Bead & Button: Day One...

I landed in Milwaukee late on Wednesday night, just before the winds started to blow. The winds started to pick up, making the glass behind the check-in desk at the hotel flex. Seeing that made me even more excited to crash after a long day of traveling.

The next day was a blur of setting up and saying hello to friends and colleagues. Max was sick (with what was thought of at the time as a virus) and Cynthia stayed behind in Asheville. So we were short-staffed. I have to admit that there were moments when I thought we might not finish on time. Above is a picture of the table shortly after we finished setting up. It was in the first permutation, as we added and subtracted bowls and reconfigured the display to best work. Sometimes you've got to stand behind the table and work for a few hours before things finally start to settle into a seamless display. (By the way, I think this is the MOST stuff we've ever had on the table. It was PACKED!)

Azalea even had her own little contribution to the table. She had twelve "Magic Charms" for sale. The charms consisted of her original artwork on Shrink Plastic. By the end of Day One, every one of them was sold!

From there... it was a steady stream of people. It's funny doing a show year after year. You start to recognize and remember people and their stories. I think that's one of my favorite parts of doing shows... the human aspect. Sure, it's great to make money and share your work, but getting to know the people who make up your community and allow you to do what you do is simply incredible.

Below are some shots from the show. Mostly of them were taken in front of our booth or within close proximity as I didn't get to leave at all!

(From left to right:) Jennie K. Stephens of Majik Designs, Heidi Woody of The Beaded Frog, and Cathy Collison of Glass Garden Beads.

Above are some snapshots of Bob Burkett's display at the show. He always has amazing things. This time he had a lot of most excellent vessels and hand-forged sculpting and burnishing tools with swirly handles. I'm in love with his octopi! I dream of owning one in the worst way.

Sun Park of Ezel Findings shows off her collection of recently acquired Magic Charms from Azalea. They met a few years ago at a show in New York and have been long-distance friends ever since!

(From left to right:) Candie Cooper (author of Metalworking 101 for Beaders), Kim St. Jean (author of Mixed Metal Mania), and Erin Prais-Hintz of Tesori Trovati, Heather Powers of HumbleBeads and author of the forthcoming title Jewelry Designs from Nature, and our Australian booth neighbor, Wendy of Bergamin Beads.

(From left to right:) Fellow Pennsylvania-resident Maria Richmond of Lost Marbles Glass and instructor at Zelda's Bead Kit Company, Erin again who recently debuted an impressed polymer pendant collection called Simple Truths, and Deanna Kittrell of Piece of Mind Beads.

The day was filled with many, many, MANY other friendly faces. I'll do my best to share more pictures from the weekend in short order.