I attended the NY Gift Fair today with my friend Carol Maguire. Our day started off a little rough, we left the house at 8:30 for what should have been an hour and a half drive but, due to a closed road took us three hours. We were a little frazzled by the time we arrived but soon got into the fun of the show and had a great time. I first attended the gift fair in 1995 with my same friend Carol, while working for a doll manufacturing company, Little Souls, Inc. I was a buyer and designer and Carol was the design director and we loved going to the show to source ribbons, buttons, and accessories for the dolls. In recent years, I have walked the show for inspiration and always look forward to it.
I am happy to say that the show was busy, which is promising during these hard economic times. Hopefully, things are starting to look up a little bit. Some of my favorite booths today were Belle Notte, Rifle Paper Co., Karma Living, Papaya, Madison Park Greetings, and too many others to name. Over-dyed linens, beautiful muted colors, textures, leather jewelry, glitz and glitter were everywhere! I LOVE anything that is over-dyed especially linen and velvet, and the colors made me melt, it was so great! The Handmade section was my favorite, I am happy to say the handmade movement is still going strong!
Love these over-dyed pillows by Belle Notte. The colors make me so happy.
I also had fun visiting the different ribbon companies, it felt like old times. I was sourcing different ribbons for my upcoming fabric projects. I will give you a full update on fabric in the next week or two. I can't wait to share my news with you.
Overall, the show was great and full of inspiration.
Loved this bird from Mullanium.
More from Belle Notte
If you are curious about the companies exhibiting at the show you can visit the NYIGF website for a full exhibitor list and links to their websites.
My friend Carol is an amazing artist, visit here sites too!
Carol Maguire Home (check out her linens!)
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