Last weekend my dear friend Christie and I headed up to Milwaukee for the mother of all bead shows. This conference and show runs for a full week long, with 100's of jewelry classes and exciting events. Not to mention 4 days of shopping for beads, supplies and more. If you need it for jewelry making, they have it, well almost everything!My friend Christie had never attended the Bead & Button show and her enthusiasm and excitement perked up my desire to return one more time to the big bead shopping mecca - Milwaukee!
I have taken so many wonderful classes at this fantastic event over the last 10 years and learned so much. Teachers from all over the world come and share their knowledge, tips, tricks and designs to make us better at what we do and encourage us to grow and expand our techniques and to soar to new heights! 
The 5 hour drive up was now behind us and we were ready to shop and explore. We quickly grabbed a sandwich for lunch and headed up to the show room floor at the convention center, Christie had no idea what she was in for! Like kids in a candy shop we started to explore, so many great things to take in and enjoy. We both had our shopping lists in hand and began our search of the hundreds of vendors who came with tools, supplies, glass, beads, metal findings and more.
I came across a vendor who had case after case of old collectibles. Oh my, talk about a kid in a candy shop, I was drooling at all the luscious old treasures. He had several cases of cameo's like the one on the left and they were the big old ones with elaborate gold filigree mountings & beautifully carved faces. Gorgeous old antiques!
Then there were the oodles of old lockets from all around the world. I could have spent the rest of the day at this booth and I would have barely seen a fraction of what he had brought to the show. When I found a case full of Cracker Jack toys he had, I couldn't believe they had become collectibles. Oh, how I remember the excitement of munching that caramel coated popcorn till I got to the toy in the middle of the box, if I'd only known that one day they would become valuable. Each case I encountered brought back memories of my childhood as I sorted through Monopoly pieces, old dice, magnetic scotty dogs and so much more. THEN, reality set in, I'm getting old. Guess that means I'm a collectible too!
I had never seen Apatite this rich or luscious calling me to take it home, I selected 2 prime strands knowing just what I want to do with them. The photo on the right just doesn't do justice to these stones, the red river jasper is satiny and smooth and has the most incredible colors and veining, in unusual patterns. LOVE THESE!
The show is called Bead & Button and there were several button dealers at the show, I would of liked to have seen more button dealers but those that were here had a great selection of buttons to choose from. There is one dealer I make sure I visit when I attend the show who has thousands of the most incredible buttons in every shape, color and size you can imagine. He is an avid collector.
I purchased these two fantastic silver buttons from his booth that were made sometime in the 1930's. I couldn't resist this great find and had to bring these sweet ladies home with me. Wish I could have bought a few more but if I told you what these buttons cost you'd think I was nuts!
Christie and I had shopped till we dropped on Friday and headed back to our hotel and then on to dinner at the Cheesecake Factory. I thought I'd died and gone to heaven, the food was fantastic and the the key lime mango topped cheesecake had to be one of the best desserts I've had in a long time. We headed back to our room and it wasn't long before we passed out from exhaustion. The next morning we were a little worse for wear but had breakfast and headed back to the show for a few more hours of shopping that turned into a whole day. By 6:00 we were ready to have dinner and get on the road for the long trip home but not until we had checked out the exhibition showcases for the Bead Dreams competition. Elaborate, fantastic, creative, stunning, the list of adjectives goes on and on. Each piece more exquisite then the next. Here's just a few of our favorites.
INCREDIBLE, is all I can say. Hours and hours of work went into each design. Some designs were done by a collaboration of several artists who came together to create one stunning piece. These fantastic creations are the work of some of the best in world who use a variety of mediums including polymer clay, metal clay, wire, glass, fine seed beads and more! I'd love to post all the pictures I took but these will just have to do. You'll have to attend next year if you want to see more.
Speaking of next year, I hope there will be another show as the attendance was way down from years past. Each year I have noticed a drop in attendance. I believe the attendance was the lowest of all this year, and not even the offer for free admission to the show seemed to help. That's a $10 savings for the attendee. So why aren't people attending? I believe it is the digital age, You Tube tutorials and the fact that we can now purchase just about anything we need in the line of supplies online. I'm guilty of the above too but for me there is nothing like seeing and feeling the real thing. Color, texture and a personal touch just is something we can't get via a computer. So, for me, this girl will continue to make the 5 hour trip to the Bead & Button Conference in years to come to fuel my creative senses and shop till I drop so I can find great treasures and new companies, like Dakota Stones. I hope this top notch show will be able to continue in the future and find a way to draw back the crowds. Christie and I already have made plans to attend 2015!
