# Hobbies and Crafts



## pindiwadli

Do you have any hobbies or crafts that you like to do?I used to knit a lot of dolls, make some crochet bed covers, and have done some long stitch pictures and just recently made some cold porcelain brooches, and cards, I like to have a go at most hand crafts.


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## Iodine

I paint.  We have a bar between our kitchen and living room (no table and chairs) and I've set up an area for me to paint as I listen to music, visit with people or even watch TV.  I also read a lot, I collect rocks and gemstones and have a rock garden outside.


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## Rick

I'm lucky in that my hobby is also my job (although I only work a few hours a day now). I started developing a website in 1995 just for fun. By 2002 it was generating enough money to survive on so I sold the business I had at the time and went into website development full time.


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## Lena51

I love to make jewelry and love all kind of gemstones.  I love to look at them and collect them to make jewelry out of them.  I love to work with my hands and that is a hobby that I can do for hours on in just to keep me busy.  Sometimes I do latch-hook rugs just to see the picture come together.  I am now training to do some wire craft jewelry in my spare time and hopefully I get there soon.


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## loriann

I used to crotchet little dresses and hats for dolls. I use to make some good money with it ten to twelve years ago but now it's just not worth it. Some of my hobbies are reading, walking and listening to music.


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## InsomniacGirl

I used to do a lot of painting and sketching ever since I was a child, but as I got older and had a family to take care of, I had to abandon that...then I developed "artist's block" and find it hard to paint and sketch again.  I did sew little dresses and comforters for my granddaughter when she was a toddler however, and now I've been getting back into sewing again...but to make things for myself. I enjoy photography and like to take photos of our local area, or anything unusual that catches my eye while out! Oh, and I've been getting interested in Geocaching...a fun type of 'treasure hunting'.


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## Elzee

I received a simple point and shoot camera for Mother's Day and now, enjoying photography. I attended an art and painting class for seniors. I didn't feel like learning how to draw but had brought my camera. The instructor bought gadgets and glasses from her kitchen for the students to draw 'still life'. Instead, of sketching, I composed the items for photography and took lots of photos from different positions and angles, and then, later, with a free editing and post processing website, on my computer,  I edited a couple of the photos into painting. So, with a couple of clicks with my 'mouse' I can 'paint' from my photos. Not sure what anyone thinks of my 'painting' but I did have fun composing and editing this photo and 'painting'. PS - if you think this picture is blurry, lean back or look at it from a couple a feet away and then, it won't look so blurry but I think, it then has more depth.


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## SifuPhil

Elzee, I really like your painting of two Dutch shoes and a cruise missile.

JUST KIDDING!

Hobbies? Hmmm ... don't have much time for hobbies with all the writing I'm doing, but I suppose I could list pillaging, burning and wenching.

That's in the _Spring_, of course - no use trying to wench in the dead of winter.


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## R. Zimm

I play the guitar, bass and drums and can write music (mostly jazz) but I am finding it hard to connect with other like minded musicians near me. I recently put an ad on Craig's List and did get one hopeful candidate. We have been corresponding via email and did speak briefly by phone but this transpired over the holidays and now I'll be out of town for a couple of weeks.

At least he sounds like a reliable person since that seems to be a big problem with the average musician. Too many flakes! Anyway, I'm looking forward to setting up a weekly practice and to move ahead with my plan to develop a jazz guitar duo and to play out several times per month to make a few bucks.


The name I thought up for this jazz duo is - "Incogni2" - changing the "toe" ending of incognito to a "too" ending representing a duo. Clever, don't you think?


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## SeaBreeze

R. Zimm said:


> The name I thought up for this jazz duo is - "Incogni2" - changing the "toe" ending of incognito to a "too" ending representing a duo. Clever, don't you think?



Yes, clever, I like it!


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## R. Zimm

^^^ Thanks! It really just popped into my head.


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## Anne

Lots of interesting hobbies here!!!  Has anyone tried Intarsia?  Would love to get into that, but since I'm a bit accident-prone, not sure if it's a good idea.....apparently, you can't make much money from it, because you'd never make up for the time it takes, but would be nice for gifts.... Some pretty patterns here:  http://intarsia.hostcentric.com/home/


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## That Guy

I play guitar but after many years, am still just a I IV V 12-bar noodler . . .   Oh, piano, too...


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## Planxty

My current hobby is photographing wildlife, mainly birds, butterflys, orchids, and the odd landscape, very rarely i will do a pencil sketch.When youngeer i was more active, archery, Kendo, Judo, and Jodo. sadly i had to work away often so could not keep up practicing these and they gradually slipped away.

I love music, and have tried to learn instruments.


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## TWHRider

I macrame'd quite a bit when it was popular.  I used to sew to the point that I made my dress, my son's suit, and his father's suit for the family wedding my son was in.

