Eclips Calendar

I've got good news for all those people who want a chance to try out the Eclips machine before they buy it. Coming up in September, our Enchanted Lake store is going to be offering an Eclips workshop. For just $25 you'll can make a 2012 calendar and get a chance to use the Eclips machine. The workshops are taking place on the 10th and the 24th of September from 3pm to 5:30pm. Here's a sneak peak at the calendar. What do you think? Pretty cute huh? All the mats in the calendar are cut for 3x5 inch photos so if you sign up for the workshop you can even bring in some pictures to put in your new calendar.

Hope to see you there!

Puna @ Ben Franklin

HOUSE PARTY @ PEARL CITY BEN FRANKLIN

Join us on Saturday, August 27th for a fun-filled day of crafting! Our HOUSE PARTY begins at 10am with some of your favorite crafters, make-n-takes and demonstrations! There will be music, balloons and prizes! Stamping, Painting and Card Making! Beaded Charms, Nylon Flowers, Feather Hair Extensions, and Kumihimo! Sample a cake-pop! Featuring the Big Shot, Cinch and our newest addition, the EClips! Sponsors include the Rubber Stamp Plantation, Sizzix, Dandelion, and Hero Arts! SEE YOU THERE!
Gloria @ Pearl City BFC

It's a Kawaii Halloween!!

I LOVE Halloween and I LOVE Kawaii things so here's what resulted from combining two of my favorite things! I went with a classic monster theme but gave it a cute spin. These can be done with shape cutters and or paper punches depending on what size you want the end result to be. I had a lot of fun trying to come up with the different faces by using very basic shapes but if I was able to do it, I know you can too! Need a little help trying to put a name to the face? Well here are the answers:


At our Mapunapuna store we have everything you need all set up on an end cap for your shopping convenience so stop by to check out all the awesome Halloween goodies we have!

I'll see ya at the store!
Lynn @ Mapunapuna BFC

Clearly it's Halloween

I've been on a bit of a clear trend lately. I had so much fun creating last week's clear favor that I decided to do another clear project. Today I'm doing a card using our clear acetate sheets and my newest favorite toy, the Eclips machine.

If you've never heard of the Eclips before you're in for a special treat. It's the newest, most high tech, electronic cutter brought out by Sizzix, the same people who did the Big Shot and Big Shot Pro. Right now at our Ben Franklin stores the Eclips machine is on sale for a limited time for only $260 rather than it's usual price of $400. Even the cartridges are marked down $10 off the original price. I've got to get one of these! The thing I like the best about this cutter is that it's so intuitive it's almost like it already knows what I want to do. I don't have to think at all, I can just cut, cut, cut!

Anyway, back to my card. I used the "Holiday" cartridge for all the shapes. This cartridge has a bunch of great seasonal stuff on it from Easter to New Years. The Halloween section of shapes is chock full of great designs. I cut out a black tree and haunted house, then on white paper, a fence, some windows, a door, the moon, and "boo" just for fun.

After putting it all together on a clear 6 inch square card, this is what my design looks like. Pretty neat huh?

If you want to learn more about the Eclips machine, we'll be doing some demos in our store and later a workshop for people who want a more hands-on approach. Check in with us for more info.

Now, I wonder what other kinds of clear stuff we have hanging around...

Puna @ Enchanted Lake

Christmas Is Coming!

Yes, I realize that it's only August, but the holidays are quickly on their way! (Plus, a friend of mine said that crafters are like fashion photographers...always in the wrong season. Does this mean Christmas ornaments in August = bathing suits in December? Hmmm...)

One of the Christmas craft items that we've gotten in recently are wooden boxes, ornaments, and other cute little things. They're fun to decorate and super affordable, ranging around $2 - $10. Come stock up on little boxes and containers to decorate and use when the holidays finally do arrive. They make great gifts or packaging for gifts! You can find decorated samples of many of the wood items in our store.

Here's a little sneak peek at the other Christmas goodies we've been getting in. You'll see some of the staples you always need, like gift boxes and bags, and also ornaments, Hello Kitty, and a couple of new friends, Kai-Lan and her buddy Rintoo! Stop by to see all the new things we've been adding to our shelves and get a head start on your Christmas decorating!

See you soon!

~Jen at Hilo Ben Franklin

Mapunapuna Bead Shop Demos!

Here are our bead shop demos for the next 2 weekends! On Saturday August 20th and 27th we'll show you how to make the Camelot Bracelet! It's using leather woven through chain with some crystals in between. I get a lot of customers asking me how to attach a clasp to leather cords and in this demo I'll show you how to do just that by using wire!





On Sunday August 21st and 28th I'll show you how to make these dragon fly & lotus earrings!
Come in to see just how easy it is to bend Vintaj Brass Embellishments to create beautiful jewelry! Since these earrings won't take very long to make, I'll also show you how to make the Mehndi Ring!




This has been a very popular demo for us and we've gotten in some beautiful beads that will make the perfect focal for this ring! Our Bead shop demos are always between 2 and 3 PM so I hope you can make it!!

I'll see you at the store!

Lynn @ Mapunapuna Bead Shop

Favor-ite Halloween Container

Did you know you only have two months to get your spooky on? That's right, just two short months until that frightfully fun holiday, Halloween. Don't worry, our Ben Franklin stores are already getting geared up to help you with all your ghoulish needs. Check out this cute and fast favor project:

All you need to put one of these favors together is some Halloween scrapbooking paper, stickers, stamps, a white paint pen, and a StazOn stamp pad. I used some great paper and sticker embellishments from K&Company for both of my favors.

Using the StazOn ink and your choice of stamps, stamp your images onto the lid of the favor. You usually have to be pretty careful stamping on such a smooth surface, but because this favor was for Halloween, I didn't care if my images came out a little blurred or messy. I think it gave them an eerie quality. Then, use the white paint pen (for this project I used a Decocolor pen) to color under your stamped images on the inside of the lid.

Next, to finish up the favor, I used a circle cutter to cut a 4.5 inch circle from my scrapbooking paper and lined the inside of my lid with it. Then, I added some sticker embellishments to the sides and the top of the favor and a little bit of punky-cute tulle.

There are so many things that can be done with these awesome clear containers, and for under two dollars you can put together a lot of trendy gifts or favors like the ones I just made.

Thanks for reading!

Puna @ Enchanted Lake