Recap of Gift Market at the Atlanta Mart 2013

I just spent 5 days in Atlanta shopping. Wow, who wouldn't love to say that? I love going to market with my sisters. They have the cutest shop in Trussville,  Alabama, called The Spotted Zebra. Isn't that the cutest name? It's gifts and a little home decor. They have such a great client base in Trussville and their customers love them! I love hanging out with them at the Mart because I get to see their dynamic and how they work together. They both have different strengths and the shop would not be able to run without both of them. I always add in my 2 cents just to ruffle some feathers!

There are 3 buildings at the Mart. Building 1 is full of showrooms that are open almost year round. You will find furniture, rugs and seasonal in that building. During a big market, they have 2 floors dedicated to temporaries. Temps are the booths that only come for market and are gone as soon as it's over. This is where you find all the new, cool stuff! Building 2 is full of gift companies. I mean everything you can imagine is in this building. You will find furniture, flags, pottery, frames, jewelry, lamps, every thing under the sun! Building 3 is known as the apparel building. When they have apparel mart, I envision all the showrooms open with clothing pouring out of each! During Gift Market, they have several floors dedicated to temporaries. I have a few favorites! I got to see a couple of great friends that had booths on floor 2. Vallie and Leah were both there. Their booths were packed when we went by. That always makes me happy to see someone be successful at what they love to do. I also always hit up Art by Amy. She is one of the people that inspired me to start making Lucy Lockets. She has a booth full of chain and charms and all kinds of crazy things to add to a necklace. One of the coolest things is you can pick out the charms you like and she will make you a necklace on the spot! Thinking that might be a good idea for me. Anyone want to host a party???

We had a great time. We saw lots of friends and lots of really cool things that will be in the store this year. If you get a chance, go by the store and tell them hello. You can also follow their Facebook page to keep up with all the new stuff that comes in!

I took a few pictures of my favorites. I may try and do a "trends of 2013" post, if I can muster up the list! There were definitely somethings that stood out.

 I shared this on Instagram {trend alert}

I love a yarn stocking. We "stocked up" on these!

Guess who will have a Giant light-up E in her room?

You might see a chalkboard wall at the store the next time you stop in!

 This girl had great jewelry at great prices. It was Fabu!

I shared this on Instagram, too. I need this at the beach!!

This showroom knocks my socks off every time! This fish is gorgeous!!

This patent white couch. O, yeah, just O! {trend alert}

Demdaco blew us away with their vintage signing. Some really cute pieces for Christmas!

 How could I not share this one! Who wants one of these for their tree. Or just to hang on their desk! 

The Spotted Zebra

The Spotted Zebra belongs to my sisters. Natalie and Nicole. They are both equally important to this cute little place. Nicole pretty much runs the show being there all day every day. Natalie will come in and paint a room or re-style a section in her sleep! Bless her heart, she gets no sleep!  She paints furniture and does treatments to cabinets. She also has 2 boys, Bailey, a senior in high school and Grayson is in the 8th grade.

I got the pleasure of hanging out with Nicole on Thursday. They had their Holiday Open House. It was all day  Thursday, Friday and Saturday. We had a blast. The store looks gorgeous and there are so many beautiful things, I couldn't decide what to take home with me! I wanted to completely start over with my Christmas decor! I took home one bag of goodness. I can't wait to get it up at Hansel and Gretel! 

These are a few of my favorites and a few of my purchases!

This angel comes in small, medium and large. I got one of each! So cute, light and a great price!

Those reindeer? They are at my house!! I love them and think they will fit right in at Hansel and Gretel!

Just a close up of that gorgeous mantel. Daphne Donaldson does a great job decorating the store!

See that red mesh ribbon? Oh yeah, I have a roll of that! It's the bomb.com.

I love these burlap stockings. That ruffle at the top is precious. It's just not quite big enough for what Santa brings! ;)

These angels? I adore them! They are made from recycled products. Right up my alley!

