Showcase 500 – Beaded Jewelry

book cover

Lark Books has really done a great job with this book. But that’s no surprise because the fact is:  BEADERS are skill-building faster than you can say the word bead. Of course it’s fantastic!

back cover

I am totally impressed with these 500 pieces, made by 278 artists from many different countries around the world. Just a few decades ago, beaded jewelry was pretty much limited to simple earrings and strung necklaces. Now bead weaving and bead embroidery have joined forces with bead stringing yielding a beautiful and vast array of beaded jewelry.

fun necklace by Stephanie Sersich

As the book’s editor, Ray Hemachandra, points out in the introduction, “This collection includes work from many of the world’s best-known beading artists – the superstars and the master designers and teachers – and it also presents pieces made by talented beaders whose work has not been published previously.” All of it is good. All is inspirational and amazing.

Let’s let the photos speak for themselves. Here are a few of my personal favorites.

I always love Carole Horn's work!

Couldn't decide which of Carole's necklaces to include, so they're both here!

I like it that some of the pieces are primarily metalwork, with just a few accent beads.

If you click the picture, you'll be able to see more detail. I love this piece!

You'll find everything from funky to sublimely elegant in this book.

Myra Schwartz has a whole series of pieces featuring vintage pipes. She's an amazing designer.

I am so grateful to own this book, and recommend it 100% to anybody who loves beads, even if you don’t choose to make beaded jewelry. There’s so much about art, about color, about design, and about the beads themselves to be gained from study of these 500 pieces.

Here’s a link to buy it on Amazon, although I’m sure it’s also available in many bookstores and from many other online sources.

Heidi's work is always captivating. This one is so powerful, I had to include the detail shot below.

Talk about using beads to tell a story! Wow!

My one regret? Well… I received an invitation to submit pieces for publication in this book, but was so busy doing projects for and writing my own book (The Complete Photo Guide to Beading), that I let the deadline slip by. Whaaaa. I’d give a lot to be in such good company as the artists in this book. Congratulations to them all!

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By the way, my new book is available to pre-order on Amazon, here! It will be out early in December.

Good News! Get Atkins books on Amazon!!!

Illustration from Heart to Hands Bead Embroidery

For years people have been asking me why I don't put my books on Amazon.com and/or why I don't offer credit card  purchases.  Long story about the why... but the good news is, older dogs can learn new tricks, although not easily, mind you (LOL).

As of today, you can now purchase my two most popular books on Amazon.com!!!

• Heart to Hands Bead Embroidery
• Beaded Treasures  (finger weaving)

Plus! You can pre-order my new book at a special, introductory price of only $16.49... quite a deal for such a comprehensive book with over 500 color photos and 250 pages!

• The Complete Photo Guide to Beading

You can help!

If you already have my books, and especially if you like them, you can help me greatly by posting reviews on amazon, especially for the first two titles above.  Or, simply go to the link and click on "like." I appreciate your assistance in getting started with amazon book sales very much!

Detail from cover of new book, available for pre-orders on Amazon.com

What about my other books?

I can't list Spirit Dolls, Finishing Techniques, or Rosie, the Uncaged Hen on Amazon.com, because these books do not have printed bar codes on them... two of them don't even have an ISBN number. If the amazon sales go well, I may reprint the covers so I can get them listed too.

Yes, you can order any of my self-published books from me if you wish (through my website). They will be autographed! However, I'm still doing it the old fashioned way with payments by check, cash or money order. I'm hoping the Amazon.com listings will make it easier for those of you who wish to pay by credit card or live in other countries.

Please note: Beaded Embellishment (by me and Amy Clarke) and The Complete Photo Guide to Beading are available on line or in retail bead, craft, and needle arts shops. However, I will not be selling these titles through my website. The reason is that my cost from the publisher is about the same as you can buy them on amazon. I'd have to sell them at full retail price. I'm guessing you don't want to pay that if you don't have to.

