Beading With Peyote Stitch: A Beadwork How-To Book (Beadwork How-to Book)

Rating:
Summary: good expansion on peyote
Review: I am an experienced beader and liked this book because it expands on peyote's capabilities.Some examples are: making different shapes in peyote, curling, tubular, free-form,and beading in the round. There is a great project section followed by an excellent gallery section.

Rating:
Summary: BEADSTRUCK IN COLORADO
Review: I have finally found a book that takes beading to the height of its' art potential. This is not a book for beaders who enjoy following patterns but is a really unique source for stretching your creative abilties with this medium. You will find the designs quite contemporary and sophisticated, not a good book for the more conservative bead artist. And artist, not beader you will call yourself if inspired by this book.

Rating:
Summary: Worth buying, worth reading, worth keeping, and a warning
Review: One of the few instructional beading books that also makes good reading. Sure, it's a must-have for the beading table, but it's a great take along for commuting, waiting at the dentist, or on the bedside table for inspiration before sleep. The good news: if you are a fan of the original Beady-Eyed Women (the authors have other books), this one has lots of color pictures, and not just in the (40-page!) Gallery section. More good news: Lots of diagrams, and most of them are right next to the text, so people who need both words and pictures can understand the steps. The text-links to the diagrams are easily numbered, and that's a big help. Even more good news: there are some great ideas in this book that I haven't seen in others. The section on making geometric shapes and links is worth the price of the book. The surprise: the picture amazon.com shows as the book cover is not the one on the cover of the book I got. The instructions for the Vicki Star's "Stellar Star" is not included in the book, but the picture is, on p.75. The bad news: The diagrams showing bead placement use blue ink to show existing beads and the same tone of purple ink to show added beads. If you are a diagram user, read under a bright light, or you won't understand what's going on. It would have been a better idea to use contrasting colors for existing and newly added beads in the diagrams. More bad news: In the section on making bead triangles, there is an assumption that if you've done one side, you can figure out the other. Some of us can't, and one more diagram would have been helpful. Instead, after a step-by-step description of the first half of the triangle, we are told, "you don't have to make two steps down or two steps up, but you still have to take the ten-cent tour." As the two-step process was crucial, that final diagram would be a big help. More bad news for beginners: This is the only book I've read (and I own more than 30 books on beading)in which odd-count peyote stitch starts with an even number of beads, and even-count peyote starts with an odd number of beads. In the odd-count, you add another bead in row three, which, as the authors say, "turns the first three rows upside down." In the even-count, there is a diagram (with asterisk footnotes explained on the flip side of the page) that left me confused. I finally got it, but I'm a slow learner, so this may not be a problem for people who are fast learners. The conclusion: Buy the book. The well-explained tips, scattered throughout the book are worth the price of the book. You'll learn something no matter what level you are on, and the color pictures are enough to inspire any level beader.

Rating:
Summary: Worth buying, worth reading, worth keeping, and a warning
Review: One of the few instructional beading books that also makes good reading. Sure, it's a must-have for the beading table, but it's a great take along for commuting, waiting at the dentist, or on the bedside table for inspiration before sleep. The good news: if you are a fan of the original Beady-Eyed Women (the authors have other books), this one has lots of color pictures, and not just in the (40-page!) Gallery section. More good news: Lots of diagrams, and most of them are right next to the text, so people who need both words and pictures can understand the steps. The text-links to the diagrams are easily numbered, and that's a big help. Even more good news: there are some great ideas in this book that I haven't seen in others. The section on making geometric shapes and links is worth the price of the book. The surprise: the picture amazon.com shows as the book cover is not the one on the cover of the book I got. The instructions for the Vicki Star's "Stellar Star" is not included in the book, but the picture is, on p.75. The bad news: The diagrams showing bead placement use blue ink to show existing beads and the same tone of purple ink to show added beads. If you are a diagram user, read under a bright light, or you won't understand what's going on. It would have been a better idea to use contrasting colors for existing and newly added beads in the diagrams. More bad news: In the section on making bead triangles, there is an assumption that if you've done one side, you can figure out the other. Some of us can't, and one more diagram would have been helpful. Instead, after a step-by-step description of the first half of the triangle, we are told, "you don't have to make two steps down or two steps up, but you still have to take the ten-cent tour." As the two-step process was crucial, that final diagram would be a big help. More bad news for beginners: This is the only book I've read (and I own more than 30 books on beading)in which odd-count peyote stitch starts with an even number of beads, and even-count peyote starts with an odd number of beads. In the odd-count, you add another bead in row three, which, as the authors say, "turns the first three rows upside down." In the even-count, there is a diagram (with asterisk footnotes explained on the flip side of the page) that left me confused. I finally got it, but I'm a slow learner, so this may not be a problem for people who are fast learners. The conclusion: Buy the book. The well-explained tips, scattered throughout the book are worth the price of the book. You'll learn something no matter what level you are on, and the color pictures are enough to inspire any level beader.