Make Wire Beads by Lisa Van Herik

Make Wire Beads, by Lisa Van Herik, is a "recipe" book for 44 handmade wire beads. The book has been popular since its initial release in 2000, largely because it features beads not covered in other jewelry books. In fact, it was the first book on the market devoted entirely to wire beads.

I reviewed the soft cover 2011 edition of Make Wire Beads (a PDF version and an older spiral bound edition are also available). It's a relatively slim book, with 64 pages and a height and width similar to that of a magazine. The cover is full-color, and all the pages are printed in black and white.

It turns out that the cover is more than decorative; it's a key that you can refer to for a color version of each bead, and to compare the relative sizes of beads. When you open the cover, the first page of the book repeats that cover image in black and white, but this time with each bead labeled with its identification number (1 through 44) in the project chapters. This is a clever way to keep the book affordable -- it eliminates the need to print color photos throughout the book -- while making it easy to find your favorite beads fast.

As for organization, the book begins with a few introductory chapters, followed by a series of bead recipe chapters. The level of difficulty of the beads gradually increases from one recipe chapter to the next.

In the introductory chapters, you'll learn that all 44 wire beads can be made inexpensively with a small collection of basic jewelry making tools. The most important of those are wire cutters and round nose pliers. The bead recipes also use dowels of various sizes, which you use as mandrels to wrap wire.

You'll also learn what you need to know about wire before getting started, and which optional tools and supplies you can use to customize your beads, give them a more professional look, or simply make the bead making process easier.

That information is followed by a list of important terms and a collection of tips and how-to's for the most essential techniques used throughout the book. They include three wire coiling methods, six ways of altering wire to achieve varied results, and four important finishing methods.

There are four chapters devoted to making specific styles of beads: Simple Wire Beads, Scrunch Beads, Random Wind Beads, and Specialty Beads. Each bead is identified by a number (the one used in the key on the first page of the book).

On most pages, you'll find instructions for making two styles of beads. Each bead section includes a photo of the completed bead, along with text directions for creating it. These are often accompanied by a "Comment," where the author provides extra tips, discusses her design process, or points out the differences or similarities between bead styles. Throughout the recipe chapters you'll find an occasional blank area for taking notes (handy for keeping track of experiments).

Here are some of my favorite bead styles:

• Bead 6. A long, elegant bead with overlapping, slanted wraps of wire and open spaces.
• Bead 24. A tightly wound, abstract ball of nested, heavy-gauge wire.
• Bead 31. A deceivingly simple design with a base tube of tightly coiled wire beneath a layer of openly wrapped wire.
• Bead 34. Another tightly woven coil, stylishly multi-wrapped over and around its center.
• Bead 37. A hollow ball of intricately curly, layered wire (this is the sugar cube bead mentioned in the link below).

One of the best things about Make Wire Beads is its simple, organized approach. The instructions are clear and easy to understand, and the bead projects are doable, even if you don't have much experience with wire work.

What you won't find in this book are lots of bright, clear color photos. However, I don't think you'll find this a problem if your focus is on learning new techniques.

Tip: If you're looking for ways to arrange beads in necklaces, bracelets, and earrings, look for a more generalized jewelry project book, or subscribe to a magazine like Bead Style or Step By Step Wire Jewelry.

Learn more about Beadifferent and Lisa Van Herik:

• Author website
• Free video tutorial: Sugar cube beads
• Beadifferent book titles
• Beadifferent written tutorials