Tucson 2026 Rock and Gem Show

Recently, I had the pleasure of attending the Tucson Rock and Gem Show. Although the show was a bit quieter than in previous years, it still was a wonderland of nature's geological beauty. There was also a marvelous aray of tents and rooms brimming over with affordable and millionaire-only-priced jewelry/gemstones.  

 Yes!  This dinosaur skeleton was actually on display in one of the tents at the Tucson 2026 Gem and Mineral Show. It was a small specimen compared to others but it was still way bigger than me.

Even in the tent area of the show, there were amazing displays and collections.  One of my favorite displays was a gigantic carved jade dragon.  It was certainly museum worthy and it was exciting to be able to see it up close. If you are a rock hound or gem collector, you really need to attend the Tucson Rock and Gem Show at least once in your lifetime.  Even if you can't afford the museum quality gems, you wil surely find something in your price range that you will treasure and display in your home forever!

  

We didn't buy any of these gorgeous Ethiopian opals which were being sold by the carat. The colors radiating from them was blinding! 

We also only stroked the boulder opal slabs but did buy a few small pieces with the intent of someday mounting them into jewelry.

In the Tucson convention center there were amazing displays of one-of-a- kind mineral specimens.  They were breathtakingly beautiful and it was unbelivable that people discovered them and were able to mine them in such pristine condition.  Although, I would never be able to afford the museum worthy mineral specimens, it was fun to gaze at them and wish. Although this quartz cluster is not really a rare occurrence, it is still an eye-catching display.

This gigantic cluster of gem grade aquamarine is so gorgeous that I can't believe it grew naturally and was carefully excavated before being displayed for everyone to enjoy.

    

There were lots of amethyst formations on display and surprisingly they were affordable. I guess amethyst is not as rare as other minerals.

I don't know what kind of minerals make up this delicate formation.  I was overwhelmed by the delicacy of the crystals.  How is it possible that the crystal structure did not collapse?   

At the Tucson Gem and Mineral Show it is possible to purchase some beautiful gems and jewelry. If you can, you should attend the next show to see if you can uncover some real treasures at affordable prices. Besides learning tons of information, I guarantee you'll feel like you've excavated hidden minerals and dug up jewelry fashioned for royalty!

Easter 2026 Shaker Card

I purchased a pack of Easter die-cut ephemera and pack of Easter confetti from HM Ben Franklin Crafts and decided to challenge myself.  I wanted to see if I could design a shaker card using just the ephemera pieces and confetti.  I started by cutting a hole in a large piece of ephemera. There were words which I cut out.  I attached a clear piece of acetate behind the opening and added foam tape behind the plaid frame. A piece of Lawn Fawn pastel paper was adhered to a standard card blank.  The plaid frame was partially adhered to the card and confetti sprinkles were inserted before sealing the frame to the card.  

 

The 'Easter memories' and 'what a Beautiful day' ephemera were adhered. The butterfly was cut off the 'Beautiful day' piece and fussy cut before being attached to the card with a foam adhesive dot.   This was a very simple card but I think it turned out well.  I am pleased that I was able to make a special card using just a few supplies. I hope that you will check out the beautiful Easter card making supplies being sold at HM Ben Franklin Crafts.  I'm sure you'll be inspired!

Chenille Kitten Kit

 While traveling, I decided to make another furry chenille friend. I chose a kit for a kitten from HM Ben Franklin Crafts.  As with the other kits I've tried, this one was super easy and resulted in another cutie pie despite the fact that the instructions are in Japanese and I don't read Japanese characters.  (The Easter bunny and chick in the photo were purchased from Daiso.)

The kitten is sucking on a pacifier and is wearing a bib.  The wire going through one ear is a key chain that can be removed if desired. The big pink stuffed bow and heart charm look cool when attached to a handbag.