I was so glad to see they had an upside down tree. Mine has to be my FAVE tree in my house! Where will I put it at Hansel and Gretel??

 This cute reindeer caught my eye! I think it is a great door hanger, but how cute just to hang behind or to the side of the tree? Create a vignette on the wall? adorbs

It just wouldn't be the south if we didn't have a tree with our favorite SEC teams!

 Roll Tide and War Eagle!

This has to be the most gorgeous Nativity Scene in all the land!

 If only I could buy all new holiday dishes....these would be in my house! I love that bright red and green and just a touch of black. 

Adorable towels. These are the BEST hostess gift! They are so cute and everyone needs a towel for the powder room or to hang by the sink in the kitchen! 

This store is packed with so many cute things. I left late on Thursday night and I'm sure a lot sold over the weekend. If you are looking for a gift or need something to freshen up your decorating....You should make a stop by The Spotted Zebra!

 I love these Santas.

Cute way to display your list. Hello? My list is a lot longer than this!

This is the new counter at the store. We brought the tins in from Southern Accents. 

They guys that built  it did an incredible job! 

Just a little silly Merry Christmas from me! Happy Holidays!

Happy Birthday, Mimi!

Woo to the Hoo!

We pulled off the surprise! 

Johnny has been planning for a month! I got the call in the middle of the move. I couldn't imagine how I would make it. It worked out great. The kids and I jumped in the car on Saturday around 10:30 and after dropping Jazzy off, picking up the strawberry cake from Edgar's, and dropping off some ceiling tiles to Nicole for The Spotted Zebra, we were on our way at 12:45! We stopped in to see Ruru's house and made it to the party right as Mimi was pulling up! (oooopsie)

These friends made it to the party. I think that was the biggest surprise for her. Aunt Linda, Chris, Judy, and Mary came from Huntsville. They are friends from waaaaaaay back! 

We got to go by Ruru's house before the party. She's just moved, too. It's a great house. Can't wait to go back with all the cousins there! There will be plenty of room for the kids to play football in the yard!

Emma and her Ruru at her new house. You should see the screened in porch....it's amazing! The kids love the basement....it's huge and has a pool table. #bonus

The trip to Tennessee always seems like a whirlwind. We have our same stops. One favorite is the farm. The kids want to go and play on the hay bales. I want to dig through the tractor and car graveyard! So much rusty, crusty stuff out there! It's a fun place to explore.....just watch out for the cow patties! I love this shot of John Connor jumping! So carefree...

Our last stop was at my Great-Grandmother's house. It's been empty for 30 years. We broke in the window and checked it out. That farm sink? I need it. There are so many cute things. They need a lot of TLC. Emma loved the color of the walls. Can you see the grinder on the right side of the window? I love that it's still there. I can just see her grinding the meat for dinner. She took care of my Mom and Aunt when their mom died. They were there all the time. My Grandfather lived down the road a short way. We used to walk from his house to hers when we would go visit.

I always need a deadline!

Most of you that know me, know that I have been "making" jewelry for a long time!! I was inspired a few years ago at the Craft and Hobby show, CHA, at the Making Memories booth. They were making jewelry! I was totally confused since it's a scrapbooking company. I didn't buy into it until I did the make-n-take and then, BOOM, I was hooked. I wanted it all! So, I bought a lot of it. Later that year, I went to market and found Art by Amy. This girl can rock out a necklace made of anything you can imagine! So, I started "collecting". As an artist, I am a collector, not a hoarder! #thankyouverymuch

So, Friday, I get a call from the adorable, Nicole Allshouse, she has a 4 minute spot to fill on Talk of Alabama. She asked if The Spotted Zebra wanted to come on. Natalie - I will probably be painting. Nicole - I do NOT do TV. So, I was given an opportunity and I took it! I started working on my "inventory". I had a LOT of necklaces already made up.

BREAKING NEWS: I have sold a necklace! Woo hoo...Abby Miller is my new favorite person ;)
I also have a girl looking at one of the jewelry holders! so awesome!

