Thanks for the Comment Winner!

What you didn't know about my contest? Well, it wasn't a contest in the truest sense, but I have picked a winner. I am always so grateful for your thoughtful and encouraging comments that every once in awhile I want to thank you for your efforts. I have chosen October as my month from which to choose my comment winner. To be fair each and every comment that was sent to my blog was placed in a bag and from those names I chose a winner. If you sent one comment in October you were entered once or if you sent ten comments your name was put in the pool ten times. Okay, so the winner of a $25 gift card from Ben Franklin Crafts is.....tah da....Shirl of Creations by Shirl. Congratulations! I will be contacting you soon to obtain a mailing address.



Now that we no longer have Borders in Hawaii, I'm really grateful that Ben Franklin Crafts has continued and possibly increased their craft book and magazine selection. Pictured below are two books and several magazines I selected for cozy autumn reading. The Japanese Papercrafts and A Card a Day books would make excellent Christmas gifts. Japanese Papercrafts by Mari Ono has great photographed projects and instructions plus fifty sheets of origami paper. A Card a Day is a Leisure Arts Publication from Paper Crafts magazine so you know that it is great compilation of card ideas. This book has over 365 card ideas so you could make one every day of the year using the included instructions and supply lists.

I love looking at holiday issues of magazines because they are filled with ideas for the Autumn and Christmas season. Among my usual favorites found recently at BFC are: CardMaker, Scrap and Stamp, Paper Creations, and Paper Crafts. I also purchased a new (to me) publication called, Create and Decorate which was filled with holiday baking, painting, stitching, and ornament making ideas. Three of my favorite go-to-for-ideas magazines were also on the BFC shelves as usual: Bead Style, Creating Keepsakes, and Romantic Homes. Finally, I spied and had to buy a special issue by Beadwork called Handcrafted Jewelry which was filled with lots of spectacular jewelry projects. If you need a spark of inspiration, check out the reading material at Ben Franklin Crafts and I'm certain you will find a publication to start your creative juices flowing. Happy Reading!