The instructions in these chenille kits are pretty straight forward even though they are written in Japanese characters.  However, I did end up with a four inch piece of chenille that I was going to just wrap around the kitten to make him fatter but then I realized that he didn't have a tail so I curled the extra inches of chenille into a tail.  I guess they forgot to write in the directions for making the tail.  Hahaha!  Every kitten needs a tail....don't you agree?

Picture Frame Keychain Kit

 Gosh, you gotta check out all the new cool kits at HM Ben Franklin Crafts!  Recently, while shopping at HM BFC, I couldn't stop adding items into my shopping cart.  One of the most interesting kits I discovered were the picture frame keychain ones. They came in many colors but I limited myself to two colors....going to go back later for other colors (hahaha!).  Although the store had separate parts you could buy, I thought I should start with a kit so I would be sure to get everything I needed to complete a project.  After laying out all the parts for the project, I decided that I wanted more color so I added some cute puffy animal stickers ( Angels Craft).

HM Ben Franklin Crafts also has tons of adorable charms and doo-dads to add to your projects. In the photo above you can see the other frame kit I chose and some of the fun charms I plan to add to my next keychain.  By the way, the clear colored gel that comes in the kits has a screw on tip that will extrude the gel like cake frosting.  Also there is enough gel leftover to make other frames.  In future posts, I plan to show you the other fantastic Japanese craft goodies I purchased from HM Ben Franklin Crafts.  Please come back soon to check out new products I found at HM BFC and see the  projects that I've crafted.

Kimono Fabric Swatch Calendar

I was tidying my craft desk when I discovered another pack of mini 2026 calendars.  Yikes!  I wasn't planning to make more calendars this year, but I didn't want to waste the calendars.  (They are not craft supplies that can be saved for another year.) Now that the post office is getting stricter about the thickness of mail, I had to think of  a quick, attractive, and flat solution for decorating the calendars.  As I am a collector of many things, including vintage and unique fabrics, I decided that a unique swatch of fabric would be ideal to decorate these calendars.  I chose a Japanese kimono fabric with lots of gold highlights.  It was easy to cut (3) and fold the easels from 12x12 grey card stock.  The calendars ended up being 4"x4" and should fit in an regular sized envelope. I used double sided adhesive tape to put the calendar base together and glued the fabric onto the front with Beacon 3 in 1 glue. I was planning to make a raveled edge on the fabric swatch but the fabric was very difficult to unravel. I ended up just cutting fabric into squares and leaving irregular edges.  I am pleased with the look of the finished calendars and the ease of their construction. Although it is rather late in the year, I hope that recipients of my calendars will appreciate and use them throughout the year. Calendars can exist off a hand held device!

Hello Kitty 2026 Mini Calendar

Happy Girl's Day!

I thought I was done with making calendars for this year, but then I found four more under the clutter on my craft desk.  Since I recently purchased (in Japan) a new Hello Kitty stamp (Sanrio), I decided it was time to ink it up.  I paper pieced the image by stamping on printed washi paper and fussy cutting out the umbrella and Hello Kitty's kimono. These pieces were then glued to the whole stamped image. The rest of the image was colored in with Copic pens. The stamped, colored and paper pieced Kitty was glued to the calendar base that already had the calendars (from HM BFC) adhered with double stick tape.  

As final embellishments, I glued on some artificial cherry blossom (from HM BFC, I think) and added a few sparkling gemstone stickers (to add some bling and cover some ink smudges..LOL!)  I'm glad that I used up the final four 2026 mini calendars because I think they turned out to be rather attractive and now I have a few more to pass out to friends.  Who doesn't need a mini calendar?

