Update and book review

mistakenly thought I was going to recieve the new Bead Star magizine and the supplies to make Valerie Aharoni beautiful necklace. So imagine my surprise when I opened my mailbox the other day and I had actually recieved Fabulous Fabric Beads by Kristal Wick. But what a wonderful surprise it turned out to be. Kristal has written this in such a way that even someone like me, who has never made fabric beads can understand it. By the time I had gotten to the techniques pages I was already in love with the book. She starts out telling us what tools we need but she doesn't stop there she shows pictures, has little notes and points to the pages where she used that technique. The techniques she shows are easy to understand with pictures and notes here and there also. I was saying ' well I'll be darn' all the way through that section. She take the basic bead design and adds embellishments to make really special and unique one of a kind beads.
And on to the beads themselves. Wow! She had me wanting to get busy trying most of them. I really love the Batik and the Vintage Kimono ones, but the Talisman message beads and the wire lace beads are beautiful also. Actually I loved most of them equally. She has wire wrapped, beaded, dipped and fiberous ones.
Last but certainly not least she shows some of the items she has mad and tell you which beads she used. The first one I fell in love with was the Mixed-Media Medley earrings. I am going to do those. I have to have them! Then the Dream Catcher necklaces, OMG. That one is for me too.
I guess I don't have to tell you that I just Love this book. Thank you so much Valerie. I now have one more medium to try my hand at. So if you have been wondering about this book I give it a 5 star rating. It is a must see..
Well I am off to start something new. Until next time.
Happy Crafty Day, CraftyLinda
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I can't beleive I won!!

Did you know that the members of PCAGOE ( Polymer Clay Artist Guild of Etsy) have been sponsoring a Scavenger Hunt? It started on Dec. 10th and runs thru Dec. 22nd. I read about it on Valerie Aharoni's site. I went to Valerie's Etsy shop and found the little elfin miss, covo-ed her to let her know I found it and where. And Today I received a message telling me I had won. I am so excited and pleased. The prize for that week was a copy of BEAD STAR ( a new magazine, I'll tell you about later) and the polymer clay components to make my own version of the Best in Show (which Valerie won) necklace.
I have been meaning to tell you about Valerie's site, She is a very talented lady. If you haven't already clicked the link above you can see her Best of Show winning necklace here. She was among more than 1,00 entries in the contest that BeadingDaily.com had in April 2008. Out of 180 finalists her necklace was one of 45 chosen, and will appear on the cover of the new magazine Bead Star.
She talks about transfers, and how she used parchment paper with an ink jet printer. Very pretty out come. She has pictures on her site of the prettiest items she has made using this technique. Sounds interesting I think I will add that to my to-do list for after the Holidays.