As I walked through the Bead&Button Show this year, several people asked me how they could apply to teach at the show next year. I'm happy to report that the application is now live on BeadAnd Button Show.com, and I have the link right here! If you'd like to teach a class, you can review the previous show's classes to get an idea of the quality of projects and instructors, and especially any gaps in classes that you DON'T see but know you could teach.

Whether or not you teach a class, you'll want to take classes, too! You can now pre-order the 2010 class catalog. The catalog will be available Dec. 15, 2009, after we review all the class applications, make the selections, and get everything edited and the catalog printed.

Also — breaking news — we are revising the Bead Dreams categories to include the following category next year: 

"Handmade Buttons and Beads:  A unified collection of four or more buttons or beads in any other media including but not limited to ceramic, raku, resin, bone, etc. (excluding lampworked, glass, polymer clay, metalclay, and beaded beads). Entries that use someone else’s components will be placed in Finished Jewelry Category."

You can find out all about our Bead Dreams competition on the Bead&Button Show Web site under Special Events, or by clicking here. Reserve your own personal time to design and create your entry by the April 5, 2010 deadline. We'll tell everyone the exact date that the Bead Dreams entry form will go live on BeadAndButtonShow.com. It's always early in January, so be patient and bead!

As you can tell, planning for next year's show is well underway at Kalmbach Publishing! Here at the magazine, three of our editors have, in hand, 2010 show beads made by Leah Fairbanks — they are so beautiful — so that we can create online projects for you to access at BeadAndButton.com/projects later this year. We're getting ready to offer Leah's bead later this year; we need to give her time to make each one by hand. If you didn't get a chance to buy Kate Fowle Meleney's 2009 show bead, you can still get it online.

So block off June 6-13, 2010, on your calendar and pen in "Milwaukee — Bead&Button Show," and start a weekly secret savings stash now!