What are your interests or crafts?

[Mary Kay]

I do it all, poorly. lol My favorite thing to do is woodcarving/woodworking. I will post a couple of pictures as soon as I figure it out. I managed some pics for Zep but had to try 50 billion times!
I like to crochet, paint in watercolors, do some beadwork and draw floorplans. My goal is to draw the smallest viable house possible. Normal sized rooms with one bathroom and a 1 car garage. So far I have it down to 40X 38. I just eliminate all halls and wasted space. My friend who is a contractor said he would build it using my plans when I am ready. Now all I have to do is sell this one, convince hubby to sleep in the garage ( I want my own bedroom) and move back to Tampa.
I did try to learn to knit but I kept leaving the needles all over the place. Hubby wasn't amused when he sat on one.
I also like to grow herbs for cooking. I like flowers but I think if I am going to spend money on plants they should at least make my spaghetti taste good.
Baking is another thing I like. I worked for Seaworld in the Bakery and learned do do a lot of very neat things. Too bad I couldn't bring all the equiptment home, my recipes are for 100 cheesecakes or 50 chocolate cakes!
What do you do when you are feeling creative?
Mary

 

[mixxy]

I had a candle making business for about 8 years and loved the creative side of it -- until I got totally burned out (no pun intended!) I moved on to a dog grooming business... and love doing grooming even more. I'm planning to offer hair coloring and nail polish soon!

 

[DMacRae]

I do oil portraits and figurative paintings. I also do period upholstery which fits nicely with my antique collecting. I also garden like a madwoman and my favorite flowers are tea roses, clematis and iris and I have quite a collection of all three. I'm bummed this spring because I'm in Canada instead of NY, where my house and garden are. I'm going to totally miss the iris blooming.

 

[Ann]

I haven't done crafts in a long time. I would love to learn to do stained glass crafts.
I guess my main thing is cooking in cast iron and canning what we grow from the garden.
I spend a lot of time seasoning my cast iron.

 

[Zilthai]

I do some leatherwork, (I'm currently working on some E-cig case designs.) and I do illustration work for friends from time-to-time, but that's about it.

 

[ShimmyPrincess]

For crafts, I crochet, stained glass (the cheaters way with liquid lead) and oil paint.

Hobbies: belly dance, yoga, garden, read & write and best of all, play with my grandson

 

[Caesarea]

Really varied arts crafts and interests here, gals!!! Kudos to the lasses!

My interests are books, books, books and work, work, work, ....with music, music, music, and much chatting on Skype and in here of course.
I can do as I please mostly. No kids at home any more.

When I retire in 5 years' time I shall give up some of that lifestyle and dig the garden the same way I currently cultivate my work. If that doesn't work, I'll look for a part-time job.

I can crochet, but can't afford the yarn. I love to look at patterns.

I can cook, but can't afford decent ingredients or the time to cook. I love to read recipes.

I like blokes, but can't afford to let them interrupt what I'm doing...been there, known that..nuff said.

I never watch TV - not snobbery, just boredom with it. Besides I need to be interacting somehow and not paralysed by comfy sofas.

There is a method to this madness....it consists of prioritising in favour of earning a living creatively and postponing a load of other things.

But I don't mind waiting...

 

[Wildsky]

Mostly I sew, knit, crochet, cross stitch, candlewicking, embroidery, quilting, plastic canvas............ etc. etc. etc.
I used to make baby diapers and had a website and sold them!
Here are some pictures of my handywork!

Crochet pig

Practice Smocking:

Knitted dress for my grandbaby:

Baby pull-up pants:

Baby Diaper

Knitted soaker pants (I dyed the wool as well)

Knitting and felting little slipper boots:

Pixie slippers:

My half done Cross-stitch

Knitted Clogs

Afgan - crochet

Hats for Chemo patients

Quilt square

LOL - are you sorry you asked?

I also make soap and bath fizzies, work part time, take care of my two younger kids, take care of the chickens and other feathered things, and the horse, goat, dog etc....
I'm getting ready to plant my garden soon so we'll have our own fresh veggies... OH and I mess around on the internet now and then!

 

[ShimmyPrincess]

OH, WS...I'll put in my order for a piggy (I collect pigs) and the pixie slippers
I make bath salts too to give away for x-mas...I love crafts.

 

[Caesarea]

The pixie slippers are fantastic, and my fave is the Afghan crochet, beautiful colours !

 

[Wildsky]

I have that pattern somewhere for the pixie slippers. I made the pattern up as I went along, I also posted the pattern on the Crochetville forum (same user name)

 

[Wildsky]

OH, WS...I'll put in my order for a piggy (I collect pigs) and the pixie slippers
I make bath salts too to give away for x-mas...I love crafts.

Oh and the little pig is from the LIONBRAND pattern available on their site.

 

[ShimmyPrincess]

Oh and the little pig is from the LIONBRAND pattern available on their site.

neat...I'll have to check out and see about that forum too, Thx WS

 

[Wildsky]

I made this Rag quilt for my daughter: (and the dress she's wearing )

(In the pic above the quilt still needed the seams snipped)

I'm now working on a denim one, using old jeans etc... one side will be denim the other will be other fabric scraps I have...

