First Snow for November! ...I mean Show!

Ha Ha Ha! It's really beginning to look a lot like Christmas around here! We have a bunch of Holiday crafts for this first November show...

Jenny Floro is back with a trio of snowmen holiday décor! They are super fast to make and can be used for different things.

 

Then, we welcome to the show Pua Cockett from Mapunapuna BFC. Pua shows us her wreath making technique to make a festive design!

Lastly, we have Erika Pascual from Pearl City show us how to make some really cute snowman ornaments that look like snow globes!

Thanks for stopping by today, hope you got more treats than tricks last night!  Here's wishing you a very fun and crafty November!

Second show for CRAFTober!

Fall is just going by so fast! CRAFTober is halfway through and it's time for a new show!

Our first guest is Jenny Floro who shows us how to make some festive wreaths really quickly! Here's a Fall version using some fun burlap ribbon.

Then, she showed us an idea for a Christmas wreath using some traditional colors and the ever popular Chalkboard ribbon!

What? You still haven't made your Halloween costume yet? No worries, Erika from Pearl City BFC has a great idea for you! Be a Trendy Pineapple!

 

Then, we welcomed back Kelli Acopan to the show! Kelli is now teaching card making classes at the Mapunapuna BFC and she showed us how to put together a cute Halloween Shaker card!

Thanks for stopping by today and I hope you having a Crafty month!

 

Some Deer Friends

So how did we spend this CRAFTober morning? We visited our Deer friends at Country Club Seniors at Ala Puumalu Community Park.

 

We look forward to this crafting time with this energetic group.

 

 

For some of them, it's their first time really crafting, isn't that great?!

Everyone had a cute reindeer pin to take home. When I first explain the project, I like to share with them how I take things apart for the supplies. Like the red shiny noses all came from one Christmas berry stem, over 30 noses! And I cut apart the Holly Berry pick so here's enough for 7 reindeer! Knowing this, they can make more for fundraising or other projects.

Thanks for stopping by the blog today! And Thanks Country Club Seniors for the delicious food after the class! Yum!

CRAFTober's First Joy of Crafting Show

I can't believe it's already CRAFTober! Seems like we were just celebrating Aloha Festivals! But here in Hawaii, there is always a reason to make a lei to wear or give away. So, our first guest shares the beauty of lei made from fresh flora and fauna.

 

Kuana Torres Kahele is well known for his musical talent and now he is sharing his lei making skills with  his "Make Lei" DVD.

 

 

Here, he shows us a basic lei made from coconut fronds while giving us some lei making tips! Kuana visited some of our stores in September and will be at the following stores in October:

Oct. 15th Kona Ace Hardware & Crafts from 10am - 12 noon

Oct. 16th Kamuela Ace Hardware & Crafts from 11am - 1pm 

Oct. 17th at Hilo Ben Franklin Crafts from 11 am - 1 pm.

The Holidays will soon be here, starting with Halloween! Do you have your costume yet? Well, here's a fun and easy idea that Alix from Market City shared with us. You can adapt it for adults and children. Do you know what it is? That's right, she's a piñata!

And then we have our TeamHMSA on the show to share with us their new website and blog for Well Being. You should check it out, it's full of great information on how to take better care of your self in all different aspects of life, from food, exercise, mentally with CRAFTS and more! So awesome, we crafters always knew crafting was good for us! Learn more at wellbeinghi.com

Lynelle, one of the crafties at HMSA made a photo collage letter for team member Moani. Great idea for a keepsake or gift!

So, I hope you can join us for this fun filled episode! Have a great week and Happy CRAFTober!

New Crafts from Japan!

CRAFTober has just started and there's already so much exciting crafting going on! L Bell, a Japanese Craft boutique located inside Mapunapuna Ben Franklin Crafts, has been teaching lots of crafters new crafting techniques using resin and a special deco film. Beautiful jewelry pieces and more can be made with a special one part resin.

These parfaits are so easy and so much fun to make!

