March's first Joy of Crafting Show!

There's so much to celebrate in March! First of all, it's National Craft Month! And we have a lot of things going on for that! But, it's also the Joy of Crafting's 299th and 300th shows this month!
So, we have a bunch of Mahalo Gifts to win as a Thank You for supporting the show and HouseMart Ben Franklin Crafts all these years!

 But first, on with the show! Our first guest, Erika from Pearl City BFC shares with us the crafty fun projects for this year's Spring Break Keiki Craft Program!

Erika even shows us how to make one of the projects! The Kaleidoscope Square is just one of ten projects Keiki can make when they sign up for the program running Mon., March 21 through Fri., March 25. You also have the option to just sign up for individual days; there's two projects per day. See the sample display at the stores!

Our next guest,  Fernando Pacheco of OC16's Almost Local TV show,  had me on his show a couple of months ago and now he returns the favor and comes to craft with us! He shares his tips and techniques for making artistic collages!

Our last guest is so crazy talented! Lianne Hirano aka dacraftylilninja makes such intricate clay pieces, it's mind blowing!

She'll show us how she uses Scupley Souffle clay to make a Tako holding a takoyaki. Yes, she is very witty, too!

But, I've saved the  best part for last, details on the Mahalo Gifts! You have multiple ways to enter to win a bunch of prizes like a $20 credit to send your keiki to our Spring Break program, a $20 gift card to get supplies to make your own collage or an awesome piece of clay jewelry handcrafted by Lianne! Beginning Monday, March 7, check the store for entry blanks or enter online at www.benfranklinhawaii.com. And watch the show and learn of one other way to enter!

Thanks again for supporting us all these years and hope you have an awesome week! Happy Crafting!

FlashBackFriday - Were you there?

Flashback to January 2010, we did a "live" taping of the Joy of Crafting show inside the Mapunapuna Ben Franklin Crafts store. It was so much FUN!

We invited about 40 Craft Club members to watch us tape two shows. And we did it "Oprah" style! Everyone in the audience received a goodie bag of snacks to munch on and there were gifts from each segment plus extra prize drawings! We even had a "virtual" viewer who won prizes, too!

Well, this month, The Joy of Crafting Show will be celebrating National Craft Month and also our 299th and 300th shows! We will have chances for you to win different prizes throughout the month, so tune in on Sunday to learn more, OC16 on Oceanic's channel 12 at 6:30 pm!

Thank You All for supporting both the Joy of Crafting show and our HouseMart Ben Franklin Crafts store all these years! Have a great weekend and Happy Crafting!

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!