2025 Wrap Up

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

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). 

Sign In or Sign Up and Register for this class at Convergence here: 

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

 

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

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

 

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

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! 
 

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

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!