I have a deadline! I made progress on some things Friday night and went over to Papa's Barn Saturday morning to finish up some things with the nail gun and band saw.....oh, how I love those tools! Then, I took a break and theconnorfarmer and I went to Nashville. Hung out on Broadway trying to discover the latest country music singer! Sunday we stopped through Franklin and bought some fun things that I will have to share later! City Farmhouse rocks by the way!!

Sunday night got here and I still was procrastinating! Emma and I played around with the display ideas and I was up at 6am at Walmart for table cloths! I guess I pulled it off. The spot was easy. I haven't seen it, yet. Laura, the great cousin, said they got some really good shots of the jewels!

So, now I have an Etsy shop with some home decor and some Lucy Lockets! Y'all go check it out and let me know what you think! I am open to doing custom work, too!

Write it down, Journal, a Diary, a calendar, life day to day

There are so many ways to look at it. You can make an effort to write down your life in a journal or on a blog. Some might just keep a calendar...mine was called a Diary the other day. I laughed out loud when he asked if it was my Diary. My first thought was, NO! Then it occurred to me....why, yes, this is  my diary. I do not write down all of my hopes and fears in it...only some of them! I do write down what we are doing on what day and make future plans inside this little zebra-striped book.

It's almost full and I can't wait to get another one! (The Spotted Zebra) So, I find that it's hard for me to record what actually happens. There are several things in this calendar that I wanted to do, but failed to make happen. Either because something else came up or my over achieving brain planned too many things in one day.

I do want to start writing things down that DO happen. I want to write down how I feel about something or someone...my kids and husband. This has been coming up a lot lately. My step-mom's Mother passed away a month ago and she kept a journal. Not an ongoing, everyday, but....toward the end. She wrote letters to people. No one knew she was doing this and after she passed away, they were found. Can you imagine? Losing someone that means so much to you and then finding a letter they had written you. It is one of the most treasured pieces of writing you will ever have the opportunity to read. Debbie, aka Nanny (my step-mom) and I were talking about all of this one night, in the rain, at John Connor's football game. Her pain and sadness is still so fresh for her and I know she wants to talk about it and at the same time, not ever talk about it. I was really glad she shared it with me. I'm a sentimental gal and love to remember things or find out things that happened to people that I love. History.

OH....that just slaps me in the face. I am doing a Bible Study at church and it's called His-story/your story. It's about how God's story fits into your story and that it's all history...your story, too. How your story and His story shaped your life. got it?

So, I'm doing so many things that involve story-telling right now. A potential client is all about the story, I compile stories with scrapbooking and now, Connor's grandmother, Momba, is not doing her best. We had a family get-together for her and Papa's anniversary on Saturday. We set up a TV in the garage, watched football, the kids played, we visited and stayed until late that night. It was a wonderful day and one that we will treasure. I overheard Momba say she wants to do it every 3 months......it used to be once a month. Never happened...too busy, too  many activities!! All day, Momba carried around a book and pen. She was writing whatever came to her mind about each person in the family. As she would see them, she would write. She wanted to hug us all extra long that day and tell us something she wanted us to remember....her story.

I want to encourage everyone to write it down. Blog, Facebook, calendar or just writing a note to each special person on their birthday is sufficient. I know those letters Debbie has from her Mom are dear to her, but wouldn't it have been great for her to have her own letters from each family member that told just what she meant to them? My Mom's birthday was Saturday..I better get on that! My brother's is this month and my Dad's. Three days after his is my Emma's. I'm really looking forward to it. I'm sure there will be tears involved....it's hard for me not to shed one or two anyway!

I would love to know if you already do this....or if you have another way of telling your story. You may remember a little scrapbooking event I was involved in about telling your story.....THAT is a story all in itself with lots of lessons learned! ha

ETA: just found this on Pinterest and then to this blog......YES! What a fantastic idea!