Jenny Schu; Fiber Art

HGA Convergence in New Orleans, 2026

2026-09-15T13:17:26.180-04:00

We were SO excited when HGA announced that Convergence was in New Orleans for 2026. It is a city that my husband and I have talked about going to but never gotten around to making the effort to plan. I've realized that to get excited about any vacation, I need to have a starting point to go there. Like a concert (Madness in Seattle, Rammstein in Minneapolis...) or a weaver's conference. Now that I've been to NOLA, I get it. Every time I mentioned to someone that we were headed to New Orleans who had been, they lit up. What an awesome city. HGA had the conference downtown close to everything which made it easy to try all sorts of food and hear lots of jazz.

I keep saying that putting together proposals and trying to fill classes is just too stressful for me to manage along with my day job, but then when I'm there, the whole time, I'm so glad I made the effort. Will the stress and anxiety ever subside? Probably not. Is it worth it every time? Yes. I know more and more people every year and if I stop teaching and sharing my knowledge with other fiber artists then I loose that momentum that I've spent...decades...building. Something I've learned to do though, while I'm there amidst other weavers and fiber artists, is I start to think of more proposals and run ideas by my colleagues while I'm there...and write them down. I have a 2028 Proposals draft started and need to go through my notes in my sketchbook.

Convergence was busy from Day 1. The fashion show was particularly stunning this year. I had 3 blocks of time at the Leader booth and had better than usual sales this year. My Finish and Exhibit that Piece! Seminar was a low attendance but we went forward with it anyway and it was still fun and informative with a smaller group. A day or 2 later my husband said he ran into someone who took my seminar and she was very complimentary about how much she learned. This was Bryan's second Convergence, Reno was his first introduction to the weavers guild world and he fits right in along with being super helpful.

I took Tina Linville's Class on “Crafting Clarity: Writing Art Statements.” I've always struggled with writing artist statements and bios. Her class actually got me excited to work on mine! I utilized her talk to work on a Bio I needed to submit and it might be the first time ever I felt like it was saying and doing what I wanted it to. She also pointed out to us just how much different types of writing and statement us artists have to do. I feel like I could take a longer workshop on this, but it was a great start to what I really should be focused on with my submitted writing.

My Beadweaving Sampler Class (Even Count Peyote, Flat Herringbone and Right Angle Weave) was the last day of the conference and everyone was excited to take the class but also tired from all the stuff we'd been doing and classes we've been taking. I was worried about being tired, but I get so exited to teach beading that I didn't notice. Peyote and Herringbone went well for most everybody, Right Angle Weave was a bit more difficult because it doesn't have a flow to it. 2 students would agree, the other 2 eventually got it (and one had to leave early).

Above are some of the student's flat herringbone stitch that

I remembered to take photos of while everyone went to lunch.

My friend Sydney (thank you Instagram for another in-person fiber-friendship) invited me to pop into her dye class. I caught the end and got to see some of the beautifully dyed warps that her and her students worked on. It was also cool to see how they set up a hotel conference room for a dye-class. Lots of plastic coverings.

We stayed an extra 3 days past the conference. On Monday morning HGA hosted a very nice volunteers appreciation breakfast. I considered that I hadn't really done any volunteering, I will on the fly if my schedule allows but I was also trying to enjoy myself, it was nice to thank those who did though, and talk with the HGA staff and discuss the forward movement of HGA.

The next stop on Monday was taking the bus out to Small Expressions at Longue Vue House & Gardens. The down side to the buses and trolleys was that there were a lot of screens that weren't working and my google map wasn't updating properly so we missed our stop. The bus driver asked who requested the next stop and pulled over early to drop us off, worried that two, clearly out-of-towners, weren't going to survive the walk in the heat. We did, we were quite hot by the time we got to the exhibit. As with the rest of the exhibits put on by HGA, Small Expressions 2026 is phenomenal and I'm honored have my original Resist Bangle as be part of it.

We were close to one of the large pubic cemeteries at the Longue Vue House and got to walk that in a light rain storm, the overcast sky was really fitting and the graves in New Orleans are as beautiful as you hear about and unique as you always hear or see in photos.

Looking back, Monday was a pretty long day too, Tuesday we walked around more, shopped and had an amazing dinner at Maïs Arepas. I picked this restaurant partially because it was close to the Rabbit Hole where we were headed for music for the night and the online photos looked great. It did not disappoint! Then we headed (a bit too early, as everything runs slow in the South) to the Rabbit Hole to see the Rebirth Brass Band. This was the only show we paid to go see and it was such a great time. I hear that every show is different at the Rabbit Hole when you go see Rebirth. The bartender cannot get enough of getting to see them all the time

The last day was more exploring, we like to walk around and for some reason the heat didn't get to me as bad as it did in Reno. I also am probably better at knowing when I need to quite before it feels awful. I took lots of photos of cool doors, hinges, bright color house paint colors, and "look! Real shutters!" We had great food, took a nap nearly every day, and I finally know why people light up when you mention New Orleans if they've been before. We'll look forward to going back sometime.

Spring Green Gold Plaid Bangle and Earrings

2026-08-22T18:55:58.412-04:00

I packed this bangle as my travel beading project for when I went to Complex Weaver's Conference in June. I didn't work on this much during my trip and decided in the future, smaller projects, or pieces of projects will probably be better for plane travel rather than a whole bangle that's gets wide quickly. I had wanted something in case the urge to bead hit me so I pulled out the plaid pattern that I created forever ago and continued working the the spring greens from an earlier project, adding teal and gold. The nice thing about this "plaid" pattern is that I can make it a wide as I feel like. I got a bit bored with it, so it was finished a few weeks ago.

I like to make a matching earring while the beads are all out so that was the actual finish of this set. I got around to photographing it. It's very different than a lot of my work. Definitely a brighter springy feel than I'm used to.

I'm trying to get better at not packing as many projects for when I travel. For this June trip I could have packed just the sweater (Cozy Classic Raglan) I had decided to take and my sketchbook. I got nearly the whole body of the sweater knit and I was slightly obsessed with working on it during my travels. It made my hands happy and eased my anxiety at the conference and for bus and plane trips.

