Good Food for the Body & Soul

One of my favorite topics besides crafting is good food. I like to hear about places to try and I love it when co-workers share their special recipes when we have lunch meetings. So, I was really happy when our company decided to make a cook book to raise funds for Aloha United Way.

There are over 150 recipes in the cookbook and they were all contributed by our employees. Each of our 31 stores and two offices are represented ( my recipe is on pg. 17!)The best part is it only costs $10 and that WHOLE $10 will be donated to the United Way in each of the different islands or regions that it was sold in.

We even did a little commercial for it so I got to sample some of the food and believe me, it was ONO-licious!So, pick up a copy or two today at your local Ben Franklin Crafts, neighbor island Ace Hardware store (Vegas and Seattle area, too) and even Crafts in the City. It's a great gift and you'll be helping your comunity, too.

Thansk for stopping by today and I hope you have a wonderful Thanksgiving!

A FUN way to start a busy week

OK, this is the second post for the day, so please scroll down and read the first one, it's got some good advice! :)

On Sunday, I got up at early and headed to the airport to catch a plane to go to Kahului for the Ben Franklin Craft Fair.Well, I was ready to go but the plane wasn't. Anyway, got there over an hour late, my favorite pecan tarts sold out already (sigh!) but I was still happy to be there. I had brought some make and takes to do and I was ready to craft!

We did the Ho Ho Santa favor. It's really easy, take two 3" red CS circles. Just add a black 1/2" CS strip for the belt and a  silver mirror paper belt buckle to one of the 3" red CS circles.

For the box gusset, you need a 1.5" x 5.5" CS strip. Going lengthwise, score both horinzintal edges 1/4" in. Then going vertically, score both edges 1 1/4" in, leaving a 2" section in the middle. Put some 3/16" double stick tape along the 1/4" horizontal sections. Snip at the scored points to create the flaps. Remove the paper fromt he tape on the center sections and fold up the side sections, forming a "U". Attach the 1/4" flaps to the two circles. Forms a little pocket box for the treats.

I also had a snowman version made the same way. In fact, this technique is great for all kinds of shapes like the Sizix Hello Kitty Head or the Turtle. so many possibilities to make things into favor boxes.

A favorite was the owl french fry boxes I had from Halloween. Here are some friends that crafted with me that day. Dominick Macauley, Vanessa Deanta and Mom Sarada Macauley, all from Maui.

Speaking of friends, I finally got to meet Kris (K-Lusive Kreations) and her adorable family. In fact, I was so excited, I forgot to take a picture with them! DUH! Kicked myself later for that. Kris is so sweet, as many of you know, and she gave me some wonderful goodies, too!She gave me some treats, now how did she know Chocolate Chip with Mac nuts are my favorite Maui CookKwees flavor? And the personalized note pad is so great, I can't believe she stamped every page! WOW!

And look at  this Cute Angel Anya Ornament she made for me. Look at all of the details she added. I know where I'm going to hang it already!

So, even though the plane was broken, my day on Maui was just No Ka Oi! This Thanksgiving, I am especially thankful for all of the new frineds I am making and all of the wonderful people out there who are so kind and thoughtful. Thank you for visiting today and I hope you all have a great Thanksgiving week!

Are You Ready?

That's what everyone seems to be asking...are you ready for the Holidays? Well, I know I'm ready for Thanksgiving so I can have a nice dinner with my family. Push the pause button, relax and enjoy. 'Cause after that, it's Holiday Frenzy! I just LOVE it! So, here's my tips to enjoy the season:

Smile, and the world will smile with you.It'll brighten someone's day and make you feel good
Eat right (as in right before you get too hungry so you don't overeat)
Share your goodies with your co-workers!
Make your list of things to make for gifts, there's still lots of time
Get plenty of rest
Don't stress about the "perfect" gifts, if it's from you...it IS perfect because you thought of them
Have the kids help make gift tags, keeps them busy and everyone will love their designs!
TRY to get  some rest
Don't forget, there's always gift cards
Give of yourself, spending time with each other is always more memorable than spending money
Say "Thank You" when your co-worker gives you a cookie, then go back to the top and repeat

Wishing you all a safe and Happy Holiday Season!

JOC November 09 Show #2

Since I'll be busy at the Ben Franklin Kahului Craft fair tomorrow, thought I'd post this today...
The Holidays are definitely here! On our second November show, we brought back our favorite One Stroke Certified Instructor, Frank Dumlao. He showed us his technique for painting beautiful poinsettias on a charger plate.

Charger plates are great for tablescaping or even just hanging on the wall, especially when they are painted so beautifully. I'm always amazed at how easy Frank makes it look. I'm a OSCI, too, but I just can't wiggle like Frank!

