Delightful Diet Doughnut Necklace

If you want to stay on your diet, choose your doughnuts from the non-edible variety. Ben Franklin Crafts has a mouthwatering selection of gemstone doughnuts for you to incorporate into your jewelry designs. Pictured here is a necklace that is quickly whipped up from a green gemstone doughnut, cording, a few beads and a metal pendant from Mountain Idea. The closure for the necklace is made from adjustable sliding knots, but you could use a cord fastener with a loop for a clasp and attach a chain to make it adjustable. The Leisure Arts booklet (from BFC) in the photo has many good designs for easy gemstone pendants with an ethnic look.

Thank you Anonymous for your comment. You are right we should apologize for our mistake and we are sending Joan a small gift in the mail. If you know Joan, we are sorry that you were so upset with our blunder. We tried to correct our error as quickly as we discovered it and we assumed that Joan would realize that the description of the 3rd place bag did not match her bag. This is the first online contest we have done and it is difficult to keep all the printouts separate, hence the mistake. Previous contests required that projects be mailed to us which was costly for the contestant but did make it easier to keep the projects with the correct names of the creators. If we ever have another online contest we will check and double check the results before announcing them. The photos of the winning bags should be on the website next week and the prizes will be mailed out next week as well.

And the winners are..........Oops!

Sorry this post was published earlier but we discovered a mistake in our records. Originally the decision was made to have two third place winners because there were two bags that were equally good. There was a reason for that because they were both made by Valerie and we're sorry but Joan your name was accidentally attached to Valerie's photo. Okay, so here are the real winners...... finally. The first place and a Ben Franklin Crafts gift card for $100 goes to Mary Carvalho! Congratulations Mary, your quilted fern leaf bag is fantastic! Second place and a gift card for $50 is awarded to Patricia Kaula for her cleverly appliqued ocean scenery bag. Valerie Bergstedt will receive a $25 gift card for her creative efforts. Valerie's graphically stunning owl design bag and eye-popping flower bag both made her a winner. Congratulations to our winners and we appreciate all the efforts of the crafters who took the time to enter our contest. We hope that you had fun making your creations and will proudly use your original, handcrafted bags when shopping at Ben Franklin Crafts. We will post pictures of the winning bags as soon as possible.

40% Off Coupon Shopping and ChoosingContest Winners

Did you enjoy shopping with your 40% off coupon this weekend? What did you buy? Of course I bought more than the one coupon item. I found wonderful Beadalon silver and gold plated links in a variety of shapes along with packages of connectors to turn those links into fashionable jewelry. I'll make projects for the website with these items as soon as I finish the Easter goodie mini-basket. I also found some new gemstone pendants by Imagine It. The labodorite (with blue and gold flashes) large teardrop bead is spectacular and I can't wait to create something with it.
In thirty minutes the Craft Green and Win Green contest will end and tomorrow I will announce the winners of the gift certificates. I hope that you took the time to enter and will check back to this blog or our craft club website to see if you won. For our first online contest we were pleased with the quality of the entries and surprised that most of the contestants entered photos of their work digitally. It truly is becoming a computerized world and we are proud that our company is making an effort to keep up with the changes.

A Card for Cousin Amy

Whenever I get new rubber stamps I can't wait to try them out. A recent purchase of two Hero Arts clear sets (Asian Frames and Japanese Dolls) inspired me to make this birthday card for my niece. Hero Arts also has a set of a smaller version of the four Japanese dolls on wood mounts, but the other stamps in the clear set are useful.

To make this card I started with a blank white card and used the Martha Stewart daisy edge punch to decorate the front flap. Next, I stamped the back of a piece of colorful origami paper (thin ones work best) using light colored ink and one of the doll stamps. The kimono part of the stamped design was cut out and run through a Xyron (print side up). You could use a glue stick if you don't have a Xyron machine. Stick the kimono onto the card and carefully stamp (using black ink) the doll design over the cut out kimono. Cut out a 1" strip (long enough to go all the way across the card) of the same origami paper. Stamp the strip with the cherry blossom border stamp if desired and glue or tape the strip inside the card so that part of it shows below the punched edge. With dark green ink, stamp the bamboo design three times on the card (masking the doll to protect it). Color the bamboo with green, yellow, and brown color pencils and shade in shadows for the doll and bamboo. Lastly, stamp a birthday message in black ink. The wish stamp came from a Hero Arts clear set, but you could use whatever appropriate stamped message you need.

