"There's no place like home, there's no place like home..."

So true, Dorothy!  We were thrilled to return to Kansas after our 6 day market adventure and 14 hour car trip home.  Yes, we did promise to blog while we were in Nashville, but we FORGOT the appropriate cable to hook whatever to whatever...so it didn't happen!  Which was probably good - maybe we're getting older, but we were worn out at the end of every full day!

So here we are with some of our market pals...from left, Judy Whitman from JBW Designs, me, Judy's helper Connie, Inez from Adam Original in black sweater, and Inez's helper Mary.  Market hasn't even started and we're already sharing great food, friendship and FUN!  We arrive a day and a half early to have time for setup, and recreational shopping, of course.  I have a bit of a "shopping disability", but I am assisted by my friend Judy Whitman, who is a real pro!  Every year we return to the favorite quirky little shops we've discovered over the years in the historic town of Franklin.  We used to make the drive from Nashville to this suburb, but now they have conveniently relocated our market to the Embassy Suites in Franklin - very thoughtful!  There are lots of country/western celebs who make their homes in this historic town, but we've haven't seen anyone...yet!

Here's the view INSIDE the Embassy Suites atrium.  Many of the vendors hang their signs over the balconies and we were some of the first this year.  The trick is, when the market is over, to remember to take down your sign. We learned this the hard way one year!

This is the close-up view outside room 610.  Linda had a late night crazed craft session with some construction paper, legal pads and markers to add a little personalization to our window. Flora McSample is our new sampler girl character, and we wanted EVERYONE to know she was in town!

Once inside the L*K showroom, we put our newest stuff right inside the front door - 3 new members of the L*K kit family!!!  Introducing PEEP Limited Edition kit (left), Flora's Heart Sampler (middle) and Flora's Stitch Lesson (right).  They all have beautiful pastel linens and fun embellishments, and are busy traveling to shops in the US and around the world. We'll post images on our website in a few days...meanwhile, check your local shops and favorite online retailers.  If they don't have the kits, ask them to order! This year, we had international buyers from Japan, France, Italy and the Netherlands - isn't that amazing?!  Some of our international buyers speak excellent English, and sometimes we do a bit of pantomime to communicate!  Whatever...we speak the international needlework language!

Ahhhh....the end of a long day!  The best parts - seeing great shopowner friends, catching up on families and personal stuff (as well as business), rendezvousing with the other vendor pals, too!  The not-best parts - standing in a little room all day (claustrophobic!), reciting the same little sales speech over and over and over...

So, even if we're dead tired, we manage to find some yummy Mexi-food in downtown historic Franklin.  OLE!