I finished and photographed this set in time to bring to Convergence Conference with me, then forgot to post this blog about it! I'm just back and sorting things out with home and work...I'll post about Conference and New Orleans eventually! This set did not sell there, so it's available for sale at the moment.

Upcoming Local Show at Loewen Gallery in Williamston: Adorn

2026-07-30T11:13:30.451-04:00

Loewen Gallery's August Show is a break away from their usual beautiful quilts and is a juried show titled "Adorn" The show will run August 6th - August 29th.

The Opening Reception for Adorn is on Saturday August 8th from 12pm to 2pm and I plan on being there. Winona, the gallery manager, and I picked out a grouping of my jewelry to be on display and available for sale for this show.

Loewen Gallery is located at 128 W Grand River Ave, Williamston, MI 48895

A few pieces that will be in the show:

Weavings and Beadwork accepted to Exhibits lately

2026-07-22T10:50:26.311-04:00

I tend to think that I'm not creating as much as I'd like to be, but, the things I am making are selling and headed to exhibits, so I'll take that as a success. Two exhibits will have my piece for a year. The first is Handweavers Guild of America's Small Expressions. This show starts in New Orleans at Longue Vue House & Gardens in New Orleans, Louisiana from August 10, 2026 - October 16, 2026. From there the travel schedule is HERE and goes through May 11 (currently). My first Resist Bangle (in red) as accepted and is on the move.

The second show that will have my work until April 25th, 2027 is called Piercing the Silence: Everyday Art of The Resistance at the Museum of Beadwork. Both of the pieces I entered were accepted: Angry Angry Angry Feminist and Rainbow Resist. I'll miss having both of these pieces in my personal collection...I might be making more. I'd like to go to Portland, ME to see this show in person, but with all the travel plans this year and next I'm not sure I can fit it in.

The last exhibit that my work was accepted to is only during the Handweavers Guild of America's Convergence Conference. Perception was accepted to Threaded Revelry: Throw Me Something, Mixed Media Exhibit and will be on display August 13-16, 2026, at the Sheraton New Orleans Hotel in New Orleans, Louisiana, USA

Complex Weaver's Conference 2026

2026-07-15T18:35:23.294-04:00

View from our hotel room

The Complex Weaver's Conference was June 12-14th and I haven't fully had time to process or get to my studio. When I'm at the conference, it's all "I can't wait to go weave!" then I go home and it's back to the daily stuff... I spent a wonderful 2 and a half days after the conference with my cousins in Denver and then went right back to work for 9 days straight (and put together a new bed, had a mattress delivered, caught up at Physical Therapy...) I know I need to give myself breathing room, but with only so many vacation days and 2 conferences this year I failed to do so.

Keynote Speaker: Madelyn van der Hoogt

I'm finally unpacked and processing. My head is deflating from the compliments and excitement around my 2 hour seminar and discussions of hanging fiber work (I presented my seminar "Finish and Exhibit That Piece!"). I took a number of seminars myself, apparently when I signed up I wanted to know allllll about pleats and textures. I maybe could have done with a little less of that, or mixed in some other topics, note for next time.

Samples from the Marge Coe seminar I took

I met Cally Booker who pointed out that we've been connected on social media since the early twitter days (2 decades?!) and we were finally meeting in person. It was such a huge compliment when she told me that she sends her students to my YouTube videos to see double weave pick-up in action. Then I was sitting next to Heather and she said the same, she references my videos specifically for double weave pick-up. Cally has just released her book Designing and Weaving Double Cloth in the UK and it's set to release in the US at the end of October. Yay for connecting and meeting with other double-weavers!

Heather, myself and Cally

I had a little jewelry set up (which I failed to photograph) for Market one evening and another weaver said she loves the earrings she bought from me at Convergence a number of years ago and she purchased a few more pairs. Sales at this short market were actually much better than I'm used to for a weavers conference. I get it, most of us are looking to buy yarn. I really appreciate and love all the support that this group provides. The excitement and passion is absolutely contagious.

Samples from the Wendy Morris seminar I attended

I think my favorite seminar I took was with Wendy Morris "Weaving Peaks and Throughs." Her talk was wonderful and straightforward along with lots of beautiful samples to see. All of the classes had beautiful samples and it is always an honor being in the presence of so many amazing weavers... "weaving royalty" someone murmured when we were in line for check-in at the hotel behind a few well-known teachers.

Elizabeth Bryan (Weaver Bee) and myself

I have Elizabeth to thank for convincing me to send in some proposals for this conference, and for being my roommate. I was nervous about this being a "complex" weavers conference as I don't think what I do as particularly complex...but apparently the stigma with double weave pick-up is that it is, in fact, very complex. I think of it more as tedious or time consuming rather than "complex" but I am working towards integrating more patterning within my pick-up work...so I am heading into the realm of what I would consider complex. I found myself looking up cones of fine linen yesterday... but for now I'm working with what I have, because I have a lot of yarn to use.

I didn't take a lot of pictures, at the conference or the remainder of my visit. I did get a chance to visit with two of my cousins. Kyle lives in Denver with his lovely family (thank you for hosting me!) and his older sister Michelle was there helping with the kids. It was really nice to catch up.

Cousins!

I also made it back to Boulder for an evening. I took the train and bus from Denver to Boulder which was really nostalgic. I had dinner with Russ who moved out there after training me at my current Millwork Specialist position here in Michigan.

Russ and I in Boulder

I packed a lot into one trip, and I'm still letting everything I learned between looms and people and family to steep into my wellbeing...while preparing for my next weaver's conference in August.

Rainbow Resist Statement Bangle

2026-05-16T12:52:52.802-04:00

Can I finish a decent-sized bangle on a tight deadline? Apparently yes. But it's about all I did between sleeping and working.

I found out that my first Resist Statement bangle (in red) was accepted to Handweavers Guild of America's Small Expressions Exhibit. Which means it will be traveling this June 2026 through July 2027. I have had the Rainbow Resist Bangle in mind, and another juried exhibit that I wanted to enter a Resist Bangle into....due by May 14th. I was dragging my feet creating this one thinking that I wouldn't get into Small Expressions and I'd just submit the red one to the next event... the universe had other plans.

