Autumn Agate Necklace With Pendant

While looking in my stash for beads to string into strech bracelets, I 'found' an agate pendant.  In the plastic zip bag were two strands of beads hat matched the pendant.  Since I had my jewelry tools out, I decided to whip up a necklace. The two strands of beads were not the same size or colors, but they did both match the pendant so it wasn't hard to complete the necklace.  Since the pendant had a sterling silver bail, I finished off the necklace with silver ball beads and a silver hook clasp.  It was simple to use crimps and a crimping tool to make sure the closure was secure.  I'm glad that I took the time to complete this piece whose parts were patiently waiting for me to put them together.  I know that I will happily and proudly wear this Autumn Agate Necklace this fall.  Hope that you will take the time to check out the beads at HM Ben Franklin Crafts to select the perfect ones to make into some autumnal and holiday jewelry.

 

Halloween Treat Bag Tags

To make my Halloween treat bags even more special, I decided to make some spooky tags to tie onto them.  I started by die cutting the black card stock paper with a Little B tag die.  Next, I cut a piece of printed burlap ribbon to fit the tag and attached it with 3 in 1 Fabri-Tac glue.  For the bottom of the tag, I cut a piece of Whimsy printed card stock (black and white stripes) to fit and glued it down. Onto the striped paper I adhered some Martha Stewart and Stiko stickers. (I've had the Martha Stewart stickers in my Halloween supply box for years but I'm sure that you can find suitable stickers at HM Ben Franklin Crafts.) The final touch for the tags was to attach unique yarns to make the tags even more special. Okay, time to bake the treats to go into the bags which will be tied closd with these cautionary, spooky tags.  I love the scary fun of Halloween...don't you?

 

Stretch Bead Bracelets

After seeing Joy making stretch gemstone bead bracelets on Joy of Crafting, I decided to give it a try. It was amazingly easy and fast to make the bracelets and I couldn't resist making a bunch.  I used turquoise, amazonite, amethyst, and agate beads. 

I also made two glass bead bracelets. The one on the left was made with African glass beads.  The colorful candy-like glass bead one was made for Halloween.  The only problem I had with the construction of the bracelets is knotting the elastic cord.  I wanted to make sure that the knots were secure so I did double surgeon knots but then these knots were bulky and hard to hide between the beads.  Doing a single surgeon's knot and G-S Hypo Cement was a better solution for the completion of the bracelets.

There are so many gorgeous beads for sale (especially at HM Ben Franklin Crafts) so your bracelet creations are limitless.  I hope you'll give this easy craft a try and make yourself some beautiful, fun jewelry. I know that you'll be unable to stop your bracelet production after making just one...like eating potato chips...hahaha!

P.S. I used both .7 and 1 mm stretch elastic for my bracelets.  I feel that the 1mm is sturdier but the knots are bigger and harder to hide. For smaller beads .7 elastic cord is easier to thread through.

Japanese Gift Bags with Tags

 These Japanese design gift bags were purchased from HM Ben Franklin Crafts (or was it Daiso?).  I really loved the grafic designs on them.  All they seemed to need were matching tags. 

Because I feel that Hanafuda cards have great graphic designs, I decided to incorporate them into tags for these Japanese designed gift bags.  

I chose Hanafuda card designs that I thought matched with the bag graphics and glued them onto simple die cut tags.  

I stamped appropriate Japanese characters on the backs of the tags and heat embossed them with metallic embossing powder.

These tags were then tied onto the bags with unique yarns from my ever-growing yarn collection.

Even the backs of these gift bags were decorated with gorgeous designs.  The bag backs are so lovely they could actually be the fronts.

I hope that you'll take a look at the spectacular Japanese themed gift bags at HM Ben Franklin Crafts and Daiso.  I'm sure they'll inspire you to make some matching tags or maybe you'll fill them with Japanese goodies.  The Japanese man bag is going to my son who loves anything from Japan.  The more feminine bag is for a just born baby girl and it will contain a kimono.  I think these bags will add to gifts by making the presentation exciting. Arigato!