If you haven't checked out L Bell yet, you really should try and get there this Friday and Saturday! Today and tomorrow from 10am - 6 pm, L Bell has a special holiday event with special guest teachers from Japan to help you with your make and takes! There's even some door prize giveaways!

They even have some fun Holiday designs for Halloween and Christmas!

 

So, hope you can stop by and join us for our World Card Making day event as well as L Bell's Holiday event at Mapunapuna Ben Franklin Crafts!





Woo Hoo! CRAFTober is finally here!

Growing up, I always referred to October as ROCKtober since I love almost all forms of music but especially Rock! Then, about 13 years ago, it really sunk in to me that October is also CRAFTober! 13 years ago on October 20th, the Joy of Crafting premiered on OC16. I remember that day because 1) it was the one year anniversary of my first date with my Hunny. 2) I was sick with a bad head cold and all stuffed up hugging my Kleenex box. So, I barely could keep my eyes open as I watched the show that night.

 

I still get very excited when the 10th month rolls around. So, my fellow Crafties, it's time to get yourself all gussied up and ready for a FUN month! Be sure to "carve out" some time to stop by our stores to see all the Crafty Holiday Happenings!

 

And what more fun way to start CRAFTober than with this Saturday's World Card Making event at all of our HouseMart Ben Franklin Crafts Stores from 10 am - 12 noon.

In the first hour, we'll be demoing the Sizzix Big Shot and show you how to die cut, emboss and use the new ink sheets! We also have a Shaker Card Make and Love using the WeR Fuse for just $3!

 

Then, from 11am - 12 noon , we'll be doing two Make and Loves! A cute Noteworthy Card that includes a pocket for a little notepad for $4. This one is great for adding bags of M&M's or other treats, too!

The second project is a Foldover Gift Card Holder for $3. The great thing about these cards is you can use the designs for different occasions all year long!

Hope you can stop by and join us this Saturday! Have a great CRAFTober!

The second Joy of Crafting Show for September

The current show is the second one for September and it is full of fun crafts! The show opens with Takashi from L Bell.

The last time Takashi was on the show, he showed us how to use the Super UV Crystal resin. This time, Takashi introduces us to a new product called Deco Film.

Using printed napkins and Deco Film, he shows us how to decorate a plain canvas bag into
something fabulous!

Then we have some special segments we did earlier in the year while in Hilo! First, we introduce you to the Hilo's Craft Coordinator, Joy Tassilio (love her name, LOL!)

Joy shows us how to use the WeR Flower Punch Board!

Then, Pat Nakayama, shows us how to make some cute gifts with mason jars!

Hope you can join us! Have a great week!

September's First Joy of Crafting Show!

It's time for a new Joy of Crafting Show! I don't know about you but at this time of the year, I still think about Back to School. And, BTS makes me think of making new friends...

So, meet our new friend, Jon Murakami! Many of you already know him and his awesome drawing talent! I was so happy to finally met Jon IRL (in real life). He has illustrated many books and is one of the artists for those funny Local Kine greeting cards.

On the show, Jon gives us a peek into the cartoon/comic world and tells us about this local artist community. Oh, yeah, and then, of course,  he draws...! LOL!Really fast!

Next, we had Rachel from our Mapunapuna Ben Franklin share some of the projects that the keiki will make during our annual Fall Break Craft Program in October.

Rachel actually shows us one of the coolest projects, too, a rice mosaic. Perfect for National Rice Month!

Then, I use some of new products to make a card. I'll explain how to color with Chameleon pens!

Hope you're able to catch this show! Have a great September!

Meet and Make this Saturday!

Meet and Make, that's my new name for make and takes. Because it's always fun meeting everyone and making new friends while we're crafting! So, I hope you can join me at HouseMart Ben Franklin Crafts Pearl City this Saturday for their Adventures in Crafting event.

I'll be there from 10am - 12 noon and my project is this charm holder that you can add to a bag or your favorite planner! We'll color up three of your favorite Social Media icons and add them to the holder.