I used to play softball and volleyball.

Gave up the anything involving close eye work when my eyes started to go south from working on computers for a living.

Gave up sports when my back started to go south from all my horse and snowmobile antics.

I still have my horses, who (yes "who") will be with me until their end times but the days of going on 6 - 8 hour rides, sliding my horse on his butt down a steep hill and digging up the other side, are long gone.

I stay active mukking four stalls on a daily basis<----certainly doesn't qualify in the Hobbies and Crafts category but it keeps me in some semblance of condition:inv:


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## SeaBreeze

Planxty said:


> My current hobby is photographing wildlife, mainly birds, butterflys, orchids, and the odd landscape, very rarely i will do a pencil sketch.When youngeer i was more active, archery, Kendo, Judo, and Jodo. sadly i had to work away often so could not keep up practicing these and they gradually slipped away.
> 
> I love music, and have tried to learn instruments.



Planxty, you have wonderful photographic skills, and I'm sure you have very high quality equipment also.  Your bird photo in your album was refreshing to observe.   I have a small older water-resistant pocket camera I take when outdoors or camping.  It's a 4 megapixle Pentax Optio 43WR, so it's very limited and basic.  My 256MB SanDisk memory card is going bad after all these years, and replacing it before I go on vacation again is a priority for me.  The SD available in stores do not suit this simple older-model camera.



TWHRider said:


> I macrame'd quite a bit when it was popular.  I used to sew to the point that I made my dress, my son's suit, and his father's suit for the family wedding my son was in.
> 
> I used to play softball and volleyball.
> 
> Gave up the anything involving close eye work when my eyes started to go south from working on computers for a living.
> 
> Gave up sports when my back started to go south from all my horse and snowmobile antics.
> 
> I still have my horses, who (yes "who") will be with me until their end times but the days of going on 6 - 8 hour rides, sliding my horse on his butt down a steep hill and digging up the other side, are long gone.
> 
> I stay active mukking four stalls on a daily basis<----certainly doesn't qualify in the Hobbies and Crafts category but it keeps me in some semblance of condition:inv:



TWH, I macramed also, back in the day.  Made a few hanging planters I really liked with jute, but they must gotten thrown out over the years.  Got hubby to play tennis with me for awhile when we were younger, but didn't keep it up.  I never was good at sewing, that would have been a satisfying hobby.

I always felt that hobbies were something that you had interest in, and I know you love your horses, and everything involved in keeping them happy is related, so I would say that mukking is a hobby, just like weeding is related to the hobby of gardening.


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## Planxty

Thanks SeaBreeze, i do indeed have a decent camera a Cannon 40D, no longer made and considered an entry level bit of kit. i started with Nikon Coolpix compacts which i still have and use 4MB , the average phone has better spec than these now. Thanks for your kind comments on my photos.

regards.


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## MercyL

I crochet and intend to add knitting to my repertoire. I also make jewelry when feeling particularly creative and my grip strength cooperates.

I want to get a 3-d printer for jewelry making, though. I could make some awesome hair sticks and combs with a 3-D printer!


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## JustBonee

Anyone know about soldering?  Wish I knew how to weld!  Metal Art is all the rage now it seems.  Around here it is.  
I know that I buy my fair share of it!

Seems like an inexpensive hobby that you can make big bucks doing.


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## SifuPhil

Boo's Mom said:


> Anyone know about soldering?  Wish I knew how to weld!  Metal Art is all the rage now it seems.  Around here it is.
> I know that I buy my fair share of it!
> 
> Seems like an inexpensive hobby that you can make big bucks doing.



Soldering, at least the non-exotic forms, is fairly easy to pick up. You can get an iron and/or a gun fairly cheaply, get some rosin core solder (no flux needed) and just start practicing. Silver soldering is a bit tougher I think, and brazing is a step up in both size and difficulty.

Welding? I gave up on learning it myself when I was working as a mechanic - I think you need either a LOT of time or a good teacher. All the different types - oxy-acetylene, arc, TIG, MIG - make it seem daunting as well, but probably it's like learning any other skill - if you're motivated enough you'll learn it.


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## MercyL

Boo's Mom said:


> Anyone know about soldering?  Wish I knew how to weld!  Metal Art is all the rage now it seems.  Around here it is.
> I know that I buy my fair share of it!
> 
> Seems like an inexpensive hobby that you can make big bucks doing.



I love creating wire wrapped jewelry and I'm ready to try soldering. I found a soldering iron and flux in my husband tools.

I tried soldering 2 pieces of stainless steel wire together and failed. I cleaned the wire between each attempts and placing the flux in different spots along the practice wrap but the solder would not hold.

