An Audience With Royalty . . .

While I was in Sevierville, Tennessee a couple of weeks ago, I got to spend a few minutes with my dear friends Picasso Gaglione, Darlene Domel, and Fred the Wonder Bear -- they came to visit from their retirement villa in Knoxville.  How they got from San Francisco to Chicago to a Rocky Top retirement is beyond me -- but it works for them.

You can't see it in this picture, but I am wearing a little button with Picasso's picture on it -- he gave me a selection of them a few years ago.

Darlene and I enjoy tormenting each other -- there have been those over the years who think we actually hate each other, but nothing could be farther from the truth.  We took several pics grimacing at each other, but the best by far was the one with Sam the Photobomber (Sam Solis from Stamp on It).

I have written several posts about Picasso and Darlene over the years -- if you are not familiar with their legacy in the world of papercrafting, you might find this one from six years ago enjoyable -- http://marcopaper.blogspot.com/2013/08/a-scavenger-hunt-to-pay-tribute-to.html

The obligatory shot of our booth at a busy moment on the first day -- had a fun couple of days in the booth with my friend Suzanne Reed.  She has helped out in our booth for nearly 20 years, through two pregnancies (the boys are both teenagers now) and a move from Texas to Tennessee.

These three ladies were all in the booth at the same time -- I referred to them as "The Unicorn Triplets" and they were kind enough to pose for me.

I see this every year in the parking lot at the hotel where I stay -- and every year I wonder how many stencils got turned upside down in the process.  At least three . . .

And I am still going through the change when I open new rolls, looking for oldies for my nephew.  Have reached the point where I shoot pics of coins that I find and text them to him to see if I have discovered one that he needs.