Saturday, September 22, 2007

Yes! The Martha Stewart stuff is now for sale at Ben Franklin Crafts! The Hilo store has a pretty extensive array of her craft products. I guess the most striking thing about the Martha Stewart line is the color palette and simple designs. The products are generally in quiet pastels, sort of New England or Cape Cod colors. Everything has a clean line, some with an Asian or Scandinavian look. I think Ben Franklin Crafts is the only store in Hawaii to carry the Martha Stewart craft line. I am addicted to ribbons so of course I bought lots of rolls of two-color metallic, adhesive-backed printed satin, and Baker’s twine. I also picked up vellum and dimensional stickers, monogram and thank you stickers, card and box sets, beautiful accordion albums, library card pockets, yummy colored glitter, three kinds of glue, and lots more. I went crazy! The Hilo Ben Franklin Crafts also had some seasonal Halloween Martha crafts…..double sided adhesive stickers, ribbons, and rubber stamps found their way into my cart. Now, I just need to figure out who will appreciate a Halloween greeting. I have lots of ideas and will soon post some of the projects I finish with the Martha supplies.
Besides being a great shopping day……. the Bead Shoppe had some bargains on gorgeous pearl, shell, blister pearl, and gemstone strands…….I also had success on a project that has been on my mind for quite awhile. It started with a few Raku Beads….not enough to even make a bracelet, but too pretty to pass up. Anyway, sometimes when I can’t find a solution for a craft problem I just leave it nearby and think about it every time I pass by. Finally, after months of walking by the beads seemed to speak to me and I knew what to do with them. As I was almost finished with the necklace (it only took 1hr.) I had a problem with the closure. I had planned to make a sliding Chinese style knot finish but the cord I used was too slippery so I considered making a standard s-hook but that didn’t seem right. The final outcome was one I had seen in a magazine and worked out well because I had one ceramic bead left. I rarely have project turn out just right because I’m a bit of a perfectionist when it comes to crafts, but this necklace came very close to being what I wanted. It matches my new blouse, too!

Okay, I need to work some more on the newsletter…
Lynn

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