It was a sad day back in 2021 when Kalmbach Media ceased producing new books and shuttered the Bead and Button shows as well as their magazines. The pandemic accelerated the trend to digital publications. But luckily for us, there are still beadwork designers who have forged ahead with their own self-published books, thus serving that void. 

Many beadwork and other craft enthusiasts prefer books as they are often good reference tomes to have around. No internet needed either!

Pennsylvanian, Patricia Parker, of RoseBluBeads is an award winning designer whose previous book, Colorful Components was published in 2019.  She has since written her second book, From the Flowering Fields : Creating 3D Flowers with Seed Beads.  This self published book is available as a PDF and as a physical book.  I received a PDF copy for review.

It is a beautifully produced book focusing on botanical elements - flowers, leaves and even some of a garden's denizens like dragonflies and caterpillars.  What Patricia does is to teach readers how to construct many common garden favorites.  She starts with basic stitch instructions and moves on to the detailed steps on how each flower, leaf or insect is formed. 

The diagrams and instructions are clear.  As you can see from the Contents pages, she indicates which bead stitches are used. Very helpful if you favor one stitch over another!

The author also includes many spectacular examples of her finished pieces. These show how individual components can be put together with gorgeous results.  I have included 3 here at the end. The passion flowers and poppies in the last one are absolutely stunning! Check out Patricia's blog to see more of her work. 

You can also get some of her design elements as tutorials in her Etsy, RoseBluBeads, but the book is better value as it contains so much more. 

An absolute delight for gardeners, nature lovers and beaders alike!  














Giveaway

If you'd like to win a PDF copy of From the Flowering Fields,  please make a comment below. Make sure you leave contact info below if you do not have an online shop or blog.

Email subscribers need to scroll down the post they receive, click on Share Comment and enter your comment. Pick Name/URL. If you don't have a store or blog, leave the URL blank.

This PDF giveaway is international. If the winner is from the US, he/she will be given a choice of either a PDF or a physical book. 

Extra entries if you become or are a blog subscriber or follower etc. If you also do shout outs about this giveaway, those will count as additional entries too! Please say so in the comments. (The exception is Facebook - just like/comment on the giveaway status there!!)

It ends in a week's time at 6 pm EST Monday, May 2, 2022. I will pick the winner randomly and announce the results as soon as possible after. So be sure to leave a contact email if you don't have an online link or make sure you come back and check! Otherwise I will redraw in a week. Good luck!

Before You Go:

Disclosure 

This blog may contain affiliate links. I do receive a small fee for any products purchased through affiliate links. This goes towards the support of this blog and to provide resource information to readers. The opinions expressed are solely my own. They would be the same whether or not I receive any compensation. 
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Original Post by THE BEADING GEM