Shaped Beadwork & Beyond: Dimensional Jewelry in Peyote Stitch (Lark Jewelry & Beading Bead Inspirations) Flexibound – November 5, 2013

Diane Fitzgerald is one of the world's best bead artists, and I never pass up an opportunity to learn from her. I pre-ordered this book, and just like all her many others, this one did NOT disappoint! (Only in that I had to wait for it to be published!)As with her other books, these projects are original, beautiful, and offer many opportunities for putting your own sense of style into them by making changes to the projects, such as using different colorways, substituting types of beads, and adding embellishment techniques/beads to suit your personal style. I would consider most of the projects to be for the intermediate to advanced level beader, though one could modify a project fairly easily to make a project component into a finished product (such as earrings).The book is full of many gorgeous projects with photos (for me: a priority in a great beading book), you'll wonder which to start with! If peyote is your favorite stitch, this book will keep you very busy for a long time. I'm improving my jewelry/beading skills to include more three dimensional pieces - this book has very clear, easy-to-follow instructions. (It saved me money - much less expensive than taking a class, so more for GOOD quality beads and findings!)Thanks, Diane, for another wonderfully produced and beautifully photographed addition to my beading library. Definitely recommend this book for any serious beader, or one who aspires to be one. Great value for the price, as well. You won't regret adding this one to your collection!

I am duly impressed and thankful for the hard work put into this book. Rarely do you find such a technically gratifying book. This is among, if not the best beading book I own, and I ashamedly own more than any gal should .The directions are clearly illustrated in color!! Patterning is the best I have seen, and is stuffed into a couple of pages, not spread out taking up space :). There are many different beadways shown to help you get pattern on your dimensional piece without the trial and error so many of us spend hours working to accomplish..thank you Diane.This is a hefty volume with little or no time spent on the often contrived historical or travel references the author used to develop an idea. (If you are interested there are other books) There is very little on basic beading technique which is another huge plus for us seasoned veterans. Barely a page rehashing the basics that you have in every other book. Beginners should take notice though and get a general beading book... buy this book to open up your mind.This volume is PURE FILET!I really cannot express how long I have been waiting for so much consolidated information. This book allows you to find critical information in a flash, helping you further develop your OWN creativity. Dimensional cubes, rhombas, triangles, squares, dodecahedrons, hearts, stars its all here. I am dreaming now...but might schools use these beading techniques to support teaching girls geometry? I am sure I would have loved geometry a lot more had Diane been teaching zzzzzzz.

This is a great book for beginner and advanced beaders. I've been beading for about 9 months, and although I'm relatively new to the skill I am able to follow the instructions fairly easily and it's very rewarding to complete a component of Diane's. That's all I've done so far, someday I'll do a whole project. Diane is a superstar, I can't wait to get all of her books. The tips she provides have helped me in all of my projects.I've borrowed some of her other books from the library and they all have beautiful photography and easy to follow instructions. Don't be afraid to try the projects!

Diane Fitzgerald shows in great pictures and detailed drawings showing the 3D effect. She walks you through beading spheres from triangles, squares, pentagons, hexagons up to icosahegrons. Can't wait to begin from the simple to progress to the complex and make copies as she suggest wih her templates to create my own designs will be endless. She takes geometric shapes and and with com changes in bead sizes, creates extraordinary varied appearances. I had checked out her book from a library and realized I have to have this not just as a reference book, but it stands alone from anything else I have.

There are great projects here! There are errors in the instructions, e.g. pg 100, Row 8, should be "peyote with 4", not 5. Also, you will be required to bounce back and forth in the book for the instructions since the projects build on each other and part of the project will be explained in one part of the book, then finished in another. Overall,however, it is a great book that will stretch your peyote repertoire with interesting shapes and gorgeous jewelry..

Definitely not for beginning beaders, unless you are deciding whether or not to start beading. In that case, you have to buy this book because after looking at the projects you will be able to make the right decision, to buy or not to buy.To me this is a gem of a book. I can look through it, and dream of which colors I would use for each project. The instructions and pictures of the projects are 100% right on, clear and easy to understand, I have made several of the projects and have not found one mistake, or a point where I could not continue for some reason. It is a joy to work on these projects, seeing them develop from your hands is a pleasure.A definite 'Must-Have' for every self respecting beader!