Inspirations from Ritual Art

Although I'm not formally a religious person, I'm impressed by a whole world of beautiful arts and crafts inspired by faith-based symbols, rituals and history. Think of primitive shamanistic art, ancient mythological stories, early Christian themes, religious folk art.

500 Judaica, published by Lark Books (a recent addition to their 500 series books) offers superb photos of 500 contemporary ritual art pieces of the Jewish faith in a variety of disciplines, including metalwork, woodwork, beading, ceramics and fiber arts. Amidst the beautiful artwork, the words of the 180 or so makers explain what creating Judaica means to them.

I find this book very inspiring. The forms, designs, colors, spirituality, sensitivity and heart-felt sincerity of the work is more than compelling. Collectively it offers me a challenge for my own work, an invitation to focus entirely on what is most important and real to me.

Below are a few of the pieces that call to me. I am not Jewish and do not understand entirely what they mean, yet they are hauntingly exquisite and inspiring.








500 Judaica is my newest art reference book, one I anticipate returning to again and again, because from its pages ideas will fly through my mind and art will happen!

Kantha, Embroidered Quilts of Bengal

Ever see a book that gives you instant goose bumps, heart palpitations and the feeling of mine-mine-MINE?


Certainly Kantha, The Embroidered Quilts of Bengal is just such a book for me!*

Here are a couple of pictures to whet your appetite for this distinctive type of thread embroidery.





Disclaimer... Sadly my pictures, photographed from pages in the book, don't do it justice at all. The abundant images are so exceptionally good that one could classify it as a photography book. We get large, full color pictures that show not only the quilts in their entirity but also many exquisite detail images that one can study for hours, looking at both technique and design elements. You can see more (and better pictures) here and here.

What I especially love about Kantha embroideries are the strong, story-telling designs, the simple yet effective stitches used to illustrate the designs, and the pull of primary colors toward fundamental truths. Maybe that's the real beauty of them, an unpretentious, honest story, told by a stitcher who never for even a moment dreamed her work would one day be in a book or hang on a museum wall and who would be amazed at the offer of even the smallest amount of money for it.

Take a moment to click on the pictures in this post, to study them. What do you see? What attracts you about them? What do you imagine about the life of the woman who created each of them? To me, they beg that kind of attention. With greatly aroused curiosity, I wonder about the life and intent of each story-teller.

Considered to be a sign of thrift, Kanthas are made from small scraps of well-worn fabric from clothing, no longer useable, stitched together and then embellished with colored threads pulled from worn textiles.

Stella Kramrisch, a legendary figure in the history of South Asian art, writes that the foundation, made of rags, exemplifies that nothing is being wasted, useless bits are joined and acquire wholeness and a unity of meaning. This act of perservation carries with it and becomes the technique and symbolic form of an imperishable knowledge. It belong especially to women. The needle and thread string together the single parts of the object and also the maker of the object.

In concept, I am reminded a little of quilts made by the women of Gee's Bend. I wonder what might have developed with their quilts if one of them had concieved the idea of telling stories with thread embroidery on top of the quilts which already told a story with worn fabrics from work shirts and the like?

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*You can read more about the making of the Kantha book from an exhibition of 85 pieces at the Philadelphia Museum of Art here. The large, 300-page book includes a wealth of information about the history, religious beliefs and self-taught art of women of all classes in two regions of South Asia known as Bengal, or today as West Bengal and Bangladesh. It's currently available from Amazon for $40, or hopefully from your local library.

Metal & Beads ~ New Book Giveaway!

Metalwork and beads compliment each other so beautifully!


Artists who combine their own metal components (whether silver, copper or bronze) with beads always seem to have a competitive edge in the market place. Their work seems more original, more unique, more precious to me.


And it's not just jewelry. Above is a Kaite's April BJP doll, Metal-Indigo. Kaite made all of the little copper squiggles and dangles in a workshop. Don't they add great character to her doll?!

