Beaded Bracelets - Book Review

I was a lucky winner of this book and a Bracelet Kit, but all opinions in this review are mine.

With the "Stardust" bracelet, but what I am calling Snowflake Bracelet

Beaded Bracelets, 25 Dazzling Handcrafted Projects, written by Claudine McCormack Jalajas.
 Fist off, can I just say this book is beautiful!  The pictures are fantastic, I go over them and over them, so pretty to look at,  my daughter also enjoys looking at it and each time we do, we decide on another bracelet we like, it is so hard to pick just one favorite.
But I have had beautiful books before, what matters is are they understandable in the directions, because after all you want to make the projects listed, right?  This book does a fantastic job of teaching you how to make beaded bracelet, I am a complete beginner and look at my first try.

Annabelle Bracelet (flowers)

 This bracelet kit came with the book, so I made it right away, while waiting for the supplies to arrive to make some of the other ones, I got enough supplies to make 4 of the Snowflake bracelets.  The Annabelle bracelet is going to a friend of mine along with the Bella clutch it is sitting on in the above picture, more pictures can be found here.
Book Contents:

1. The Introduction is fantastic after reading it, I feel like I know the author, she is very down to earth.
2. Tools and Materials: what makes this new hobby so great is that you don't need a whole lot of tools, and the materials you can buy based off of what project you would like to do, she even tells you what shops and the products that she has used to make the bracelet pictured.
3. Where to buy, brands and considerations: Claudine mostly buys on-line, which is great because I have to also, we definitely don't have any of this stuff in my small town.
4. Special Note: about the materials, now this is where the book had a few issues, when listing the materials, you could tell that some things were mixed up and when I say some things I mean in just about every bracelet pattern.  For example in the Stardust pattern (my snowflake one) she says in the material list that she uses a lobster clasp and yet in the picture of the bracelet in the book uses a magnetic clasp.  I am such a visual person that the written material kind of threw me off track, I had to look up what a lobster clasp was just in case I was using the wrong term, but in fact the book was written wrong.

   

   I decided to go with a magnetic clasp instead of the written lobster clasp.

5. The Bracelets!!!! Beautiful bracelets and just so fun each one different, you will find something you like in this book!  The steps are in detailed graphics, making it really easy to follow along and make the bracelets.  I need pictures so this helps a lot, they are also color coded which I think is just brilliant.

   

   I blurred out the words just in case of legal issues, but great written directions along with graphics.

6. Basic Techniques:  This is a very short chapter, I wish it was  little bigger and more extensive.  In each bracelet pattern she tells you what technique you are using so for the Stardust (aka snowflake) it is with the right angle weave (RAW) technique and the Annabelle (flower one) is also with the RAW technique, so I guess I have learned that technique, but there are many other techniques in the book,  herringbone, tubular herringbone, peyote, two drop peyote, triangle and  ladder, but most are done with the RAW technique, yippee.. for having that one down.  I think.
7. Acknowledgments
8. Index

I give this book 4 stars, I took one star off just for the many written typos.  But I would whole heartedly tell you to go out and buy this book if you have any interest in making bracelet jewelry.  Claudine gives you permission to be able to sell any bracelets you make with her patterns which is awesome, because some book aurthors do not and well I think that sucks.  So on that note, on Monday I will be having a giveaway, you will have to wait and see what it is, but it's a good one!  So I will see you then, hugs.  Mara.