Mostly Metals: A Beginner's Guide to Jewelry Design

Create stylish jewelry with chain and jump rings. Each featured project will use at least three variations of materials in silver, gold, large scale, small scale, and more.

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Author: Karin Buckingham
Softcover; 8 1/4 x 10 3/4; 96 pages; 350 color photos; ISBN: 9780871162595

Karin Buckingham always has been drawn to some type of craft or jewelry. She has sold her jewelry designs at art shows, has created many commissions, and has taught classes at a local bead store. Karin enjoys continually building her skills by taking advanced classes in specialties such as chain maille and metalwork. Karin has had two roles at Kalmbach Publishing Co., first designing projects and writing for BeadStyle magazine, and now as an associate editor in the Books department. Karin has a B.A. degree in English from Denison University (Granville, Ohio).

Introduction 6
Materials and tools 10

Chapter One: Designing with the plain loop
How to make a plain loop 18
How to open and close a plain loop 18
Plain loop earrings 19
Exclamation point earrings 20
Link earrings 20
Cluster earrings 22
Dangle pendant 24
Vertical connector 24
Horizontal connector 26
Corkscrew earrings 27

Chapter Two: Designing with the wrapped loop
How to make a wrapped loop 30
Earring dangle 30
Bead pendant 32
Wrapped-loop necklace 32
Multistrand bracelet 34
Cluster bracelet 36
Sunshine anytime sun catcher 38
How to wrap a top-drilled bead 40
Charming teardrop bracelet 40
Briolette dangle necklace and earrings 42

Chapter Three: Designing with jump rings
Rosette bracelet 46
How to open and close a jump ring 47
Rose-and-gold bracelet 48
Hang loose bracelet 49
3 ’n’ 3 link bracelet 50
Jump ring necklace 52
Big ring bracelet 53

Chapter Four: Designing with chain
Chain styles 56
Chain reaction bracelet 56
Pearl scrunchie bracelet 58
Chain-over-leather necklace 60
Chain V necklace 62
Chain lariat 64
Dressy drop 66
Chain drape 68
Briolette necklace and earrings 70
Purse-onality 72
Dramatic dangle earrings 73

Chapter Five: Designing with spacers
Spacer beads 76
Big bead necklace 76
Mother’s bracelet 78
Hill Tribes silver necklaces 80
Decorative head pin earrings 82
Capped crystals bracelets 82
Pattern play bracelets 84

Chapter Six: A review of basics
Caring for your metal jewelry 88
Basic jewelry-making techniques 89
Make a plain loop 89
Open and close a plain loop 89
Make a wrapped loop 90
Wrap above a top-drilled bead 91
Open and close a jump ring 92
Overhand knot 92
Surgeon’s knot 92
Flatten a crimp 92
Make a folded crimp 93
Attach a fold-over crimp end 93

About the author 94

By Tammy Powley, About.com


By the title and at first glance, Mostly Metals: A Beginner's Guide to Jewelry Design by Karin Buckingham (Kalmback Books; $21.95 US) might appear to be a metalsmithing book. But, while you will find it loaded with metal components and supplies to use in jewelry making, you don't have to worry about having to pick up a torch or even a hammer.
Instead the idea of metals revolves around the use of simple metal wire fabrication techniques, such as wrapped loops, and metal components, such as chains and metal beads. The designs in this book, then, offer you a way to incorporate metals into lots of different jewelry designs but in a way that most beginning jewelry makers can handle pretty easily.

I counted 37 jewelry projects which are organized into five technique and materials groups: plain loops (aka unwrapped or simple loops), wrapped loops, jump rings, chain, and spacers. So the techniques you need to master are pretty minimal, but the author shows you can get a lot of bang for your buck just the same.

This 94 page book includes color photographs of the projects as well as how-to technique information. For total beginners, I think this is a good text, but I think it also would appeal to bead stringers who are interested in expanding into metals just a little.