Two Floors of Fun at Stampaway . . .

If you have never made the pilgrimage to Stampaway USA in Cincinnati, you really should. There was a time back in the 90s when this was the only rubber stamp convention within 300-400 miles in any direction. Even now, if you combine venue, vendor list, and promoter, this is as good as it gets. 50+ vendors on two floors in a nice convention center surrounded by hotels and food -- and it's only 40 minutes from our store! Plan ahead -- next year the show will be on Saturday, August 14, with a Preview Party the evening before. You'll want to get tickets in advance, especially if you're coming to the preview party -- go to http://www.stampawayusa.com/ for more information.

The Preview Party ran from 8:00 to 11:00 on Friday (see yesterday's post for pictures), so it's a short night for the vendors and customers. But there were already people in line when I pulled into the parking lot at 7:45 on Saturday morning.



By 8:30, the main parking lot was full and the lines were stretching around the building on both sides.



Connie opened the doors a few minutes before 9:00 and let early arrivals stake out spots at the top and bottom of the stairs to lead the charge as the show opened.



Connie would have made a great traffic cop . . .



This was the view at the top of the stairs just a minute before the show opened. Time to retreat to the booth . . .



Sue Rothamel and Mary Jo McGraw were getting in a last-minute visit as I walked into the hall. You'd be amazed (maybe not) -- we spend a lot of time together, but since we're always setting up or tearing down our booths or helping customers, we rarely get a chance to catch up!



Once the show got started, I rarely had a chance to step back and take a picture. So this is the best shot I got of the area around our booth.



Sue Rothamel from USArtQuest was with us again, and her friend Frankie Fioretti wore herself out helping customers find ArtQuest products after Sue dazzled them.



I cheated and took this picture and the two below on Friday night -- I would never have gotten close enough on Saturday to get a decent shot . . .



Libby Friel and Donna Weibel both teach in our store. Libby loves to emboss on vellum and metal -- she does amazing things with Ten Seconds' tools that Cheryl Darrow doesn't even attempt. Donna has been hooked on Tim Holtz' tag art lately -- she went to his workshop in Phoenix last fall and has sold out several classes in the store recently.



Every show brings something unexpected. This balloon was attached to the lady in the brown blouse at left, and floated with her through the building all day. I told her it would be ironic if it wasn't really her birthday (but it was).



And the nice ladies from Christy's Main Street Memories have been back in the kitchen again! This time, they made my Chocolate Mint Cookies and brought along samples to share. Karen and I made quick work of them and they were great!

Tomorrow, come along for the ride as Zoe makes a trip to the store during the Summer Stamping Gala!