The Mad Hatters and the T-Shirters . . .

We are in Kissimmee, Florida this weekend for our annual visit to StampFest Orlando.  Of all shows we do, this one has the most memories.  This is where it all began, when Debby Drabik took a chance on an unknown company from Dayton, Ohio for StampFest Orlando 1997.  For that, we are forever grateful – and forever loyal.  I wouldn’t think of doing another promoter’s Florida show.

Every year, StampFest has a Make It & Take It on Friday night before the show.  This year, there were 123 people hopping from project to project at eighteen tables!

If you look really close, you’ll see our table way in the back.  Yeah, that’s it – see the hat in the doorway?

This was our table – and a little closer shot of those hats.  We have “Tweety Jill” Haglund in our booth this weekend, and she has a series of Mad Hatter stamps and papers.  I had no idea she had brought props along until I walked into the room about an hour after the event started.

It was worth the price of admission just to see Karen in the wild hair . . .

I understand the hats Karen and Andrea wore, but Anna’s beanie?

And what’s that about “T-Shirters”?  A lot of you know Melinda Doster – she has demoed and taught for us often.  Over the years, she has sung the praises of her beloved North Carolina Tar Heels – and just to be ornery, I became a Duke fan.  So the last two times North Carolina has won the NCAA basketball championship, the mailman has brought me a North Carolina t-shirt, courtesy of Melinda.  I never dreamed that I would have a chance to get even – in basketball, I am a University of Dayton fan, and the Flyers just don’t soar to those heights.  But this year, the Tar Heels came down to earth and ended up playing Dayton in the finals of the NIT – and Dayton won!  So the next day, I went out in search of an appropriate shirt to send south.

Friday, she wore hers and I wore my most recent one – and no, it wasn’t planned.  Couldn’t resist getting a photo or two.  That’s my honorary aunt, Dee Mielke, in the other picture with Melinda.

Here are a few pictures I took of our booth after we finished setup today – complete with a few extra feet to one side where Tweety Jill’s creations will take flight . . .

If you’re in Florida, most likely by the time you read this the first day of the show will already have come and gone.  But there’s always Sunday!