I.C.E. Atlanta Holiday 2012

Last weekend we participated in I.C.E. ATLANTA's 2012 HOLIDAY MARKET at the spacious AMBIENT + STUDIO in Atlanta, Georgia. Both days were jammed pack with holiday shoppers and browsers, keeping the 100+ vendors happily busy. The first sign it would be a busy weekend were the LONG LINES that queued at the entrance each morning before the doors opened promptly at 10am...



FOOD TRUCKS outside and a bar and even more food vendors kept the crowds well-fed during the market:



The view of the market as soon as you came into the studio...our table was the second one on the left as you entered...





















New to our table was our multi-level ONE-INCH BUTTON CAROUSEL which everyone seemed to enjoy. It was a practical solution to our problem of wanting to display a ton of button designs, but not having enough room on the table to do so. We placed the more KID-FRIENDLY BUTTONS (a.k.a. Missy's buttons) down low where the kids could see, and kept the more ADULT-THEMED BUTTONS (a.k.a. my buttons) up high...













We had brought SUSHI for lunch, which we hastily ate between transactions...when that was not enough, we hit up the bar for drinks and snacks. Note: EGGNOG and HUMMUS is NOT a good pairing...







Speaking of food, Missy's PLUSH CHEESE PUFFS and PLUSH PICKLES were a big hit...by the end of the weekend, we were completely sold out of the pickles (I think the cute CHILLY DILLY PICKLE BAGS we served them up in helped make the sales)...





The view from our table across the aisle. We were especially mesmerized by the MARISOL SPOON booth and their finely-detailed STONE-CAST CLOCKS...





The next day when we parked in the dirt lot across the street, we noticed a BIG WHITE STALLION hiding around the corner from a heavily-graffitied wall. Turns out there was a whole field of horses in the back of this abandoned building...how did we not notice that before? Weirdly enough, there were some people across the way having a little "photo shoot" with a UNICORN HEAD MASK. Between the urban decay and graffiti, the horses, and the unicorn, it was a pretty surreal tableau...













After we re-set our booth, we quickly walked around the venue before Sunday's batch of shoppers arrived. Unfortunately, many of the booths were shuttered still or the vendors were busy setting up again. In the very back of venue was a room called SALVAGE, where sellers sold vintage and antique furniture, goods, and clothing...

























Missy helped our neighbor, HOT PINK POO, watch her booth while she and her family checked out the rest of the market.





Our other neighbor, THE LONG THREAD, bought one of Missy's PLUSH BUNNIES for her daughter. The little girl loved it so much, she quickly SKETCHED IT in her notebook...we love talented and precocious little kids!