I am the Queen of Thumb Wars!

I am one of those goofy moms who tries to find creative ways to keep my children occupied if we have to wait somewhere. Rock, Paper, Scissors is a given but Thumb Wars is where I reign victorious! Scarcely does anyone beat me, including my husband, although my son has gotten me good a few times. (Those little fingers can be so sneaky!) Imagine my delight when surfing The Small Object website and finding thumb-sized awards for Thumb Wars!. Now I can reign victorious and have the thumb crown to prove it! For your enjoyment, I've posted the link to printing your own awards free in my Favorite Cowsites section. Once you enter the website, click on Steno Pad and look for Happy Free Downloads to find the awards. The awards are copyrighted so no hawking them on a street corner or claiming them for your own! The site also has some awesome projects, ranging from yummy desserts and sewing projects to fun stamp sets for sale. (Who doesn't need a dust bunny stamp?) So print your Thumb War awards and have lots of giggling fun!

My New Banner!

For those of you who cruise my blog on occasion, you may have noticed something new: my new banner! Dina Kowal of Mama Dini's DigiSig Diner graciously took on my request for a cow themed banner and watermark and she exceeded my expectations. I'm still playing with layering the watermark on my photos but isn't the banner awesome? It's SO me!! Here's a quick link to Dina's site if you're interested in having a watermark and/or banner designed. http://digisigis.blogspot.com/

Altered Pencil Tin

Tuesday night I taught my first Altered Tin class at the Ramstein Arts & Crafts Center and here is the first of the two tins we altered. Dollar and discount stores are hard to find in Germany so imagine my surprise finding one relatively close to my house! The obnoxiously green pencil tins and wild Hawaiian print wrapping paper (yep, wrapping paper!) were 1 euro each at KiK Discount Store. For those of you familiar with the exchange rate, the price is actually over $1.00 each but it could be worse! I know the colors are wild but the weather here has been so dismal that I needed to be reminded of the years we lived on Oahu and that warm Hawaiian weather. This project is super simple so here we go. The top is covered with a layer of Brilliant Blue cardstock and a strip of wrapping paper. I created a belly band with Tempting Turquoise and Brilliant Blue Cardstock, then wrapped the band with raffia to give it a "grass skirt" effect. The sentiment, taken from the retired SU! Do the Hula stamp set, is stamped in Brilliant Blue on Whisper White cardstock and punched with the Marvy Uchida Giga Scallop punch. The leaves were added using Gable Green ink. I then stamped the hibiscus flower in Tempting Turquoise and cut around the edges. Using the side of my finger, I round the petals and added some Stickles for a little added pizazz. The flower and sentiment were adhered to the top of the belly band with 3-D foam tape. I'm excited about this tin because it is my own design and not CASEd from someone else! Okay, it's not as fabulous as what I've seen others create but I'm putting my creative toes out one at a time. Fill the tin with nuggets covered with extra wrapping paper or other goodies such as a set of pens, school supplies, or more chocolate. Enjoy!

Stamps for Sale!

I've been doing a little clearing of my craft supplies and finally decided it was time to sell a few unused stamp sets. Thankfully I've sold a few locally but I thought I'd post what remains in case anyone is interested. At this rate I'm pricing the sets to sell so they don't sit around when someone else could be enjoying them! Here's the list:

Love Ya Bunches (2 avail.): $10.00
Kid Cards: $7.00
All I Have Seen: $10.00
Garden Collage: $10.00
Word Play: $10.00
More Petal Prints: $8.00
Measure of a Life: $10.00
A Grateful Heart: $10.00
Close to Nature: $6.00
Swirl Frame Fun: $15.00
DD Springtime Fun: $15.00

Accessories:

Stampin' Pastels (unused): $10.00
Confetti Play Wheel: $3.00
Twinkle Wheel: $3.00
Swirl Fun Wheel: $3.00

If you live stateside, shipping will range between $4.95 and $8.95 for a USPS flat rate box. For those at APO addresses, your shipping is free! Email me at mrsnigby@yahoo.com if you're interested in purchasing anything.

Dahlia Fold Card

My photography skills aren't the greatest but isn't this card gorgeous? The colors are bold, bright, and daring; all my favorite characteristics! I cased the idea for this card from Splitcoaststampers, one of my favorite websites, and fell in love with this technique. The dahlia flower is created using eight 1 3/8" circles that are folded and pieced together. Here's the link to view the original card and the folding instructions: http://elainescreations.blogspot.com/2008/03/dahlia-fold-card.html I'm not savvy enough with my blog yet to put in links without having to show the whole thing so just bear with me! The card colors feature Purely Pomegranate, Tempting Turquoise and Groovy Guava cardstock and the new Bali Breeze Designer Papers. The background stamp is from the Priceless set and the sentiment is from Wonderful Words. Everything is SU! except the rhinestone sparkle in the center of the flower, which is from Close To My Heart. It takes a bit of work to fold all the circles but the finished product is worth it. Have fun!

Rub-On Jar

Right after Christmas my husband took me on a "shopping" date, where he let me drag him to some of my favorite local stores. REAL, which is like a German WalMart Super Store, had these adorable ceramic topped glass jars for 1 euro a piece. My husband was so sweet and lugged two baskets full of jars around the store for me! The jars are perfect for the Love & Happiness rub ons available during Stampin'Up!'s Sale-A-Bration promotion. I designed this jar for my Paper Junkies Club at the Ramstein Arts & Crafts Center using SU! Cool Caribbean Cardstock, paper from the Friends & Flowers Simply Scrappin' Kit, brads, grosgrain ribbon, and a triple flower punch. The rub ons take a bit to get used to and I'm still looking for a way to seal the rub ons onto the jar so they don't scratch off. Suggestions are welcome!

Burg Nanstein

Our family recently visited Burg Nanstein, located in the Landstuhl area near the Landstuhl Regional Medical Center. We have a fabulous view from our office window of the castle lit up at night, which finally inspired us to make a visit. The castle isn't very large but the view from the top is breathtaking, with the town situated below and Ramstein Air Force Base sprawled in the distance. There are a number of trails in the area for hiking and a strategically placed hotel at the base of the road nearby. We seldom ride in Joe's sporty blue VW Beetle since our SUV is roomier but it was fun to zoom up the side of the mountain in Joe's car. Joe owned a red VW Beetle in high school so every time I ride with him, it feels like we're in high school again. The only problem is we can't make out with the kids in the car! Ha! I love the photo of Joe; he always looks so happy with his car :)