More Checkers [earrings]

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

Golden Boundary Bangle [nope.]

It's interesting, a couple weeks ago at the Ann Arbor Fiberarts Guild meeting I was asked if I was still making jewelry and the short answer is "not really." Then as I was driving home from the meeting I had an idea that spiraled into like 3 different pieces. A large weaving, small weavings and this bangle, which, I think may become a series of bangles. I've been reading, journaling and talking a lot about boundaries and staying away from people who are dramatic, chaotic, demanding and needy.

There was a point in my life where I didn't know what boundaries were and I felt like I had no control over who was at my house or in my business, it seemed like there were always people over, I was having to stop what I wanted to do with my time to entertain. I was miserable and I hated my life. I tried to be social and a good hostess but I couldn't wait until I had the place to myself to be creative and work on my artwork alone. 

I finally have that, I never thought I could have that calm unless I lived alone, but Bryan is so good at giving me the space I need and would never have anyone over without asking me if it's ok, and visa versa, we do not force socializing on each other and it is glorious. For the first time I feel safe at home and like my time and space is safe from being taken up and taken over by anyone else. It turns out I was just faking being social and now that I'm cozy I can be the introvert that I was always meant to be. Being pushed into an uncomfortable situation? nope. Someone trying to pop over to my house without advance plans? nope. Being guilted into doing something I've already declined? nope. 

I know I'm not alone, and I've already been asked if this bangle is for sale. This specific one is not since it had a 24K gold seed bead in it that I can't find anywhere anymore, and I have plans to exhibit it. I am happy to make it again, and in different colors. Give me some time and I think there will be more options with other fonts and styles, because boundaries are important. 

(Video update! 10/26/2026)

Kitty Bangles

Over a year ago I created the Cat's Meow Bangle and earrings.  It's turned into one of my favorite pieces to wear (brown matches most of my wardrobe) and the smaller version of the bangle has sold a few times.  I didn't have any of the smaller one in my stock so I decided in preparation for new jewelry at Lansing Art Gallery and Angelwood Gallery I should get some kitty bangles to them also. We have 2 grey cats so I used them for a little bit of inspiration. Clark is the darker of the two greys and the largest of our cats so his bangle is a tiny bit wider. Lois inspired the glittery lighter grey bangle because she's a princess and should really be wearing a sparkly tiara around.

I haven't decided what's going where yet and I feel like I want to make a third for my personal stock so we'll see where all that goes. 'I liked the color combination so much that a pair of earrings came out of it too. 

Helen's Tiara

Deadlines are important for me.  I had set to work on this peacock tiara for Helen and since bead embroidery doesn't always keep my attention I kept setting it down.  It's been a year.  When she requested that I get it to her before an event she wants to wear it to in February it started living next to the couch so I would pick it up a little bit every day after work.  I got it done this week and I'm meeting her tonight so she can finish this into a tiara. 

I know Helen through the Ann Arbor Fiberarts Guild which has Fashion show every year where Helen shows off her amazing vintage dance dresses at.  One year I told her if she was ever to want to part with a particular piece, to let me know.  Consequently, she did as it wasn't quite as long as she'd like.  So we have been working on a trade.  When she came to me with this idea I was excited to do it and she even had a design to work off of for the peacock feathers.  We got the size down and she gave me some vintage beads to work with.  I also used gold and silver from my stash to make it a versatile metallic piece to go with many of her outfits.

(back side detail)

I was very attracted to the amber colored vintage seed beads she gave me so I'm hoping it's not too brown-heavy.  I kept picking them out as I went along.  I'm happy to breath a sign of relief having this done early enough to give her some time with it.

I found two articles on Helen if you want to took into her more, I'm not sure she has a website (I'll ask tonight and update if so):

https://www.designsfordancing.com/Helen-Welford.html

https://annarborobserver.com/articles/sewing_up_history.html#.XiRh_flKipp

This is the piece that we traded for, it's just wonderful 

and I make sure I have occasion to wear it.  <3 p="">

(Photo by Eat Pomegranate Photography)

I almost forgot that I wanted to do a weaving update too.  I'm about 8 inches along on the large Leaf Me Alone piece that I've been putting off working on for far too long!  I did a few small ones but its time to go bigger again.

Aziraphale x Crowley Bangle

For Halloween this year Bryan thought we should be Crowley and Aziraphale from the book/Amazon show Good Omens by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaimen.  Some Halloweens costume research inspires me to create new jewelry designs.  This year I've been looking at a lot of angel wings. 

I had a more traditional image in mind, wings evenly spread aligned next to each other.  The more images I looked at of Crowley and Aziraphale with their wings crossed or spread next to each other, the more the idea of showing both angel and demon wings together in one piece emerged.  