I hope that you will try to make this card. (Click on the photo to see a closeup of the card.) It is a good way to use up origami scraps and making a greeting card set using the four dolls would be a great gift or craft fair item.

Kaeru Kaeru.....Coqui Frog Shopping?

On Sunday I bought a package of acrylic four-leaf clover beads from Hilo Ben Franklin Crafts. At the time I didn't know what I would do with them but the display of St. Patrick's Day green beads at the store was so eye-catching and irresistible that I had to have the clover beads. I also bought a green frog Japanese bell and a package of pink cell phone straps. ( In Japan the frogs say "kaeru, kaeru".) Somehow I decided that the clover bead and the frog bell should go together, perhaps because they are both symbols of good luck to two different cultures. With 22 gauge wire I wire wrapped a clover bead to the phone strap jump ring and the bell.

The phone strap (or purse pull) was cute and I thought that it would be a good add-on to a card for someone going to Vegas. (Giving someone 'lucky' money for a trip is a Japanese custom.) The card in the photo (click on it to enlarge) started from a blank green card whose front was trimmed with a Martha Stewart daisy edge punch. Next, I cut a piece of pink washi paper from a 12 x12 sheet that had some silver and gold designs on it. It might be attractive to tear the washi paper instead of cutting it. I stamped the round cherry blossom design from the Hero Arts Clear Stamps Asian frames set onto the washi paper. (I used gold Brilliance ink and gold embossing powder.) I cut a single strand of pink Mizuhiki cord into four pieces and slipped them through the jump ring of the phone strap. Then I tied a loose knot with the Mizuhiki and the strap. After crinkling the Mizuhiki into a design I attached a glue dot to the back of the knot and placed it on the card.


In the photo is a green frog bracelet that I made years ago. It seemed to match the card and I wanted to say that I was mistaken and that I did make a green bracelet before. I think this bracelet would be 'lucky' for those who believe in frog luck. You might still be able to find the enameled metal frog beads at Ben Franklin Crafts or the staff may be able to order them for you. The lampwork beads that look like frog eggs are also from BFC. The bicone crystals used in the bracelet are the color-changing ones but light green or peach crystals would work just as well. Well, keep crafting to keep your mind off the economy. Hurry and send in your entry to our contest to win a $100 gift certificate. (Learn about the contest at http://www.bfcraftclub.com/ .)

My Lucky Green Bracelet

I've hoarded a pretty faceted prehnite 7" gemstone strand from Ben Franklin Crafts for several months just waiting for an inspiration. Oddly, the inspiration finally came from a sage green washcloth. The little rabbit on the cloth was holding a green clover with the word 'lucky' on it. Since I don't have a green bracelet and I wanted to make one for St. Patrick's Day, I came up with this project. I posted the instructions for this bracelet on the craft club website. I've ordered a four-leaf clover sterling charm to attach to the bracelet, but it hasn't arrived yet. If you decide to make this bracelet but cannot find the same beads, just pick a variety (different sizes, shades, and amounts) of green faceted gemstone beads. You can also form a sterling silver name or word other than 'lucky'. Now, onward to Vegas to test the lucky green power of this bracelet!

Lucky!

I've always felt that I am a lucky person. Perhaps that is why I love searching antique stores to see what lucky finds appear for me. A few days ago a drive to Honokaa and Waimea meant stopping at two favorite antique shops. Pictured here are a few of the pretty things I purchased. The glass footed dish was only $12 and a great example of elegant glassware from the Depression Era (not a predictor of times to come, I hope). I can't identify the etched flowers but they are beautiful and look like orchids or daffodils. I know that this piece will be sensational at a holiday dinner, maybe Easter. The three gold pieces were also lucky finds. The two lockets are probably from the 1920's or 30's. The heart locket is a nice rosey color and will someday be used on a necklace I plan to make to feature my collection of heart lockets. The round locket amazingly turned out to be 10kt gold and I know that I would normally pay 2 or 3 times what I did. It should make a good charm for a bracelet or necklace. You might wonder why I would buy just one earring. Well, it was priced reasonably and I'm certain that it is a Victorian rose gold piece from the late 1800's. The craftmanship on the earring is superb and I think that it can be fashioned into a focal point of a 'Y' chain necklace.

In my next blog entry I will show you my 'lucky' bracelet that I designed for a March St. Patrick's Day project. Remember: "It's great to be lucky, but hard work always makes you luckier."