Creating Crystal Jewelry with Swarovski: 65 Sparkling Designs with Crystal Beads and Stones

I should have listened to a previous reviewer. This book is built on what you see on the cover photo - interesting but not more. If you want more in depth of the cover photo project, that is what you will get. I was expecting more due to the title, "Creating Crystal Jewelry with Swarovski". One project served up numerous ways.

I was really looking forward to "Creating Crystal Jewelry..." as I greatly admire and respect Laura McCabe, I believe that this was her first book release, which made it all the more tantalizing to wait for the insight and projects that have made her (as another reviewer said) one of today's beading greats.Sadly, the book is a disappointment. Although the instructions are very clear and abundantly illustrated, the project on the front of the book is about all you are going to make. It seemed like most of the projects were variations on the one piece of cover art, which is nice, but I didn't buy a book to show me all sorts of variations I could have thought up myself.Most of the projects feature Swarovki Rivolis, a disc shaped glittering stone which is the center stone in the cover art "flowers." Rivolis can also be purchased from other manufacturers for a lot less money, and it's no surprise that a Swarovski (sponsored?) book doesn't mention less costly alternatives. The projects call for these expensive stones, as well as 3mm and 2.5mm Swarovski bicones, which are relatively new and relatively rare. One gets the impression that the whole book was written as a big commercial for Swarovski. I don't mind Swarovki's ads, but normally I am not expected to pay for advertising. Another huge turn off was Laura's statement (paraphrased) that she alone created the current demand for such stones, because a few years ago, no one but she was interested in them. That is simply not true.One cost saving and terrific learning tool is to make these projects with low cost materials the first time, saving the Real Deal Swarovskis for when one has mastered the technique and decided that the project is worth the relatively large expense of Swarovski beads. I made a trial version of the cover bracelet with pretty buttons in place of Rivolis and inexpensive Czech fire polished beads in place of the Swarovski bicones. It looked beautiful when it was finished, and is far more appropriate for daytime than the cover bracelet. I later made the bracelet with Rivolis and bicones. It looks every bit as nice as the cover bracelet - thanks to Laura's incredibly clear instructions and method of teaching. The only thing is that I really have no place to wear something like that. It's glittering away on a bracelet stand in my workroom, and I alone am there to see it sparkle.All in all, the book is a mixed bag: pretty eye candy that repeats itself endlessly, and beautiful, clear directions that don't give you an option to learn technique without breaking the bank. Too bad. I expected so much more.

I enjoyed the book and found the projects clear and attractive. The colorways are lovely but with the profusion of seed beads available and the incredible variety as well as similarities/effects of some bead color families--particularly delicas--it would have been helpful to know the specific seed beads she used to get the results. For a novice beader, the profusion of different seed bead options/effects are confusing, particularly when you haven't seen many of these beads in person before, and you often don't know what you're buying exactly since online bead sellers cannot really convey the effect of the smallest beads in photos. If the author is reading this, please publish a list of sead bead numbers/color names used in the projects, like Diane Fitzgerald did after publishing her fabulous book on 3D beading.

Awesome book on jewelry pattern designed with beads,stones and Swarovski. It's a keeper for my library. 5 star bookLots of info and ideas for designing.

I really like this book but several of the photos and projects in it have crystals that you can't find!!!! In some projects they use 'dentelles' but as you read the materials list and instructions you find that dentelles are 'antiques' and need to be substituted with rivoli's. I might not have purchased if I had known, as I really liked the look of the dentilles. So unless you just want inspiration then don't buy, if your an experienced beader (as I am) then this is a must have for your library.Just know that the over all look of the project will be slightly different. Not amazon's fault the publisher and Swarovski should not use photos with crystals they no longer make!!! This is alittle deceptive!

This book contains beautiful examples of hand-made jewelry with instructions on how to make the jewelry, along with pictures that show the direction that you will weave your beading thread. Each project includes the list of supplies that you should purchase to make it. This book is for experienced beaders, unless learn quickly.

Excellent eye candy. Good directions. I especially like the charts of how many beads to use to start the bezel depending on the size of the crystal you are bezeling. My only problem with this book is that it caused me to start buying more and more crystals, before I finished the first project I started.I've admired Laura's work for a while, it's really nice to page through the book and see how she did things. The instructions make good sense, and being left handed, I have a hard time interpreting some other bead author's directions.I'm buying a copy for a friend who uses crystals all the time but hasn't discovered this book.

WOW! Beautiful photographs of the projects, and variations of them, depicted in countless inspiring color combinations. Closeups are large enough that you can make out the colors of individual crystals and seed beads, yet the entire piece is visable.Though I had already purchased the patterns for the Crown Jewel and the Geodesic Dome together(and paid more than this entire book costs), no dissapointment here...there are still plenty of other patterns to thrill, including the mouth-watering Vineyard Jewel Necklace.I have not read any of the written instructions, but the instructional graphics are beautifully done and couldn't be more clear. Some of the most valuable instructions for me are: ending a spiral rope, attaching a spiral neck strap to another componant, and how to continue a spiral rope through a focal bead.An amazing book for a great price! A MUST have!

This book deals primarily with jewellery made with Swarovski crystals. Laura McCabe has an enviable reputation in the beading world and her designs are often lush, unexpected and exotic. Her offerings here are no exception.The book opens with a history of the Swarovski company and the crystals they produce. Seed beads, crystal and the various tools needed are dealt with over Chapters Two and Three. Ms McCabe gives instructions for four basic bead-threading/stitching techniques, shows how to make a bead bezel to support a cabochon or crystal and various ways of making beaded clasps or closures for necklaces and bracelets. She shows different ways one can embellish beaded chains or surrounds.There are twenty projects to make: necklaces, rings, bracelets, brooches and earrings, each with large, clear diagrams and full-colour photographs of the finished pieces. Many are spectacular. Ms McCabe suggests how long each project might take to complete, the average being between ten to twelve hours and offers us different colour combinations that give a different 'look' to the same pattern.I liked the initial impact of the jewellery although some of the pieces look over-elaborate to me, almost using crystals for their own sake rather than as a means to an end. A bit, how many can I pack into this piece? I thought to try a necklace but when I looked more closely at the list of materials for the Crystal Burst Necklace I saw it calls for around ten gross of Swarovski crystals - that's almost fifteen hundred pieces - as well as eleven rivolis and various seed beads. Ten gross is a lot of crystals.A glance at the other necklaces showed substantial numbers of crystals needed; the Crystal Dahlia necklace, lovely as it is, takes twelve gross pieces, which, if one adds the rivolis needed as well, is beyond my budget. I wonder about the weight of such crystal-heavy pieces. Having never held so many in my hand, I can't say how they would feel as a necklace. I made a beaded headdress many years ago, sumptuous and grand; it was too heavy to wear and gave me a blinding headache after half an hour. I would be nervous of a repeat performance with some of Ms McCabe's pieces. Maybe I'll have to content myself with a pair of earrings or a simple ring.It is a lovely book to look at, beautifully produced and a fine example of what can be achieved when money and time are freely available.

Very samey and mostly just how to bezel.a rivoli. There is a beautiful necklace which i wikl be making and a couple of ideas with bezelling that i will implemnt so im happy i bought it.

A great beading book with clear instructions to follow, I would recommend it to any one who likes beading.

what a super book . great patterns and illustrations .a wonderful service from this company . arrived on time ,packed realy well.

Fantastic book! Thank you!