Back in the 70's, I was a metalsmith, fabricating silver and gold jewelry. Below are a few examples of my work.




I learned metalworking skills from three sources: 1. Community college and art college classes, 2. from my friend Liz who was getting a college degree in metalsmithing and 3. from several books (best one was The Complete Metalsmith by Tim McCreight, which is still available). I made and sold jewelry for 5 years, loved working in my shop, loved forming metal!

Later, when I shifted into beads, I used my metalworking skills to create findings and components for my beaded creations (two examples below). Handy!



I also taught wireworking and developed a unique style of fibula pins (below), which have sold well over the years.


Frequently beaders have asked me, "I want to learn metalworking... what book do you recommend?" Until now, I have had to answer, "Sorry, there is no decent metalworking book for beaders. Get Tim McCreight's book and figure out for yourself how to apply the skills to beadwork."

At last Candie Cooper has given us beaders a really fabulous book on metalworking!!!!!


I like everything about this book! Candie's instructions seem easy to follow, yet thorough. She takes you through all the basics... tools, marking, sawing, filing, riveting, soldering, texturing, patinas... everything needed to create findings and components to compliment beads. Plus she gives many wonderful design ideas, projects and patterns.

Good how-to pictures and drawings...

Exciting design ideas... fun fish pin...

Elegant earrings...

Unique charms...

...and many more!

I read every word of this book (something I rarely do)... I found it entertaining (not expected), accurate/complete (also not expected) and it made me crave the feeling of the tools in my hands, working the metal, transforming wire and sheet metal into beautiful objects again. I give this book FIVE STARS ++++! Bravo to Candie and Lark Books!

This post is a giveaway! I have one copy of Metalworking 101 for Beaders, by Candie Cooper to send to somebody who writes a comment on this post. Please, include your email address in the comment, so I can notify you if you're the winner!

I shall select the winner randomly on May 20th from those who comment... that's two weeks from today. If you can't wait or don't win, you can buy it here or at your local bead shop.

Bead Embroidery and a Few Short Subjects

Beaded Moth ~ Pin (Brooch)

Thought you might like to see this beaded moth pin I made for one of my special quilting/beading friends this Christmas. It's mostly size 15 or smaller beads. The wingspan is slightly under 1.5 inches.

Beaded Button Earrings


My other best quilting/beading friend got these for Christmas. I made them using Dritz half-ball cover buttons, size 24. The button form is 5/8 inches in diameter, but after beading the fabric and covering the form, they are slightly larger. I removed the button shank from the form before covering and then stitched a circle of Ultrasuede on the back side using the picot edge stitch. You might want to check out my tutorial on making beaded buttons here and here.

World Beads ~ Book Giveaway ~ The Winner Is....


Ta-daaa, drum roll..... Ane Severine!

In my previous post I reviewed Beading with World Beads edited by Ray Hemachandra. Sixty some readers commented! Thank you so much for telling me about your own world beads. I really enjoyed reading about them!!! I wish I had 60 copies of this book to give, as everyone had such good reasons for wanting it.

As Peggy commented, "In a sense, I have thousands - maybe even a million - "world beads" - Czech seed beads! And Tohos - Japanese seed beads." She's right! In that sense, all of us own world beads.

Using a random number generator, the winner is #26, a comment by Ann Severine, who said, "The world beads I love most are 10 small milleflori cylinder beads in blue and red. I never thought about making a necklace from them. But now I'm looking forward to seeing this book for inspiration, whether I win or purchase it. How nice for you to inspire us to look at our old stuff we haven't paid much attention to for a long time." Congratulations, Ann!!!

I'll be reviewing and giving away Marcia DeCoster's new book, Beaded Opulence, in a week or so. Watch for it!!

Bead Journal Project ~ January Progress Report

No pictures yet. And I have to admit, I'm a little behind, a little afraid, a little unsure.... For this, my third year participating in the BJP, I decided to practice collage. I admire my sister-in-law, Julie's, collages and the work of so many other artists. Yet, I've never felt I had a grasp of how to mix it all together.