Halloween Welcome Sign

Rather than making another Halloween card, I decided to try something different...a Halloween sign.  It came together rather quickly because I had some embossed and stamped papers already in my 'Halloween box' of supplies.  It was so simple to use the Sizzix texture impression folder on black construction paper and then rub it with metallic cream.  The Whimsy 'Zombie Herd' stamp was used with white embossing powder to make the zombie images. Color pencils were used to color in the faces.  The stamped zombie paper was trimmed and adhered to the embossed animal skin textured paper.  Next the 'WELCOME' words were formed with 3D sticker letters.  This square was adhered with double stick tape to a square of faded red card stock.  A hole punch was used to make the holes that were used with twine to make a way to hang the sign.  This was a very simple and fast project to do and I think it shows a bit of horror humor which is what I really like about Halloween.  Welcome to my House of Zombies!

Baby Dragon Birthday Card

I've posted three photos of this very sparkly, glittery card because it was impossible to get a good image due to all the shiny papers I used.  I decided to make a departure from Halloween for awhile since I just received the super cute Whimsy dragon stamp set and scalloped window dies. 

I used the window dies on many sparkly, glittery papers until I found just the right combination.  HM Ben Franklin Crafts has many shiny, sparkly, glittery papers for sale. After layering and gluing the card base together, I proceeded to stamp the dragon and selected words. The baby dragon was colored in with Copic pens.

Next the words were enclosed with a bubble balloon using a Copic pen.  Both the words and dragon were adhered to the card with adhesive dots.  Finally, Glossy Accents was applied to the front of both the dragon and the word balloon. Before the Glossy Accents dried I sprinkled on fine clear glitter.  (Don't get too heavy handed with the glitter.) I'm not sure exactly who I will give this card to but I think it will be suitable for someone whimsical and young at heart.  Is that you?

Halloween Shaker Card with Vampire and Mummy

This card does not look anything like the one I had planned in my mind.  It was supposed to be an origami pumpkin/cat shaker card.  It turned out that the origami paper I had was too small and the folding instructions a bit too complicated.  Since I had already made the shaker portion of the card, I decided to dress it up with some monster stickers and words.  You can see that inside the window the paper was embossd with leaf impressions which were rubbed with metallic ink.  It was my hope that the impressions would provide a bumpy surface which would impede the sequins a bit.  It didn't work; the bits and pieces swooshed around like ususal.  Oh well, I like the final outcome of this card and I will practice to make origami cat/pumpkins to put on future Halloween cards. LOL!

Meoween Scream!

This is truly a spooky Halloween card.  The background images were made by accident.  It looks like there are three ghostly skeleton-like faces. (They sort of remind me of the Edvard Munch painting, 'The Scream'.)  They appeared on a paper that I used to blot an ink sprayed card stock sheet.  Really scarey....even the black cat howled.  I wrote the word 'meoween' on a piece of vellum and cut it out to look like a frosty breath emerging from the cat.  The Tim Holtz die set is a really old one but you may be able to find it for sale somewhere online.  I hope this accidental Halloween card makes you look for spooky images everywhere......BOO!

Monster Birthday Sprinkle Cookies

I know these cookies look normal sized, but each one is about 5" across and 6 oz. in weight.  One batch of cookies ( recipe in Bake from Scratch magazine July/August issue) yields only six monster cookies. My cookies are a little darker than the ones shown in the magazine because I used whole wheat flour (for more nutrition).  I chose to make this recipe because I've embarassingly purchased many bags of baking sprinkles (from HM Ben Franklin Crafts and other sources) and this recipe uses 1/2 cup of sprinkles per batch. YAY! (I do LOVE confetti sprinkles...both edible and the ones used for craft projects. LOL!)  This cookie recipe is very easy to mix up and bake. I think each cookie would make an excellent birthday party favor. You would only need a pretty cellophane bag tied with a ribbon to make a departing guest super happy.  These good looking colorful cookies are easy to bake and definiely delicious to eat. Go make some cookie monsters happy with Monster Birthday Sprinkle Cookies!

