I’ve been dabbling with making my own jewellery for a few years with varying degrees of success. The first attempts at making earrings resulted in some very wonky looking danglers because I could not get the hang of making a loop that was the same size and in the same position on each side.

I had much better success with creating necklaces and in fact sold quite a few. the design wasn’t difficult and threading the beads onto the wire was easy though many times I lost hold of the one end and the whole lot ended up on the floor. We were forever coming across them nestling in the carpet fibres.

The really tricky part is finishing the threads neatly so the beads lie flat and there are no gaps between beads and clasp. I used many reference books to try and learn the right techniques – some seemed to skimp this part so they could quickly get on the creative element. But if you don’t know the basics, you could end up getting ultra frustrated when the end result looks nothing like your design.

So i was more than happy to see a book published that really focused on the basics like choosing the right beads and threading material,  explaining the different tools available and when to use what kind of  clasp and fastening. This is a good guide for beginners and would be especially helpful to refer to just before heading to the bead supply shop.

If only the authors had included photographs instead of line drawings for some of the instructions and then gone on to show some images of finished items it would have been even more helpful. Still it’s good value for money.

Thanks to the publishers Storey Publishing, LLC for providing me with a copy via NetGalley.