Shrink Art Pendant

Hi there! Today I'll be showing you how to make a cool pendant out of shrink film.

You'll need the following supplies:
- Clear Shrink Film
- Heat It craft tool or toaster oven
- Fine grit sandpaper
- Color pencils
- Jump ring
- Pliers
- Hole puncher
- Sharpie

Optional supplies:
- Large stamp
- Staz On stamp pad

First, decide what your image will be. It should be at least 3-4" tall to accommodate for the shrinking.  You can use a stamp with Staz On ink, or hand draw your image.  I chose to draw mine.  First I drew the image on a piece of white paper.  Then I traced over the lines onto the shrink film with a Sharpie.

Whichever method you choose, make sure your image is lined up either horizontally or vertically on the film to ensure it shrinks evenly.

Next, use a sharp pair of scissors to cut out your image.  Once it is cut out, flip it over and sand the back of the film with the fine grit sandpaper.  Move in horizontal and vertical strokes. Once that side is roughed up you can begin to color your image using the color pencils.  Sanding helps the color pencil adhere to the surface of the film.

Once you are done coloring, use the hole puncher to punch a hole at the top of your image.  Make sure you don't punch it too close to the top so that the hole doesn't crack.

Now you are ready to shrink! You can use a heat tool or a preheated toaster oven to do the shrinking. It happens very fast and don't be frightened if it starts to curl up while it's shrinking, that's just part of the process and it will eventually flatten out again.  Once it stops shrinking you can gently press it down using a flat object to get it nice and even.

 













Once the image is done shrinking it will be a little less than half the size of the original.

Use the pliers to open up and loop the jump ring through the hole.  String it on a chain or piece of cording. You can also add beads or other charms as well.

Now you're ready to show off your new handmade piece of jewelry!

You can stop by our Māpunapuna location throughout the week (excluding Wednesdays) and watch Taka as he creates awesome pieces of jewelry that combine shrink film and resin.

Hope you enjoyed this project and until next time, happy crafting!

Rachel @ Māpunapuna

RTD Recycled Notebook!

We have an awesome variety of kraft colored, ready to decorate notebooks that are so cool and very inexpensive.  

This is a great gift/favor idea for so many occasions.....  turn it into a best wishes/address book for your Grad or classmates, a fun diary or journal for all ages, a gift log for a baby/wedding shower, or a mini scrapbook you can take and share with your friends anywhere!  

The ideas are endless!  I had fun making this example with some of our beautiful card stock, galaxy marker, bakers twine, stamps and stamp pads...I even added a little pocket with double stick tape! 

 So easy and fun, and super affordable...I can't wait to make a bunch and share them with my friends!!!

RAK Card Swap

So, did you know that Saturday, October 6th is World Cardmaking Day? It's such a fun holiday for us crafters because it gives us an excuse to make a ton of cards and have fun while doing it. If you want to have some fun with us, we have a special event taking place at our Enchanted Lake Ben Franklin store. (For those of you who haven't visited us yet, we're located at 1020 Keolu Drive, Kailua, HI.) From 10am to 2pm we'll have a table with cardmaking supplies set up for those of you who would like to get your craft on. We'll also be hosting a RAK (Random Act of Kindness) card swap for the whole day (that's from 9am to 8pm while our store is open) where you can bring in cards that you've made at home and swap them with cards made by us and other customers. It's a good way to get ideas, meet some people like you who enjoy creating cards, and also to show someone a little love with a handmade card. If you plan on bringing in a card to us, please make sure it has an envelope to go with it. We will also have some clear, 5x7 envelopes available for displaying your card swap cards and some samples for inspiration. See you there.

Puna @ Enchanted Lake

Sister Stamps 1st Birthday Bash at Ben Franklin Crafts!

We are excited to announce that we will help celebrate Sister Stamps 1st Birthday with free make 'n takes at our Oahu BFC stores! Create the Gift Bag or Gift Card Holder with Jenny Sakamoto of Sister Stamps! Schedule is as follows:

Celebrate Sister Stamps 1st Birthday at BFC!

Wednesday, July 4th (Independence Day)

10am-12noon at Mapunapuna (Gift Bag)

2-4pm at Pearl City (Gift Bag)

Friday, July 6th

10am-12noon at Enchanted Lake (Gift Card Holder)

Saturday, July 7th

2-4pm at Market City (Gift Card Holder)

*Photo courtesy of Sister Stamps

You may Pre-Order Release 8 (Mariko, Miyoko, Takeo) at any of our Oahu stores. Please visit us for more details. Additional info is also posted on the Sister Stamps blog. Hope you can join us!

Dandelion Designs "Fun in the Sun" Summertime Giveaway

Enter our drawing to win a goodie bag filled with stamps from Dandelion Designs! The stamps are fun summertime designs, perfect for the upcoming summer season.

Goodie Bag from Dandelion Designs (Photo from Dandelion Designs)

Here are the summertime stamps you can win! (Photo from Dandelion Designs)

You may enter the contest by filling out an entry blank at any of our Hawaii Ben Franklin Stores (Enchanted Lake, Market City, Pearl City, Mapunapuna, Kahului or Hilo locations). You may also enter at Kamuela, Kailua-Kona, and Lihue Ace Hardware & Crafts locations. Contest runs from Saturday, April 28th, 2012 to Saturday, May 5th, 2012. One entry per person/per store, no purchase necessary. All entries must be received by May 5th, 2012. We will select one winner per store and winners will be announced on Saturday, May 12th, 2012.

For additional information on the contest, you can visit the Dandelion Designs Blog. Good luck!

*Don't forget to scroll down and read today's earlier post on the latest Crankin' Out Crafts Episode!

Crankin' Out Crafts Episode 23 - Mustache Wrap

Welcome back to Wednesday’s Crankin’ Out Crafts. Brandon’s not really a stache sporter but he can still show you how to make this project.

Don’t let lack of mustaches ruin your celebrations, make this stache-tastic wrapping paper instead. 

For some multi-stache fun, click this link: Crankin' Out Crafts: Episode 23 - Mustache Wrap

  

Here’s the supply list for all you mustache lacking crafters:

Craft paper

Ink

Acrylic paint

Thick foamie

Scissors

We’ve got one more mustache project coming up on Friday. We hope you’ll watch!

RTD Stationary

I'm really loving these new recycled stationary sets! Think of them as blank canvases ready to spark your creativity and get you crafting. The other cool thing is that when you're done you have a coordinating set for your office or some wonderful, handmade gifts and favors. They're really cheap too! Most items will only cost you a dollar and the most expensive is only three dollars.


This is what they look like with no decorations. I know they're pretty boring, but remember what I said about "blank canvases".












My first thought was how easy it would be to decorate a stationary set with my brand new Washi tape. The washi tape comes in a few different colors and a few different designs. For this one I only used one color and I decided on a simple stripe design. It only took fifteen minutes for me to make the complete set.

This set is a little more complicated but still pretty easy to put together. I started with the brand new Hero Arts three stamp set. It's called silhouettes, and it made me think about the old cameo jewelry that my great-grandmother used to have. I ended up making a cameo motif with two Marvy Uchida punches, the pink oval punch for the small cream oval and the purple scalloped oval punch for the outer, brown oval. I stamped the silhouettes onto the cream colored ovals with VersaMagic ink in "Jumbo Java." Then I finished off my vintage look by adding some cream colored buttons to the notebooks and pen with a glue gun.



So there it is, some super easy and cute stationary sets that you can put your own stamp on (pun intended, ha ha).

Hope you liked it!

Puna @ Enchanted Lake