In the early 1990s, I fell in love with making beaded jewelry and selling it at Grateful Dead shows. Those years, traveling, meeting people, falling in love with the music and searching for meaning impacted me more than I knew. I look at those years with great joy and cherish the memories my best friend, Betsy and I shared on the road. Since then, I’ve kept up with jewelry making, though mostly for myself, family, and friends.
In the fall of 2025, I found a pair of chandelier earrings from my years following the Dead and wondered whether I could make something similar with wire and crystals. That question led me to find Natalia at creationsthatrock.com, who inspires through her masterful hands and artistic vision and where I took classes and immediately became completely obsessed.
Soon I realized I could turn that passion into something bigger: I could make jewelry, sell it, and use the proceeds to support immigrants and refugee families at a time when they are increasingly under attack. I felt helpless, as many of us felt watching the terror that has been unleashed not just in my hometown, but across the country. As someone who has spent much of my career working with international students, an immigrant myself and really just as a human, I felt heartbroken, angry, and quite helpless.
Stand Up With Jules became my way of turning frustration into action, creativity into community, and jewelry into advocacy. As I bent wire, attached crystals, and hammered metal, I realized I wasn't just making jewelry. I was creating a way to support a cause I deeply believe in. A local boutique loved my mission, and offered to host a pop-up-shop… and now, here we are!
Together we have donated over $1,300 to ICIRR — the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights. Check out my pieces and let’s spread the LOVE together…