Description:

Full title: "Dazzling Beaded Jewelry: 50 Great Projects"
Author: Jackie Guerra with Kyle Crowner
Publisher: Lark Books
Pages: 128

About the Author:
Jackie Guerra is the host of "DIY Network"'s programme "Jewelry Making" and has been creating jewellery since she was a child. She has gathered here fifty beaded jewellery projects created by top designers from her popular tv show to include in the volume.

Review:
My sister saw this book and bought it for me as a gift. Honestly, I can only say I’m glad it wasn’t my own money. Jackie Guerra starts out with about 13 pages briefly introducing materials, tools, and basic beading techniques. This is reasonably well done, although I’ve seen both clearer and more detailed examples elsewhere.

At this point the book starts presenting 50 projects seperated into the categories of “Simple Stringing”, “Wire Wrapping”, “Knitting, Crochet, & Knotting”, and “Bead Weaving”. Due to my general dislike of this book I’m afraid the rest of my review will come across quite harshly, so I would like to make clear firstly that each of the varied projects does at least attempt to introduce a difference technique to the reader, from pmc to polymers, using leather thonging or chain, making wire rings etc. However, each of the projects are either so simple that the techniques are excessively explained, or so complicated a design that there is not enough space to explain the new techniques properly, leaving even a more experianced jeweller feeling a bit lost, let alone a beginner. The designs also all give an overly specific “Materials” and “Tools” list, leaving a reader feeling like they HAVE to have the EXACT materials and tools specified, with no room for compromise or individual inventiveness. Lastly, the designs themselves are not that execeptional. They are either simplistic to the point of being boring, or they base their prettiness on the use of particularly lovely charms, rather than the skills of the jeweller. There is perhaps a handful of exceptions out of the 50 projects given, all of which you could find similar examples of in the free or under $5 listings in jewelrylessons.com’s tutorials. Perfect photography fails to cover up these flaws. It certainly remains in the realms of beginners jewellery making, with nothing of advanced techniques.

I believe the major flaw with this book is that the author did not create the projects herself. Rather, as a "diy network" presenter she gathered the projects from a collective of different contributors, all of whom seemed to have a different intent behind their presented project. The result seems to have no cohesiveness as anything other than a simple introduction.

Summary:
While a complete novice would probably find this to be a good introduction to the broader range of jewellery techniques available, I would not recommend this book to any jeweller with more than a few weeks experiance.