Monday, June 11, 2018

Tip #6: Go Google a Book

Okay, so this is amazing!

Google books acts like an in depth preview of certain books. Especially if you live in Podunk, Texas with limited selections of beading materials at your local book stores (what book stores?) and libraries. Okay, so my library is pretty great in it's selection of....everything.....beadwork included. But I can only check out the same books so many times before I want to look for inspiration elsewhere.

Go to www.books.google.com. All you have to do is type in whatever material you are looking for, and you will get multiple results of what the first sections of your favorite or soon to be favorite beading books look like. Not everything has a preview, but a fair amount do, and they give you an idea of the quality of projects and diagrams used in each book.

Screen Capture of Marcia Balonis' Lush & Layered Beadweaving

Screen Capture of Nealay Patel's Jewelry for the New Romantic

Screen Capture of Diane Fitzgerald's Shaped Beadwork

Screen Capture of Kelly Wiese's A Beaded Romance

As you can see from the ones I selected, there's quite a variety of bead artists out there. I don't currently own any of the above mentioned books. Nor have I seen any of them in person. And boy, are there more of them than I ever knew about! (I'm looking at you, Nealay. It's like you're psychic or something.)

I mostly just use the preview function of Google Books to see if I would REALLY want to spend my hard earned dollars on a new book for my collection. I've learned the hard way that covers aren't always representative of what's inside. 

And hey, if you're really hesitant to outright purchase, even after previewing, do what I do. Use the Inter Library Loan service from your local library. More often than not, some library somewhere has it. Except for Kate McKinnon's books. The one place who has those doesn't loan them out. So I bought 'em right up. My library charges $2.50 for each loan, which is a significantly lower investment. It feels a lot like renting and is much easier on my wallet if I don't enjoy something as much as I thought.

I fully realize that I can't own every beading book on the planet, and that not everybody's style is for me. But even in borrowing, I'm at least supporting my libraries around the country, and they're supporting artists by purchasing those books for their collections. I would love to support more beaders. I just can't do that without first seeing those books in my hands. This is just how I go about those purchases. I hope you found the information useful!

Happy beading.






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