Next, we have Diane Morinaka, our favorite floral designer. She creates a fun wreath in our "Ho Ho Holiday" theme.

Notice how there isn't a bow on the wreath? Instead the "Ho Ho Ho" sign and colorful ball ornaments create the focal interest.

Our last guest is always FIRST on our minds when we think of great stamping ideas. Cheryl Miyashiro created an easy gift card holder, perfect for this season of giving!

Cheryl used Hero Arts Christmas Clear Designs for her project. She even shares some of her tips on how to add color to your stamped designs faster.

Hope that you are all enjoying the Holidays as I know you're all busy making so many handmade and heartfelt gifts and cards for your families and friends. Take care and remember to take time out for yourself!Happy Holidays and Happy Crafting!

Paper Forest

Making samples has left me with a bunch of scraps, seems I just can't throw anything away! So, I thought I'd get ready for Christmas with some little tree ornaments. All you need are three circles of printed CS, preferably double-sided. I made my circles 4", 3.5" and  3".

Now, for the next part, you can be precise by scoring, but I just folded mine up to get the crease. First, I folded them in half. Then, I opened them up and folded them in half the other way. I marked the crease lines with a pen so you can see it better.

Then, I matched up the folds diagonally and folded them in half. Do this in both diagonal directions. You should end up with 8 sections.

Next, you need to fold each "piece of the pie" in the middle, but this time you do a valley fold (dotted lines).

Then, I snipped each of these sections to a make short points between each section. Repeat these steps for all three circles.

To string them together, I threaded a thin metallic cording on a large eye needle.Tied a small facet bead to one end of the cording. Going from the bottom up, I poked a hole through the tip of the largest tree. The tree is held in place by the bead. Left a litle cording above the tree,  then strung and tied another bead on. Strung the middle tree on. Continued the same with the smallest tree. Strung a star bead on top and tied the cord into a loop for hanging.Finished it with with some Stickles accents around the tree. Fast and easy, soon you'll have a whole forest!

Thanks for stopping by today and I hope you're having a great week!

Glass Eggs, Oh Deer!

Sometimes, you just want to have fun and that's egg-xactly what I did a little while ago. I had bought some clear glass eggs and I decided to make a herd of reindeer. So here's my first one, Ume aka Rudolph's cousin.

I call her Ume because I like to use those red pom poms for ume on my musubi ornaments. The supplies are basic and the decorations are what ever you want.

I used Spice Brown Ceramcoat acrylic paint inside of the egg, swirled it around. Cover the hole with some  folded up paper towel to protect youself from cuts or paint. Don't forget to place the egg upside down in a cup to drain out the excess paint. Then I cut some ears out of felt. Twisted some chenille stems into antlers. Gave her 12mm moving eyes and that 1/2" red pom pom for her nose. All Pau!

So, this season while you're bustling around, take time to have some fun! Thanks for stopping by today and have a GREAT weekend!

Favorite Project

When we were at the Wedding Expo, a lot of brides-to-be mentioned that they had picked brown and pink for their colors with a cherry blossom theme. Here is one project that a lot of the guys were interested in making.

It's a version of the Vellum Lantern using  the Sizzix Cherry Blossom branch die to decorate the side panels.
Inside of the lantern, we use battery operated T-lites to create that romantic candlelight mood. In this pic, it looks more Halloween-ish but IRL it looks good with the candle flickering inside.

If you're curious as to how it was made, here's the instructions. In the past, we've used printed vellum or plain vellum with stamped images. This also makes a one-of-kind gift if you print out photos or favorite sayings onto the vellum and use that for the panels.

Thanks for taking time out of your day to stop by! Happy Crafting!

JOC First November show

Wow! November is already here and we have two new shows this month. On this first show we have some of our favorite crafty people on. We started out with Diane Morinaka, our floral designer at the Mapunapuna BFC. She did a beautiful Holiday wreath with lots of glittery golds.She always makes it look so easy!

Next, we have our favorite Paper Crafter, Cheryl Miyashiro. This time she did her own version of a Waterfall card and made it into a cute Mini Album featuring her and hubby.

She used Hero Arts Christmas Clear Designs to embellish her pages and cover. Really cute!

 Our last guest is known all over the world for his One Stroke and faux finish painting. Frank Dumlao is not only talented but he is also a very giving person, always sharing his skills and ideas. We just LOVE him!

On this show, he showed us how to use gesso, gold leaf sizing and glitter to create your own glitzy ornaments. Just in time for your Holiday Tree decorating!

Thanks for stopping by today and I hope the show gets you into the Holiday Crafting spirit!