Koru- in praise of Shrinky Dinks

"Koru Pendant"
shrink plastic, stamped image, pigment chalk

that's right, you read correctly. Nothing is more fun than shrink plastic. You stamp a big image on it, rub on some pale powder (it'll get darker as it shrinks), cut it out, and then heat it with a heat gun. Giggling insanely as it shrink to a quarter of it's size is optional. This is something i made to test out the process, a green spiral like the Koru (a Maori symbol for the unfurling fern, or birth and discovery)

Crystal Do-deca-hedron

Swarovski crystals, glass beads, nylon fishing line.

i found a pattern to make this super-sparkly Do-Deca-Hedron (twenty sided geometric figure) in a bead shop in Virginia. The ancient greeks aligned each of the old elements with a solid shape made of all the same shape- the Five Platonic solids. the Dodecahedron is made up of pentagons, and it represents the fith element, Spirit.

Beach Cuff

"Beach Cuff"
wool and nylon blend yarn, crocheted, cowrie shell.

i made this pretty cuff while i was at the beach. I found it emotionally healing to be by the sea, so close to nature. Until Jeff's friends showed up and the whole beach house was filled with CHAOS! Fortunately, the town of Bethany is so peaceful, maybe some day i will live there.