Beading Basics: All You Need to Know to Create Beautiful Beaded Accessories (Barron's Educational)

Here’s a hobbyist’s manual that shows beginners how to take the hard and tedious labor out of beadwork when creating beautiful jewelry and personal accessories. The author presents 15 original projects that become progressively more challenging as the neophyte beadwork artist’s confidence and skills grow. She provides information on needed tools and equipment, then follows up with detailed instruction on the various stitches that beadwork artists must learn. Following the author’s instructions, beginners can create a set of earrings, a butterfly brooch, a netted cuff bracelet, a beaded corsage, and many other attractive items. Detailed instruction takes the form of captioned photographs—more than 250 in all—clearly illustrating construction techniques.

Stephanie Burnham has evolved her own designs in beadwork and embroidery, many of which have been featured in the British publication Classic Stitches magazine. She teaches both beginners and advanced beading artists in England.