I started this one on May 10th and finished it on the 13th. Four days of only beading in the morning and evening around work...and on my lunch break. I usually just knit on my lunch since I only take a half hour, but in this case, every bead counts!

I considered having Resist repeated on this bangle like I did on the first one. I initially chose to design this rainbow one with the word once so that it wouldn't take as long to bead. The more I have to pay attention to a pattern (I graph these out myself), the longer it takes with more potential for mistakes and backtracking. At first, I chastised myself for being lazy only beading Resist once, but ultimately, I like it better than if Resist was beaded out twice. I think it would have gotten WAY too busy looking really quick.

I got the bangle done, photographed and submitted in time, so we'll see if this one gets to travel too. I like having one of these around. My subtle commentary on how I'm feeling every single day right now. As I make more, I imagine them piling up together as its own little protest in my studio and around the house. What color(s) to do next...

Striped Stash Yarn Choux Sweater [sweater pattern by Jessie Maed Designs]

2026-04-25T14:45:00.003-04:00

Choux Sweater Ravelry Link Here

I love this sweater pattern design by Jessie Maed. I love a lot of her designs and the Choux Sweater combines my desire for a loose, comfy, basic sleeve, loose arm opening and no seaming after you're done knitting. Getting to wear a sweater right off the needles rather than having to get around to blocking and sewing the pieces together is... magical. I knit to relax and get away from my more detailed forms of fiber work. This sweater pattern has the delight of immediate gratification when the knitting is done. I did have to stitch in a bunch of ends before this one was ready to wear, but I can do that with little effort while watching tv.

I'm never totally sure about how a pattern like is going to come together, or how much I'll end up liking the style and fit. So I decided to go with stash yarn for the first run on the Choux Sweater. I don't have 3 skeins of any one stash yarn (probably not even 2 skeins)... so stripes. I have a lot of blues. Likely because I don't tend towards blues, turquoise yes, but not basic blues, so they've piled up. I got all the blues and their variations together, created a sample and washed it. (If it won't survive the washing machine in a lingerie bag, it's not worth knitting). I figured it was good enough, but as I started knitting the actual full-sized sweater, I didn't like it. I added a variegated sock yarn that has blue, turquoise, pink and plum, that solved my color problem. Just a little spot of pink/purples made it so I was excited about knitting this. I also sampled the stripes in single rows and double rows. I have something else large from a few years ago that I had started in single rows that I'm ripping out now, I like it for the Tin Can Knits beanie that I live in at work in the winter, but for a whole sweater I decided to change yarn every 2 rows.

First Try-On

"You're knitting with pretty big needles for you" my friend Jenn commented as I cast on this project at our local tea shop in Old Town. She's right, knitting any bigger than size 4s is unlikely for me, even 4s are pushing it. Maybe it's just the fingering yarn size that kept this still fun to knit. I also don't really like heavy sweaters. I used to think I hated wool sweaters, but it was the weight and density that I used to find uncomfortable and suffocating. This is wool, so it's warm, but with the larger needles it's somewhat light, almost airy. A perfect comfort level.

I have, in the past, created my own dolman style sweater that the COVID lock-down helped me finish. I was trying to keep track of how I knit it, but that wasn't fun. I knit it bottom-up and stitched the top of the arms up to a loose neck opening. I do love that sweater, but I didn't love figuring it out, and it's a bit bulky. I wanted to create a similar sweater but I wanted to work off of someone else's pattern. Jessie put this sweater out just in time (I bought 3 sweater patterns from her Ravelry shop during her birthday sale, hoping one would be ideal, the other 2 are raglans). I started this on a mini ski trip with a friend, messed up the middle area gsr pattern, had to pull that out and restarted. Tracking this on Ravelry, it looks like I finished this in about a month and a half. That's pretty good for me for a whole sweater. I have the size 9 needles and a great pattern to thank.

Detail of stretchy bind off that I took out

The pattern suggested a stretchy cast-off for the bottom if you tend to knit tight. I do knit tight, so I used Jeny's Surprisingly Stretchy Bind off (there's a lot of links if you google that one). Upon my first try on it was TOO stretchy and I didn't like the way it hung. So I took it out and redid it with my normal bind off, which isn't really stretchy, but it fits my hips and that's what matters.

My next blog post will be about the matching earrings

Perception

2026-04-13T11:53:00.002-04:00

I doodled this idea 10 years ago and let it sit until it was no longer deeply personal but something that I was experiencing on a regular basis. Perceptions spin out of control. I was spiraling, and still can. We all can. Spiraling emotion and experiences are chaotic and fragile for me. The weaving alone was too clean, so I eventually decided to add sequins. I found these helped visualize what I was feeling, and were both chaotic and fragile to work with. This piece reminds me of where I was, but also that things get better with time and when I gently move through the chaos instead of sidestep or avoid it.

I took this piece off of my loom last spring and it took me bout a year to decide and finish because:

1) what else needed to be done with it (adding sequins)
2) what sequins to order, it took me a while to narrow it down to not spending $300 on sequins, this has 5 different style.
3) should I or shouldn't I wash the weaving first?
4) How to sew the dang sequins on and in what way.
5) Finish/hanging work

I have to thank my friend Abigail for asking me if I could create hair pins for her wedding a few years ago. They were to match the beading on her dress which was very dimensional. I had never worked with sequins before or considered that they could do much more than lay flat. I had a lot of fun with that project and it added a new technique to my toolbox. Check out those hair pins here. When I wanted my weaving to feel messier, I eventually realized that sequins were the way to go.

I did wash this piece. The black portion is woven in twill and the colored is woven in plain weave. Washing helped the twill weave fill in a bit for sewing the sequins on. We won't talk about the amount of width I lost when I washed this though.

Sewing the dang sequins on. I thought I'd sprinkle the sequins and stitch them on in little sections as I sprinkled. Sequins don't "sprinkle." They are staticky and stick to everything but where you want them to be. Mostly your fingers. This was a process, I kind of shoved them together in sections trying to vary the different sizes, finishes and shapes. I really love how the sequins turned out, but this was not as fun as beading is for me.