This is a close up (bad pic) of my candlewicking - in this one I used little seed pearls as well.

My next candlewicking project will be black on black! 8-o

 

[Caesarea]

I made this Rag quilt for my daughter: (and the dress she's wearing )

(In the pic above the quilt still needed the seams snipped)

I'm now working on a denim one, using old jeans etc... one side will be denim the other will be other fabric scraps I have...

This is a close up (bad pic) of my candlewicking - in this one I used little seed pearls as well.

My next candlewicking project will be black on black! 8-o

Wow! You sure have the skills! My sis is fond of quilting - makes her dressing-gowns, very elegant styles..

 

[Mary Kay]

Wildsky, by the time I got to the end of your post..I forgot who wrote it!! Had to go back.
Great stuff!! As much as I love crafts, I get bored easy and have to switch up. I wish I had learned Stained glass and candle making. I did try soap making by carved it instead.
Caesarea, I also love to read, but my eyes are giving me fits so I listen to books on tape and CD. I recently listened to a book by Stephen King and it was nararated by King himself. That was a treat, because you get to hear how he meant each phase to sound.
I like to do crafts that are meant to be used rather then just looked at. Functional art. Edible plants, Working husbands!
Mary

 

[Caesarea]

(snip)
Great stuff!! As much as I love crafts, I get bored easy and have to switch up. I wish I had learned Stained glass and candle making. I did try soap making by carved it instead.

I had a go at woodcarving, but was only happy with limewood, which cuts like butter! Talk about lazy!!

Caesarea, I also love to read, but my eyes are giving me fits so I listen to books on tape and CD. I recently listened to a book by Stephen King and it was nararated by King himself. That was a treat, because you get to hear how he meant each phase to sound.

Now that I am looking forward to - I expect to get eye trouble later like my Dad did, so I am saving that as a HUGE treat. I shall have a hammock, just for audio reading.

I like to do crafts that are meant to be used rather then just looked at. Functional art. Edible plants, Working husbands!
Mary

Hah! That last one is the kicker!

 

[rejoice]

I don't do any crafts or sewing. I hate it. I do love to read books. I am very excited to get my new kindle from Amazon. This thing is the greatest. I have been busy reading and sending books to it. It holds alot of books. I love the computer too. I love to work with pictures. I take family pictures and make them into DVD's with songs and music. I have done about 12 DVD's. I have three grown children and took each of there baby pics into DVD'S. Than I go to there two years and three years and etc. This is alot of work,but I love doing it. Finding the right song and making the song match with pics shown.

 

[Caesarea]

I don't do any crafts or sewing. I hate it. I do love to read books. I am very excited to get my new kindle from Amazon. This thing is the greatest. I have been busy reading and sending books to it. It holds alot of books. I love the computer too. I love to work with pictures. I take family pictures and make them into DVD's with songs and music. I have done about 12 DVD's. I have three grown children and took each of there baby pics into DVD'S. Than I go to there two years and three years and etc. This is alot of work,but I love doing it. Finding the right song and making the song match with pics shown.

I can think of one thread with lotsa pics of mad blokes that should be set to music, but what music???

 

[nicowolf]

I solve life's problems. Explanation follows.

I had a futon that was horribly uncomfortable. I couldn't afford to buy a sofa just yet. A decent futon mattress at that time costed $300 to $400 (almost a cheap sofa). The wooden arms were part of the discomfort. Solution: I got online and researched and sourced. I built my own futon mattress, and padded and upholstered the arms, and sewed my own cover for it. I have since bought a sofa and Mom is loving the futon because I made it and it makes a very firm bed (she doesn't like her bed much).

I bought a canopy bed but couldn't find the right canopy for it. I also fell in love with purple and grey as colors (not easy to find in textiles). Solution: I made my own draperies, bedskirt, and coordinating canopy.

I had surgery on my hand and was off work for 6 weeks (twice) and needed to exercise my hand during that time. Solution: I learned some crocheting basics and made two "lesbian hug blankies" for two friends who I thought needed extra hugs at the time. (lesbian hug blankies are made with consumers color preferences in mind, love and adoration in every stitch, and are long enough to be a blanket instead of just a throw).

I had foot problems from getting older and spending too much time on my feet to earn a living. I bought LOTS of shoe inserts at the drugstore. I went to the podiatrist and got custom orthotics. Those horribly expensive custom orthotics were like standing barefoot on concrete (not enough padding). Sending them back to the company costed me 4 weeks of taping my feet (tedious and hard on your skin and can create more future problems) and only got minimal padding added and the padding created a whole new set of problems. Solution: I made my own using crafting foam.

I bought an electronic cigarette. I was blissful for a minute. It really does help me to say no to analogs. The batteries didn't last long enough between charges. The switches in the batteries kept getting stuck. Several batteries died way too soon. Solution: I learned how to wire a battery pack for an e-cig and how to solder. I now make my own e-cig batteries and will not go back to the ones that cost a fortune and don't last.

From the outside, it looks like I follow something obsessively for a while, then move on to something else with just as much interest as the last one. Actually, once the problem is solved, I find a new problem to focus on (I don't look for one, it happens naturally). These little projects of mine are more than a pasttime for me. They are the only thing that catches my interest. I am bored and irritable when I cannot be focused on my pet project.