I'm considering buying a soldering starter kit, then switching from the soldering iron to torch soldering, even thoug I'd much rather use the soldering iron.

It's so frustrating!


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## That Guy

MercyL said:


> It's so frustrating!



Simple soldering is a learned skill and I know you can master it with practice.  Basically, allow the item being soldered to heat up and let the solder flow from the iron to it.  Avoid the fumes, though.  Good luck and have fun!


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## JustBonee

That Guy said:


> Simple soldering is a learned skill and I know you can master it with practice.  Basically, allow the item being soldered to heat up and let the solder flow from the iron to it.  Avoid the fumes, though.  Good luck and have fun!



Something I need to look into!


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## JustBonee

MercyL said:


> I love creating wire wrapped jewelry and I'm ready to try soldering. I found a soldering iron and flux in my husband tools.
> 
> I tried soldering 2 pieces of stainless steel wire together and failed. I cleaned the wire between each attempts and placing the flux in different spots along the practice wrap but the solder would not hold.
> 
> I'm considering buying a soldering starter kit, then switching from the soldering iron to torch soldering, even thoug I'd much rather use the soldering iron.
> 
> It's so frustrating!


Let me know how it goes for you.


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## SifuPhil

MercyL said:


> I love creating wire wrapped jewelry and I'm ready to try soldering. I found a soldering iron and flux in my husband tools.
> 
> I tried soldering 2 pieces of stainless steel wire together and failed. I cleaned the wire between each attempts and placing the flux in different spots along the practice wrap but the solder would not hold.
> 
> I'm considering buying a soldering starter kit, then switching from the soldering iron to torch soldering, even thoug I'd much rather use the soldering iron.
> 
> It's so frustrating!



I believe you need what they call silver solder - it's made expressly for joining metals like stainless steel. Regular old rosin-core plumbing solder won't work.


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## Archer

Planxty said:


> My current hobby is photographing wildlife, mainly birds, butterflys, orchids, and the odd landscape, very rarely i will do a pencil sketch.When youngeer i was more active, archery, Kendo, Judo, and Jodo. sadly i had to work away often so could not keep up practicing these and they gradually slipped away.
> 
> I love music, and have tried to learn instruments.



Hi Planxty,
My favourite hobby/interest is also photography...mostly wildlife/birds in flight, etc, but just about anything else that takes my fancy at the time.


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## Archer

SifuPhil said:


> I believe you need what they call silver solder - it's made expressly for joining metals like stainless steel. Regular old rosin-core plumbing solder won't work.



Just make sure you get the right flux to go with it...


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## rkunsaw

I did all types of welding,Oxygen/acetylene,arc,MIG, and TIG, as part of my job as a *Tool & Die Maker.* Soldering, silver soldering and brazing also.
I don't have a welder of any kind at home. The few occasions I could use one aren't enough to justify the cost.

These days I mostly do projects around the house such as the dam and garden shed in my albums. Gardening is something I have always done and I like practicing my cooking skills by trying or inventing new recipes.

Hunting and fishing were lifelong hobbies that I don't do much of these days.


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## i_am_Lois

I've had numerous hobbies in my lifetime. Papier-mâché, sketching, painting, making lampshades, colorizing black & white photos, making pin cushions from high heeled shoes, sewing, embroidery, crocheting, working with polymer clay, hand sewing mini bean bags, painting mailboxes, whittling wood, making stained glass, making handbags from old books, quilting. I can't seem to stick with one hobby for more than one project, then I'm off to another new craft. I rotate my interests and never get burned out doing just one thing repetitively. I have photos of lots of things I've done, but I'll just post one. View attachment 4696


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## Jillaroo

_That is lovely Lois, it's a letter box i presume, any more pics would love to see them._


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## Diwundrin

Nice job!
I've played with a lot of different crafts too Lois, do you think we might just have short attention spans? 

  It's been fun though hasn't it?


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## i_am_Lois

Jillaroo said:


> _That is lovely Lois, it's a letter box i presume, any more pics would love to see them._



Jillaroo, yes it's my mailbox. Thanks for the compliment. I'll see if I can post a few more photos here for you. Well, it said I could attach 5. View attachment 4697View attachment 4698View attachment 4699View attachment 4700View attachment 4701


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## Jillaroo

_Lovely Lois, i love the leadlight_


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## i_am_Lois

Diwundrin said:


> Nice job!
> I've played with a lot of different crafts too Lois, do you think we might just have short attention spans?
> 
> It's been fun though hasn't it?



I think you hit the nail on the head!:iagree:


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## i_am_Lois

Jillaroo said:


> _Lovely Lois, i love the leadlight_



Thanks again Jillaroo.


