The Basics of Bead Stringing by Debbie Kanan (2001, Book, Illustrated)

The Basics of Bead Stringing has long been the top choice for beginning jewelry designers, with good reason. Its easy to understand instructions and complementary illustrations teaches all the basic techniques to get you on the road to creating professional looking jewelry from the very first project. The book starts with a break down of the basic anatomy of a beaded necklace, moves into design principles, continues with several basic techniques, and ends with a section on selection of tools and materials.

The major headings from the book’s table of contents are:

* The Anatomy of a Bead Necklace – A break down of all the components that go into a beaded necklace.
* Design Fundamentals – Explains basic design principles such as symmetry and asymmetry.
* Beading Basics – Teaches basic necklace techniques such as knotted and continuous strand.
* Wire Techniques – Teaches basic “need to know” wire techniques such as loops.
* Using Leather or Satin Cord – Nice overview on working with other stringing materials.
* Seed Beads / Rocailles – Overview of basic seed bead stitches such as daisy chain, brick and peyote.
* Materials and Tools – Detailed explanation of the various tools, supplies, and their uses.

The Complete Idiots Guide to Beading and Jewelry Making & Beading for Dummies are also very good books. However, the reason why I favor this book over all the others targeted at the beginner is that it contains all the necessary information to get you started without overwhelming you. It also includes several handy charts to keep for future reference. This book is the one that you will refer back to repeatedly.

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