taormina, sicily--signs that i was there

sicily day 1

i joined jim pressman, ashley brown and our u.s. champ scott brown in taormina, sicily for the 8th world rummikub championship--nov. 2-5. you can read more about the game and the event here. these are a few photos i took on the arrival day--photos inside and just outside the hotel.

the views from my room

lots of stone blocks throughout the hotel, a former monastery

other than playing the game i'd say tripping was what we did most

please do not hurt your heels

a great planter

even the garages were pretty amazing

my hurricane doll

i decided to make a very fast doll tonight in anticipation of losing electricity in the house and not being able to sew.  a doll to have especially for this storm.

the four fabrics i chose. i dont remember why i bought the dallas cowboys fabric. and i don't have much left, but i really do like it.

pieces cut and some sewn

still wondering at this point what does she look like?

junker jane inspired for sure

close up of dallas. created just in time for massive winds, heavy rain. im glad she's here to help me get through all that!

fabric hearts

perfect time for a halloween heart

i made these three fabric hearts for sharalee who is one of my craftster.org friends. she's undergoing surgery and three of us--my friends leslie and susan--who had the idea--crafted and sent some hearts to her to keep her cheery and to remind her of our friendship. get well soon, sharalee!

a heart you can hear

vintage teddy bear button

frankeninni

my friend leslie and i are just finishing up a halloween ninni swap on  craftster. (the tutorial and pattern for making monster ninnis is here).

my swap partner was hayleylujah whose BIRTHDAY is on halloween! i made her this frankenstein monster ninni, complete with bolts and a head injury and a candy corn fang.

this is another ninni that i made for the swap that just didn't go right, i don't think.  

i was passing a building around 21st st. and i saw this crate near their freight elevator. i really love posing plush in places i don't belong.

and the final ninni taking its turn in random office building. he was sent off with some real candy corn and a few extra yummies.

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new games

i invented five new games in pressman toy's line. here they are.

don't scramble the egg is a game based on the book series diary of a wimpy kid. in one of the books the biology teacher has the kids take home an egg. they had to take care of it, make sure it doesn't break. when i read that part i knew that it would be a fun start to a game.  the egg here--with a drawing of the character rowley--is a timer that kids toss as they shout out answers to different categories that are on the cards. scary movies, pizza toppings, things like that.  i really like how it turned out, especially that author jeff kinney supplied art for each of the game cards--very cool.

trash pack is a line of soft plastic pieces of trash that have names and personalities. the toys come from a company called moose in australia. this is the box for one of the two trash pack games that i invented. it's called dash for trash game.

here is the game board and the other components of dash for trash. the art that moose had was perfect for the game; it's very cluttered and makes it all even more fun.

 this is the box for the second game which is an action game called flip 'n' filth game. in truth this wasn't the name i was hoping for but it's the name that moose wanted us to call it.

 the trashies that moose sells are packaged in little garbage cans and i knew that would be a great element for an action game. this game uses a larger garbage can and players get those catapults that are at the corners of the game board. the object is to flip small garbage can lids--of your own color--into the can for the most points, or different parts of the game board for fewer points.

the box for smurfs to the rescue game, based on the upcoming sequel movie.

and the game board and components. a pretty simple race game.

the package for hello kitty picnic in the park game.

and the game board (it folds in quarters which is why it has the opening in the center) and other components. tomorrow is the last day of the dallas toy show 2012. it was nice to see some inventor friends from rudell design, random toys and games, craig nadell, john lindsay, david ayres, dick keats and hopefully a few others before i head back home.