August Hotel Blocks Now Available

The Wisconsin Center in Milwaukee. Image courtesy of Visit Milwaukee

Room blocks at our show hotels are now available. You can find more information, including dates, rates and direct reservation links on the Hotel page of our website.

If you already have a reservation for the old show dates, please call the hotel directly and tell them you wish to switch to the August room block. We ask that you be patient with our hotel partners as they are operating with limited staff at this time and you may experience some delays.

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Extended Deadlines & Easier Entry Process for Competitions

You’ve got enough to worry about right now, so we want to make things a little easier for you. The submission deadline for the BeadDreams International Jewelry Artistry Awards has been extended to JUNE 29 and we’ve simplified the entry requirements for finalists. Please consider sharing your beautiful work with us and with the world! Visit the Show website for full details.

Exhibitor Spotlight: Julie Haymaker’s Shrinkets

We are so pleased to announce that Julie Haymaker’s Shrinkets will return to the Show Floor in August with Shrinkets plastic bead molds, class companion kits, companion tools, loose handmade beads, and shrink film. In Julie’s own words, “Art is what centers me. My burning passion is making, creating, sharing. A lifetime background of artistic skills illustration, ceramics woodworking, and fine metal smithing prepped me for the rewards of teaching. As Founder and CEO of Shrinkets, I’m proud to introduce you to an inexpensive and versatile way to expand your own creativity by repurposing your designs.”

Whether you work with her product already or you’re looking for a fun, accessible, new activity delivered to your door, her website is filled with materials, tools, and inspiration to keep you busy at home.

Please consider supporting the exhibitors in our Bead&Button Show community by ordering your project materials from them online during this strange and difficult time.

Instructor Spotlight: Marcia Balonis

We are so excited to have Marcia Balonis confirmed for the new August Bead&Button Show dates!

Marcia has a lifelong passion for jewelry. As a young girl she remembers playing in her mother’s jewelry box and fondling each treasure. That passion for wonderful trinkets led to beading as the outle t for her creative energies. She started making her own jewelry as a teenager during the ‘hippie’ years. She jokingly says that was more than 5 years ago. Later, on many trips with her mother, Marcia saw the possibility of a ‘bead’ in the environment. Many of her fun designs using unusual found materials have been published in magazines and books.

During her financial career, she traveled around the country for her job and often took art classes to relax. Marcia then began teaching at various venues including conventions, stores, and adult education centers. She found teaching beading much more rewarding than teaching accounting! In retirement, she has happily gone from being a “Bean Counter” in the financial world to counting beads. She has been published numerous times in magazines in the United States including in Bead&Button and Europe including Perlen Poesie and Bead and Jewellery magazine. She has designed for Starman as one of the Trendsetters and for The Beadsmith as part of the Inspiration Squad. Her book was published by Kalmbach in 2018: Lush & Layered bead weaving, stitch jewelry with texture & dimension.

Now in Florida, she enjoys teaching beading at local bead stores, an occasional bead retreat somewhere in the United States, other regional or national conventions and of course the annual Bead& Button Show in Milwaukee, WI.

Class dates & times are currently TBD, but check out her 2020 Bead&Button Show classes here!

Free Content Fridays on Social Media!

Did you know we’ve been releasing FREE projects every Friday to provide you with some additional creative and inspirational outlets to fill those long hours at home? We’re doing our best to find things you can do with materials you might already have on hand.

Make sure you like our Facebook page or follow @BeadAndButtonShow on Instagram to see this week’s free projects, and to find out when new free projects are released.

We’d love to see photos of your work in process (especially if you get extra “assistance” from some furry friends at home) and the variety of finished products we’ll all have. Make sure to tag @Bead&ButtonShow so the whole community can share in the experience.

These free projects are courtesy of Facet Jewelry. You can check out FacetJewelry.com for hundreds more projects and ideas for while you're hanging out at home, or any time.