The finish work. I give a seminar talk on thinking ahead of time about how you'll hang/present your work and I did none of that prep work for myself on this piece! I was kicking myself when I got to this part and hadn't looked at the header or bottom in almost a year. What was I thinking? I was so focused on having clean selvages for this weaving that I got caught up in that instead. I was going to add a hanging mechanism for the top and bottom but decided it was fine if there's only one way to hang this. I just like to have options. I'm happy that Perception turned out about like what I had in my head. I'm also glad it's done and I can move on to finishing some smaller projects before getting back to my next weaving.

Angry Angry Angry Feminist Statement Bangle

2026-04-08T17:58:00.000-04:00

I am always changing and learning about myself and I process that through my artwork. Lately I have been struggling with the world at-large which makes it difficult for me to focus on my larger works, so I do what's most comfortable, bead. Distilling my words to exactly how I'm feeling or reacting helps with my daily processing. Angry Angry Angry Feminist [literally] speaks for itself and where I am at right now.

I was going to submit my Feminist Statement Bangle to a fiber art call-for-entry, but I wanted the submission to be a bit more robust. Like, tell me how you really feel. So I quietly show my hand [arm] and gauge whether someone is worth talking to, with my guard up. I know how I feel, and have always felt, I go on about this in the Blog Post for the first Feminist Statement Bangle so I'll leave my soapbox in the corner for this post.

Life is good in the little bubble of our house with my husband, 3 cats, turtle and our creativity and love. I'm trying to be kind and patient day by day. This is what's going on inside my head when things get a bit off-kilter.

Leaf Pins Commission

2026-03-18T10:28:00.000-04:00

Last year I mentioned in this blog post that I was gifted an amazing stash of delica seed beads (along with other fun things!) from a fellow artist who's sister had passed and had been a beader and fiber enthusiast. I has asked if I could make anything with her sister's beads as a thank you and she requested one pin in fall colors and then later one in spring greens.

I had finished the fall colors (above) at the end of last year and then the request for spring greens came in. I have struggled a bit with creating lately but the green one was top of my list when I got inspired and/or motivated again.

I just finished the spring green pin (below) and wondered the whole time, "is this spring green?" as it's not a color I use, like, ever. I naturally lean towards more muted, drab greens or swing the completely opposite direction into bright lime greens. Luckily, her sister had a collection of greens that added a new layer to my bead stash and plenty of option for spring green.

These pins shipped off to Detroit yesterday and I'm inspired to use these greens that I don't usually lean towards. I have some earrings and a bracelet in the works right now. I'm reminded of the years where I used to use color forecasting to help me pick colors for a new set of beaded jewelry. That became overwhelming because, yes there are still trends, but it also feels like everything is "in" anymore. New, vintage, any color, any way you like it. I'm finding it nice to have had someone direct me into this color for some more spring beading. Updates on that new jewelry to come.

2025 Wrap Up

2025-12-31T14:25:00.001-05:00

This has been another strange year. My day job is going well, I still love selling doors and windows (and have a minor obsession with them). We're physically healthy and daily working on the mental health aspect... my general feeling waking up every day to news articles of, what the f*** now has been taking a toll. I've never been very openly political, but the only way I can seem to process what's going on is through my artwork, hence my statement bangles of this year: Resilience, Resist and Feminist.

I haven't gotten a ton of artwork done this year. The big project was going back and forth with homeowners insurance to get our property put back together. We had a huge storm in May (a tornado in a neighboring town but ours was just high winds) which resulted in needing a tree going through our dining room window, one coming down on our cars, a unch demolishing our shed, most of the privacy fence (yes, my door fence) gone, and a bunch of repair for our balcony and siding. Shockingly, and with some luck with timing and knowing the right people we got most of this done by October. We still have some yard cleanup that I was picking at all summer and need to tear down the shed...but a lot less project for next summer. We had another night of high winds last week and I had a hard time sleeping, after this experience I just think about what kind of damage I'm going to find in the morning (there wasn't any). As much as going back and forth with insurance sucked, I'm glad we have it and I feel taken care of.

My big project for next summer is already upon me, I am teaching one seminar at the Complex Weaver's Conference in Denver and I have a seminar plus a 1 day beadweaving sampler class at Handweavers Guild of America's Convergence Conference. I'm trying to get better at promoting these, but being on social media and staying updated has become such a slog for me. I try not to even go on it too much. So yeah, go sign up for my classes!

Looking back on this past year, we've definitely had our trials. My husband was laid off, lots of people are getting laid off, I feel fortunate that my job is pretty stable and we're good at reigning in our spending. We were still able to go to Riot Fest in September, which was amazing. I never thought I'd even be able to afford to see Blink-182, Weezer and Green Day live and they were the headliners. I was so inspired in fact, that I decided I might want to learn Electric Bass Guitar. Which I have started in on and am really enjoying. My fiber work is just feeling so...worky. This outlet is just for me. My husband has started getting back to playing guitar and he's so geeked that I'm liking it that be bought me a sweet Bass Amp for Xmas. I didn't realize the low sound I love could be even deeper. I love it (and him)!

Then his car was not repairable...so since we had to get him a new car anyway and there are limited options for what he'll comfortably fit in, the utilitarian car he was looking at was about the same price as the car he's always wanted. So I encouraged him to get the fun car since he's doing a lot of driving to make money right now, he might as well. All of the bad stuff that's happened this year has turned around to be a life improvement. Even the job loss, he was miserable and now we have a lot more flexibility to go to more concerts rather than figuring out how to utilize his vacation time since he had a set schedule. Something I felt early on in our relationship is that whatever life throws at us, we'll be ok. I can only explain it as a feeling that I had never fully felt before. We've got each other and we'll figure out what's getting thrown at us next and we're only stronger for it.

I'm letting go of some things too. I don't have the energy to deal with shopping for a server for my website, so I just moved JennySchu.com to my blog. I will probably creating a landing page for it that's simple, but my website does not make me money, so why am I putting so much effort into it when I don't enjoy doing it at all? So much of trying to be an artist on the back end of promoting and trying to sell and hours of work on proposals that may or may not happen is just not doing it for me. So I'm going to get back to what I love and not pressure myself as much to appease the internet.

