Mr Evo and I arrived home here in Ocala, FL at 8:00 pm eastern time last night. We should've arrived home at 5 pm in the afternoon, three hours earlier ... just one of the little details of this show report.

Some shows are super easy to report on, and some are difficult. That's just the way it is. The Pittsburgh show for Mr Evo and I was and is ... "all of the above". Pittsburgh was a first-time-ever show. Sometimes first-time-ever shows are an instant "WOW", and sometimes they're "OK ... let's see what next year brings".

In reality, Pittsburgh was truly an "OK ... let's see what next year brings" kind of a show for the exhibitors there. And, Pittsburgh was truly a "WOW" for all of you stampers attending.

Back in the '50's, Orchids & Onions came into being as a way to rate stuff. Orchids were good; Onions were not-so-good. Being a native of Georgia and just this past weekend being a weekend visitor of Pittsburgh, I'm taking the liberty of changing the rating verbalization. Tonight, I'm introducing (in lieu of Orchids and Onions) ... Peaches & Pits.

Sooooooooooo, are you ready????? Peaches & Pits as perceived by Evo at Heirloom's Pittsburgh show:

Peaches to Delta for flying Mr Evo & I safely to Pittsburgh, arriving at 5 pm.

Pits to Pittsburgh at 5 pm for having both a rush hour and an ill-timed thunderstorm at our time of arrival. (But then, I have to change that Pits to a Peach, 'cause we did arrive safely at our hotel in Monroeville one and a half hours later).

Peaches to all of you stampers that attended this show! You came, you saw, and you did your best to support 57 exhibitors at a "first-time" show. Many of you were "newbies" to stamping; many of you were not. You all did your best to see what was being offered and to purchase what you felt comfortable with. (And, Whoa! Pits to Evo for ending a sentence with a preposition! :{<>)

Pits to the weather being as hot and humid as here in FL. Peaches to the Expo Center for having air-conditioning to keep us all cool during the show! Pits to the air-conditioning being turned off Sunday as soon as the last stamper left ... leaving the exhibitors packing up in sweltering temperatures and humidity.

Peaches to the 10 stampers that were at my Friday Noon class. And more peaches for your bringing a pencil with you to learn "Pencil Power"! (Remember when I told you the doors leaving the room were locked until you used your pencil??? Er, um, well... I fibbed. However, you all DID use your pencil and the consensus is that you LUVED using it!) I appreciate all of you, enjoyed all of you and hope you enjoyed the class as much as I did!

Peaches to Trish Shandor for helping Mr Evo set up our booth during my Friday class. The real truth, Trish????? Mr Evo could've done it without you, but... the show would've been over by then.

Peaches to Trish, also, for treating Mr Evo & I to a home-cooked meal Friday night. :}> Major PITS to Evo (that's moi) for breaking one of Trish's prized Lenox discontinued crystal glasses during clean-up. :{/

What else was Peaches and what else was Pits at the "Peach of Show" in Pittsburgh?

From my stampers' survey ...
Peaches to Enchanted Inks' hand-dyed tissues and demo ... colors to "dye" for!
Peaches to Marco's Papers ... the papers you LUV to hoard!
Peaches to Amy's Magic ... a bathtub looks good on you, Amy, foiled or un-foiled, and your foils are truly Magic!
Peaches to Art-Tech Supplies ... eyelets, books, and 3D stickers!
Peaches to Plane Class ... Pop Ups!
Peaches to Beeswax ... great scenes!
Peaches to Stamp La Jolla ... Sugar Dust, Brass Stencils & Unmounteds! (not to mention he and Mr Evo could be brothers looking at them both in real life)
Peaches to The Paper Cut .... RollerBind Stuff!
Peaches to Heartfelt Impressions ... Small unmounteds & good prices!
Peaches to Collectors Cabinets ... always awesome!
Peaches to The Creative Block/Stampers Anonymous ... eyelets, again!
Peaches to Rubber Stamper Magazine ... always there, always with good techniques and info!
And...

As to all of these Peaches from stampers? Many, many more peaches among the exhibitors aren't even mentioned here, because I have views from only a few stampers. And, if you as a stamper have more "peaches" you want others to be aware of? Email me at evo@pobox.com , and I promise you I'll post a follow-up on this report.

Extra Ripe Peaches to Trish from Pittsburgh and Dana from Maryland for your fantastic booth help this weekend! And to Jeff, Trish's DH, who cooked the steaks Friday night and treated Mr Evo & I to unbelievable slides of underwater scuba diving and the wonders of nature beneath the sea. You truly deserve the peaches, not the pits.

And, heyyyyyyyy, Folks... if you weren't at the show, you missed a good one! And, for real, that's the pits! :{/

Ellen :}> Evo