If you've been following along on Instagram, I appreciate all the likes and comments as I've been beading along!

I am so pleased as to how this piece turned out.  It also seems to go with all of the outfits I'm wearing to work right now.  It shows both black and white, the black wings lined in a matte silver and the white wings lined in a matte 24K gold bead.  

I'm also trying to post videos a bit more often.  I would say I'm no good at editing, but it's a start and I figure the more I do it, the more I'll learn (and laugh at old videos).  I think I cut the beginning of this one too much, but it shows part of my process on this bangle:

So here's a video of my slow process, showing a little bit of beading on this bangle.

Diane R. Commission Leading into a new style Earring

I just finished my most recent jewelry commission (I know I said I was going to cut back on jewelry this year, but I still take commissions on a case by case basis), which made me get the little "make a new earring design" bug.  I've been looking at Pinterest a lot.  Like every other day, which is a lot for me since I'm trying to limit my social media. There are a lot of triangle-shaped earrings on my Pinterest feed, so I decided to graph out an easy design and knock a pair out while I still had the beads out from Diane's commission.

I wore them to work to see how I feel about them and got a number of compliments, my favorite is always that the viewer thinks its metal, not beads.  So I'm going to play with making a few more of these and maybe send one pair to each gallery/event I'm doing for the holidays.

I also snagged a few photos from Diane's commission.  This art deco set is a customer favorite.  Thanks Diane for the support!  (And to Mom for showing her my artwork).

Small Deco Bangle

I took these photos a while ago and then things got crazy, so here's a quick blog post update.  This particular small deco bangle is currently at the Lansing Art Gallery for their 2018 Holiday Market.  I've been busy at work, with my house and dealing with stuff my parents are handing off to me as they downsize so I'm trying to slow down and deal with that.  I've been extremely overwhelmed lately and am trying to just take things one day at a time. 

If you follow me on social media you may have noticed a post about not making jewelry in 2019.  I'm backed up on my larger works/ideas and making small "affordable" pieces have been a creative time suck.  It's not what I want to be doing, so I'll still make jewelry, but pieces that I'm inspired to make, which will have higher price-points.  I will take small commissions on a case by case basis, but in the long run it's not worth it for me. 

I'm excited to be giving talks at 2 guilds in 2019 and 1 day and a half workshop with the Needlework and Textile Guild in May (which I believe is already full).  These next few weeks I'll also be working on proposals for Convergence in 2020.   i'll still do some pop-ups here and there and be supplying my current galleries, plus Crooked Tree Arts Center asked if I would show my jewelry there after having it at Sherri Smith's Retirement show "Woven Together."

Happy Plaidurday 2018! Plaid bangle and earrings are golden this year

Plaidurday is a day that reminds me to pull out my plaid bangle pattern and create a new one since it seems they always sell and I'm left without a plaid bangle.  The original pattern was in black, purple and green which you can see HERE.   In my preparation for this year, I decided to go with a dark gold base in place of the black, reds and purples.

This bangle and earring set will also end up being part of my holiday jewelry that I'm sending out to galleries starting this month, they are currently in my online shop if you need to have it now.

Small Deco Bangle Variation in Brown and Purple

I have a tendency to carry around this small deco pattern in my traveling bead case and these colors happened to be on-hand when I started this piece on Friday.  I am often drawn to brown with purple, it's a nice dark natural color.  I know that I'm starting to think of digging in the dirt, planting more flowers, splitting hostas and starting a larger garden this summer.

Deco Point earrings are available HERE.

I've done this piece in a few different variations, one being with gold edging, purple and greens HERE.  I think the very first one I made was with gold, pinks and greens which inspired a wedding color theme to the owner of that bangle.

This deco bangle can be purchased HERE.

Bracelet Commissions

If you know Liisa, you've probably noticed her wearing some of my work over the years.  She recently asked me to create two bracelets which I finally finished after the holiday insanity (and having to finish my niece's baby blanket).  I wanted to offer 2 options for the blue netting one since I had two different sized seed beads which could fit the bill.

The bracelet on the left is 15/0 beads, the one on the right is the usual size that I use, 15/0.

I haven't really played with my netting stitch in standard sized seed beads (I've always used smaller).  I've worn it a couple times and it still feels comfortable, it's a bit more stiff though and not as fabric-feeling as the smaller beads.

Liisa also has one of my St. Petersburg strand bracelets from an older color grouping and asked for one in whites and gold.  I'm going to show her this one, but the original was about half this size I think, so we'll see what she thinks.