So who knows what 2026 will hold. I had breakfast with a friend this morning and talking with her helped remind me that the new year can be a nice day of calm, relaxing reflection. Her excitement for her upcoming year reminded me that I have cool stuff coming up too, I've just been looking at it wrong..feeling a bit overwhelmed with it all. Which reminds me that I need to purge that with basic cardio and I'm going to get back to my elliptical-and-Dr-Mario in the mornings, even if it's for 15 minutes. Last year I decided to try to get an average of 10,000 steps in per day. Some days off I only hit around 2,000 and last year my average was only 8,707 left to my own devices without having any goals. My average on the year is 11,136 as of this writing and only one month I didn't hit the 10,000 average. there's hasn't been a lot of high endurance stuff though which I think is why my anxiety and overwhelm is running rampant. Lots of numbers, but as I've gotten older I seem to like tracking numbers and spreadsheets more. It often helps me look at things as a whole.

Photo by Jena

Flat Herringbone Stitch Bracelet Sample for Convergence in Black and Silver

2025-12-11T21:57:00.001-05:00

Detail of wide flat herringbone stitch

First off, thank you to those who have already signed up for the Beadweaving Sampler Class that I'm teaching at HGA's Convergence Conference! We will be learning 3 beading stitches in this class and I'm preparing pieces that will be examples of what you can do with these configurations.

The class itself will only allow for enough time to get the hang of, and a little bit of flow for each stitch. I feel that completed projects help students consider that there are so many options for these bead structures. This bracelet took me about 5 hours to complete.

I bead very tight, so this bracelet is sleek but also stiff. The next one I create I'm going to try to loosen my stitches to show that it does not have to be this tight. We'll see how that goes (I've been beading very tight for a very long time).

https://weavespindye.org/schedule-and-registration/

I love the look of this stitch, when done in stripes that move up the length of the pattern it creates a lovely banded look. I'm working on bracelets that I'll wear with my "going out" wear which is usually a bit more in the realm of punk/metal looks for concerts rather than the fancy cocktail dresses of my past life. I promise I'll get some color in here too. I'm mostly just inspired by blacks and gunmetal colors at the moment.

Fall Leaf Jewelry Set

2025-12-02T22:31:10.714-05:00

The above set all began with a collection of beads to make a pin. The pin request was for "fall" colors. I created it as a thank you to the artist who handed much of her deceased sister's bead stash down to me. I made sure to use beads from her sister's collection for this pin.

I liked the pin colors so much that I kept making leaves and created a set with a necklace, earrings and leaf bracelet. These will be available this coming Thursday, December 4th at I'll be at the Loewen Gallery in Williamston for Ladies Night Out from 4pm-9pm.

I'm not sure what else to say other than I've been working on a lot of other things that aren't jewelry lately. So this set was a bit of a surprise when it happened. I'm starting to figure out how sequins should be sewn on to the weaving that came off of my loom in the spring. The house and property is buttoned up for the winter, many improvements were made along with our repairs with homeowners insurance. Artwork has been getting a bit too "worky" so I decided to be a beginner at something and have started learning elecric bass guitar. We're hitting a lot of punk, metal, hardcore concerts this month (3 in one week, lol) and I come back inspired, tired and at the same time refreshed from shows. Last night Andrew, the lead singer of Johnny Booth said to the crowd "Take yourself back to your first concert, the first time you felt like you belonged somewhere" and man, that is such a great summary of how I still feel going to shows, especially the smaller ones. Life is really good.

Color Fade Bangles and Circlet Earrings for tomorrow

2025-11-07T19:06:00.002-05:00

I feel like I'm not making jewelry as much as I used to, but when pop-up sales happen, new jewelry also happens. The above large checker earrings I wasn't going to make, but then I just had to get them out of my head...and they're just as wonderful as I thought they might be. I wore them to work today before cleaning them and putting them for sale tomorrow.

If you haven't noticed my posting until now, the Ann Arbor Holiday show is tomorrow (Saturday November 8th) at Zal Gaz Grotto, 2070 W. Stadium Blvd, Ann Arbor from 10am-4pm. It's nice to see people, even if you're just stopping in to say hi or are curious about the guild and what we're up to.

I created some burgundy, tan and black pieces...I keep seeing that "burgundy is the color of the season" and red tones always seem easy to lean into during fall and as the holidays approach. Then I saw a teaser for an article "Forget about Burgundy - This Fall is All About Violet"...so I popped some of the suggested violet tones into the next color fade bangle and circlet earrings I made. It definitely pops more than the previous set.

Beaded Burgundy Circlet Set

2025-10-24T19:22:00.004-04:00

I hadn't been beading much (and my weaving is at a standstill). I picked up a new hobby and since it's hard because I'm learning to learn something totally new, my impulse is to go back to beading. It's easy and satisfying where learning electric bass guitar is currently like trying to pat my head and rub my tummy.

So I pulled some colors inspired by the "color of the season" that some of the titles of the emails I immediately delete say is burgundy. I started with a black, burgundy and champagne combination. Going back to just playing with color movement feels good.

As I worked in this color combo, I started thinking about Harley Quinn, my favorite Batman villain. I think about Harley a lot. This set made me think it might be something she'd wear in a formal ball setting. It's a little more elegant than her classic black and red. So I put her harlequin diamonds in one of the circlet earrings.

I don't know how much more or less beading I'll be doing leading up to November 8th, but that's the day of my only Holiday Pop-up sale in Ann Arbor with the Ann Arbor Fiberarts Guild. This set will be for sale there, and I look forward to seeing everyone at it! I had a wonderful time last year.

The AAFG Holiday show is at Zal Gaz Grotto, 2070 W. Stadium Blvd, Ann Arbor from 10am-4pm.

