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Thursday, May 24, 2012

Renegade Craft Fair Austin Trip

Well my dears, I've returned from Austin and had just enough time to relax a bit before getting back into the swing of things :) I've got lots of fun things to share with you!

First of all- the Renegade Craft Fair is such an awe-inspiring, eclectic and fun event! Not to mention, Austin is just a rad little city :) I had such a blast! See for yourself...
See what I mean? I only wish I had taken more pics of my time at Renegade. 
I absolutely love doing craft fairs! It gets me out of the apartment and allows me to become friends with my customers and other talented artists and crafters. The thing that always warms my heart is seeing someone walk up to my booth, look at one of my prints, and start smiling. Makes me melt every time! That's the reason I work so hard...to inspire others and bring a big smile to their face.

A big thanks goes out to my mom and the hubs for helping me for the show! Thank you SO MUCH!! Love ya! We had a fun time setting up my booth, and even pulled a few magic tricks with last minute handmade fixes. For example, my man ran to Hobby Lobby and bought some chalkboard spray paint to give our cardboard walls a much needed facelift. I just chalked up a little sign on it, and it turned out great! Renegade even did a "Chalkboard Round-Up" of all the vendors using chalkboards which they posted on their blog. The day before they show, we made a genius display with a mini-pallete and a vintage window frame I found on my trip to Round Top last month. We attached the window frame on top of the pallette and voila! I used the pallete as shelving and the window to display my prints "clothesline" style. I just love rolling with the punches come the day of the fair.

I was booth buddies with Audilou Jewelry who have beautiful vintage inspired jewelry with a nautical twist. The ladies were super friendly and fun to be around! I also had the pleasure of neighboring next to Poppy and Fern. Rachel of Poppy and Fern was so sweet and made the most charming hand-stitched pendant necklaces with friendly woodland creatures! I seriously wanted to buy everything in her booth. Note... it's very hard doing these shows sometimes just for that reason... I want to shop when I need to be selling. I'm sure my fellow crafting buddies can agree. Well I did buy a few things... a pretty geo design crop tee I had been eying from Maryink, cute peach button earrings and a mint and cream beaded necklace from The Mossy Fox. In fact, I traded Cassie from the Mossy Fox one of my fox prints and a calendar for her lovely jewelry. She had a beautiful display of handmade jewelry, plus she was such a doll! I met some very inspiring ladies such as illustrator Lisa Chow, Jessica Tata of Son of a Sailor, Jessica Simmons of Onetwothreepeaceful Blog, Danni from Oh, Hello Friend, and even a couple Instagram friends - Viv (@eclecticviv) and Kathy (@kathyphantastic) ! So nice meeting and chatting it up with these very down to earth ladies. It's always important to network at shows! You learn so much from each other. 

Overall, Renegade was a huge success! I met some very nice people, sold some prints, and even made contacts with a couple stores that want to sell my prints! Couldn't be more thankful for the experience I had in Austin! Thanks Renegade gang! Well, I hope you get the chance to go to a Renegade Craft Fair near you. You don't want to miss it! So much handmade goodness to be shared :)

p.s. I had a little time to relax at the Austin hotspot The Oasis that overlooks Lake Travis... the most gorgeous view in Austin. I hadn't been there in nearly 10 years! Man has the area grown. Wow!

Hope I didn't leave anything out! Yikes!

XOXO, Rhianna


6 comments:

  1. So glad t hear your trip went well! Thanks for sharing!!

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  2. Sounds like such an amazing event! Your booth looked great x

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    1. Thanks so much Rebecca! :) It was a great experience.

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  3. Loving the font + little arrows. So cute!! I'm glad you had a blast, wish it was in my city. :(

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    1. Thanks Carmen! I drew the font in photoshop :) Thanks, it was so much fun in Austin, it always is!

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