YES!!! The Bead and Button Show!

Peggy, Peggy's sister, Susan, and I headed off to Milwaukee, WI....The show was amazing and overwhelming...lots of venders - two football fields worth of venders...lots of classes in beading, metal, polymer clay, chain, glass lampworking...and more. Every class from Master's classes to beginner's classes, from 3 days to 3 hours, all taught by experts in their craft. It was amazing.

Of course there are pictures! Off we go through Indiana....past giants turning cartwheels...

And on into and straight through Chicago..which is, as always, Chicago. Captain Susan was the brave soul who got us through safely.

A baseball field of some sort - that is big in Chicago I hear

Wait .... now we are hungry!!!

Nah - Peggy and Susan have found a better place about 25 minutes South of Milwaukee....
The gateway to paradise, serious paradise..

After filling up on amazing Wisconsin sandwiches and deserts we couldn't resist the hokey picture and then piled back in the car and headed to The Show!

THE ARRIVAL: Yes - we are really there, threw our suitcases in our rooms and headed down to register and get the magic badge that let everyone know that *we* got to wander around as we pleased.

The venders were setting up and only we, very 'special registered' beaders, could attend that night. The 'public' gets to shop the next night.

Lots of big tables scattered around for beading, resting, meeting other people and - in this case - looking at the show program and trying to figure out where our classes will be tomorrow. And waiting for the vender exhibit to open - Peggy and Susan are planning their attack.

It's been a very very long day....we had left Indy at 8 in the morning, driven up through Chicago and on into Wisconsin, had a big and amazing lunch at Apple Holler, got settled in our rooms, pawed through our complementary Bead and Button tote bag stuffed with information and more goodies, cruised the vender exhibit, purchased our first finds, chatted with venders we knew, looked at our show guide, then to a very good and very very funny and enjoyable dinner.....we were tuckered out and ready to head to our rooms so we would be rested for our classes the next day!