HGA 2026 Convergence Conference Beadweaving Class, Sample update 1

2025-10-09T10:31:00.007-04:00

Currently my beadweaving class is slotted for Sunday August 16th 2026, 9am-4:30pm

Registration is now up, I can't wait to see you in New Orleans!

https://weavespindye.org/schedule-and-registration/

The top image is what I put together for my proposal for this class. I chose black and white beads in order to easily show the stitching in one neutral image. Leading up to the class I'll be creating sample bracelets to show students various design ideas and different types of seed beads that can be used.

The class kit only includes Dynamites. I like using these seed beads for classes because of size and consistency in shape without being too expensive. I know how falling in love with a new technique can lead to additional spending. ;)

We won't be able to finish a bracelet in the class time we have but I will be providing everyone with enough beads to do so (or to use however you wish). This is a sampler class just like when we do weaving samples. We'll spend enough time to get a feel for each stitch. Some you may fall in love with and others you may dislike. I know I have my favorites!

I also like to talk about different types of beads, sizes, and can explain how I use beadwork in my jewelry and also as accents in my weaving/fiber work. This class is for all levels of knowledge, I only request that you are able to thread a needle, sometimes this is tricky with beading needles as they are thinner than what most people are used to using so a good base line is helpful (I'm happy to thread needles to keep you moving along though!).

This is the first opportunity I've had to teach beading with HGA so I'm really hoping for a good turnout. Please comment or reach out with any questions about the class!

Feminist Bangle

2025-10-01T22:05:00.002-04:00

In the past I suppose I'd considered myself on the outskirts of feminism. I never had a good grasp of it. I was raised being told the common misconceptions, like, feminism was trying to dismantle the "traditional" family structure and it was making it so women "had" to work instead of "finding a man to take care of you." These things never sat right with me first place, I didn't like the idea of trying to find a man to take care of me, nor was I impressed with the married-with-2.5-kids gig. I remember saying out loud for the first time on a family camping trip at 14 or 15 that I never wanted to have children. It's not that I didn't like kids, it only seemed like I had better things to do than raise a human that will likely be as angry and depressed as I was. Also, frankly, dating never felt like a long-term commitment. I struggled with maintaining any relationships, even friendships, I wasn't ever sure marriage was going to go well for me.

Fast forward to 28 years later, I have accidentally found myself on a feminist journey. It started with the book In Defense of Witches; The Legacy of the Witch Hunts and Why Women Are Still on Trial by Mona Chollet. I wasn't paying attention to the description in the book suggestions and thought I had stumbled upon another fantasy book and I needed a break from the self help books. What came through my ear buds via audio book was a description of how I have felt and been treated my whole life. When I've said I don't want to have kids (for as long as I can remember) I'm met with the response "you'll change your mind one day" or the assumption from men that I dated that obviously every woman wants [their] babies so I wasn't taken seriously. I too wanted to have the same rights as men and hated being treated like I I should want to be a mother/homemaker.

So here I am, learning about 1970's feminism in my 40s, not the bullshit 1990's "girl power" I grew up with. Now I'm angry that these ideas have been around my whole life and I just didn't know about it or have access to it. This all would have made so much sense to 15-year-old-me and it would have been helpful to hear other women talking and writing about being independent and doing whatever they wanted or needed to do with their lives despite social expectations. I listened to In Defense of Witches a second time. Then Gloria Steinem's book My Life on the Road then the compilation book of 50 Years Of Ms. I subscribed to Ms. magazine and ordered 2 past magazines (Ms. has past prints available) that would have come out when I was in high school to help out teenage-me. I have found that I am definitely a feminist and I'm playing catch up.

Feminism is the blanket I've been wrapping myself in lately, it's mixing in well with my angry-punk mode. I decided the next Statement Bangle once I finished Resist would be Feminist. I've rejected the color pink off and on throughout my life due to what it represented. Ms. magazine uses a bright pink and lot, I decided it was the best start as far as color choices. I matched it with gunmetal for pop but also to keep the statement bold along with an assertive font.

I didn't know how much I'd be drawn to wearing it, the answer is, all the time. I'm wearing it as often as I wear my Golden Boundary bangle. The vibe is pretty interchangeable these days.

Feminist Bangle with the 1990's Ms. magazines I ordered.

Full Feminist bangle video!

More Checkers [earrings]

2025-08-14T15:56:00.004-04:00

Tan & Light Yellow Checker Huggie Earrings

can be purchased HERE

I've felt a bit...overwhelmed and lost lately. I haven't gotten to my next weaving on my big loom because I need to dye for it. I have a weave structure that I want to play with on my little loom but I don't have specific imagery in mind for it...I need a bit more direction to get motivated for that weaving. So. Beading checkers. Talking out the weaving issue with my husband led me to the fact I probably need to just start with checkers on the little loom too. Checkers are my default.

Meanwhile I've been wearing my various colored checker huggie earrings a lot. They're lightweight, easy and out of the way, I've made a few more in different colors. Above is the yellow and champagne checkers, below I was inspired to bead with 24K gold plated seed beads. I did a spray finish to help with the plated finish but these should not be rubbed or exposed to much water, if any.

Purchase Gold & Olive Green Checker Huggies HERE

I thought that the gold with white would be a classy neutral, I made those first (below). One of the clothing additions to my collection is an olive green midi skirt that I'm leaning towards accessorizing with gold, thus olive green and gold checkers was the next obvious stitching (above).

And last, checker circlet earrings. I don't lean towards red much, especially wearing it, but, some of my favorite ska band tees are red and I had the red, white and black beads out already for the Resist Bangle. So these large circlet earrings also came to be.

Shop Circlet Earrings HERE

I took checkers to the next personal level adding them to my slowly growing tattoo collection. I have wanted a checker arm band tattoo since my late teens, early 20's. Back then I thought it'd go on my upper arm, but in my 40s...well, thank goodness I waited because upper arms can get weird (mine included) and they may have not looked as even 20 years later. I decided instead to have them tattooed below the elbow of right arm. I went with my friend (for her first tattoo!) we decided to do a walk-in and I ended up with Mo (@mo.mo.tattoos on Instagram) who did an amazing job lining up a very straight, linear design on a very not-straight part of my body. The idea for my checkers probably started with ska music, but they also satisfy my attraction to even numbers, multiples of 2 and 4, things fitting together in a certain way, and a way in which I am constantly using to express myself in my artwork. Checkers just always feel right.

