Margot Potter - The Impatient Beader

There are people who love to spend hours, days, weeks and even months toiling over one project until it is perfectly perfect. These tireless workers are blessed with endless amounts of patience, they are motivated to strive unceasingly to reach their goal, and they revel in the tedium and monotony of endless and repetitive motion. These perfectionists have the most elegant homes, the most fragrant and delicious pies, and the loveliest handcrafted invitationsand to add insult to injury, none of it seems to make them sweat.

If you are one of these people, this book is not for you.

If instead you are a creative individual who lacks time, focus or motivation, you have come to the right place. Greetings and welcome to the wonderful world of beading for the patience impaired.

As I began to work on this book, I realized just how impatient I amand I mean this seriously. I am impatient. It takes a very concerted effort for me to meticulously finish just about anything. Every scarf I attempt to knit becomes a lovely potholder. Every present I wrap is beautiful on top and a tape disaster underneath. I am particularly happy when my efforts are rewarded with maximum success for minimum effort. This is why I love beadwork.

Now dont let me steer you wrong. Beadwork is hardly all fun and games. I had to spend a fair amount of time problem solving to create the designs in this bookeach design represents hours of testing the limitations and the potential of the materials. I love the challenge that beadwork presents, and I hope you will too. Once you master the basic techniques, the level of time and energy you will need to commit to making designs is completely up to you. It isnt rocket science, as they say, and in my humble opinion some of the most wonderful designs are the most simple. The best thing about beadwork is that you can have a finished product to proudly wear, gift or display in a relatively short amount of time. You cant wear your scrapbook now, can you?!

I have laid the foundation here for you to become a beading whiz. Ive supplied you with a plethora of techniques and design ideas for your beading enjoyment. I have created fun and rewarding step-by-step designs for you to follow, or you may strike out on your own with these ideas to serve as your road map. Within an hour or two, you will have a finished piece of wearable arthow is that for almost instant gratification? Now grab some beads and lets get started.

SKILL LEVEL GUIDE:

To make things easy for you, Ive assigned each project in the book a skill levelthat way youll know which projects I consider really easy and which ones I think might be a little tougher for someone just starting out. Following is a key that explains the three skill levels:

If youre a BEADING VIRGIN, youll find the simple stringing projects the easiest.

If youre a BEADING VIXEN, youre ready to step it up a little and try something a bit more challengingmaybe something with dangles or linked chain.

If youre a BEADING GODDESS, well, then you can do anything you want. If you want a challenge, these projects are for you.