I'll have a bunch of different icons to choose from. When I came up with this idea, I knew I wanted to take the tech out of it and be more handmade and etsy-ish, thus the "hand sketched, not perfect" look of the designs.

The chain charm holder plus three charms will be $5. If you want to add more charm designs, it'll just be like adding more pizza toppings, only cheaper, just 50 cents a charm.

Hope you can join us so we can Meet and Make!

August's Second Show

It's time for another new Joy of Crafting Show! We start off the show with a new guest crafter! Joel Kutaka from Celebrations introduces us to their newest teacher!

Shiho Matsuda does some beautiful origami style wrapping and other projects.

 

On this show, she shows how to make an awesome origami pop up box/card embellished with a handmade flower. Look for future classes with Shiho coming up at Celebrations!

Next, we have our fun friend Kelli Taylor from Tierracast share another bracelet kit. This one uses different techniques like setting rivets.

And then we have Deena Zieglar back to share even more cool new things from Sizzix like Ink Sheets!

Hope you enjoyed your Summer, the days seem to be going by so fast! Hope you can catch this show, Happy Crafting!

The first new show for August!

Summer has just zipped by so fast! It's already time for a new show! Hope you all got to do some of your favorite summer activities this year! One of my favorites is coming up at the end of August and I first guest tells us a little about it!

 Gloria from Pearl City Ben Franklin Crafts gives us a sneak peek of what will be happening at their store on Sat., August 29 for their annual store event!

Then she showed us one of the make and takes, Monkey Fist ball woven from paracord.

Then, we have more jewelry making fun with Wyatt White from Beadalon.

This time, Wyatt shows us how to use the award winning 3D Bracelet Jig! It's an amazing tool that will get your creativity going thinking of different designs you could make!

Lastly, I show how you can use shrink plastic, which is often thought as only a kid's craft, into some fun jewelry!

I know you're trying to squeeze out every little bit of summer but I hope you can find time to check out the show! Happy Summer! Happy Crafting!

The second show for July

The current show is the second one for July. It has a nice variety of crafts with some of our favorite crafters!

We start the show with Devin "Ducky" Nakasone and Sharlene Aoki from Prayers on Wings. If you remember Devin's first appearance on the show, he shared his personal inspiration for POW. 

 

This time, Devin shares his brand new book and to celebrate , we make special ducky bookmarks. You can learn more about Prayers on Wings, here.

Next, Gloria from Pearl City BFC shows us her twist on the hot trend of flower crowns. She adds yarn and makes a Mermaid version!

Then, we have Julie from Enchanted Lake BFC shows us a cool resin project, sushi magnets! They look so ono!

Thanks for stopping by today and I hope you're having an awesome summer!

July's First Joy of Crafting Show

For the start of July, we have more from our favorite craft companies! Our first guest is a friend I've known for about 9 years! Let me introduce to you...

Kelli Taylor from Tierracast! The people at Tierracast are great and very passionate about their products. So, Kelli is a perfect fit with them and we were so happy she was able to come here to Hawaii in April.

On the show, Kelli shows how easy it is to  make those wonderful bracelet kits!

 

Next, I made a new friend, Darcy Christensen from American Crafts! I feel like I've known this amazing lady for a long time, she is so full of energy!

 

Darcy showed us how to use the Heidi Swapp Minc machine. It takes any black toner image and adds your choice of foiling to make it Shine! As Heidi Swapp always says, Make Pretty Stuff, and the Minc helps you do that!Oooh, the possibilities!

 

Another new friend is this wonderfully creative lady, Vickie Bentley from Bo Bunny!

 

Using a card as her project, Vickie sowed us some new crafty products from Bo Bunny, like the Pearlescents paints and Glitter pastes and re-usable stencils, plus more!

Thanks for stopping by today and I hope you had a fun Holiday weekend! Hope you can find time to catch this episode with so many new crafts to learn!