Signature jewelry designer Kate McKinnon's best design work incorporates not only beauty, but innovation and engineering. Her work is inspired by clever construction solutions to design challenges and exploring the creative limits of her materials whether they are beads, wire, fibers, or metal. This book explores her unique approach to connections-- how to hook a thing to another thing and have it move freely, and how to make your work last even if you are working with delicate beads or fibers. She shares her techniques for building one-of-a-kind jewelry through her approach to joinery and construction, while showcasing special beads and treasures. The projects in the book use a wide variety of materials, including beads, metal, and wire, and offer a variety of ways to make settings for your bead treasures. It is divided into four basic sections; sewn beadwork, embellishment on felt, strung pieces, and those built with metal and wire. In each category, many of the same materials are used, but the method of construction is different. Each way of making jewelry presents its own strengths and weaknesses, and she shows how to maximize each construction technique to its fullest. Through step-by-step photos, a DVD technique workshop, and 15 projects, she shares her knowledge about movement, connection, longevity, and presentation in jewelry design.