Didn’t make it to the Bead & Button show in Milwaukee this year? Don’t be sad! Read on to get some exciting peeks behind the scenes at Meet the Teachers, plus I introduce you to some of my favorite beady people and there’s plenty of wonderful beadwork to drool over!
YouTube vloggers unite! When Jill met Kelly
I was a free agent this year which was a super treat! For the first time I had made the decision not to teach any classes and not to have a booth. Working at the Bead & Button show is amazing fun but it is HARD work and it means I don’t get to explore as much or spend as much time socializing as I would like to! So this year I decided visiting the show would be just for me!
I filled up my calendar with plenty of dinner dates – the show is a wonderful opportunity to catch up with my friends from around the US and in fact the globe! Plus I got to meet in person some designers whose work I have admired for a long time! I very much enjoyed having dinner with fellow YouTube star Kelly Dale of Off the Beaded Path – we had a blast! I also got to meet IKEA beaders Anna Lindell and my ‘twin’ Olga Pettersson from Sweden and see their intricate work.
A big highlight for me was getting to reunite with a massive contingent of the lovely ladies who I got to spend a whole week with on my first Czech Bead Tour. We had our first official reunion at the show and it was wonderful!
It was a whirlwind week for sure! I got lots of my own beading done too in the evenings as I was just feeling so inspired! Getting my photo taken in front of the Crystallized angel was fun too!
Watch this video to get a feel for how the show looks (and sounds!) and you can also take a look at the stunning beadwork designs on display at the ToHo booth as part of the ToHo Challenge…
Meet the Teachers
Here are some videos from the Meet the Teachers night. For those who may not know what that is, it’s a big shopping event for one night only, where you can find all of the teachers from the show in one room. They have tables set up full of their glittering wares and it’s a chance to purchase kits, ask them questions and see more of their work. Often designers create special kits just for the show so it’s a great opportunity to get your hands on an exclusive! As you can see I went a little bit crazy and bought just a few kits for myself…
Links to featured designers:
Anna Lindell: https://www.tigerguld.com/
Olga Vinnere Pettersson: MadeByOlga.etsy.com
Leslee Frumin: http://www.lesleefrumin.com/shop/
Helena Tang-Lim: https://www.manek-manek.com/
Diane Whiting: http://www.dianewhitingdesigns.com/ (the fabulous fringe cord will be added to her website soon, so bookmark it!)
Isabella Lam: https://www.etsy.com/shop/bead4me