Ruby was nice enough to send me her book for review along with the CD version, and I have to say I was genuinely impressed. Packed full of full-color projects and tips, this is an excellent book for beginners. Though she primarily covers seed beading, including such stitches as netting, zig zag, right angle weave, daisy, spiral, brick, and peyote, Ruby also includes a lot of basic jewelry instructions that seed beaders as well as other bead artists will find helpful. From stringing materials to tools to web resources, this 110 page book is really packed.

I especially believe this book is good for the beginning seed beader because of Ruby's approach to each stitch. She first provides instructions together with graphics to show the basics of the stitch. Then she shows different ways the stitch can be altered to create variations on it. Finally, Ruby provides multiple projects for each stitch she illustrates and shows how the use of different beads and/or variations on the stitch can create an entirely different look, thus opening up a world of possibilities to the beginner who may have only been able to master one or two stitches.

Along with a hard copy of her book, Ruby has also created a CD copy. They can either be purchased together to receive a price break or you can purchase them separately. Both can be purchased on her web site at http://www.rubysbeadwork.com/ where you can also find out more details about her book, or if you aren't familiar with this talented beader, you can take a "test run" using one of her free tutorials before buying her book.

Congratulations to you, Ruby!

Graphics reprinted with permission of Ruby Fischer.

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