Secret Fairy Meeting Card

Here is my second Lavinia stamp card.  Again, I used a scrap of watercolor test paper from my stash (refer to my previous post). I found just the right yellow gold scrap (with metallic highlights) to die cut (Spellbinders) a moon.  I glued the orb onto the mulsticolored watercolor paper before placing it into my Misti stamp alligner.  Using permanent black ink, I stamped the log and leaves to get a clear impression.  I took off these stamps and then positioned the fairies.  After inking the fairy images, I stamped them repeatedly to get dark images.  The inked fairy image on the edge of the moon had a faint line because the moon was slightly higher than the background paper.  Careful coloring in with a permanent black marker solved the problem.  On this card I flicked on gold Liquitex ink with a stiff brush.  The little specks of gold added the magic touch....fairy dust!   As with the previous card, I am enthralled with the finished look of the Lavinia stamped images. I can't wait to purchase more Lavinia stamps...perhaps mushrooms or mermaids. Crafty ideas keep blooming in my head...so many beautiful images!   

Quiet Bunny Conversation Card

 I've admired Lavinia stamp designs for a long time and finally took the plunge and purchased some.  I'm so happy that I did because the delicate stamp designs are exquisite and print out perfectly everytime. In my craft area I had a bunch of watercolor paper scraps that were used as tests for Tim Holtz watercolor and Distress inks (including metallic ones).  Rather than throw away these ink tests, I saved them in the hopes that they would be useful one day.  I found one watercolored piece that was the right size and look for the card I had in mind.  It was easy to place the stamps in my Misti stamp aligning tool and get perfect images on the watercolored paper.  The Misti  tool allows for restamping exactly to get a perfect dense image.  I used the bottom of one of the stamps to complete the grassy foreground.  For a more finished look I mounted the watercolor stamped piece on a metallic cardstock and then onto the purple card blank.  Finally, I used silver ink ( Liquitex metallic ink) and a stiff bristled brush to flick on a little sparkle magic.  The finished card has a misty magical look that I really love.  Why did it take me so long to invest in Lavinia stamps?  

Honeycomb Hexagon Bee Boxes

I bought the Whimsy hexagon box die years ago, but I didn't put it to use until recently.  The die makes a cute 3" hexagon shapped box with a hinged lid that flips up.  Because the box shape reminded me of a honeycomb, I thought it would be fun to try to design a series of adjoining boxes to mimic a honeycomb.  I die cut three boxes out of yellow medium weight card stock.  After gluing (with Fabri-Tac glue) the box tabs, I used the same glue to glue three boxes together.  I only applied glue to lower half of the box sides (where I wanted to join the boxes) so that the box tops could be opened and closed. (You could actually join many boxes together but I suggest putting a cardboard base under them for support if you want to join many boxes together.)

I used half of the die to cut out the printed card stock pieces (from my scrap pile) for the box tops. I added some artificial flowers (form my stash) plus bees stamped ( Doodlebug Designs), fussy cut and colored with Copic pens.

The words came from a package of bee themed ephemera purchased from HM Ben Franklin Crafts.  Some glitter dinensional paint (in a squeeze bottle applicator) was used to decorate the bee's wings.

I also made a single hexagon-shaped gift box which I think will be perfect for a small gift.

These hexagon boxes were super easy to create thanks to the Whimsy die. I really enjoyed decorating the boxes as I love bee themed papers, stamps and well...bee design anything.  I hope you'll try to make bee-u-tiful bee themed hand crafted items just bee-ause they're sweet as honey. Well, time to buzz on to more craft projects. Hope you'll buzz to this blog site again...soon!

Mice and Strawberries Thank You Card

While shopping at HM Ben Franklin Crafts, my eyes spied the cutest Doodlebug 6x8 paper pad (berry sweet), Doodle Cuts set ( berry sweet treats), and icon sprinkles (bitty berries).  I think they just jumped into my shopping cart and followed me home. LOL!  I love the paper pad because not only is it super adorable, but each sheet when folded forms a perfect 4x6 card blank.  I was amazed that I found all the papers I needed for die cutting, ( mice, basket, strawberries and flowers) in my scrap bin. Not sure why, but I get a crafter's high when I can use up scraps that might normally be thrown in the trash. Some say obsessed but I say thrifty.  At first I was going to use the dies 'thanks A BUNCH' to make the words on the card front, but it just didn't look balanced.  On my desk I have a baggie of cut words that didn't get used on other projects.  In this baggie I discovered the perfect script 'Thanks' in blue foil...big SMILE! Sometimes I think the crafting gods direct me to the perfect crafting solutions.  Aren't I a lucky crafter?  Oh yes, I LOVE, LOVE the tiny Doodlebug 3D strawberry stickers so I HAD to find a place for them on this card.  Don't you think they add just the right sparkling sweet touch to the adorable mice?

