Jewel Loom Inspirations by Julianna C. Avelar | Review

Jewel Loom Inspirations by Julianna C. Avelar is wonderfully done book filled with colorful and beautiful projects for making loom jewelry using her Jewel Loom (from Beadalon). I did a book flip though so that you can enjoy the beautiful projects, however I did  cover the materials lists for each project and quickly passed through the instructions to preserve the joy of actually owning the book.

The “Jewel Loom Inspirations” book is a wonderful book for the first time and beginning Beader to learn how to use a loom and how make a variety of different type of jewelry projects.  The more experienced Beader may enjoy the many beautifully designed projects that are included in this book.  The Book is perfect to use along with Julianna’s Jewel Loom kit from Beadalon.  

The technique pages include well thought out photographs so that the reader can truly follow along. 

There are some great step by step photo for each technique, as well as the project. Below is a picture I took of Julianna demonstrating her "Jewel Loom" at a local Craft Show.  It really is easy to use the loom and her designs for it are excellent.

The projects included in the "Jewel Loom Inspirations"  book are very contemporary and can be worn by anyone wanting to make and show off unique and beautiful jewelry.  

The book contents includes:

• ·      Introduction
• ·      Getting Started
• ·      Materials (easy to find materials, including adhesives)
• ·      Tools (she lists tools that are specific to these projects)
• ·      The Jewel Loom (A great explanation of the Jewel Loom and how to use it)
• ·      Stringing The Warp Threads
• ·      Building a Base
• ·      Finishing Techniques
• ·      17 Projects:
• o   Checkered Cuff
• o   Ocean’s Desire Beaded Bracelet
• o   Elegant Pearl Bracelet
• o   Ombre Cubed Bracelet
• o   Great Pyramid Cuff
• o   Surf’s Up Beachy Cuff
• o   Bugle Bead Leather Cuff
• o   Mix-and-Match Beaded Band
• o   Boho Happiness Wrap
• o   Mardi Gras Beaded Band
• o   Funky Fringe Headband
• o   Loopy Jewel Ring
• o   Victorian Choker
• o   Goddess Amulet
• o   Sunshine Sparkle Earring
• o   Swarovski Crystal Brooch
• ·      And a wonderful Inspiration Gallery that features the work of other Designers & Artists.

I really found that the “Jewel Loom Inspirations” project photographs, explanations and tutorials in this book were so very helpful in figuring out how to properly use the jewel loom.  She also offers some tips throughout the book to help the reader gain some additional insight and/or skills.  The step-by-step directions in this book are well thought out and very easy to follow. The photography of the jewelry projects in this book is beautiful.  The projects are fairly easy to do and do not involve a tremendous investment in time and money.  

For those that love using beading charts, this book does have one for a more difficult project.  However, the design of most of these projects truly does not require a graph to be able to complete the projects. 

I love this book and would recommend it as a great accompanying gift with the Jewel Loom Kit.

You can buy either through Amazon.  I am including a link for you. 

A review of the Spring Glitterfest 2012 Craft and Handmade Gifts Show

     Nothing says "Spring" better than a cool craft show featuring a fun selection of handmade spring craft and decor pieces.  There were also vendor selling a fabulous selection of crafting supplies, glitter, and other merchandise to tempt folks who like to make their craft projects.
     I love spring and all the excitement associated with it.  So in between planting seeds, replacing plants and designing a new garden, I found time to attend the Spring Glitterfest craft and handmade gifts event.  It was held at the Elks Lodge in Santa Ana, California (which is about 15 minutes away from Disneyland).  The show offers parking at the Elks Lodge or you can park at the store and take a tram to the show site.

    There is a wide offering of merchandise available at the Spring Glitterfest show.  The organizers take care to plan the show floor with care so that you can enjoy the various "eye candy" in a fun and relaxed atmosphere without getting overwhelmed nor over crowded. Since I reviewed the Fall 2011 Glitterfest Event, I thought I would concentrate on introducing you to just a few of the many talented artists who sell their hand crafted art work at this particular show.
   My first stop was the Craftside publishing booth, to visit with my friend Stefanie Girard.  She was giving away some really really cool journals and sketching pads to show visitors.  The Craftside booth also had a great display of some of their more popular craft books for folks to enjoy.   This gave me a chance to look through some of Craftside's newest craft books and see what types of projects they offered.  Something I really cannot do while shopping on Amazon.

Craft book authors Karen and Ann Mitchell,  who are well known for their wonderful jewelry designs

which they sell under the name Ankara Designs were also at the Craftside booth sharing their talents with guests and teaching them how to make jewelry.

The Mitchell sisters are also known for their polymer clay designs and have demonstrated various polymer clay design techniques on cable shows like "Carol Duvall", and other "how to" segments.

The Mitchell sisters are the authors of the new book "Bead Jewelry 101" which teaches the reader how to master basic jewelry making skills and techniques.

They did a "Make &Take" (at the Craftside booth) that taught folks how to make a cute pair of

earrings from paper and other inexpensive jewelry making supplies.  This was an easy craft project that was also an inexpensive craft project for folks to make.  This same project would also make a great upcycle project just by using materials you already have on hand.  You can also use parts from an old necklace and give it a more updated look.

Earrings made from a punched paper leaf.

Visitors of all ages enjoyed making this particular project.

My next stop was the "Ink Stained Book Arts" booth, where I had a chance to talk to Jeanine Stein.  Her most recent book is called "Re-Bound" and is centered on creating fabulous books from recycled and repurposed materials.

She had some very cool hand bound books for sale that were made from unique materials, the book below is made from recycled cowboy chaps.

I loved the hand bound books that she made from Vintage Photographs and frames.  This one is made using a modified long stitch binding that allows for the contents to be viewed easily.

Jeanine also teaches classes in book and paper arts. She also did a "Make & Take" at this show that featured a simple binding technique like the one in the photo below.

She also made a hand bound journal using the advertisement cards for the Glitterfest show and heavy weight paper.

Here is another peek at some of the fabulous items she was selling at the show.

If you look carefully you can see that she makes books from a large variety of materials, including some journals made from vintage french lotto cards.  As a person who collects vintage books and ephemera, I just love her creativity and the beautiful journals and books.

Here is what I went home with, a beautifully bound book made from natural repurposed materials.

For a bit of whimsy, I decided to stop off and take a peek at the wonderful hand sculpted work by David H. Everett.  

His booth featured his "Chicken Lips" line of whimsical art. These amazing creations are made from paper-mache.

The detail in these pieces is incredible.  I have worked with paper-mache and can appreciate the amount of creativity and talent that he puts into each of his creations.  He actually hand sculpts each and every paper-mache figure that he creates.  Then he covers the base material in gesso. Once the gesso dries, he hand paints each figure giving them their individual personalities and features.  If you want to learn more about his creations, he has a fun blog where he shares his musings and his newest creations.  I am

a huge fan of his halloween line and am looking forward to seeing what he creates for the upcoming 2012 fall season.   The Glitterfest Spring 2012 show offered so many different types of handmade and vintage art that it would take too much space to cover it all here.  I highly recommend checking the show out if you are in the Orange County area.  You can also find similar shows in your own area by doing a local google search.


Do you have any favorite craft shows or events that you like to attend? Leave a comment to share it.

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