads is a book that stone enthusiasts will love!
Designing Jewelry with Semiprecious Beads
by Kim Gover
There are so many features that make this a useful book, starting with the bead directory that teaches you about the characteristics and best companions for each stone covered.  A project selector will help you to quickly eyeball the design that you wanted to try next.  Next you move on to the actual projects, with amazing diagrams and more information.  These are each cross-referenced to …read more