 

Bees and Flowers Card

At HM Ben Franklin Crafts I spied a sweet 6 x 8 paper pad (Bee Happy) of bee and flower themed double sided card stock made by Doodlebug.  I purchased the paper pad and a package of matching die cut pieces (173 pieces!).  Unlike the normal 6 x 6 paper pads the sheets in this pad can be folded to become  4 x 6 cards with pretty designs on the inside too!  There were lots of die cut images and words to choose from so it was pretty easy to layout a card design.  For a little extra pizzaz I made a shaker heart element using Spellbinders heart dies.  I filled the heart shaker with flower confetti pieces (Sprinkletz available at HM BFC).  I love how this little moving part adds so much to the charm of this card.  (It did take me a long time to pick out just the green, yellow, blue, and white confetti flowers. Hahaha!)  (The word ephemera banner, " Enjoy The Little Things in Life" was from a Photoplay pack available at HM BFC.)

I found a piece of bee printed paper in my scrap bin that was just the right size for a tag so I made one to go with the card.  The ribbons were purchased from HM Ben Franklin Crafts for another craft project but I think they are perfect for this tag, too.

Bees and flowers are so summery and crafting with them makes me very happy. My mind is already 'buzzing' with ideas of what to make with the 12 x12 Photoplay bee paper pack I purchased too.  So much summer crafting fun!

Moru Rabbit with Ice Cream Cone

I love my Moru Doll bear so much that I decided to make another doll.  I bought a second Moru kit from HM Ben Franklin Crafts but decided to see if I could make it into a rabbit by elongating the ears.  It was easy to form the rabbit even though I can't read the Japanese instructions.  I just followed the diagrams.  After finishing the rabbit I decided she needed a hair ornament so I bought a rainbow heart clip set from HM BFC.  Then I thought maybe she should have an ice cream cone since it was a hot summer day so I bought some ice cream buttons and glued one on.  Finally, I thought she would look even cuter in a dress so I purchased one in the Moru Doll area at HM Ben Franklin Crafts. There...she's perfect now.  Hey Sweetie! Don't get ice cream on my computer!
 

While at HM Ben Franklin Crafts, I noticed a cool book with instructions for making smaller chenille pipe cleaner animals.  There were lots of colored pipe cleaners to choose from too!  Go take a look at the new Japan craft area in HM Ben Franklin Crafts and I'm sure you'll get hooked on a new passion like I did. So much cuteness...so much fun!

Popsicle Summer Card and Summer Tags

This is the third of my bright, summer cards designed for a refreshing lift to the summer heat.  It is a super simple cut and tape (double stick adhesive) composition.  The papers were from 6x6 paper pads and a Sn@p journaling card.  I don't journal or scrapbook anymore, so using the Sn@p papers to make greeting cards seems like a good use of them. To give the popsicles a shiny, wet look, I applied some Glossy Accents liquid (from HM BFC) over the treats and let it dry.  (Sorry, I didn't include the Glossy Accents squeeze bottle in the supplies photo.)   

I never like to waste even tiny scraps of paper so of course I turned the leftover printed scraps and solid pieces into useful tags.  I used tag dies from an I-Crafter set and a Hero Arts Infinity die set.  It didn't take long to piece together the tags and attach striped twine cords.  For a little added interest I added tiny epoxy popsicle stickers to the tags.  I am happy to have a new supply of tags to attach to impromptu gifts and home baked treats.  It was so easy and environmentally correct.  Don't throw stuff into the trash unless it is really unusable! Summer is the perfect time to craft refreshing cards and tags before the holiday crafting season begins.  Enjoy the sweetness that is summertime!