Here is the definitive book on the history of beads and bead-making techniques--with more than 350 full-color photos and step-by-step instructions for creating 30 beautiful, authentic beaded objects from a variety of world cultures. Projects include belts, earrings, and purses to a stunning collar necklace straight from ancient Egypt. Full color.

Beaders everywhere are discovering the extraordinary creative potential and pleasure of making unique, one-of-a-kind beads from existing beads themselves. This lushly illustrated guide. now in a paperback version, offers them a blast of inspiration, with 40 fabulous designs from today?s finest beadwork artists. Ranging from understated to pure dazzling glam, these projects showcase a range of innovative techniques. Among the standouts: a peyote-stitched Tetrahedron Beaded Bead; a Peek-A-Boo Bead, using steel nuts from the hardware store; and a cylinder-shaped Pi?ata Bead, decorated with smaller beads resembling tiny, colorful party balloons.

This is by far the most attractive volume on ceramic bead-making anywhere! Crafters will eagerly snap it up to learn how they can create a variety of striking projects using low-fire clay and a rainbow of colorful glazes. The basic techniques include hand-rolling, cutting, stamping, press-molding, and extruding, as well as surface embellishment, and 30 of the colorful finished jewelry projects are wonderfully simple. Nothing says love more than the flirty urban-hip ring with a metal clay arrow shot through the heart. Mimic the look of traditional majolica with a bohemian chic big-bead necklace that rivals any pricey boutique find. Charming photography captures the colors and textures of a festive, sunny outdoor market, making every page playful, fun, and accessible!

For collectors, beadworkers, and enthusiasts, this is an abridged edition of Abrams' enormously popular History of Beads. It shows how beads have played an important role throughout the world for 40,000 years -- as talismans, status symbols, amulets, and for adornment and barter. Included is the remarkable full-color, eight-page foldout time line of bead history, which places over 2,000 important bead types in cultural and historic context. Copyright © Libri GmbH. All rights reserved.