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## Happyflowerlady

Lois, it looks like you have been having a lot of fun with your different crafts ! I especially like the fringed lampshade, and have wanted to try doing that for a long time, but haven't ever actually done it. 
I used to enjoy beadwork, and made hatbands for my cowboy hat, then learned knitting, embroidery, and crocheting. I tried sewing, but just am not good at it, so sewing up a rip or putting on a button is as far as I go with that.
I used to have an Omnichord (electric autoharp), and loved playing that, and hope to someday get a Q-Chord, which is Suzuki's new version of the Omnichord.
I have also tried a variety of hobbies, and thought about trying other ones, so I guess i have the attention span thing going on, too....


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## Old Hipster

Wonderful things you have made Lois! I especially love the shoe pin cusions. Beautiful standed glass work, I know how much work is involved there!

I do/did stained glass work too, but not for decades however. I took a few years off between jobs ages ago and sold lampshades at a little antique store, but I never made enough $ to make it worth all the time involved.

I don't really have any hobbies making things anymore. I love to cook, that's making something!

In my free time I like to work in my yard and read and when we have enough time to go someplace we love camping.
And going to ghost towns it's a good time too.

One weird hobby I do have is going to really old cemeteries, it's been something I've love to do since I was a kid, my dad loved it too.


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## i_am_Lois

Happyflowerlady said:


> Lois, it looks like you have been having a lot of fun with your different crafts ! I especially like the fringed lampshade, and have wanted to try doing that for a long time, but haven't ever actually done it.
> 
> Happyflowerlady, thanks for the compliment. The lampshades made from scratch starting with just the wire frame have taken me the longest to make. To cut corners & save time I now buy lampshades at second-hand shops which have a wire frame. I essentially skip all the hard work and just enjoy all the creative fun of embellishing a lamp with ribbon, fringe, beads, etc. Elmer's glue is the 'tool' you use, except for the fringe & beading which need to be hand sewn on. Give it a try.
> 
> View attachment 4706View attachment 4707View attachment 4708


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## Old Hipster

Wow Lois, those gorgeous!

I'll pm you my address and you can send me the pink one please!


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## Jillaroo

_Spotted this tonight, it would be the prettiest crochet rug i have ever seen_


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## Jillaroo

_Great idea for a towel rack in the bathroom, it's a wine rack_


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## Diwundrin

Wow, there is some work in that rug!


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## Jillaroo

_Have you had a look on Pinterest there are some great things on there Di_ http://www.pinterest.com/all/home_decor/


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## Diwundrin

Yes I have a wander in there now and then, I try not to get too interested in anything, haven't time to get addicted to any new 'toys' at the moment.
Fascinating things people are doing though.


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## Ozarkgal

Lois.. your lampshades are gorgeous!  I always wanted to learn to do stained glass, need to get busy on that.  I love to paint and sketch, but haven't done it in a while..the old hands don't want to participate much anymore.  

OH..I thought I was the only one that had a macabre interest in old cemeteries..there's a bunch around here, everything from old Civil war to small, mostly forgotten family plots.


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## Old Hipster

Ozarkgal said:


> Lois.. your lampshades are gorgeous! I always wanted to learn to do stained glass, need to get busy on that. I love to paint and sketch, but haven't done it in a while..the old hands don't want to participate much anymore.
> 
> OH..I thought I was the only one that had a macabre interest in old cemeteries..there's a bunch around here, everything from old Civil war to small, mostly forgotten family plots.


Well how about that! Luckily my mister humors me and stops when I want to.
My Aunt who is just a few years older than me and is a combo Aunt/best friend/sister. She likes it too. She says I'm looking for something or somebody, maybe she is right.

I lke looking at the carvings and reading the dates and wondering about the people and the lives they lead.

One day we'd like to visit some of the Civil War sites. 

We did make it to the Little Big Horn a few years ago and it was a very erie place. You could almost feel the spirits in the wind.


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## Justme

My hobbies give me great pleasure. My digital art is something I find particularly gratifying, especially as people are kind enough to say they like it.  Whilst it is nice to sell a picture, it gives me much more pleasure to create a picture, for free, just to make someone happy.


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## That Guy

Justme said:


> Whilst it is nice to sell a picture, it gives me much more pleasure to create a picture,



It's the journey and not the destination.


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## RedRibbons

Lois, that is lovely! I used to do a lot of different crafts back in the day. I need a new hobby, but am not interested in doing the ones I used to do. I love to learn how to do new things. I just ordered a loom. I am going to learn to make afghans and other kinds of blankets. I know nothing at all how to do this at present.


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## Justme

Along with my three other more usual hobbies I also create glitter stones, which people are kind enough to say they like.  I choose a reasonable sized rugged stone from my garden, cover it in clear varnish and sprinkle it with glitter, it is quite effective.


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