Lemon Curd Is Delicious

 I know I said I wasn't going to make lemon curd this year because of the high cost of eggs, but I had just too many lemons from my tree to resist.  Also, I LOVE the taste of lemon curd!  I think the name sounds revolting....maybe it should be renamed 'lemon custard'.  Anyway, other than juicing the lemons (about six needed), the curd is super simple to make.  I believe I first found this recipe in a Martha Stewart magazine but I have altered it a bit.  I hope you'll try making lemon curd and I'm sure you'll be a fan too! Enjoy!

Lemon Curd (makes 2 jars)

6 egg yolks (strained through a sieve)

1/2 c. lemon juice

12 T. sugar

Zest from 1 lemon

8 T. butter

Mix the yolks, juice, sugar and zest in a medium saucepan over medium low heat.  Keep stirring until the mixture starts to thicken.  Turn off the heat and start adding the butter in small pieces.  Once the butter is incorporated, pour the lemon curd into two clean jars. Cool curd and then refrigerate the jars.

Hang In There Get Well Card

 Recently, my sister broke her arm so I thought I'd make her a card and send her some 'get better soon' goodies.  This card came together quickly because of a cute monkey stamp from a Hero Arts clear stamp set.  It was super simple to stamp out the image, color it with Copic pens, fussy cut it out and attach it to the card with foam adhesive dots.  The printed background is simply a piece of vellum I found in my stash of Hawaiian style papers.  It was a little difficult to adhere the vellum to the card without the adhesive showing.  I applied very tiny dots of Fabri-Tac glue to the back of the vellum and they are barely visible.  I thought that the green ribbon from my scrap pile looked like a vine so the monkey decided to hang out on it. Hahaha!  Please note that the monkey also has a broken arm in a cast (made from a tiny roll of paper).  I hope my sister will be cheered by this card or at least will smile as she eats the Japanese treats I mail to her!

Toji Shrine Fair in Kyoto Japan

One of my favorite things to do when we travel to Japan is to attend the Toji Shrine Fair (held every 21st of every month).  The weather was perfect during the fair in the month of April.  We saw many booths with handmade crafts and delicious edible treats.  We purchased bags of dried persimmons and were tempted by gorgeous handmade ceramic ware.

I am always on the hunt for items to use in my craft work.  This time I discovered and purchased some lovely pieces of silk cut from kimonos.  There were also whole kimonos for sale which could be artfully  hung for stunning displays.  Perhaps the kimono fabric I bought  will be used to make another pin cushion, a small evening bag, or maybe as a decorative element on a one-of-a-kind outfit.

A favorite booth that I always look for at the fair is one that sells handmade wooden utensils.  I think that the pieces are gorgeous and very affordable so I usually select a few for gifts and for my own collection.  If you are a wood crafter perhaps you should consider making wood utensils .  I believe that the wood crafters at the fair do a brisk business during the entire fair.  I purchased other fabulous one-of-a-kind items at the Toji Shrine fair and they encourage me to make every effort to attend another fair in the future.  Hope you will one day make an effort to travel to Japan and see a Toji Shrine fair for yourself.  I'm positive that you will be enthralled by the excitement and cultural beauty of the event.

Wappen and Shaker Charm Pouches

 While in Japan at the Japan Hobby Show and ABC Crafts store in Osaka, I finally saw the Wappen products (shown by Joy of Crafting) and shaker zippered charm pouches.  I am having fun personalizing clip on gifts with patches and plastic charms.  Rather than ironing on the patches, I am using Fabri-Tac 3 in 1 glue...it's faster.

For the cupcake fuzzy Wappen I added the French fries, strawberry and duck because I think the recipient can relate to them.  I only glued on a bee to the fuzzy bear because I thought it looked good on his tummy, and we all know that bears love honey.

Here are other fuzzy Wappen animals that I will decorate soon.

These Wappen straps will make good handles for small wallets/bags and are fun to personalize.  

Other new items I saw at the Japan Hobby Show and ABC Crafts in Osaka were charm pouches.  With these zippered pouches, small plastic charms, confetti, and colorful fillers were offered for sale.  It's actually really fun to fill the pouches with little trinkets, confetti and tiny pom poms (from Daiso). The neat part is that the items can be changed out or swapped with friends.  

I think these two new craft products (plus the embellishments) are addictive and fun to personalize. 

Both young children and teenagers will love going to HM Ben Franklin Crafts to satisfy their new cravings. You won't mind treating them to no-calorie goodies and they'll be happy to personalized their backpacks, purses and athletic bags.

Squirrel in a Jar Birthday Card

 My almost 5 year-old grandson has a fondness for squirrels and a grey cat for a best friend, so I just had to include them on his birthday card.  I enjoy the challenge of making shaker confetti cards and I thought the wood handled jar stamp (Recollections) would make a great container for the confetti and squirrel.  I stamped the cat first and made a paper mask to protect it when I stamped the jar over the cat. Next, I hand cut the jar opening, covered it from behind with clear acetate film and lined around the jar with foam tape.  The cavity was filled with one hand stamped and colored squirrel (Hero Arts) and some sparkly confetti.  Another piece of acetate film was used to seal in the confetti and squirrel.  The cat and jar were colored in with Copic pens before the card front was attached to the card blank with more foam tape.  A party hat sticker was added along with a printed 'Make A Wish' label. I think it is a card that a 5 year old squirrel loving, cat owning kid will like and I am excited to give it to him even though I'm sure he'll like the toys and other gifts we give him more than a homemade card that his odd grandma created...LOL! 

Cherry Blossoms and the Japan Hobby Show

We just returned from Japan where it was the ending of the cherry blossom season.  The flowering trees were still beautiful though and we enjoyed the showers of pink petals every time the wind blew.  Many young couples and families were still celebrating the tradition of picnicking under the cherry blossom trees in the parks. It was picturesque and romantic.

 

Seeing the cherry blossom trees was just a bonus.  We really traveled to Japan to attend the Japan Hobby Show in Big Site, Tokyo.  A group of HM Ben Franklin Crafts craft employees also attended the show.  This year our company did not man a BF craft or Ace Hardware booth and this allowed the merchandisers to see more of the show and select exciting new products to sell in our stores.  

Besides the usual abundance of fabrics and sewing notions, this year I saw lots of easy novelty crafts which I think will truly appeal to our local crafters.  There were a lot of kits for sale so I think you will be seeing many new ones in our HM BFC stores.  The Japanese are excellent at making kits with instructions that are easy to follow without translating.  Please check out the HM Ben Franklin Crafts stores to see the latest Japanese kits, products, and supplies which our merchandisers have chosen just tor you!

Daruma Wish Card

                                       

Japanese folklore says that you should make a wish and paint an eye on a daruma doll  When the wish comes true you can then paint the other eye onto the doll.  I like this tradition because it offers hope that wishes really can come true.  This card was created to celebrate this Japanese custom and was inspired by the Hero Arts stencil and a Japanese wood handled rubber stamp.  To get the background effect, I used a stencil brush and a silver ink pad.  I am very satisfied with the outcome of this technique.  The daruma design was stamped with permanent ink and colored in with Copic pens.  To get a shiny surface on the daruma doll I painted it with Glossy Accents. Once it was dry, the images were fussy cut and adhered with adhesive foam dots. For the 'wish' I used some silver foil letter stickers which I found in a long forgotten drawer.  See it is good to be a hoarder!  Because this card was super easy and turned out very close to what I imagined, I am thrilled and surely will make more cards like this. *W*I*S*H* Granted!