Scenes from the Bead & Button Show

I'm back from the Bead & Button Show and slowly getting back into my normal routine. It was a whirlwind of work and play, but I did manage to remember to take some pictures!

Milwaukee

It was a little chillier in Milwaukee this year compared to past years, and ranged from partially cloudy to raining! Here's the view from our hotel room on our first morning there:

Workshops

I always love teaching beading workshops and this year's classes were no different! A couple of my students finished their Cosmic Nocturne Pendants in class!

Here I am providing some one-on-one time for the Tila Garden Pendant:

And here are some of my students' completed Raindrop Flower Necklace components - both the Raindrop Flower focal and a few of the accompanying beaded beads!

Awesome People

There's no other place where you can see so many fabulous bead artists under one roof! Sabine Lippert, (aka The Fastest Beader in the West), finished her Tila Garden Pendant in class!

My friend Susan Blessinger and I represented the San Diego contingency at the Bead Dreams Reception. Isn't her beach-inspired necklace awesome? (check out her Bead Dreams finalist entry, "The March Hare," here!)

And along with Marcia DeCoster, we made a trio of San Diego Bead Dreams Finalists! Marcia and I got the chance to model our respective pieces together (check out Marcia's blog for the story behind this collaborative piece between her and Sherry Serafini - truly a melding between the minds of masters!)

As a San Francisco Giants fan, I always have a reason to wear orange and black jewelry, but I didn't think that this color combo would be popular with any other beaders (outside of October). The always-fabulous Suzanne Golden totally proved me wrong!

I had the pleasure of meeting many of the fine people that work so hard to create all the little Japanese seed beads, Czech shaped beads, and sparkly crystals that bead artists adore. The folks at Miyuki took the time to take and present me with my own souvenir Beading Happiness photo. Cool huh?

Fireworks

On our last night in Milwaukee we were treated to a perfect view of a fireworks show, right from our hotel room!

A fitting end to a wonderful trip!