Evo's Show/People Report
Mid-Atlantic Art & Rubber Stamp Festival
August 5 & 6, 2000 - Pennsauken, NJ
Sponsored by Heirloom Productions
3900 Cherokee Lane
Newport, OR 97365
Fax/Voice(541)574-8000

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Heyyy, Folks...
Whoa... what can I say! NJ was hopping! You kept us busy and we can't thank you enough! Well... maybe one more thank-you or two or three.

Thanks to Lynne... the only stamper to commit to helping us ahead of time at this show! Lynne... you were great! You worked all day Saturday for us and deserve biiiiig orchids! The pace was fast... and you kept up! :{<>

Mr Evo, Lynne and myself knew we needed more help, sooooo.... woe to Snow Dove... the first stamper to hit our booth Saturday morning. We grabbed her, chained her, and threatened to beat her with red-hot rubber until she agreed to help us, too. She sat down and never left for the rest of the day. Whoa, MJ... SORRY about that red-hot rubber threat thingy. We didn't really mean it! What boggles my mind is that you drove home to NY that night and back again Sunday morning to help us again. Thank you, Dr Snow Dove, for gifting your wife to us for a second day!

And then... along came Yvonne, aka Stempel Gek. I caught her at our booth telling stampers about EvoTemplates. How dare she! Without pay??????? :{<> I tactfully suggested that if she wanted to do that all day... I had NO objections. She stayed, and even came back Sunday, also! We love you, Yvonne... thank you for being there for us.

And then there was Dee Mebert... she helped out in Sara's Expression's booth on Saturday and agreed to help us on Sunday. I think Dee was aware of our habitual red-hot rubber-threat-inclinations, therefore, she volunteered without coercion. ;}>

I'm always in awe of people we meet at the conventions we go to. Two from our home-state Florida were at this show! Connie Wade visiting family in NJ came by. Took me 3 chin-hitting-knee moments to realize... yep... that's Connie Wade from Stamp Street Station in Sarasota. Connie, I hope you've forgiven me for those 3 moments, but be forewarned ... Mr Evo still hasn't forgiven YOU for not letting him meet you at the Orlando show or this one. You're on your own on this one, Connie... You see, Mr Evo thinks everyone is at the show to meet him. I'm still trying to soothe his feelings over your missing him twice! :{<>

I'm telling you, folks... you gotta let Mr Evo know who you are, or this marriage will NEVER last. He can't take one more, "Didja meet.... ?" from me. If he has to admit to one more "No"... I'm afraid all 38 years will go down the drain. :{<

And Roz Mestre from Florida was a surprise, too! She had been to a reunion and "dropped by" the show. OK, Roz... 'fess up. How many months did it take you to arrange your reunion to "just happen" to be the same weekend as the NJ show????? I like that in a stamper, yes, I do.

And, I'm happy to report that I finally met the famous "roving reporter" Nancie Waterman. I cannot even begin to tell you how many times Nancie has slipped in and out of our booth over the last few years without our knowing it. I've seen her picture, I'm a fan of her magazine Vamp Stamp News, but I was almost convinced Nancie was a figment of the rubber stamper's imagination... that VSN was a product of a "ghost writer". Not so! I'm here to tell you today... Nancie is for real! She's a flesh&blood really warm and charming person. Thank you, Nancie, for letting me know you. However, you're in the same boat as Connie is... you're in biiiiig trouble! Mr Evo thinks you're a figment of MY imagination, because he's sure you would have introduced yourself to him first. For the record, I told him you did... that he was just too busy demo-ing to remember, so you're off the hook. ;}>

I know you've heard me say this before, but... I think stampers are among the very best people on earth. Rarely do we ever see an impatient or rude stamper at the shows. You're soooo good when it's crowded and you have to wait in line for your purchases. However, we're all human, and now and then a disgruntled moment does happen.

We had one such moment at this show. The complaint was, loud and clear for all to hear, "I cannot even imagine anyone writing up a sale by hand. In this day and time, there's NO excuse not to have a cash register to make our wait shorter." Now, you have to realize ... at the time this was said, there were 3 lines and 3 of us writing up sales... yes, by hand. I don't think there were more than 6 stampers in any of the 3 lines waiting to be written up. If we had been using a cash register, there would have been 18 people in line. Actually, probably more, since 1 person at a cash register wouldn't have been able to handle the crowd as fast as 3 by hand. As I slid between Snow Dove and Lynne to get the disgruntled stamper's change, I discreetly, ( I hope) cracked up laughing. I knew she would NOT see the humor in my getting her change out of our "infamous" red plastic tool box that's been to every show since our first one March, 1996, in Jacksonville, FL, when Mr Evo dashed out before the show opened to get a "cash box" for us and returned 30 minutes after the show opened to find me making change in a cardboard box.

OK, you didn't ask, but I'll tell you anyway. I also whispered to Snow Dove and Lynne while I was getting the change ... "Would one of you kick that lady in the knee cap for me?" Well, yeah, I'm not perfect either, but don't tell Mr Evo. :{/

Ellen :}> Evo