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!

 



Summer's really here and so is a new Joy of Crafting Show!

We have some Hot crafts to match the weather on this new Joy of Crafting Show! New crafters, too!

First, we start off with a new unique item! Jenny Floro shows us how to use Paper Laminate. A new item from Japan available at our Oahu stores. Lots of great uses!

One of favorite guy crafters is back with  new project! Dean Ramos shows us his painting skills while paying tribute to this year's Relay for Life. Learn more about the new format for the Magic Island event happening on Saturday July 18.

Next, we introduce you to Takashi Kondo from Japan's Eruberu.

Taka, as we call him, will show us how to use resin to make a kawaii parfait charm! Taka also previews some of the projects for a special event happening on July 11 and 12 at our Mapunapuna store.

Then, we have Erika Pascual from Pearl City BFC.

Erika shows us how to make the sweetest looking mini cake rolls from Hearty Clay!

Thanks for stopping by today and I hope you get a chance to watch the show! Have a great week and Happy Crafting!

WIBD - What I Been Doing

Okay, everyone likes to tag each other on Instagram with #WIDN - What I Doing Now. Well, right now, I'm letting you know about some Free Fun for the whole family! It's been a fun first two weeks of June being a part of the Hawaii State Libray System's Summer Reading Program! This year's theme is Heroes, Everyday Heroes and Super Heroes!

Our HouseMart Ben Franklin Crafts and Ace Hardware stores are visiting libraries across the state, on all islands, including Molokai and Lanai this year! We're bringing our HouseMart Superhero Academy where keiki of all ages can learn some Hardware Science and do a little crafting, too! Check here to see our  library schedule.

So, what's it like? Take a look!

 

Lots of keiki and parents excited to try their hand at Hardware Science experiments

 

Test your reflexes! Are you as fast as The Flash!?

 

Learn about Inertia with this cup challenge!

 

 

Put on a cape and fly like Superman for a fun photo!

 

Make a Super Bear Bookmark you can use for your Summer Reading Program!

So, get out of the Bat Cave and join us for some Super Fun at the Libraries!

Hope to see you there!

 

 

 

 

We Love Crafts!

Literally, we do! And we know that you do, too. But, do you know about our We Love Crafts weekly contest? It's probably the most easiest way to win a $20 gift card from HouseMart Ben Franklin Crafts.

All you need to do is make something, which you probably already did.

Then, take a photo of what you made. Email your photo along with a list of supplies you used to make your project and your mailing address to joyofcrafting@gmail.com.

Then, check our Ben Franklin Crafts website on Friday at Noon Hawaii Time and see who won for the week! It could be you! This week, it's Julie O'Neil of Kapolei! Congratulations, Julie!

See how easy it is? You're already crafting, why not share what you made and possibly get rewarded for sharing! All of these crafters did, plus many more!

Stephanie Huff

Erin Kobashigawa

Kimberly Lewis

So, what are you waiting for? Start taking those photos!
Thanks for stopping by today and have an awesome weekend!

Our second show for May!

Lots of new and talented friends on our second May show! We start the show with a two-time winner of our We Love Crafts weekly contest!

Micah Torigoe is a young and talented card maker! A lot of you will envy his Copic coloring style,too.

On the show, he'll use Sister Stamps' Pua to make a sweet Congratulations card.

Next, we have the crew from the Hawaii State Library System tell us what is in store for this year's Summer reading program. The theme is everyday Heroes and Super Heroes!

 

This Super Heroe craft kit is one of the incentive prizes keiki can get for reading a book every week! HouseMart Ben Franklin Crafts and Ace Hardware stores across the state will be visiting the different libraries, sharing Hardware Science and crafts!

 

Another event we participate in during the summer is Relay for Life. On Oahu, we'll be at the Magic Island relay which will be on Saturday, July 18. This year, it's only six hours long from 6pm to Midnight. Hope to see you there!

 

We will be helping people with the Luminaria, which is what Erwin Saenz from the American Cancer Society made on the show.

Thanks for stopping by today and I hope you're able to catch this show! Have a great week!

Take a Step Back to Really See

Went on my first "real" vacation in a long time, it was a family trip to see my Niece graduate from college in Utah. While I was there, we went to a really cool museum called The Leonardo, as in Leonardo Da Vinci, the great inventor and artist.

Everything was very interactive and you could touch things which made it really fun for me. My favorite area was on the first floor, an area called Spark! Ignite Creativity. The people who created the exhibits were asked " How would you make the world a better place?"

So, there were things like a wishing tree where you could write a wish and attach it to the tree or you could fold an origami crane.

Visitors are asked the question "What will you make possible?" In one area, there were pieces of cardboard and markers. You could decorate a piece to add to the "Love Wall" So fun, so cool!

Off to the side was this message which sums up all the little pieces of cardboard art.

Because I was so busy looking at the individual pieces of art and just the whole set up, I didn't notice what the art on the wall said until I decided I wanted one picture of the wall. I saw it later when I was going through my photos. It said...

LOVE

 

 

That is why I say, sometimes we just need to step back a little to take in the whole picture and get the real message.

 

Thanks for stopping by today and I hope you have an awesome weekend!

Paper, Scissors, SCRAP!

This Saturday is not just for Scrapbookers, it's for all of us paper art crazies! Join us at Ben Franklin Crafts for a couple of hours of makes and takes and demos using some of our new papercrafting toys!

Come to Pearl City from 10 am to 12noon or from 1pm -to 3pm at the five other Ben Franklin Crafts locations this Saturday, May 16. Learn how to use the Hero Arts Ombre Ink pads while making a card, make a card for your pocket scrapbooking using Sizzix dies, learn about the Ink Sheets by Sizzix or check out all the different WeR Punch Boards! See here for more details.

 

Plus, stores have added their own demos or make/takes, too! So, come and join the fun!

 

And, if you are active or retired Military personnel, show your Military ID to get 20% off your purchase!* (*see here for details, some exclusions apply).

 

So, hope to see you Saturday!

 

 

Our first show for May!

The months are going by so fast! If you're graduating or know someone who is, I bet you're thinking the same thing! Well, this month we have a lot of fun ideas for your graduates!

 We start the show with our Beader Extradonairre, Gayle! She shows us how to make a beaded grad cap! You can use any size beads but Gayle uses large beads so we all can see better!

Then, we have one of our HM High Board members, Sarah, who is a Senior at Leilehua High School! Sarah shows us how to put together a great Memory Jar.

One of the great things we have in our stores are the HM High stickers. Kurt and Aleya shows us some fun ideas you can use these stickers for.

Thanks for stopping by today and I hope you can tune it to get some ideas for your graduates!