Books

It's well worth the money. I love Passing the Flame but I held off buying it because of the price. I wish I had just purchased it when it was available the first time. Thankfully DH purchased it for me as a birthday present.

Well, if it's good enough for a birthday present, that's good enough for me.

Thanks.

I think it looks really wonderful but the shipping put me off. And the wait! I hate waiting for books from the US, I'm more the instant gratification sort of person! Now, the biggest problem may be making him move over once in a while to let me have a go at the torch.

-Su

I know what you mean about wait. I hate waiting of any sort. My DH swears I'm the most impatient person alive. :-) I knew the instant he brought my BD present in a few days early what it was. He told me I had to wait. Then I said I could use it now and he knew I knew what it was. LOL I always know what he buys for me.

Thankfully I don't have to share torch time. Now that DH is into stained glass though I have to give up my crafting table to his light box and glass. (It was his table in the first place.) Now my crafting stuff is on the floor. :-(

On the topic of books, I scored a copy of Mark Lareau's "All Wired Up" from a clearance bin! I know I still need a lot of practice at even basic wirework, and this is really going to help me.

Celine

Lucky girl. I'd love to have a copy.

I think it's worth it... I recommend it very, very highly. It covers, in concise, step-by-step instructions WITH PHOTOS, all of the building-block techniques beadmakers need to reach intermediate levels of beadmaking. It's like a class in a book, really.

There is an off chance that you'll be able to get it cheaper used though amazon.co.uk, but sinc there aren't a lot of beadmakers over there I guess that's not a good one to count on. Maybe also keep an eye on major supply houses in the US... I've seen the book on sale before.

-Kalera

Su/Cutworks wrote:

I ordered it by phone from one of the sites recommended to me. Most of the places I found mention of it were click-throughs to Amazon and the book is a special order, so I looked until I found somewhere with it in stock and willing to actually answer their phone. It's coming via Global Priority mail and we should see it within the week.

It's not even available in the UK on Amazon unless I want to wait 4-6 weeks!

I've ordered a heap of books:

Passing the Flame The Art and Soul of Glass Beads by Susan Ray Contemporary Lampworking by B S Dunham Flameworking by Elizabeth Ryland Mears and Making Glass Beads by Cindy Jenkins.

It's himself who wants the info and is willing to foot the bill so I happily ordered the books. We're hoping that one or both of us take to lampwork and find it a way to work into a new career eventually. I know it's like any art or craft, some people do famously at it, others make a living and some never take off. But if you don't jump, you can't fly.

Thanks for the info and encouragement.

-Su

vj found this in rec.crafts.beads, from snipped-for-privacy@mindCHEMISEspring.com (Lee S. Billings) :

]On the topic of books, I scored a copy of Mark Lareau's "All Wired Up" from a ]clearance bin! I know I still need a lot of practice at even basic wirework, ]and this is really going to help me.

**grin** yes - it's a great book!

----------- @vicki [SnuggleWench] (Books)

newest creations: ----------- I pledge allegiance to the Constitution of the United States of America, and to the republic which it established, one nation from many peoples, promising liberty and justice for all.

I am so excited for you both. I would love to see how you arrange the boat to fit the studio aka the workbench.

That was the first book I picked up when I decided to try my hand at wire work. It worked well for me, I'm still having fun with it. I wish he'd write another!

I have all those. :-) You do know that Flameworking is primarily directed to boro, right? Very cool anyway... and someday I hope to be able to try that out.

Passing the Flame is definitely the best in terms of actual directions. The Art and Soul of Glass Beads is good inspirational eye candy. The Cindy Jenkins book (if it's the bigger one) is also more eye candy - supposedly instructional, but doesn't really have enough detail (at least for me.) ('make a round bead - you'll have trouble at first, but just keep practicing.' Uh-huh.... how about some tips on what to do to fix the problem?) Contemporary Lampworking - I like that one better than James Kervin's, but I'm probably the only person who does. :-)

my uninformed .02 worth... :-)

Kar>

It will go into a shed on our mooring. We live in such tight quarters I couldn't imagine fitting anything else inside the boat. As it is, we had it extended last year to get to the maximum length for the canal system, simply to get a second bedroom, a closet and a workroom/dining room.

Of course, the boat will be full of the results of the workbench, I hope. I know that my husband has some real talent as an artist, I hope it translates to glass.

Thanks for the help and the good wishes. I'll post a link to pictures when we do get things rolling.

-Su

Well, it's better to read about it before buying up all sorts of stuff that may not be suitable. And I like looking at books. :-) I figure that there's going to be something of use in almost any book.

From what I've seen on sites, this sounds like the best for basics. The problem is that we're dealing with someone who teaches art so he has certain umm.. erm.. how do I say this without a divorce pending? :-) He's talented and very good at a number of disciplines and wants to try his hand at something new, and feels that glass may be that thing. I'm happy to just have him doing something other than grumble.

As for them being eye candy, I love looking at anything and trying to figure out how they did it. And there are so many superb examples I've seen already the books will only give me some more to think about, and possibly solve one or two mysteries. I don't have the same faith in my potential as a bead maker, as I'm a needleworker, but I'm willing to give it a try. And to give himself something new to fuss with. If he polishes the brass portholes once more they may fall out from being too thin!

-Su