Dimensional Flowers, Leaves & Vines by Barbara L. Grainger     ISBN 0-9679833-2-0, Softbound, 45 pgs., color and black and white, $24.95 plus $3.50 S&H, Barbara L. Grainger Enterprises, PO Box 1902, Oregon City, OR 97045, email Beadteach@aol.com

Barbara’s book is no doubt one of the best beading books authored this year! My advise, purchase your copy now before the first print is sold out and you have to wait for the second or third printing to get your copy, it is going to be that popular. There are so many beading books on the market today, many with no meat/all fluff, that it is a real pleasure to see Barb’s book that is jam packed with the "meat" of the subject. Every page has floral designs that you can actually make and use and it won’t drive you crazy to figure them out or take months to finish.

Barb states that although the book is geared to the intermediate/advanced beadworkers, she has found beginners can do many of the projects. If you are a beginner and know a few basic beading techniques, Barb’s instructions are so easy to follow, you will eventually be able to master them all.

All the patterns are designed so you can make component pieces, one of my great loves. Component pieces allow you to make the same flower, leaf or vine in different bead types and colors and add them to several different projects. Some of the leaves come in more than one size so you can make large and small ones.

Chapters are broken down to brick stitch, netting, peyote and miscellaneous techniques plus an overview of projects. Each project includes an explanation of the particular item and how to assemble it. Step by step illustrations and instructions are included. The book is very user friendly, all you have to do is look in the table of contents, pick out your choice of project, go to that page and there is all the information you need to make the project.

Hearts can become flowers in some designs, leaves become flowers and vice versa, depending on the beads you use and how you place them. You can take one flower and add it to a collar necklace, as earrings or add it to a beaded branch or vase. Netted bracelets, ideas for beading jars, collar necklaces with embellishment and little moss islands are included. Most the projects are three dimensional and there are several color pages of the projects completed to give you design ideas.

The flowers are worked in various techniques and each has a different appearance. Some look like morning glories and others like poppies. The bead color choices can make one flower design appear as a diverse variety of natural flowers.

I was very pleased to see a step by step illustration for making each peyote leaf. So often instructions leave out steps to save printed pages and this makes it very difficult for beginners to follow. Barb has included every step required. The large peyote leaf includes 18 illustrations which makes it easy for beginners to finish one of these leaves.

Some of the flowers stack on top of each other for more dimension and creativity. The little moss island is very easy beading and just takes time to cover the 3-D piece. Barb used this same technique in one of her projects for Beadwork Magazine and covered a small doll figure. The possibilities are endless.

When Barb ask me to test one of her projects for the book, the moss island and a flower design, I had no idea of all the treasures her book would include when finished. I was overwhelmed when I looked through her book with all these wonderful easy to create designs.

This is a book of romance, a remembrance of our natural surroundings with flowers, leaves and vines that we can translate with beading into jewelry and sculpture. The designs hint of a past age when there was time to walk through a flower garden, tea with a friend and interludes in the boudoir. Although these designs can look very contemporary, the cascades of beaded leaves takes me to that world of antique beaded bags, Juliet caps, princess dresses, and day dreaming as a girl imagining being dressed in such fashion and attending gala events. You can make your own romantic dreams come true when you use these designs for your beadwork.

I highly recommend Dimensional Flowers, Leaves & Vines. It is a definite must have book for every beader. Barb’s book is a valuable technique reference book, one you will use over and over again and the designs are timeless, they will always be popular. Congratulations Barb, a great contribution to the beading world!