gift show: come and gone

the international gift and home show at atlanta's americasmart has been happening for the last week or so. saturday, i was lucky enough to go and it was such a huge whirlwind of creative goodness. living in atlanta, you hear talk all the time of the awesomeness of the mart. before i went, i just could not comprehend all that was housed in 3 buildings located in downtown atlanta. above is a shot of just 1 building and a sampling of the floors contained within. i swear you need to be in marathon shape to be able to get everywhere you want to go without falling over from exhaustion.

last year, i was entranced by the jewelry on the cash and carry floor, but this year, it was a ribbon vendor that captured my heart. velvets, pom pom's, grosgrain - all the gorgeous ribbon that used to exist before cheap ribbon spools took over your average craft store. between me and my 2 friends, we did some major damage here! if you have a tax id# for your biz, head here to pick up some amazing ribbon for yourself.

after a day filled with shopping for clothes, jewelry, and ribbon, we headed up to the permanent showrooms to ooh and ahh over the artists and artwork that has found a home in the world of licensing. i have learned so much about licensing over the past week that my head is swirling. i definitely know where and where not i want to be headed in the next year (more on that a little later).

the demdaco showroom is a must stop if you are at the mart. not only are the artists they represent, amazing, but they employ incredibly talented visual merchandisers. the props and displays these people create rival any new york christmas window. of course we had to get in line for kelly rae robert's signing of her new little girlie ornaments. as always, she is super friendly and warm.

it truly was a great day all around. and to top it off, i may or may not have gotten sucked into the diamond floor and bought something that is sparkly all over and far too expensive for my bank account ;)