bodner041

My flower garden is a great joy and one of the major sources of inspiration for my fiber art jewelry as well as my knitted and crocheted accessories. Each of my pieces begins with an image. In the case of this necklace, the image was of the humble morning glory. I'd like to invite you to share in my design process for making this piece. Once the image is determined, I gather my materials: *crochet hooks *threads in cotton, bamboo and silk *beads and other findings. I then experiment with shapes. I'm not seeking to duplicate nature, but to interpret it in order to design versatile wearable art. The Morning Glory may be worn as a long lariat, a doubled and twisted choker, and even as a dainty looking headband. This is made with fine threads, but it's crocheted so tightly that it's very durable and even hand washable to last for many years. Many people view morning glories as weeds because they're so invasive. I go after them in my garden too, but they're so lovely...

This is an update on my crocheted starfish. I had a lot of requests so I put together a pattern that includes the starfish brooch, earrings and ring. You can find it at Etsy and also at Craftsy The pattern shows all three starfish designs in turquoise, but I'm now working on some coral/apricot/tangerine starfish and really they look good in so many colors. Feel free to contact me if you have any questions. I always love to speak knitting and crochet, even though my patterns are always written in simple English.

My Turquoise Starfish Brooch and Ring are a call to the sea. I've loved poetry from my earliest years, most likely because of the music of its rhythms. I definitely remember learning this poem by heart when I was still quite young: This is meter right out of Homer and moves the spirit for sure! Starfish combine both the sea and the stars and also are wonderful design elements. A year or so ago I made a Turquoise Starfish Ring -- I used Perle cotton #5 to make it and it's been in quite a few Etsy treasuries. Then a few months ago, a customer asked me to make a starfish brooch -- Can you see the starfish impression on the shell? The brooch is made with a DK weight mercerized cotton. On my worktable right now is a starfish earring I've designed. This is made with variegated embroidery floss and the tiniest hook I could get to work with that easily separated thread. I'll mount these on silver plated ear wires. You can find the ring in my Etsy shop and the brooch here. fi...

When my Lily of the Valley first bloomed I made this necklace to celebrate the arrival of High Spring. Here's the necklace on a mannequin to give you an idea of the dimensions. The necklace is large and makes a big visual statement, but because I crocheted it with fine threads, it's actually very lightweight. I'm fond of using French embroidery floss for my fiber art jewelry because it has a beautiful sheen and comes in an almost limitless number of colors. Today I was delighted to see that the flowers are still blooming. This is unusual for Lily of the Valley which generally only lasts a short time in the garden. I'm assuming that the cold weather has lengthened their lifespan. This picture shows them just after a rainstorm last week. I like the sparkly water on the sturdy leaves of these very delicate looking flowers. These are the flowers I picked this morning. Not only do they look like little ivory bells, but they also smell so intensely sweet that the whole room i...