Time for Shopping

It's been awhile since I went on a shopping excursion to Ben Franklin Crafts.  Oh my, I was excited by the goodies that were waiting for me there!  From American Crafts I found a whole range of new 12x12 double-sided papers and paper packs....gorgeously retro!  To go with the papers were lots of embellishments including a wonderful 24 roll package of ribbons for under a $1 per roll!
    
                                   

To match with the colors of their current paper line, American Crafts offers spray bottles of color called Mister Huey's color mists.  I love spraying on color to age my papers to a believable vintage shade. The gold and silver sprays are perfect for adding a metallic shimmer to your paper craft projects.

Just in time for me to create a special wedding card for a favorite relative, I discovered these Jolee's Boutique stickers which look like cake frosting.  They are some sort of soft plastic which I hope will allow me to fabricate an almost-edible wedding cake card....wish me luck. I will post the card if I am successful.

    

From the beading department of Ben Franklin Crafts I eagerly grabbed some inexpensive beaded chains from a new Cousins line of products with a religious cross theme.  Part of this new product line were tumbled gemstones and charming charms.

As you probably already know, animal prints are in fashion.  At BFC they come in many colors and are on everything including organza rolls, hair ornaments, jewelry, ribbon, and even duct tape.  I know all you fashionable crafters will be wearing and crafting with these animal print inspired products. Let your imagination run WILD grrr-rr-rrr!

I had a wonderful time shopping at BFC.  I'm never bored there, always find inspiration for crafting, and can usually find a bargain.  Find your smile at Ben Franklin Crafts.....see you there!

For the Graduate

This year I had two graduation cards to make, one for a medical school graduate and the other for his sister, a graduate from Puget Sound University.  Because I just purchased some local die cut Hawaiian theme designs from Ben Franklin Crafts, I decided the nephew graduating from the UH med school would appreciate a local looking card.  I started by coloring in the center of the white plumerias with orange and yellow chalk.  Next I sprayed Mr. Huey's gold mist on the fern leaves that I cut apart.  Using my Eclips machine and a newly purchased cartridge called 'Basic Shapes', I cut out the label for the words and a shadow to form a border.  I love, love, love the Basic Shape cartridge because it not only has lot of great shapes there are lots of added features you can make with each shape, like borders, shadows, outlines etc. The best part is that I can make dozens of each shape at one time so I always have labels on hand for the next quicky card I have to crank out.  The background for the card is a honu print vellum paper that I purchased from the sale table at Ben Franklin Crafts.....love the bargains!  Inside the card I used extra vellum to form a pocket for the graduation cash.  The stamped words and images are from inexpensive stamp sets I purchased over the years.... now is a.good time to add to your stash of graduation stamps.  Well, time to start on the next graduation card and post it.  Thanks for visiting my blog....please stop back again.....soon!        

           

Golden Week in Japan

Oh, it is so good to be back in Hilo after two weeks in Japan during the Golden Week Celebration.  Normally Japan is crowded but during this holiday time the tourist attractions seemed even more packed with families on vacation,  We had a great time anyway....eating and shopping our way through Tokyo, Osaka, Hiroshima, Miyajima and Kyoto.  Yup, it was a hard-on-your-feet trip and makes me understand more why Japanese are, in general, very thin.  At the start of our trip, we did a quick look at the Japan Hobby and Craft Show where surprise, surprise, we saw Joy (Joy of Crafting) who was busy doing demos/classes.  Checking out our favorite craft stores, we discovered sweet dessert decorations and resin jewelry are still very popular.  I really hope we can get these crafts in our Ben Franklin Stores.  As I unpack and catch up with blog reading, I'll leave you with a few photos from our trip.  My husband took most of them with help from my critical viewpoint. LOL!

Joy at the Japan Hobby Show

      Imperial Palace in Tokyo

Deer invading shop in Miyajima

                                                      Hiroshima A-Bomb Dome

                                                Gold-leaf Kinkakuji in Kyoto

Happy Mother's Day

I'm still recovering and unpacking craft stuff from my recent trip (photos to follow in next post), but I couldn't resist making a card for all you blogger moms.  I hope you like it.  I kept it simple and used supplies which all can be found in Ben Franklin Crafts (see bottom photo), except for the rose washi tape which should be in our Celebrations store very soon along with other wider realistic paper tapes.  If you haven't used the paper tapes yet, I'm sure you'll love them as they are tearable and repositionable. Oh yes, the words for the card were cut using the phrase from the starter cartridge which comes with the Eclips machine. I set the size for around 2" and amazingly the Eclips was able to cut the delicate, teeny-tiny, letters.....amazing!  Be good to your mom.....you know she loves you!
                                            

Simply Asian

I like the simplicity of Asian designs and so I couldn't resist the Hero Art set of stamp and embossing folder that looks like a stalk of bamboo. Using Tsukineko waterbased brush tipped marking pens, I colored the rubber stamp and misted it lightly before stamping it on watercolor paper. This faux watercolor painting was then mounted on specialty papers and a ribbon and sticker were added. On the blue green card the stamped design was embossed before attaching to the card with Merikan tape. Having a stash of all occasion cards like these makes it a cinch to add an appropriate sentiment and send it out to acknowledge a special event or express sympathy. When you have spare time why not whip up a few of these Asian inspired so you'll be prepared for the day when you just don't have time to spare but you really want to send a handcrafted card to show your heartfelt emotion. Thanks for visiting. Smile and enjoy your day!

Hungar Games Pendant

I love it when I can design and make a piece of jewelry that seems to tell a story. This piece started with the resin piece (I included a Vintaj brass bird as my homage to the Hunger Games) and slowly chose other charms which seemed to fit well together. Ben Franklin Crafts carries a plethora of charms in both their bead and papercraft departments. For strength (some of the charms, like the Prima bird cage are heavy) I used Vintaj chains and for color I added a turquoise leather cord to match the bird charm.
Although not really visible in the photographs, I used the Sizzix Vintaj embossing folders (for metal) on a Vintaj blank copper leaf. The embossing is really easy to do and makes the flat metal come to life. Amazingly, the embossing folders can be used in the same Sizzix machines that do the regular paper embossing and die cutting.
Finally, I wanted to show you how I finished the necklace by making my own clasp. I couldn't find the right closure to match the organic look of the necklace so I bent one of the Vintaj metal sprigs into a circle an used a hook on the other end. It really is important to attend to the details in any craft project you attempt because it is what will set your work apart from the ho-hum stuff. Thanks for visiting, now go forth and create!

Boy's Day Fish Box

This year I wanted to make some simple Boy's Day treat containers because I know that once the treats are gone; the box gets tossed out.... (sigh) BOYS! I had this vision of a fish box made from the Sizzix Big Pro die cut candy box. I think I might have seen something similar on the Joy of Crafting (OC16 6:30 pm ) show. (I know Joy made a bat using this box die.) Anyway, the fish box starts with the die cut candy box with one of the ends cut off. Next use washi paper tape to make the stripes on the unfolded box. Apply Merikan tape to form the fish. Cut a 1" circle for the mouth and string a knotted piece of twine throught the center of the circle. Glue the circle onto the mouth area of the fish (which will hold the cut flaps together). Fill the box with treats (from the tail end) and tie the tail closed with more twine. I used Dandelion Designs Boy's Day stamps (paper piecing the kimono) to make a simple tag. Next time I think I will make the tag using the bamboo pole and fish stamps so that the fish box will look like one of the flying Boy's Day fish.....oh well there's always next year. Hapyy Boy's (Children's) Day to the kid in you! Thanks for reading this blog and please leave a comment if you want to make me happy, happpy!