Today is Book Day: featuring Marcia DeCoster, Jean Campbell and a few Japanese Bead Books

I’m in book heaven at the moment so I thought I’d share a few of my finds.
I’ve been searching for some marquis beads so that I can make some Art Deco style earrings. I’m sure I’d have them if I was willing to pay through the nose for them but I only need two and I’m feeling rather thrifty about the whole thing. In my search for the stone beads as well as for more Art Deco style Jewelry patterns I found two beaders that I’m absolutely in love with: Jean Campbell and Marcia Decoster. I simply adore their work. Incidentally I have for a while. I recognized a few of their patterns online, which prompted me to pull out my “Hope to make this someday” binder, and I’ve already got quite a few of their patterns. Yay!
I confess that I’m a pattern hoarder. While browsing books online at Amazon I found a bead book for under $3, which I initially thought might make a fun give away.I needed to break $25 for free shipping though so I convinced myself that I had to order something else. All together I ordered “Handmade Underground Jewelry” by Shannon Le Vart, “Creating Glamorous Jewelry” by Jean Campbell and “Beaded Opulence” by Marcia Decoster.

I wasn’t sure what to expect from “Handmade Underground Jewelry”. It didn’t get the best reviews on Amazon but who am I to turn down a $3 beading book. It’s much better than I thought it would be and now I’m contemplating ordering another copy to give away.. I just need to justify spending another $23 to get my free shipping. It actually has some pretty cute stuff in it. You will not find the necklace that is on the cover in the book which is a bit bothersome.  The patterns in the book are geared more for the younger crowd but the designs are fun. It’s a great book for a novice beader and even better for a teenage girl. I happen to have one of those on hand, and I’m looking forward to helping her with some of the project in the book.

Marcia Decoster’s “Beaded Opulence” certainly wasn’t a let down. It’s a hardback book which makes it’s current price an even better deal. Marathon Man saw the book sitting on the counter and even stopped to say “that’s gorgeous” about the piece on the cover. Opulent indeed. I’m particularly in love with the Medici drop earrings and the Etruscan Treasure necklace. The designs look time consuming, but very do-able. I love clear and concise instructions.

I’ve got to tell you that when it came to Jean Campbell I had a really difficult time deciding which book to order. It was a toss up between “Creating Glamourous Jewelry” and “Beadwork Inspired by Art: Art Nouveau Jewelry and Accessories” It was a tough call but I’m pleased as punch with my purchase. Im not sure what I’m going to make fist but it will probably be either “Ann”,”Cleo” or “Grace”. Each design accompanies a photo of a Hollywood starlet. Jean did a fabulous job with her interpretations of the jewelry in the photos. Again, very easy to understand instructions and I looove that she includes the numbers for the swarovski elements that you need.

And that brings me to my Japanese books. I was super stoked to discover that they came in the mail yesterday and I spent quite a bit of my evening last night pouring over them.

“Honey Beads Japanese Book”  was a nice surprise. I love buying from Bookstoron on ebay. The books always arrive earlier than I think they will, they are nicely packaged, the package includes a hand written “thank you” and a folded origami crane. It’s like getting a little present from a friend in the mail.  I’ll even pay a dollar or two more if I need to to order from them as I’ve always had good experiences doing business with them. Buy with confidence.  At any rate, one of the things that I love about the books toron store is that they show so many patterns in the book. I like to know what I’m getting. They can’t, however, show them all. It’s always a treat when a book shows up loaded with what I consider bonus patterns. This is certainly one of those books. I don’t read a lick of Japanese so I struggle with figuring out the appropriately sized seed beads but for everything else, the bead sizes are given in mm. I’ve had trouble finding size 5mm fire polish beads in colors I want to use. Fortunately this book uses mostly 4 and 6mm beads.

I can’t find the other two books that I ordered on Ebay so I can’t create links to them. One has a photo of a little girl on the cover and it has some super cute stuff in it including, necklaces ,bracelets, earrings, barrettes, and crowns..all for little girls.

The other book has a cover that is mostly pink and (in English) it sports the words “Floral Motif Beads Accessories”. This is a particularly cool book because it contains instructions to make 26 different crystal flowers.  I bought it for the pink Dianthus that is on the cover but quite a few of them look intriguing.  THe down side is that this book is going to make you want to buy stock in Swarovski. Much like “Creating Glamorous Jewelry”, there is a lot of bling in this book.

Happy beading. I’m still waiting for my partially filled bead order to show up.  Fusion offered me a discount code to use on my next order.  I know it happens but now I’ve got to figure out what I”m going to do with the rest of the beads that I ordered for that particular project. Or, you know… I’ll just try my luck with Art Beads