A Special Saturday!

I spent last Saturday at the Special Olympics at UH. OC16 had a tent in the Olympic Town where we made fans for people to use when it got hotter in the afternoon. Meeting the athletes was really fun and inspiring. Most of them participate in a number of the sports, not just one. I can only imagine how much hard work and dedication they put into it. But the best part is the spirit of good sportsmanship and camaraderie that they all have.

We had fun in our booth with Merlinda Garma from Hawaii Skin Diver. Did you know she's a recent UH Law School Graduate?



James with his sweet little girl

And of course the Bruddahs were there! They had the crowd laughing like crazy at the main tent across from us. They really know how to appeal to all ages.

And it wouldn't be an OC16 event without Tiny Tadani!

All in all, it was a great day to be Crafting in the Community! Thanks for stopping by today and I hope you are having a great Memorial Day weekend!

Hot Wheels!

Remember the show "Pimp My Ride"? Well, look at what Swarovski Crystal did to this Toyota (Venza, I think) at the Japan Hobby Show! The coolest thing is that even though there was a rope around the car, you could get really close to the car and see the details, the photos don't do it justice.

Here's the front grill.

Here's the head lights! I really liked the look of this.

Here's the door handles.

And here's the interior dashboard!

The back opened up with a full stereo system.

And lots of video screens, all blinged out!

And let's not forget the wheels!

I don't know how long it look them to do this and how many crystals it took, but I did see them changing the car battery on the second day of the show.

Well, so far I've only added a Chococat license plate holder to my ride. Hmmm, makes me start thinking!

Thanks for stopping by today for my show and tell! Have a great week!

May's second Joy of Crafting Show

It's already time for a new Joy of Crafting show! Here's what we have in store for you...

Lisa Adams is back with another doodlebug designs project. This time she is making a cute "onesie" theme card.

Then, Cheri from Market City teaches us a new lei form Lei book 10. It's the beautiful 88th Birthday lei!

Lastly, I show you how to make a simple mini scrapbook with pages that flip out. It's great for carrying around in your bag.There's a project sheet for it, too.

If you've noticed, I don't have many photos on this post. I don't know what happend to the pictures, I can't find it anywhere on my memory card or camera! It's a real mystery for me.

Anyway, Thank You so much for stopping by today and I hope you get a chance in the next two weeks to watch the show. Until the next time, Happy Crafting and have a great week!

May Day Memories

This year, we participated in the 85th Annual Lei Day Celebration at Kapiolani Park. It was really fun! We got to see some familiar faces and we made a lot of new friends, too!

Puna from Enchanted Lake, Holly and Cheri from Market City and Gloria form Pearl City joined me as we demo'd lei and flower making. We also did some simple make and takes.

Here's my "real money" version of Gloria's flower make and take using three dollar bills.

Here's a simple May Day Girl done with punches. This one was pinned onto people to wear.

We got to see the May Day court as they passed our tent.

Here's this year's May Day Queen, Pomaika inokeakua Lenore Klein.

This is how I look when I'm smiling!

But the most cute visitors were our furry friends, all decked out in lei, too!

This little cutie makes regular visits to Ben Franklin with her Papa.

Thanks to all who stopped by that day and also to you for stopping by today! Hope you all have a Great weekend!

Do I hear an Echo?

Maybe not an echo, but I know the paper was calling me when I entered the store.They were saying, "Joy, we're here, come on over! Gotta check us out!" Well, I have always been a fan of Echo Park and so I was super stoked when I found these cuties at Mapunapuna!

Double-sided, nice and thick cardstock with fun and whimsical designs, like the cameras and bingo cards.

And here's the flip side!

Love these cards, great for journaling  or cardmaking.

And I just had to get this stripe!

Birthday Girl and Birthday Boy are really fun designs, too!

More gorgeous designs!

I'm not sure what I want to make with these papers but I have a few ideas, hopefully I can find some time this weekend to play with them.

Thanks for stopping by today and I hope you can find the time for some Happy Crafting this weekend, too!



Good Things come in small packages

You all know that I LOVE dandelion designs, Jean always makes the cutest designs! Well, I just couldn't wait to play with these new minis - all seven of them!

Aren't they adorable? 6 girls and one boy, it's like one stamp for each day of the week!

I decided to write their names on the sides of the stamps until I get to know them better. Guess I didn't need to write Kenji since he's the only boy.

I just colored them up with pencils.

And then I made one into a marble paper weight.

And the other one is decorating a tiny paper mache box, perfect for a small gift.

They are great for quick projects and well, did I say they were so cute? Thanks for stopping by today and I hope you have a great weekend!



Bloom with what you got planted

So, I keep hearing on the news that there's a shortage of flowers for lei this year. I even saw how they are using plastic crown flowers as spacers to make the lei.Well, let's go back to small kid time...

And make a paper lei! I know you must have a flower shape punch or die lying around. Let's use it to make a fun lei.

Here, I'm using a new punch I just picked up, EK Success Dandelion Burst (cute name!) and an 1/8" hole punch for the center holes so I can string up the flowers.

I used colorful Amercan Crafts cardstock and punched about 6 flowers each in 6 different colors.

Next, I gathered plastic flower beads and crystal clear 6mm facet beads to use as spacers.I decided to just use the nylon filament to string them up so I wouldn't need a needle.

I just strung the beads and flowers up. I did one facet bead, one flower bead, another facet bead and then a paper flower. I repeated this pattern until I had a nice lei length. Tied the two ends together.

It was so easy and it's perfect for the keiki to do! Just make sure you're one of the last to give the lei so yours is on top and won't get crushed!LOL!

Have fun and remember, when life leaves you with scraps of paper, make lei!Thanks for stopping by today and have a great week!

Here today, gone to Maui

Happy Aloha Friday! Just trying to get back into the swing of things and what better way then a community event!

Tomorrow I'll be at the Maui Matsuri festival from 2 - 7 pm. The event is held at the UH Maui Campus.There'll be lots of cultural sharing going on with music, dancing, crafts and FOOD!

We'll be there doing some free make and takes, so stop by if you're on Maui! I would love to see you!

Have a great weekend and Happy Mother's Day to all the Moms!

The first Joy of Crafting Show for May

Wow, it's been awhile, hasn't it? Thanks to everyone for their continued support! Well, May is here with a new show and a new crafter!

Our first guest is Cory Chagami, who wears many hats in our company. He is definitely left brain and right brain! He has many artistic talents and on this episode he shares a fun card technique.

Cory goes over the basic steps of planning and creating your own simple pop-up card. Here, he shares his Mother's Day card sample.

Next, we have a dear friend who visits us twice a year, Lisa Adams.

This time, Lisa decorates a chipboard pennant. It's a great project that you can use for a lot of different occasions.

Lastly, I share another handmade flower technique. These flowers are really fast and easy to make with the new XL and XXL glue dots. We even have a project sheet!

Thanks for stopping by today and hope May is off to a great start for you!