Fashion Jewelry: A Beginner's Guide to Jewelry Making

by Courtney Legenhausen

Overview

Learn how to make beautiful jewelry from an up-and-coming designer with her own line!
Bead stringing. Wire wrapping, Pearl knotting. This beginner-friendly guide, created by Courtney Legnhausen (owner of Lotus Jewelry), teaches all the basics of fashioning fun and attractive bracelets, rings, necklaces, and earrings. Detailed instructions and easy-to-follow, step-by-step photographs lay out the techniques—including jewelry stamping and applying hammered texture—and 17 projects. Even novices can make chandelier earrings, a pearl bracelet, a stone pendant, and more.

“With useful charts and resource information as well as lots of encouragement, this is a superbly well-designed and effective how to. —Booklist

“Legenhausen has compiled a thoughtful and detailed instructional guide that leaves readers with the knowledge and encouragement needed to create their own designs and advance their jewelry-making educations.” —Publishers Weekly

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781454710325
Publisher:	Lark Crafts
Publication date:	06/13/2017
Pages:	176
Sales rank:	1,149,720
Product dimensions:	7.90(w) x 9.90(h) x 0.60(d)

About the Author

Based in Baltimore, MD, Courtney Legnhausen is the owner of Lotus Jewelry, which she founded in 2006. Her handcrafted work is sold around the world and has been featured in Lucky, InStyle, Family Circle, Cosmopolitan, and other magazines and media outlets.

Editorial Reviews

06/05/2017
Legenhausen, cofounder of Lotus Jewelry Studio in Baltimore, Md., takes care to feature the finer points of finishing sophisticated jewelry pieces while delivering an easy-to-follow overview of jewelry-making techniques for inexperienced and intermediate crafters. The book is arranged in the manner of a class syllabus, with each project building on the lessons and skills learned in the ones before it. The projects start by focusing on the basics of stringing beads, then progress through wire-wrapping and knotting techniques and finish with hammering and stamping projects. Inexperienced jewelers are thoroughly tutored through the essential skills needed to complete simple yet fetching creations. The book also offers a brushup on the fundamentals of jewelry making and new tips for more experienced crafters (e.g., the importance of stretching silk thread before use). Legenhausen has compiled a thoughtful and detailed instructional guide that leaves readers with the knowledge and encouragement needed to create their own designs and advance their jewelry-making educations. (June)

Publishers Weekly

“Jeweler Legenhausen begins her guide to jewelry making with a brief discussion about design, noting that nature is a “huge source of inspiration” for her, along with architecture, objects, and the human form itself. She encourages readers to start with a sketch, then quickly moves on to an illustrated introduction to the tools of the craft, which include a wonderful variety of pliers and such materials as metals in both sheets and wire, clasps and pins, beads and string. Legenhausen suggests using inexpensive materials while getting the hang of the techniques, which are covered in baby steps, each demonstrated in bright and open page-layouts featuring crisp, close-up photographs. She covers bead stringing, wire wrapping, pearl knotting, jump rings, and hammering metal. Readers then arrive at the projects section, in which Legenhausen matches basic techniques to 16 forms of jewelry invitingly open to interpretation, including an elastic beaded bracelet, chandelier earrings, and a stamped letter pendant. With useful charts and resource information as well as lots of encouragement, this is a superbly well-designed and effective how to. —Booklist

“Legenhausen, cofounder of Lotus Jewelry Studio in Baltimore, Md., takes care to feature the finer points of finishing sophisticated jewelry pieces while delivering an easy-to-follow overview of jewelry-making techniques for inexperienced and intermediate crafters. The book is arranged in the manner of a class syllabus, with each project building on the lessons and skills learned in the ones before it. The projects start by focusing on the basics of stringing beads, then progress through wire-wrapping and knotting techniques and finish with hammering and stamping projects. Inexperienced jewelers are thoroughly tutored through the essential skills needed to complete simple yet fetching creations. The book also offers a brushup on the fundamentals of jewelry making and new tips for more experienced crafters (e.g., the importance of stretching silk thread before use). Legenhausen has compiled a thoughtful and detailed instructional guide that leaves readers with the knowledge and encouragement needed to create their own designs and advance their jewelry-making educations.” —Publishers Weekly
 

From the Publisher

06/15/2017
In this introductory guide to jewelry techniques, professional jewelry designer Legenhausen showcases her expertise. After teaching the basics, she delves more deeply into core techniques, such as finishing ends, pearl knotting, and working with jump rings. These core techniques are reinforced and expanded upon via a series of projects featuring beginner-level bead stringing, wire wrapping, knotting, and metalwork. The steps of each project, with styles ranging from laid-back boho glam to modern minimalism, are illustrated with close-up color photographs. VERDICT Beginners interested in a pictorial guide to basic jewelrymaking techniques with simple yet stylish projects will find this appealing.

Library Journal