Last night on our way out the door to go to see Cake
Made by me: Olive and Gold checker earrings

Green, Neon and Neutral Checker Bangle

Totally Tank, design by by Jessie Maed Designs

Resist Bangle in Red

2025-07-25T11:03:00.005-04:00

I think this bangle speaks for itself. My artwork, or me for that matter, haven't had a tendency to be political. I work with words that I need to release, that I'm pondering, journaling, struggling with. Lately my words, emotions, fears and sadness have very much revolved around the current political landscape. (I just moved a lot of ranting to my journal rather than posting it here...).

Sticking to speaking technically, I'm thrilled at how well this font translated into my bangle form. I am even more thrilled at how much the shadow added to the design. I was searching for color ideas relating to "resist" and the drop shadow showed up in a few fists-up resist images so I added it in to my design.

Red seemed like the obvious starting point for this first Resist bangle, I believe there will be more and other colors to come.

I toyed with how much of the red I should fill in the top over the "R" and up to the dot on the "i." Ultimately I just kept beading until I got really bored of stitching red beads and checked with Bryan to see if he thought the little bit of the dot in the i looked OK sticking up. I like it, it's just a little blip up, short enough that it won't catch on things making it much easier to wear.

Full Bangle video

Checker Circlet Earrings and Bangle Inspired by Ally's Hair

2025-07-13T15:38:00.001-04:00

I've been escaping into color lately, anything that draws me in and sticks with me. Ally's mohawk is half bright dark pink and half bright orange right now and whenever I see her selfie posts I can't stop thinking about the color combo and how much joy it gives me. So I decided to mix it in with checkers since I know her from the Michigan Ska Scene, and well, checkers are part of that.

Shop these earrings HERE

I got to see Ally yesterday at the Splish Splash Bash and her hair was still these colors, it was nice to see her and her hair in person. Despite the heat it was a really fun show with lots of awesome bands, some we know and have seen before, some totally new to us.

While I recuperate from yesterday's long day outside I'm actually getting everything properly photographed and posted. You can shop the bangle on my website HERE and the earrings on my website HERE.

Shop for this bangle HERE

For those of you who follow along on my personal social media...Bryan's car became no longer repairable and, somehow, his dream car was within our price range in AWD. It's a 2023 Dodge Challenger in a custom pearlescent blue. We're both very color oriented and didn't think the blue was great until we saw it in person. So now whenever we peruse online shopping we compare it to see if it matches the car. I've missed having a fun car to drive, but I personally need something I can fit doors and looms in, so I'm glad we have a fun one now too! I suspect my next color influence will be towards this blue:

(And yes, he was pulled over less than 24 hours after we purchased it for no real reason)

Bright Fuchsia and Green Stripe Mix Bangle and Earrings

2025-07-05T14:18:00.003-04:00

When I don't have an outfit or a specific inspiration it's sometimes difficult for me to come up with what colors I want to play with. Green and purple tend to be my go-tos, but, apparently I keep gravitating towards bright pink/fuchsia combined with green also. I did this a few years ago, which I forgot about until I started beading this combo.

Shop for this bangle HERE

Life has been...a lot lately. So not thinking too hard about my beading, just letting the colors play is both satisfying and relaxing. When I pulled these 4 bead colors I thought I was going to do checkers but I hadn't done stripes in a while and they seemed to suit these colors better.

Shop for these earrings HERE

The brightest pink bead in these is a stunning galvanized pink color that feels very summery. I had a difficult time getting the color with my cell phone but the light box and better camera does it justice.

I actually finished this set just in time to wear out to the show we're going to tonight, we managed to get tickets to another sold out show at the Pyramid Scheme in Grand Rapids which will be fun and hopefully not too hot in there. We're looking forward to seeing IDKHOW (But They Found Me) live. I'll pop it up on my website shop soon too.

Rainbow Fade Bangles with Purple Request

2025-06-29T10:39:00.007-04:00

Shop this bangle HERE

Lets face it, in my circles, rainbows are IN. I've always loved using rainbows for things so it's an easy way to play with tons of different bead colors. Putting something in rainbow color order may be one of the most satisfying things in the world to me. Rainbows mean so many things and above all, joy. I think we could use more joy lately.

I created a "vintage rainbow" earring and bangle set that went up north to the Crooked Tree Art Center in Traverse City, MI and I think the set sold in the first month. It was one of those sales that felt bittersweet, I know it will be loved but I already missed having it in my stash. So I started beading another one since the beads were still pulled out. I posted it on my social media and someone asked how much and then if I could make one with purple. We're purple people, purple is no problem for me. The "vintage rainbow" color grouping came from my obsession with the colors in the movie Joker: Folie à Deux. I needed to pull some slightly different colors to incorporate purple and then I couldn't decide between a plum-purple or a royal-purple, so I used both.

Then I had some beads break while I was working on this one. This is somewhat common, particularly with the matte seed beads. The thread from the broken bead didn't want to be stitched in (without possibly breaking more beads) so I decided if I was shipping something off without the customer seeing it in person first I'd feel bad if they noticed this flaw. So I made a second one for them. I, personally, don't mind a few flaws and threads showing on the interior of my work. It happens, and it shows that it's made by hand and not by a machine, but I also pride myself in high quality work so it's bug me if I was shipping off something with that little black thread showing! Consequently, it looks like I'll see them at a ska show coming up, so I have an extra now at least. I am still not bored of beading rainbows so it works out fine.

Back to the beginning of this post...organizing things in rainbow color order...I was recently gifted an entire stash of impeccably organized Delica seed beads from someone who's family member had passed and left lots of supplies behind. They were all organized by number order though. Delicas seem to be assigned a number as they come out in new color batches (I'm not 100% sure on that, so don't quote me). The low numbers like 10 are your basic opaque black which has been around since the beginning of Delicas but the numbers go up into the thousands. The number organization was really cool to see because it showed a clear pattern of say, the 12 galvanized pale colors that came out together that are clearly a group number order. I took photos of each organized box but my art-brain doesn't work that way. I lean into colors when ideas are culminating and I need to see, say, all the blues together at one time to find the right options. So I spent days keeping the numbers in order but grouping them into drawers by color. Looking a the side of the drawer system that these came in is now so very satisfying.

