How was your summer?

Hi everyone! Sam here!

At Shanty Town, we’re so not ready for the summer to end. Especially after this one! As this season’s weekend art shows come to a close, we can’t help but take a minute to look back and appreciate it all. It’s been my dream for a long time to not only be able to travel and sell goods that I know will make our customers smile, but also connect with amazing likeminded small businesses and entrepreneurs taking the leap into making the arts thrive, nationwide.

This year we’ve had the pleasure of doing 3 super amazing out of state shows (among many others!).

After vending at 2015’s Salem Market in Massachusetts, the first thing on our agenda for 2016 was to connect with the lovely folk at the New England Open Markets to hop on some summer events. We planned accordingly and this past July we got to hangout in Boston for a weekend, selling stickers, meeting other crafters, and playing Pokemon GO.

Take a look!

Greenway Open Market 7/16/16

South End Open Market at Ink Block 7/17/16

Tim has sales his pitch down pat. There’s always a nice crowd of people gathering to hear what he’s got to say about our vinyl decals!

Check out more images from the weekend in South End Open Market’s album on Facebook!

—

Even though we’re workaholics, (we’re not crazy) we made damn sure our next out of state show was near the ocean. Luckily, we were able to spend a day at the beach before vending at the Trenton Punk Rock Flea Market; and wow. Just WOW. I’ve never seen an event more organized! We’ll definitely be taking pointers for next year’s Throop Arts + Food Festival. The crew was so helpful with setup and the turnout was huge! We shared most of that story on Snapchat, but the organizers have a great photo album on their Facebook page!

Two really great trips and phone full of vintage sign photos later (You can take a look at those glories over on Instagram  @whistlestopsigns.) and we’re ready to hunker down for our always busy fall season.

With our overflowing workload, we decided to take a break from vending for a little while. Last fall we had shows nearly every weekend from Sept-Oct, so we’re ready to take a step back and appreciate the simplicity of pumpkin spice / fall leaves / chilly weather / beer festivals / haunted everything / etc. But, don’t fret! Our Etsy shop is open 24/7. : )

In Other News:

Along with working hard on a plethora of projects this summer, we’ve also been doing a lot of prepping for 2 really great events coming up, right in NEPA – the Scranton Fringe Festival and the Bonfire at the Iron Furnaces. Better save the dates!

For you lady business owners out there: The Boss Ladies of NEPA has officially announced their 3rd quarterly mixer for Oct. 14th! Keep up to date on location and other announcements by following them on Facebook.

Lastly, but certainly not least, our beloved intern, Ciara (this was her second summer with us!), will be going back to school soon, and while we’re so sad to not have her around the office, we’re happy to announce that her internship has been extended into her fall semester! Of course we were able to get in one last HOORAH. Check out this hand lettered chalkboard menu we just finished up for Zummo’s Cafe!

We’ll soon start our planning for shows throughout the holiday season and we’d love to hear from you! If you know of any markets or super unique areas you’d like to see us check out, comment below! We’re always up for suggestions on where to visit next!