Book Review: Beadweaving Beyond the Basics, by Kassie Shaw

It was an honor to be asked to review Kassie Shaw's new book, "Beadweaving Beyond the Basics."  I was sent the preview pdf file of her book and have spent several hours thoroughly enjoying it. 

The book includes 24 beading designs and each design has beautiful photos and clear instructions.  But it is so much more than just a book full of patterns.  In her introduction, Kassie states that her goal in writing the book was not only to teach readers how to create the designs, but also to inspire everyone to discover their own creativity and ideas.  She certainly accomplished this goal with me.  I can hardly wait to finish up my current projects and begin exploring with the ideas that came to mind as I read each chapter of her book.

Kassie writes that the main purpose of the book is to teach some intermediate level variations on basic stitches, and then use them as jumping off points for readers to create their own designs.  Her purpose is very clear in all three chapters of the book as she takes us from a "primer" that explains the basic bead weaving stitch through her thought process that led her to create the next design.  Beaders who want to create their own designs will find this book a very practical and inspiring tool to help them become designers of their own original work.

The primary beading stitch Kassie teaches is Right Angle Weave (RAW), but instructions on other basic stitches such as Herringbone (Flat and Tubular), Cubic Right Angle Weave (CRAW), Peyote (Even and Odd Count), and St. Petersburg Stitch are also included.

The three main chapters explore variations of Right Angle Weave (RAW):  1)  Double Diamond RAW,  2)  Faux RAW, and 3) Layered RAW.  The way Kassie explains each technique and explores the possibility of new designs using these techniques inspired me as a designer and I highly recommend this book to others.  

Innuendo - Metal Beads and Swarovski Bling

A while back (ok, many months ago), I finished a new bracelet I called Rhapsody.  I used 24k gold plated metal beads to create a right angle weave base and added some Swarovski bicone crystal embellishment on top.

I had every intention of making my Rhapsody bracelet in silver and then creating a tutorial showing them in both colorways.  Somehow during the beading, the plans changed and I ended up with a simpler bracelet.  It uses the same techniques, same right angle weave base and craw embellishment, but there are some differences I'm sure you can see.  I omitted the diamond cluster of crystals in the middle of the bracelet and those going down the sides.  I used round vitrail crystals in the same grouping of four down the center of the bracelet.  Here's how it turned out.

 

Since I'm a silver kind of girl, I like the silver one best.  I created a tutorial for it and the Innuendo pattern is now available in my Etsy shop.

 

I also sell the size 8 silver plated metal beads and the Elegant Elements clasp used in the project. 

 

 

If you like the gold one best and you know cubic right angle weave, it would be very easy to add the extra embellishment.  Whichever you like best, I hope they inspire you to create something today.

 

Happy Beading! 

Metal Bead Sampler Kit and Pattern

I have had this as one of my goals for over a year.  It feels good to finally accomplish making my first beading pattern and kit.  I could not have accomplished this without the help of several friends. 

I thought at first I would learn Adobe Illustrator and Marcia DeCoster invited me to her place and spent a couple hours going over the basics of how to shape and color the beads, place, rotate and group them, and create the thread path going through them.  I went home to practice and after several days, my frustration resulted in a few tears.  I feel I let Marcia down a bit (although she swears that is not the case). I have not given up on AI - just put it on the back burner for a little while.

I shared my struggle on facebook, and received suggestions from several beaders who make patterns, but I didn't have the programs they suggested.  Eva Dobos of deEva Designs (who is from Hungary) explained how she uses Word to do all of her beautiful patterns.  Isn't it amazing that someone I've never met in person from half way around the world would come to my aid and be such a support?  I caught on to using Word pretty easily and within a week or two I had created my very first pattern (with diagrams) for my Metal Bead Sampler Bracelet.

Two other facebook friends, Carol Dean Sharpe of SandFibers and Cynthia Newcomer Daniels of  Jewelry Tales (both of whom have created and sold many beautiful beading patterns) proofread the pattern and offered excellent suggestions for improvements.  I am forever grateful to all the wonderful beading friends who so generously gave their time and expertise to help me.

If you buy the tutorial only, you will need to purchase the metal beads and a clasp from your local bead store.  If they do not currently stock those, you can ask them to order them from the Beadsmith (formerly Helby) Company.  The tutorial lists all the required supplies.

For anyone who cannot locate the metal beads and clasp, I have also created a kit that includes all the metal and glass beads, Elegant Elements clasp, Fireline thread and two needles, along with the 10 page tutorial.  Both the tutorial and kit are available in both my Etsy and ArtFire shops.

It is such a wonderful feeling to accomplish a goal but I can't quite cross it off of the list yet because now there are more patterns and kits to be made.  My todo list has actually gotten longer (sigh) - but that's a story for another day.   Happy Beading!