P.S. If you want the instructions for making the mini calendar easels, refer to a previous post (Feb. 1st)

Sealing Wax Kit from HM BFC

 I needed a special gift for a crafty birthday girl.  Because I love sending handmade cards and decorating the envelopes, I thought this sealing wax kit was a perfect gift choice.  With this complete kit, making wax seals can begin immediately.  If you've never applied a wax seal to an envelope, you have to purchase this kit from HM Ben Franklin Crafts.  I guarantee you'll be delighted to be able to send off your mail with pizzaz. The wax seals can be applied to wrapped gifts, invitations, and have many other beautiful uses.  HM Ben Franklin Crafts also sells extra wax (in various colors) and metal seals with great embossed designs.  I like to make a bunch of embossed wax seals on a silicon mat or parchment paper,  This way I have many to choose from without having to melt a batch of wax everytime I need a seal.  I just glue (Fabri-Tac 3 in 1) the wax seals to the surface I want to decorate. It's so easy and elegant!

Lemon Butter...Yum!

 

When my lttle lemon tree starts bending over from the weight of all the fruit, I know it's time to make lemon butter. (I used to call this yummy buttery spread, Lemon Curd but that always sounded unappetizing so I renamed it Lemon Butter.) You only need about 4 large lemons, some butter, eggs, and sugar to make two small jars of this delightful spread. Hope you'll try this recipe.  It will surely become one of your favorites.

Lemon Butter

6 large egg yolks, strained

1/2 cup of fresh lemon juice

zest of 1 lemon

12 T. of sugar

8 T. chilled butter cut into pieces

Combine egg yolks, lemon juice, zest and sugar in a saucepan.  Stir with a whisk until mixture is blended. Using a wooden spoon, keep stirring over medium heat until the mixture is thick and coats the back of the spoon.  Take the saucepan off the heat and add the butter slowly while stirring. When the mixture is smooth and still warm, fill the jars with the lemon butter.  Let the jars cool and then refrigerate. Enjoy!

P.S. The mouse image on the tag was made with a Penny Black stamp, "Homemade' and the jars with the lemon design lids were purchased from Daiso.

Valentine Shaker Gift Bag

I was experimenting with a Simon Says embossing folder (Pinnacle Hearts) and tried it on a piece of foiled card stock.  It embossed beautifully and I initially thought to use it on a card, but since I haven't made a gift bag in a while, I decided to use the embossed paper on Valentine gift bag.  Because the hearts looked like they would make a good surface for shaker elements to slide down, the bag became an experiment in making a shaker bag.  After finding a suitable bag in my stash, I used double stick tape to adhere the heart embossed strip to the bag.  Around the embossed strip I lined some sticky foam tape. Next I applied a clear piece of acetate over the shaker element but added the shaker heart pieces before sealing up the rectangle. To cover up the foam tape I glued on some printed cloth ribbon. 

I had some vintatge looking Valentine cards and selected one with a cute boy and girl.  I cut around the cherub-like images and glued them to the bag leaving an opening for a Valentine note.  Lastly, I added two ribbon bows to the handle of the bag.

I think my experiment of adding a shaker element to a gift bag was successful.  There are so many possiblities with this idea and the shaker box doesn't necessarily have to be rectangular.  A heart-shaped shaker box would look great on bags for many occasions.  You just have to think outside of the box!  How about a wedding gift bag with a shaker box filled with rice?

Cat Valentine Card With Conversation Candy Hearts

 Conversation candy hearts are one of my favorite Valentine treats, so when I found the Lawn Fawn stenciling template set, it was a no brainer that I was going to purchase it.  It was easy to color in the hearts using pastel ink pads and a small piece of scrunched up paper towel.  The words were a little more difficult to color in with red ink and so I had to use a stencil brush.  After stenciling the background onto a plain white card, it was super simple to stamp the Penny Black image, color it in with Copic markers, and fussy cut it out.  The sweet cat was mounted on adhesive foam dots and the card was done! This card turned out exactly as I hoped and I plan to use the conversation heart stencil on future projects.  Now I need to find some conversation candy hearts....a sweet reward for me!