This is my year to play with it, practice, try it on for size... beads, fabrics, papers, paint, fibers, ephemera, rubber stamping, lettering... bring it on... all of it. Yes, but how? Do I hear some of my former students saying, "Just do it!" Yes, that is the way. And I must remember my mantra, "It does not have to be perfect!"

Well, I've worked on it some, but am far from finished.... It's my first of 12... Hope they'll get better and easier. I'll take and post some pictures soon.

Beading with World Beads ~ Giveaway!

What “world beads” do you have in your stash? You may have more than you think! Here are a few of mine…


We buy beads in a local bead shop or in the comfort of our own home computer. But where were they made? Where have they traveled before we found them?


The origins of beads, particularly those in my stash, has fascinated me since day-one of my beady career 24 years ago. Joining my local Bead Society, where most members had a collector’s perspective about beads, and attending early Bead Conferences, which were more about the history of beads than making things with them, I began to appreciate that beads are truly ubiquitous!


Did you know that beads are one of man’s earliest artifacts? It’s possible that beads predate vessels and primitive tools in many cultures. Did you know that men and women of nearly every society, every culture and every land since the beginning of mankind have made and used beads in one or more ways?


Beads, being small, portable, long-lasting and made from various, naturally-occurring substances, have been a trade commodity for many centuries. Thus they have traveled the world in the hands of traders and merchants, sometimes for centuries. They arrive in our stash, some new and some used, from far-away places around the world.


Just as groups like the Bead Journal Project and other internet-based beading groups unite people of the world, so do the beads themselves. More than anything else about beads, their ubiquitous nature fascinates me!


So too, the world-connection of beads intrigues Ray Hemachandra, editor of a book, recently published by Lark Books - Beading with World Beads, Beautiful Jewelry - Simple Techniques. This book features 30 jewelry projects with an international and multicultural flair created by 15 acclaimed jewelry designers.

Lark asked me to review several of their books and offered a signed copy of each one as a blog giveaway. And so, this is the first of my reviews. Someone who makes a comment on this post will win an autographed copy!


Those of you who know me, are aware that I’m not really a recipe type of gal with my art (or my cooking for that matter). For me, it is simply more fun to “do my own thing” than to replicate a design by somebody else. Consequently, I don’t gravitate toward “project books,” preferring technique or inspirational guides.

Happily, Beading with World Beads, gives so much more than projects! First, there’s the whole idea of beading as “a multicultural bonanza – a melting pot of craft practices that yields innovative combinations of materials and influences,” to quote editor, Hemachandra. I love this concept and how it is realized in the unique creations of the designers chosen for the book. All of the jewelry is appealing and mysterious because of the cultural roots found in the materials and designs.


The second thing I really like about this book is that all the projects are based on sound design principles. They are well-balanced (although not necessarily symmetrical) and the different beads used in each piece have relationship of scale, color, style and origin. So even if I choose not to replicate any of the projects, each is an inspiration to me and offers challenging ideas I can apply to my personal world bead stash in my own way.


Looking at the photos in Beading with World Beads makes me crave making jewelry again, makes me get out my African trade beads and view them as potential designs rather than a collection, makes me remember things in my stash long neglected! And by the way, the photos are outstanding, something I always admire about books published by Lark.

Lastly, I have to bravo the book for its clear, concise step-by-step instructions for each of the projects. For each project, excellent editing results in consistency and clarity that are rare in project books.

In conclusion, I give Beading with World Beads an enthusiastic two-thumbs-up!

Would you like to win an autographed copy on this blog giveaway? Yes? Then make a comment in the next 10 days. Just for fun, tell me about something you love in your world bead stash! To be eligible to win, you must give me a clear way to get in touch with you - phone, email or snail mail address. (BTW, it's safest to give your email this way: name[at]provider[dot]com. Use the [ ] signs and substitute the word at for @ and dot for .)