Review: Kalmbach's Easy Crystal Stitching by Nikia Angel

I had the pleasure (and I DO mean PLEASURE!) of reading Nikia Angel's new book, "Easy Crystal Stitching" published by Kalmbach. I'm all about bling and this book is chock full of it. It's hard to imagine, but all the projects are based on Nikia's Sparkly Wheel or a derivative there of. It's amazing that a single component can have so many different looks. It really encourages people to think outside the box.

And here's my version. I added a peyote bail so it can be work as a pendant. Pretty pleased. :-)

Bead Board With Folder by Creative Options

 

Look what came in the mail this week! This lovely new bead board from Creative Options! Let me begin by saying that it's got great visual appeal. The lovely padded cover incorporates all my favorite colors; purple, turquoise and green. There's a bit of orange too, but barely noticeable. The company name is even embroidered on in the lower right hand corner. Did I mention the visual appeal?? I couldn't wait to open it up to see what the inside looked like!

On the left it has green elastic stretch webbing material to hold all your tools. On the right is a bead design board where you can lay out your design. It has a plastic cover which will hold your beads in place too. The bead board is held in place by elastic in the 4 corners, but is removable so you can set it up wherever you like while working. Also, on the lower left is a small zippered pouch which will hold any other small miscellaneous items you might have, such as needles, beading thread, tubes of beads, etc. A sturdy velcro tab holds it all closed for traveling. They've thought of everything and at a very reasonable price! I found it on Amazon for $17.94. You can also check your local craft shops, Michaels, AC Moore, Hobby Lobby, etc. If they have it, you can use your weekly coupons for even more savings. I absolutely love mine & can't think of a single thing I would change about it! If you go to their website, you'll see lots of other craft organization products that they carry.

Right-Angle Weave Stitch Workshop

 

I've been a subscriber of Bead & Button magazine for over 10 years, loving all the beautiful projects. However, right angle weave is probably one of my most challenging stitches. So I was looking forward to reviewing this book and trying out some of the patterns. I flipped through the pages and earmarked just about all of them to try. Shock, I know! lol! This book is chock full of beautiful projects from the beginner to the more advanced. I decided to try the Crystal Ribbon pattern. This is a photo of the one in the book.

 

I made a few changes to it to make it more personal. Here's my version, without the longer ovals.

All in all, I find this book to be a wonderful compilation of RAW (right-angle weave) projects for those wanting to tackle all sorts of projects. The only down side is that I personally would've liked to see more 2-needle RAW projects. I prefer it over 1-needle, but that's just me.