country living fair austin - phase 1

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country living 

austin

well..here is the first of a few posts on the adventure to 

austin....texas

everything is big in texas !

 

i took over 600 pictures so it has taken me a while to get through them

naturally this post will be picture heavy,

http://www.threebirdsstudio.com/three_birds_studio/home.html

but i do try  to give a bit of commentary too

this was a first time show for country living in austin

the venue was not really the best in my opinion.

i understand that the main 'need' is

airport, hotels, restaurants,

etc for all the staff, vendors and of course

the visitors ! 

http://www.pinkeyedsissies.com/

 

http://www.statelytables.com/

 

but they are going to have to do some major tweaking for next year.

the first year in a new venue is the hardest,

i would say we all learned from the mistakes and 

next year will be a major improvement !

the girls at stellashows who run the show for country living

know their stuff and i promise you 

this show will just get better and better

 

it was very HOT in my opinion

had to be 115 degrees when we were setting up !!!

and the barn that was supposed to have open sides...

sadly did NOT...in the area where the artisans were to set up

 

it was a totally different feel from the ohio and atlanta shows

that is the beauty of country living shows

each one is so different from the others

 

http://www.willownest.net/

in ohio, it is a girly girly show..

no kids,

no husbands

just girlfriends

but in texas...

many kids,

( strollers.....just dont work in small booths ) 

and lots and lots of husbands..

what's up with that girls????

(although they apparently are allowed to serve beer in 

venues like this in texas...never here in pa..

and not in atlanta or ohio)

i suppose that pacified the men a bit

there were 3 different sections of goodies at this fair

there was the barn

where these photos are from

then the pickers market

further down the barn

(in the open sided section)

and the arena

which was filled with antiques 

the next few posts will be of the other sections

http://www.shawnarobinson.com/

http://gatheredcomforts.blogspot.com/

there were a lot of the vendors who do the other 

country living shows,

but many new

(mostly local to texas)

vendors

so for me there was a lot of different things to see

http://www.jbsmercantile.com/

http://www.jbsmercantile.com/

http://www.jbsmercantile.com/

i saw lots of old friends

and made some new ones

which is always a plus !

 

http://s299166564.onlinehome.us/SummerhouseBlog/

  

i had a couple friends there from home

so we had some fun on the way there 

and it was great to hang out together in a different town !

http://www.etsy.com/shop/greenbubblegorgeous

https://www.facebook.com/sheaingramframes

https://www.facebook.com/sheaingramframes

https://www.facebook.com/sheaingramframes

the show was busy most of the time,

(not like ohio...but then NOTHING 

is like ohio)

and i acquired a lot of new customers

so from that angle the show 

was very good for me.

you have to understand..

our (the vendors) costs 

were very high on this one

hotel for DAYS !

gasoline !! ouch

paid help

booth fee

backdrop ...(not usually required in the shows i do)

meals on the road...

on and on..

so we needed to sell a LOT of jewelry to make up my expenses

 

http://www.jbsmercantile.com/

http://www.jbsmercantile.com/

http://www.jbsmercantile.com/

http://belmonili.blogspot.com/

http://belmonili.blogspot.com/

i went into this one just hoping to break even,

from my point of view,

i got a vaca out of it,

it was advertising to a whole new crowd.

i got to see the show for myself.

and i would do ANYTHING for country living magazine !

so it was a win, win, win...

and i did break even so

i left happy.

oh..i did have a really good time..

(pics to follow of the drive....and stops along the way)

http://belmonili.blogspot.com/

http://www.britishroutesigndesigns.com/

like a said,

i took hundreds of pics, 

so as i find the time 

(being away for 2 weeks is tough..

oh ..and i have a show next weekend in philly...haha

so i have to get busy making stuff for it !)

i will post 

the road trip,

nashville,

memphis,

the arena,

and the pickers market

and of course ...my booth

gees no wonder i took so many pictures !

http://www.stephanierubiano.com/

http://www.stephanierubiano.com/

http://www.stephanierubiano.com/

so here is a sampling of what was in the artist barn

the quality is not great..

it was rather dark in there

(one of the tweaks for next year)

and remember some of my photos were taken during set up..

so you may see a ladder, or a rubber made tub

in some of my shots !  

http://www.bluechelseatreasures.net/

i'll end this post with my favorite thing about texas

the boots....!!!

wait til you see the pair i bought at the show !!!

thanks for coming along with me...and

check back later for phase 2

of the country living show

in austin texas