It feels good creating and spreading rainbows, like a low-key Lisa Frank. I'm putting the bangle with the thread showing on the interior up on my shop HERE.

Knit "Converse" Baby Booties

2025-06-16T22:07:00.004-04:00

Now that I've given these to our friends at their shower I can post about them! I usually knit a baby blanket for friends who are expecting but Jenn is a knitter and I figured she'd have things that she wanted to knit so I offered her to pick something for me to knit for her. She sent me the Ravelry link to this adorable Converse baby bootie pattern.

It's like 8 pages of directions but I couldn't seem to knit just one pair. So they got three. I would definitely knit these again, and it's easy to find and use stash yarn for these, so no need to go hunt down specific yarn (at least not in my world).

I would definitely knit these again.

Resilience Bangle

2025-05-31T10:25:00.007-04:00

Shop HERE

I didn't expect to start beading and finish this bangle on our short trip to Chicago at the beginning of this month but it was done in like 2 days. That doesn't include the designing and picking out beads but that's still a really quick turnover for me on a bangle this size whos pattern doesn't repeat. A 4 hour train ride and quiet, comfortable hotel can do wonders for my production.

After creating my "nope." (Golden Boundary) bangle last year I realized it's time to start putting my word themes into my beaded jewelry. Then it dawned on me...statement bangles....why it took me 20 years to put that one together...

I've been called resilient repeatedly in the past 7ish years. It finally started to sink in. The more things thrown my way, the better I bounce back stronger both mentally and physically. I'm in a good place these days (thanks to my golden boundary and sobriety). Resilience has become a clear theme for me. So I created a big bold Bauhaus version of this bangle.

I think the font translated well. I find playing with fonts in all of my work to be really fun. When I was thinking of what colors to use I thought maybe greens was a good starting point and when I asked Bryan what color he thought of when he thinks of Resilience, he said green too which solidified the color direction for this first bangle. I already feel like making another one in different colors, probably a rainbow direction.

Bryan and I in Chicago

I Voted for Kodos, Cobra Lounge, Chicago

This bangle was finished just before a test in our resilience. It's been a crazy 3ish weeks. It started with a short trip to Chicago for 3 days for an I Voted for Kodos show, a fun little getaway. We stayed in the West Loop and liked the Sonder hotel set up so much that we also booked it for Riot Fest in September. I managed to come home drained and super sick, so on Thursday after getting what I needed to get done in my department I left work early to sleep. Bryan woke me up around 10:30pm to see if I wanted to eat and while we were eating a yummy marinated grilled chicken that he had made a weather warning and tornado sirens started. Before we really got going to grab cats and get to the basement, a HUGE boom and crash happened. I was so sick and out of it that I didn't realize at first that a tree had come through our dining room window. Like 8 feet from where we were sitting on the couch. Lois shot down into the basement and we had to go find the boys (kitties). My impulse was to start dealing with the tree situation but I made myself go to the basement to wait out whatever damage was going to happen.

Tree in our dining room window

Tree from the outside the next day

When the warnings stopped we kept the cats in the basement and started to figure out what to do next. We had a tree come through the window and a tree next to it come down on our cars. I got on the phone (on hold for forever) with our insurance company while we cleaned up the window, glass and cut back the tree. Our insurance company set us up with ServPro for disaster relief, they were over first thing in the morning looking everything over and getting approval to have the immediate issues taken care of. The tree company made it out in the afternoon and removed the tree from the window and off our cars. Miraculously our cars were mostly unscathed and working. The tree guy took a peek at our back yard and said he hadn't seen anything that bad since 2023. With the privacy fence (and yes, all my doors) crushed and fallen, we've met our next door neighbors (they've only been there 2 years) and are sorting out what to do next.

So many trees and branches down...

I'm thankful everything was triaged quick enough to make sure our cars were good and we made it to the Devin Townsend and Tesseract show in Detroit that we've had tickets for since December. We were tired, but it was VERY worth making it to this concert.

We have a long way to go to get the back yard cleaned up and figure out what insurance will be taking care of and getting our own quotes to put the house and back yard together. Just one more project, which is turning into a bit of a creative project. The problem with two creatives trying to clean up a fallen forest of a large yard is there's a lot of "look at how cool this log ended up with the bark peeled off" and "check out this cool stick!"...there is a cool stick pile and cool log pile started. I'm sure there will be more to come on that.

Resilience, onward and upward.

Full bangle Video finally!

Black Based Fade Bangle and Earrings

2025-04-25T10:33:00.007-04:00

We went to a formal dinner that a friend is hosted on Sunday and it dawned on me that I haven't had a reason to wear a more formal dress in ages...and do I have any that fit? I looked through what I have in my closets and pulled out a few options, hoping that one I got from Grace would still work. It did and I decided to make a new bangle and earring set to go with it.

I wanted to stick to playing with color without trying to graph out any designs. I also imagined the bangle to be mostly black, like the dress. So I pulled a basic opaque black bead and a matte black to go along with colors in the dress. I made half the bangle black and the colored potions smaller sections on the other half. I was hoping that the black would help create a little more drama and I it turned out as I had hoped.

I thought I might make this bangle wider but I got a bit bored of beading the black so it's only 1/2 inch wide. Then, of course, earrings to match. I having been making my circlet earring with multiple "mini" bangle but these I wanted to keep simple. They are beaded to match the bangle, half blacks half colors. I liked them so much I decided to try a second pair with a pearl accent inside of the circlet.

These simple circlets are now available on my SHOP HERE.

The bangle and pearl earrings are headed to Crooked Tree's Gallery on Sixth this week if you're looking to shop for them. I'm keeping the "plain" circlet earring in my personal stock and might get it up on my online shop eventually. I've been avoiding the computer/smartphone a lot when I'm home so I'm slow to post...anything. I'm enjoying life a lot more worrying less about online stuff.