Bella Rustica~ A Recap

Hello all!  Well, that cold that the Mr. and the baby had finally caught me.  At least it waited until after Bella Rustica.  I was in bed all day yesterday sleeping off whatever this is that I have.  But, you don't want to hear all that.  You want to hear about what a great time that we had!  And we did have a great time!  I thought I would share a few dozen of the photos that the Mr. took.  I wish I would have taken photos with the great vendors I met, but I didn't.  We were all quite busy.  Okay, let's start with this:

Look at our girl all spiffed up! 

 Mr. Hughes sold posters benefitting AGAPE out of her.  She also came in handy for baby hughes' naptime and a place to hold items that had been purchased from my booth.  We didn't take any interior shots, but I will get those posted soon.

Miss Linda was able to find a truck that looked just perfect with Hazel.  If only I could have taken him home with us...

Okay, booth photos!  This was our first show, so we didn't really know what to bring or expect.  We just treated it like we were setting up an antique store booth, so we brought a little of everything. The Mr. put together some great lamps including this one.  He also came up with the design for the rope frame.

I wish he would have gotten a photo of the mirrors.... I wrote little sayings on all of them... this one said "everyone looks prettier in a vintage mirror."

Another one of the Mr's brilliant ideas.... these are old dark slides and he mounted some photos on them.

We brought a lot!  Two trailers full in fact.

I had a few new pillow designs that I introduced at the show and I will list them on etsy soon.

You can also see just a peek of the sign that Mr. Hughes created for me.  I knew that I wanted to cover the walls in kraft paper but we couldn't use nails or tacks.  So, we got some really large clips and clipped the paper to the wood.  And, he drew my logo along with some other fun things in white marker all over.  I am sort of obsessed with white on kraft right now.  I also stenciled vintage junky on some kraft bags in white.

We had a drawing to "Give Away the World" for a vintage globe and had everyone put their entries in a vintage top hat that our friend Scarlett found for us the week before in Brimfield.

A naked lampshade covered in vintage photos... this was a conversation starter as there were some great random photos

Another thing the Mr. drew for me 

This was the booth on the second day when we brought in the buffet, Louise.

The garden gate was perfect for displaying the flowers... it is too bad it sold early on the first day... no complaints though!

On of the 3 chairs I got ready for the show

Organ pulls are always hard for me to part with for some reason.

Loads of bottles... all kinds... all sizes

We had to restock and rearrange on the second day.  One of the best parts of my booth location was that I was right across from the girls from The Strawberry Patch.  Christy (the cutie pictured above) and Alicia were so much fun to get to know.  

The chairs were in front of old doors.  Mr Hughes attached some brackets to them so we could hang the birdcage hanging lamps that he wired up for me.  This was one of the things in my vision for the booth that I decided I wanted early on.

The sign up dresser on the second day

Besides being a little obsessed with white on kraft, I also was a bit obsessed with the linen buntings... I attached them to just about everything that stood still.

The Louise wouldn't fit on the first day, so we took her on the second day... I love how she turned out.

Now, it just isn't me that has a hard time giving things up... I had been saving these bottles back for some time and when I pulled them out, the Mr. said... those are too awesome to sell.  I think we may keep the few that are left.

This is the booth on the first day... well, just after set up

We literally found the cabinet on the way out of the house on the second day, along with a small chest that will be getting a makeover as soon as I feel a bit better.

Did you know that shoe forms make the perfect business card holders?  You do now *wink*

This is a Empire chest I finished right before the show.  But, what I really want to point out are those great lamps.... Mr. Hughes created them out of salvaged table legs and wired them and put them on a base.  I did the painting, but he did most of the work.

The original plan was to hang these honeycomb balls all around the booth.  When we couldn't find a feasible and easy way to do that, I decided to just put them here and there.

After Mr. Hughes made one of these hands for the train party, I thought he should make some for the show as well.  He put them on stands and made the hands face all different directions.

When we got in Friday, a thin layer of barn dust covered the tables... that brought us back to reality... that we were definitely in a barn!

We were able to spill some stuff outside the booth as well... this area constantly changed.  It seems I am not the only one who brakes for vintage stuff outside.

So that's all folks!  Well, I am sure we have a few hundred more photos as well, but this seems to be a good stopping point.  We learned so much and got some great feedback on our products and designs... like what to make more of next time and for the booths as well.  I think my only regret was not going around and taking photos with some of the vendors and the other booths and people I met.  I will definitely have my point and shoot available for that next time.  I got to meet Beth from Old Tyme Marketplace... super swoony booth and Celeste from Rural Socialite and many, many more bloggers and non bloggers.  Of course, the ladies from The Roost and Three French Hens were there... they are always fun.  And, Autumn, a very talented photographer that hopefully didn't get any photos of me eating a delicious hamburger. Plus, all the people who work at Taproot Farms and AGAPE.... they were wonderful.  I couldn't have done all this with out my families and friends and all my bloggy buddies support.  So, thank you!  We had a couple of friends that stepped up and helped with baby hughes.  He did spend much of the weekend there... and what a trooper he was... I think he behaved better there than he does at home most days!

Alright, I am sure I missed a few mentions that should have made, but I have a fuzzy head and I think I will take a nap while the hyena is taking one.  I need to get better and start painting the few pieces and also some things for the big boy room.

bye for now!