- A Tried and True Classic -

The Beader's Companion (Loveland, CO: Interweave Press, ISBN 1-8883010-56-X) by Judith Durant and Jean Campbell is an indispensable tool for bead jewelry designers at the beginning and intermediate level. It is a small (7" x 5") paperback book with spiral binding that lies flat, so you can keep it on your work surface next to your beading projects. The pages flip upwards, so that the text is in landscape mode, leaving plenty of space for illustrations.

It is amazing what amount of useful information can be crammed into a mere 104 pages! The book starts out by describing various kinds of beads (with illustrations), as well as types of glass and finishes used for beads. This is followed by section on threads/cords and different types of needles. Particularly useful is a chart telling beaders what thread to use with which kind of bead. There are also extensive chapters on various stitches and crochet techniques (again illustrated with simple, but effective black-and-white drawings).

Further sections on finishings (clasps, hooks, ear wires, etc.), tools and basic wire techniques round out what almost amounts to a beading course in a book. Even after you mastered the different techniques described in this guide, you will be coming back to it for the various useful charts and tips, such as the bead-sizing chart.

Overall, The Beader's Companion is reasonably priced and represents one of the best investments a beginning beader can make. While it cannot substitute for an actual teacher, it offers a good general introduction. Other books and beading magazines will then take you further in teaching special techniques in greater depth.

The Beader's Companion

The Beader's Companion (Loveland, CO: Interweave Press, ISBN 1-8883010-56-X) by Judith Durant and Jean Campbell is an indispensable tool for bead jewelry designers at the beginning and intermediate level. It is a small (7" x 5") paperback book with spiral binding that lies flat, so you can keep it on your work surface next to your beading projects. The pages flip upwards, so that the text is in landscape mode, leaving plenty of space for illustrations.

It is amazing what amount of useful information can be crammed into a mere 104 pages! The book starts out by describing various kinds of beads (with illustrations), as well as types of glass and finishes used for beads. This is followed by section on threads/cords and different types of needles. Particularly useful is a chart telling beaders what thread to use with which kind of bead. There are also extensive chapters on various stitches and crochet techniques (again illustrated with simple, but effective black-and-white drawings).

Further sections on finishings (clasps, hooks, ear wires, etc.), tools and basic wire techniques round out what almost amounts to a beading course in a book. Even after you mastered the different techniques described in this guide, you will be coming back to it for the various useful charts and tips, such as the bead-sizing chart.

Overall, The Beader's Companion is reasonably priced and represents one of the best investments a beginning beader can make. While it cannot substitute for an actual teacher, it offers a good general introduction. Other books and beading magazines will then take you further in teaching special techniques in greater depth.

Pamela Bruce lives in Austin, TX. She has been beading since her teens. She is the owner of Love Beads Unlimited and sells the sterling silver and Swarovski crystal bead jewelry she designs and creates both in her eBay store (http://stores.ebay.com/LOVE-BEADS-UNLIMITED) and on her website at http://www.lovebeadsunlimited.com

Greg Holden How to Do Everything with your E-bay Business

I recently checked on amazon.com and found over 400 book titles devoted to buying and selling on eBay. These titles range from basic introductions (for "Dummies" or "Complete Idiots") to specialized books on selling antiques or collectibles. And of course there are numerous books promising huge profits without much effort.

Greg Holden's How to Do Everything with your E-bay Business (New York: McGrawHill/Osborne: 2003) occupies a special niche, as it is aimed at people who don't just occasionally sell a few things on eBay, but want to turn their eBay business into a steady, long-term venture.

Holden offers a basic introduction into signing up for eBay and creating listings, but goes beyond that. Chapters are interspersed with little stories of individuals who have been selling on eBay for years, which adds a nice personal touch.

The author also emphasizes that sellers should become extremely knowledgeable in their field (whatever it is) and do extensive research onthe items they usually sell. This is a healthy antidote to the frequent get-rich-quick schemes peddled by quite a few books on eBay.

Besides advice on opening an eBay store, Holden also provides information on how to use your own website for selling and/or promoting. All this is very useful, though the chapter on selling on sothebys.com is rather specialized and will not apply to many readers.

The layout of the book is clear and legible, with many relevant screenshots and photos, and the detailed index makes finding information easy.

Overall, How to Do Everything with your E-bay Business is a very useful introductory book for people who have more serious selling plans than just disposing of a few things lying around the house. I would recommend it it to prospective eBay store owners. While much of the same information can be found in eBay tutorials and particularly on the eBay discussion boards, reading this book will save you time and equip you with the basic knowledge you need to get started.

Pamela Bruce lives in Austin, TX. She has been beading since her teens. She is the owner of Love Beads Unlimited and sells the sterling silver and Swarovski crystal bead jewelry she designs and creates both in her eBay store (http://stores.ebay.com/LOVE-BEADS-UNLIMITED) and on her website at http://www.lovebeadsunlimited.com

- The Art of Beadwork -

Don't you love it when those boxes from Amazon start showing up on your doorstep? I recently ordered several book on beading, and my hands-down favorite is Valerie Hector's The Art of Beadwork: Historic Inspiration, Contemporary Design (ISBN 0-8320-0307-8).
The book looks at a number of ethnic and historical beadwork traditions, from Indonesia to Peru and from ancient Egypt to 20th-century Vienna and offers projects by contemporary bead artists based on each of these traditions.
I like the excellent photographs and illustrations. A fascinating book to rummage around in and get inspired by!


Cyberbeader
http://www.lovebeadsunlimited.com

- Murder and Beads -

I just finished reading Bead on Trouble by Barbara Burnett Smith, a mystery novel set among beaders, and in Central Texas, no less.
First of all, let me say how amazed I was at the fragmentation of the mystery novel market. Of course I was aware of standard genres, such as the police procedural or the English whodunit, as well as mystery series with regional connections. I had even come across mystery series with themes such as book collecting (John Dunning's Booked to Die is an excellent read for bibliophiles) or running a teashop.
These days however, there appear to be mysteries for beaders, potters and scrapbookers as well -- can you imagine the problems for bookstore owners ("Where do you keep the mysteries about juvenile herb gardeners?")
Despite these somewhat dubious trends, Bead on Trouble is entertaining in itself. The protagonist, Kitzi Camden, is an ex-politician turned corporate trainer and part-time beader. When she attends a beading camp in the Texas Hill Country, mayhem ensues. There is an old flame, a potential new love interest, fierce competition for a lucrative contract from an art catalog, and murder... May Feather, a talented beader is found dead in a creek.
Of course it does not help that Kitzi discovered earlier that the victim was having an affair with the husband of Kitzi's best friend Beth...

Nice reading, and the author keeps stringing you along (sorry, could not resist the pun), so that the ending is surprising. The best part is the witty dialogs.

So much for today!

Cyberbeader
http://www.lovebeadsunlimited.com