Bead & Button Show Day 1, part A

Every year, the city of Milwaukee plays host to the largest consumer bead show in the world--the legendary Bead & Button show. Thousands of beaders from literally all over the world congregate like geeks to Comic Con, each attendee more enthusiastic than the last. Some attend to buy, some to sell, some to teach and some to learn--and some to do a bit of all four!

While Stateside attendees are the majority, people fly in from England, Mexico, Spain, Africa, Australia, Japan and other countries too numerous to mention. Living on the mainland, I only had to fly over a few states to get there, and so it was I took my flight Wednesday morning, spending half the plane trip craning my head to see the clouds like a little kid. Lucky for my seatmate I had the window seat!

When I got to Milwaukee, I had several hours before the Meet the Teachers reception began (an event to which I had a ticket). I also had an unfinished beaded necklace I wanted to wear to the reception, so I sat down in the lobby for a few hours' beading. As beaders tend to notice other beaders, a few other show attendees noticed what I was doing as they passed through the lobby, so we chatted a bit before they moved up to their rooms or out to their classes.

I was working on my signature 'Crime Scene Tape' necklace, as pictured below:

Well, I ran out of yellow beads with a single word left unstitched in my necklace! Ah well, it looked almost done, and certainly finished enough to wear to the reception. So, ticket in hand (yes, I'd actually remembered something so important) I went off to the Frontier Airlines Center where the reception was held.

As soon as I stepped into the building, I saw a seemingly neverending line of women (and a few men) reaching across the entire building! There were a few oohs, ahhs and gasps of delight from other attendees as we waited the 15 minutes or so, chatting about our classes and our projects. Then it came my turn to enter the reception hall....

Stay tuned!