Yay! I finished the Mini-Gatefold Album about my sister’s puppy, Ginger. (See photos. Click on images for larger viewing.) Everything looked pretty good except the heart-shaped photo embellishment on the cover had too many air bubbles. (I tried Crystal Lacquer on another piece and it worked better.) Unfortunately, I made the embellishment at night and didn’t notice the bubbles until the next morning when the liquid varnish was already set and I had glued the heart to the cover. Oh well, no tragedy just more charm. I think I’ll do a video demonstration of how to make a framed tag with a crystal top. I like creating my own embellishments.

Time for bed….more crafting tomorrow,
Lynn

Where did the weekend go, and why did I get so little done? My main accomplishment in the past few days has been creating an ornament project for the upcoming craft newsletter. It turned out well so I am pleased. For now I will call it ThimBEARlina. You’ll just have to wait for the next newsletter to see it. If you’re not a Craft Club member then you need to sign up so you, too, can receive 10% Off everything at Ben Franklin everyday, all the fabulous coupons, try the projects, and read all the crafting information in our newsletters. I also have been trying to finish a mini-album about my sister’s dog, Ginger. My photo printer has been giving me grief and now it says I’m out of ink….sigh! At least the album turned out well probably because I used a Deja Views, (Sharon Ann design), punch out cardstock album, which had directions and lots of coordinating embellishments for sale at Ben Franklin Crafts. This weekend I was hoping to do more silver clay work for a birthday gift…perhaps tomorrow. Since the next newsletter is a double one I need to complete three more projects…fast….maybe tomorrow. My progress in organizing my craft room has been very slow, barely visible. Perhaps more shelves would help but disposing of stuff would probably make more sense…okay, tomorrow….promise.

Lynn

Hi! I’m Lynn, the editor of the craft newsletter. This is my first blog entry. I enjoy reading other artist’s and crafter’s blogs so I decided it might be interesting and informative for you to read about my adventures in crafting. While this will not be a daily log of my activities, I will try my best to keep it updated regularly.
This has been a pretty good crafting week for me. I put together two kits and two finished necklaces, which we hope to offer for sale soon on the Ben Franklin Crafts Club site. Tentatively, we are calling this new venture ‘Extra Goodies’ because we will be selling a limited amount of sometimes one-of-a-kind, bargain items discovered while on shopping sprees here and abroad. When I see an item, which I know is under-valued and has crafting potential, I buy multiples. Now, I don’t have to feel guilty because I don’t have a project in mind. I know that I can pass my good shopping fortune on to you.
Besides getting this blogging site going, I actually finally taught myself the basics of using metal clay. This is something I have wanted to do for years. I actually had all the supplies for over a year but for some reason I always had an excuse not to get started. Do you have the procrastinator’s gene too? Anyway, my first silver beads were a success. (See photo. Click on image for larger viewing) I am really pleased and now I wonder why I waited so long. Maybe someday I’ll be good enough to teach a silver clay class or offer some of my finished jewelry for sale.
In the future I hope that this site can be opened for others to enter their craft blogs. I have started making short videos of craft techniques and it is my hope that we can figure out how to get it on our site. The first one is about stringing pearls. Maybe someday we will offer the newsletter online too. That would mean a savings of postage, printing costs, and trees!

Well, keep crafting…..
Lynn