Cat with Paper Hearts Valentine Card

 Sometimes cards just happen.  I was 'pawing' through my Valentine stuff when I spied a set of Penny Black clear stamps.  They were super cute but for some reason I never inked them up. Next to the stamp set was a Simon Says Stamp 'Floating Hearts' die which I thought would pair well with the stamp image I had chosen.  First, I cut and adhered a heart printed card stock onto a plain white card.  Next, I die cut the Floating Hearts out of plain white card stock and glued it to the card front.  I stamped the cat holding the string of hearts and colored it in with Copic markers.The colored image was adhered to the card with foam dot adhesives. Finally, I used the Lawn Fawn 'Candy Hearts' die to cut out the 'Hugs' heart from pink and red paper.  After it was secured to the card, I was done! This card really made me happy because it was so easy to construct thanks to the dies and so cute due to the Penny Black image.  Okay, onward to more Valentine cuteness....I LOVE this time of the year!

Relax, It's Your Birthday!

 I made this card for my daughter-in-law's birthday.  She always looks happy when she's sitting in her favorite chair reading a book or working on her laptop.  Because I don't spend a lot of time  watercoloring but do want to get more proficient at it, I decided to play with my set of Derwent watercolor pencils purchased from HM Ben Franklin Crafts.  It was super easy to stamp the image (on watercolor paper) with waterproof Memento black ink and then lightly add color with the pencils.  Then I minimally wet a very small paint brush and used it to wash over the areas colored in on the stamped image.  It was super easy to add color where needed but not so easy to remove color (so work slowly).  After the image was dry, I fussy cut it out and adhered it to a printed card stock which was folded into a card sized to fit a matching envelope.  I found some old alphabet stickers (which looked like typewriter keys) and used them to vertically spell, ' RELAX '.  On the inside of the card I stamped a birthday message but this card is suitable for many occasions.  Watercoloring stamped images is another fun thing to do while traveling, requiring only a small brush and a set of watercolor pencils.  I hope you'll give watercolor pencil watercoloring a try. I think you'll find it stress relieving and morale boosting!

Valentine Shaker Mini Calendars

Last year my last two calendars turned out really well.  They were shaker calendars.  I decided to use my three remaining mini calendars and recreate last year's shaker calendars so I can mail them out to friends. However, I can't find the stamp set that I used so I had to substitute other cute images. I know that I will eventually find the stamps I used last year and I am satisfied and pleased with this years mini shaker calendars.

To make a shaker calendars, you will need a 12" x 4" piece of  double sided printed card stock.  Fold the panel at 4", 8", 9" and 10". Use a suitably sized heart die to cut out a window.  Glue a piece of acetate behind the heart opening.  Using foam tape, form a wall around the heart window and along the edges of the calendar front.  Partially fill the section of the calendar with the heart window before securing a panel behind the window. Fold and tape the calendar frame closed.  Add calendar and a cute fussy cut character.  Mini shaker calendars seem complicated but I assure you they are super easy to make.  You really can make a bunch with very little effort...but first you need the mini calendars. I purchased mine at HM Ben Franklin Crafts. Hurry, you still have time to craft your own mini calendars!

Dim Sum Body say Party?

 Here is another card I made while away from my home craft table. I used another a cute Dandelion Designs stamp set, Thinking A Bao You.  Since I didn't have my heart shaped die or Big Shot machine with me, I had to freehand cut the heart opening for the shaker element.  Like making an elementary school Valentine...fold paper in half and then cut out a heart shape.  I traced this heart onto the rainbow pastel card stock from 6x6 Lawn Fawn paper pack. Then I carefully cut it out...very easy.  I didn't have cellophane or foam adhesive strips so I put the heart confetti in a small ziploc baggie.  Next, I taped the baggie behind the heart opening and adhered the whole thing to the card blank.  Stamping the bamboo steamer with partying bao buns and coloring them was easy peasy.  I hand fussy cut the bao filled steamer and stamped words.  They were glued down and small puffy sticker hearts were added.

