Evo's Show/People Report
The Oregon Art & Rubber Stamp Festival.
September 2nd & 3rd, 2000 - Portland, OR
Sponsored by Heirloom Productions
3900 Cherokee Lane
Newport, OR 97365
Fax/Voice(541)574-8000

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Well, Folks...

After writing about the shows we attend for 4 1/2 years, you'd think I'd get tired of doing it. Not so. Each show brings something that's totally different from the last. My problem, always, is trying to zero in on a few things to write about when there are so many great stories to tell about one short weekend.

I guess the first story I have to tell about from our Portland Show trip is the birth of "Airport Art". I was feeling really bad that we didn't have any pins to trade and give away for this show ... only the 2nd time that's happened this year. As we stood on the curb at the Tampa Airport getting our bins checked in, my eye caught a basket of tags. Real tags. Delta luggage tags. Tags begging to be taken. Honest... they were begging to be taken. Soooo, I picked up a few. No one yelled, "Don't take those tags!" ... so I picked up a few more. Again, no one yelled "Thief", soooooo... I grabbed a handful. Didn't know what I was going to do with them. But aren't tags the rage right now? And I had just fallen upon a bonanza of them! :{<>

Our plane wasn't scheduled to leave for over an hour, so we stopped in at Mr Evo's favorite Tampa Airport bar. Now, you know I wouldn't be caught dead in there, if it weren't for Mr Evo. ;}> As I rummaged through my "stuff", I found a lone stamp that I had tucked into my purse at the last minute. No stamp pad, but a real live stamp! Did I dare hope that Rick the bartender had a stamp pad tucked away somewhere? Not to be. A marker perhaps??? Well, yes... but it didn't work. :{/ I resigned myself to my fate, even as Mr Evo went to the book store next door to see if perhaps they had one. No such luck. So, I reluctantly gave up the tiny seed of creation that was taking place in my mind.

Then, lo and behold, I look down to see Rick's hinder parts upper most as he bent to rummage under the counter. He emerged right-side-up with a plastic container that must have held years worth of don't-know-what-to-do-with-this-but-probably-shouldn't-throw-it-away stuff. The smile as his hand left the container was a wonder to see. He had struck gold. Well, not gold, but close to it. In his hand was the most wondrous of markers ... black and sticky and permanent.

By the time we had to leave to catch our plane, I had already stamped and signed 20 tags. Rick graciously gave me the marker to take with me, so by the time we reached Dallas for a change of planes, I had stamped more. Thinking I should test the waters with these, I told each of the flight attendants as we left the plane... "Well done! You deserve a Delta tag." And, they loved them! Wanted to test the waters with the pilots, but they had left by the time we deplaned. :{(

Encouraged by the initial success of the tags, I ventured down to the ticketing area of the Dallas airport and browsed the tag baskets. Whoa. My Tampa Delta tags said only... "Fly for Business". I discovered "Fly Me Home" and "Fly for Pleasure" tags in Dallas! Again... I took a few and no one objected, so I took some more. I was in Tag Heaven!

As we landed in Portland, I prepared to test "tag reaction" one more time. Unfortunately, the flight attendants weren't in sight, but... the pilot was standing there, telling us good bye. "Well done!" I cried, "You deserve a tag!" And, I handed him a "Fly for Pleasure" hand-stamped er, um, masterpiece. His eyes lit up when he saw the trees stamped on the tag, and the handwritten... "Hand-stamped by evo@pig.net.

Now, I figure if I had violated any rules, I would have gotten an email by now from Delta. On the other hand, I'm wondering if the flight attendants and pilot really did like the tags as much as they seemed to. They haven't called, they haven't sent flowers, they haven't emailed...

Yes! Many of you did get these tags at the Portland Show. And, yes! A lot of you did like them, a few of you took them so as not to hurt my feelings, and one of you even had the courage to say..."I think I'll pass." I tackled Suze to give her one, and she raced back to her booth to hot stamp a corner! Sorry, folks... that one's mine. My own Suze original.

Thanks to Ellen and Rosemary and Susan and Enchy and Serene for your expert help! Y'all were wonderful! I even got to cruise and look a tad!

And, the show was wonderful ... thanks to all of you that visited our booth and introduced yourselves and liked our stuff. Met and re-met so many of you. Always, always the best part of our trips. And... meeting Jenny from Australia in person, finally, was a real highlight too. Now, the Cherry Ripes and Tim Tams she brought didn't hurt... but, Jenny... sooo glad you were there. Would have loved you without them. And thank you Linda, for bringing her to the show.

Someone said something about a poem, been a while I guess...
So I'll throw a tad of one in here, though will probably be a mess...
My eyes are bleary from the trip, 3 hours difference takes its toll...
Arrived home last night to a broken email-box, had to repair and make it whole.
But if we had to go again today, we would for sure, you know...
'Cause life for us would be dull and drab, if we couldn't meet y'all at a show.
And... just for funsies... Airport Art!
Ellen :}> Evo