About

Dania De Bortoli is an enthusiastic self taught artist who has been designing jewelry and other artistic
expressions since she was a child. After a ten-year detour into the business world as an analyst and
project manager, since 2005, Dania has returned to her passion for creating jewelry and textiles full time.
Her award-winning jewelry and whimsical purses and scarves are sold in galleries nationwide.

UNUSUAL JEWELRY
Dania combines the timeless quality of vintage inspired jewelry and unique textiles with the vibrancy of
contemporary design. The results are adornments that soothe the soul.

Historical designs and vintage designers are a source of great inspiration to Dania “I am enamored by so
many different eras. My favorite periods are Renaissance, Victorian, Art Nouveau, and Art Deco. I love
the Art Nouveau period in particular because of the way the designers of the time combined primitive
components with more refined materials.” Dania’s work embodies this philosophy of combining unusual
pieces such as glass with natural stone, freshwater pearls, antiqued brass, aged copper, gold filled and
classic sterling silver. The resulting pieces are striking and exotic.

VINTAGE FUSION
Dania calls this mélange of design elements and materials from the past “Vintage Fusion.”
“This is where I differ from my heroes and heroines of the past. I want to take past concepts and ideas
and create fresh designs that cross cultural boundaries. Currently I am exploring design elements from
Japan, India, Native American, Africa, and Europe. It is my desire to create beauty by harmonizing a
variety of different elements into a single piece of work. I never want to be limited by a particular time
period or cultural style.”

UNIQUE TEXTILES
Dania’s unique fusion of textiles and jewelry started in a fairly happenstance manner. It was winter, and she couldn’t
find a large warm scarf to keep the Iowa weather at bay. So she decided to learn how to knit. The ease and
portability of knitting and the creative possibilities soon made it a favorite activity. “Every new project was an
adventure in texture and color.”

When she learned to felt purses from a good friend and talented artist, she was hooked. “I would knit with a fury,
producing purse after purse, trying new things and experimenting.” The results were whimsical purses with names
like Aurora’s Fling, Poison Toadstool, and Arachne. One day, on a whim, she started dressing her purses with some
of her necklaces and was pleased with the results. Inspired, she began designing closures for the felted purses from
her jewelry stash. 

OPPORTUNITY TO SHARE
It was this unusual combination of different elements that landed her a spot on the Home & Garden Network HGTV
show THAT'S CLEVER , a program that showcases outstanding artisans throughout the country. The show had
already aired segments on felting purses and segments on jewelry, but never on the combination of the two arts.

“I really appreciated the opportunity to demonstrate how easy it is to knit, felt and embellish a purse. This is a project
that is perfect for knitters of any experience because you can always add to the complexity of the project
depending on your skill level.” 

CANINE COUTURE
Dania was inspired to create pet jewelry when she adopted Cocoa Butter, an adorable three month old champagne
toy poodle. Her pup is the model for The Deco Dog logo and is incredibly cute! Of course being a designer, Dania
saw the possibilities to adorn her precious pooch and had a blast doing it. Why not have as much fun bejeweling
your pet as you do bejeweling yourself! See Cocoa Butter on HGTV’s website: HGTV’s AT HOME

ARTISTIC INSPIRATION
Dania has taught knitting classes in Coralville and Fairfield, Iowa. She has created a set of highly flexible knitting
patterns for ponchskirts (poncho skirts), scarves, knitted necklaces, knitted Christmas garlands, felted evening
purses and bags. The patterns are designed to inspire the knitter and allow him or her to utilize a variety of different
yarns, colors and textures. “Since knitting to me is a very creative process, it is really important that patterns have
enough flexibility to accommodate creative detours.” The goal for any class she teaches is for the students to walk
away with confidence and a new sense for adventure for combining yarn color and texture.

KNITTING CLASSES
No knitting classes scheduled at this time.
Please check in later for details

What students are saying about
Thanks so much for doing this class!
I feel like I just jumped light years ahead in understanding knitting and felting.
– Annalisa,  Fairfield, IA

JEWELRY DESIGN CLASSES
Dania also offers a variety of different jewelry design classes.
Please check in later for details