For the inside of the card, a large bao, words and sticker hearts were added.  It was fun to try making a card without the usual supplies I had at home.  I had to think outside the box (craftroom) a bit and learned that fancy tools are not necessary to make a card worthy of mailing to celebrate an occasion. If you feel the need to craft while traveling or want to start up a simple, basic card crafting area in your home, try getting a few basic craft supplies from HM Ben Franklin Crafts.  It won't be expensive, but will certainly provide you with many pleasurable moments and result in a creative release for your talent.  Varoom, varoom.... look out....crafter on the go!

'GAL' Chenille Bear

 While away from home, I decided to take a chenille kit with me so I could make something cute during my down time.  I chose this kit because I loved the pastel colors of the chenille pipe cleaner.  It was super simple to make this bear espeially after my husband used Google translate to print out the instructions in English.  Actually though, the diagrams in the instructions were pretty clear and I probably didn't need the translation.  When away from your craft area for a long time, you might try taking a few of these chenille kits with you.  It is really satisfying to make something cute from just a few supplies and some glue (I used a bit on the eyes and nose to secure them.). I am really happy with the end product and have already pack more chenille kits in my suitcase for the next trip. Busy craft hands make for a happy heart!

(Sorry that the colors of the fur don't show up well in the top photo. You can see in the photo of the supplies that the chenille has  really pretty pastel colors.)

Thank You 'So Matcha' Card

Recently, while away from my home craftroom for an extended period of time, I decided that I really needed to craft something or I would go crazy.  I had the brilliant idea to try to fashion some greeting cards with a minimal amount of supplies so I headed to the closest HM Ben Franklin Crafts.  I piurchased a package of Paper Accents blank cards and envelopes, House Mart Thank You sticker pack, Dandelion Designs Boba Love stamp set, a Forever in Time puffy heart sticker package,  Angels Craft  Dual Tip Markers (neutral and pastel sets), Memento espresso truffle ink pad, and a Lawn Fawn Rainbow Ever After 6x6 paper pad.  The Dandelion images are so sweet and it is fun to stamp and color them in before fussy cutting them.  I adhered the images to the card with foam dot adhesives (oh yes, got those from HM Ben Franklin Crafts too).  It was very satisfying to make this card even though I didn't have my usual supplies to choose from. I think I will keep these supplies in my suitcase for future crafting craziness while traveling. Maybe I should design an 'On the Go' Travel Crafting Kits for crafters who can't bear to stop crafting even while traveling.  Does that make me a craftaholic?

 

Maneki Neko 2026 Stand Up Mini Calendar

This year calendar making was a little delayed due to trips I took in late fall and early winter.  When I saw the maneki neko (Lucky Cat) PhotoPlay 12x12 printed card stock, I knew I had to buy some from HM Ben Franklin Crafts.  Unfortunately, I bought short for calendar making if I wanted to make the design go all around the calendar base.  By making the base from a solid colored card stock, I was able to conserve the Lucky Cat paper and only using a 3-3/4 square of the printed card stock, I was able to make all the calendars I needed.

Here is a look at the side of the calendar.  You can see that it is a simple design made from a single piece of solid colored card stock cut to 4 x12 inches.  The strip of paper was folded at 4", 8", 9"and 10".  Double stick (Heiko) tape or Fabri-Tac glue was used to assemble the calendars. I added two folded origami cranes to this calendar because there were not too many Maneki Neko faces showing.  Also the cranes give the calendar more dimension.

 Here are three calendars that don't have the cranes because they are going to be mailed and the cranes may make them too thick to be mailed with regular postage.  Using stickers makes the calendars even faster to construct.  The mini 2026 calendars are now being sold at HM Ben Franklin Crafts. There are ten calendars per package so be sure to get enough before they run out.  Making mini calendars is very satisfying and the calendars make great hostess gifts or add-ins with your family newsletter. Now that the all the Christmas gifting/wrapping/decorating/cooking are done, take some time to unwind and make some mini calendar 'just because' gifts.  Have a wonderful crafty 2026!