I first borrowed this book from the library, and now I have finally been able to order it. I have used two other books on this subject, but I think CeCe Wire's book is best suited for me. I am a beginner with this material, however, I want my finished projects to have a certain streamlined sophistication, and I feel that of all of the books I have read on this subject, this book suits my needs and goals best. Ms. Wire has a wonderful grasp on the technical aspects of working with metal clay. Her projects are great for beginners, well illustrated and explained, but the final results are professional and stylish. One does not need to invest in many additional tools or materials in order to finish her projects. I also find that her projects and gallery of finished pieces provide a great springboard to encourage the reader to envision and create their own great jewelry pieces. There is a non-jewelry piece in here, but that does not bother me at all. It encourages the reader to consider other uses for metal clay, and who says jewelry must only be worn on the body? Why not create decorative objects as "jewelry" for the home? If you do not have a kiln, do not worry. I fire my pieces on my gas stove or with a small butane torch purchased from my local home improvement store. Also, I hear that bead and jewelry stores that have PMC or Art Clay Silver classes or paint-your-own-ceramics studios are often willing to fire your pieces for a reasonable fee. So give this book a try, I hope you will be as pleased as I am!

I just received this book today and I leafed through it and put it down. Normally with a book of this type (art instruction, projects etc) I'll just get lost in it and read it from cover to cover. I bought this book based on the reviews here and also that Ms. Wire is the head cheese at the PMC Guild, but if I had seen this book first in the store I probably wouldn't have purchased it. The jewelry projects are not my style at all, and the layout and photography isn't that exciting either.

A better book about PMC is The Art of Metal Clay by Sherri Haab. I love the projects in there and the pictures are totally inspirational.