It was so nice to sleep in my own bed last night. The past week went by so fast, but it was packed with a lot of work and fun. The Bead and Button Show is the biggest retail bead show in the world. It is held at the Delta Airlines Convention Center in downtown Milwaukee.
We started the week off by teaching on Monday and Tuesday. We taught pewter casting classes and the students made some really creative pieces. Another class we taught was a metal earring class and a steel wire/beach stone project. The women in class this year were very interesting. Not only were they from all over this country, but we also had a Canadian and an Aussie! Wednesday, we set up in the Grand Ballroom for the "Meet The Teachers" event.
This is a great way to see the creations of many fabulous teachers from all over the world. After the sale Wednesday night, we tore down the booth and hauled it all up stairs to the third floor, where the market place opened on Thursday. Thursday is always crazy because it is so crowded with the most serious shoppers. (see below)
This crazy group of women from Ohio found a great way to locate each other. That lime green Balloon was very easy to spot anywhere in the crowd. Very Serious....
Friday is the most wonderful day for shoppers because it goes from 10am to 8pm. Wonderful for them.....not so wonderful for our feet. If you only had one day to come, this would be the day. Saturday the show is done by 6pm, so we finally got a chance to enjoy downtown Milwaukee.
We had the pleasure of dining with our good friends Jon and Nate, from Da Beads in Chicago. We sat outside on the water and it actually felt like spring! Imagine that..... After a great dinner, we wandered down Water Street and found an interesting bar.
"Spin" is a ping pong bar, owned by Susan Sarandon, where you can rent a ping pong table by the hour. There were a couple of guys playing like pros and a couple of women playing like....well.....like they never played the game before. One poor guy had the job of retrieving the lost balls from all over the bar with a big fish net looking thing. It was very interesting and a really fun concept we had never heard of. The only problem was, we didn't realize how far we walked from our hotel. That Hilton Hotel sign looked miles away. And probably was.
One of my coolest purchases at the show was this awesome "blue bird sitting on a nest" ring! It was made by Wayne Robbins of California. Google him sometime. So cool.... He makes the most funky beads and I usually buy one every year. Previous purchases from him include a monkey bead smoking a cigar and a polka dotted frog. I love his work!
I also picked up some new stone, beautiful silk ribbons, fresh water pearls and new crystal shapes. Sunday, the last day of the show is always sad. Its nice to see old friends that we don't get to see very often but its nice to get home, too. Another successful show under our belts.
words for the day.....
Anyone who tells you money can't buy happiness
doesn't know where to shop.
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