Aimee Ray's sweet & simple jewelry

Aimee Ray's Sweet and Simple Jewelry is just that, adorable and sweet. As a former graphic designer, she has an eye for simple beauty. Her book focuses on inspiration and ideas to delight beginners and experienced crafters with unique materials and techniques. The text begins with an introduction and basics covering the embroidery stitches and other techniques used throughout the projects. Beginners will definitely want to review these fundamentals first. The text is filled with beautiful color photographs of each project and includes a variety of materials and trends. Bound to be popular are feather earrings and cameo and dangle earrings. Each design features a list of needed materials and tools at the beginning and presents numbered directions. Although the book lacks diagrams and assumes some prior knowledge of technique and basic skills, the jewelry featured is trendy, so the book will definitely be a popular title with young-adult crafters.--Pfenning, Rebecca Copyright 2010 Booklist

Ray (Doodle Stitching) and Sheldon (Shrink! Shrank! Shrunk! Make Stylish Shrink Plastic Jewelry) have curated a collection of fun and quirky jewelry incorporating a number of techniques such as embroidery, needle felting, and basic bead stringing. Most of the projects require only entry-level skills (and entry-level tools), but the results are surprisingly sophisticated, and the standouts are reminiscent of the trendy accessories popular on Etsy (or in funky craft boutiques). VERDICT DIYers with a taste for cute crafts will appreciate this book, and these introductory projects may whet their appetite for more advanced work, especially in embroidery and needle felting. (c) Copyright 2013. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.