What are your interests or crafts?

[mixxy]

Thankyou for your lovely comments

Caesarea your about right with the wiki explanation when reborning first started people mainly used play dolls, berenguers or the ashton drake type dolls you see on the back of sunday magazines, now there are vinyl kits available specifically for reborning,the process basically involves painting the vinyl to give it a life like appearence, adding hair and weighting the body/limbs to make them feel realistic.
I have a show coming up at the beginning of June so at the mo I spend most of my time elbow deep in half painted body parts lol.

Just seeing this thread Karen... and WOW! Your dolls are just awesome!! I'd seen this "art" on a TV show (but can't remember what one.. was quite some time ago) and was really fasinated with the idea. I have NO idea how paint/hair on dolls can make them look so life like... but it is just so amazing!

Best of luck with your show in June!!

 

[sheilalynn]

LOL that poor bond is so full of dust somewhere... Sheesh, I just could not get it to work properly, kept skipping over stitches and I had to manually do them - gave up and figured knitting with needles was faster LOL


(and let me add I was bitten twice by one of these little BOOGERS, once on the face and once on my hand)

Aw, those red lips are pretty cute! Never been bitten by any of my snakes in the 2 years since I started keeping them so I guess I won't take a chance on one of those red lips, hehe

As far as the Bond goes, don't use really thick yarn, use plenty of weight, wax the carriage, don't go really fast, and it should work...

 

[dawnlori]

WOW, what a diverse bunch of talent here. I've always admired anyone that paints. I have a couple of friends that do and it amazes me. I finally got a day off work so now I can post like crazy LOL! Lets see, I crochet and knit, nothing complicated though. I love to quilt in the winter months which are long up here in NDAK. I have 2 Harleys and 2 horses that I ride in the summer along with a garden, vegetable and flower. Animals are a passion, wish I could figure out how to make some money at it LOL. dawnlori

 

[Hellen A. Handbasket]

You guys are pretty amazing (still trying to get over those babies). I'm sure I'll be PMing a few of you for some info. I love crafting and have a room stuffed full of beads, quilling, scrap booking, paints, leather work stuff, fabrics, jewelry findings and fun old found odds and ends. Most of what I do today though are Studio Clothing Buttons for collectors and others.

I sold/collected antiques for lots of years... I have a large collection of vintage clothing and jewelry that I love to wear and still add to more than I'd like to admit. I've focused on collecting antique sewing buttons for the last 16 years or so and am involved with several collecting societies which has the added bonus of friends that I've made all over the world who also collect. I also enjoy doing research on buttons, which turned into opportunities to do some writing of educational articles. So far, I've done about 10 for 3 different societies, do a quarterly Q&A column for one in AZ, and wrote one for an antiques magazine.

It is pretty amazing that these tiny works of art document politics, art styles, history and hundreds of years of fashion trends - all in a jewelry like form. For me, there isn't one particular type I collect, I love them all. I have Victorian black glass, unusual early buttons with political messages (yup, you would sew them to a jacket), several cards of buttons with just Poodles on them, buttons with glass jewels called Gay '90s, Bakelite from the 1940's. The list goes on... The collection is taking over (and also has it's own room!). They ranges in age from 17th Century (not too many of those), quite a few nice 18th C. ones (really lovely hand work) and 80% of the collection are 1800's through anything I find that I think is interesting in a fabric store today.

I also love the competition aspect of collecting buttons. Buttons are classified as to materials, age and attributes/features such as pictorial and size (all at once!). Very specific rules have to be followed to enter competitions... it is lots to learn initially, but really fasten-ating (get it? mmmm... nevermind...

). I entered 30 trays of buttons at our last AZ show in February (right as I started e-smoking too!), and won a whopping 22 ribbons (and prize money for each one so guess what I bought?? Puff puff!).

If you care to see how beautiful and fun they can be (most people imagine a 4 hole white button, ha) you can click any of the links below. I posted lots of links for different types, so you can pick what sounds interesting to you. You don't have to look at all of them,
Assorted Materials all pre circa 1918:
Arizona State Button Society Competition Trays
People wearing Head Coverings (yup, they all were sewn on to clothing at one time!)
Arizona State Button Society Competition Trays
Identifiable People on Buttons (one of my favorite trays):
Arizona State Button Society Competition Trays
A competition tray of buttons that are all Aluminum material:
http://image58.webshots.com/558/8/71/22/2372871220102873171CspxEA_fs.jpg
'Junque Deco' buttons made circa 1950-70 (beads, sequins charms and jewelry bits embedded in a clear polymer). The one with the Men's Shirt in the middle is one that I made for collectors but decided to keep one.
http://image69.webshots.com/169/2/2/50/2079202500102873171bLIEpp_fs.jpg
This award competition was for a tray of buttons with the requirement that they each had a different Desert animal:
Arizona State Button Society Competition Trays
A fun group of 1920-1940 Celluloid Buttons:
Arizona State Button Society Competition Trays
Interesting competition that required that they be all Red/White/Blue:
Arizona State Button Society Competition Trays
Here is a picture of me at a button show a while ago just so you know that's not my big red hand in the avatar (I'm in the basket!)

:
http://image24.webshots.com/665/0/43/28/2532043280102873171KqXChM_ph.jpg

Many people who collect something else start to include buttons in their collection once they become aware of them (Satsuma pottery buttons, buttons featuring Raggedy Ann or Pigs are some examples). I sell Teddy Bear buttons to collectors a lot. I have a weird group of buttons that feature cigarettes or people smoking... another one of my favorites, but no pictures available right now!!

I also sell antique/collectible buttons, buckles and assorted clothing fasteners and trims to collectors, weavers, yarn workers, quilters, Alaskan Tlingit Indian Button Blanket artists, clothing collectors a few clothing designers and jewelry designers. I have also been a studio button artist for quite a while, selling most of them to collectors. I'm hoping to finally get out my new torch and tank and concentrate on making some silver and metal buttons/jewelry by the end of summer. Right now I work in leather, cork, shell and polymers. Fortunately for you guys, I'm downstairs on the laptop and the pictures are on the computer upstairs, and not uploaded. Ha

BTW, if you have grandmother's old button box and don't know what to do with them... I'll protect them and give them a good home!!! Added bonus is $$ for your next e-ciggie. I'm always looking to add to my collection. If you collect anything at all (name it I probably have it) or are interested in buttons for your creations, I also trade... PM me (end of commercial).

Since my father was diagnosed with lung cancer (a year ago) I have been focusing on trying to get off of cigarettes (my last one was 5am on March 25th!!). I haven't done much with buttons (collecting or making studios) since mid-February... when I started hanging out on the ECF learning about my new addiction/collection of PV's.

Whew... Looks like RazorsNRibbons and I have something in common... I'm a wordy girl! Oh, and obviously, I likes da smileys!! Hope this didn't put you back to

sleep this morning!!

 

[Siobhan]

Might as well add to this thread. I'm a knitting machine'oholic for sure When my daughter moved out last year, her room became my knitting machine/yarn/snake room. Yes, snakes, I have 4 of them so I guess they're sorta a hobby too ;-)

The machines are a Silver Reed LK150, a Brother 710, a Bond Deluxe, and a Bond Fashion Knitter, along with a couple of the circular ones. There's a ton of yarn stashed in that room...so much I've been told I could open a store .

The snakes are a female albino snow cornsnake, a male amelamistic corn snake, a female ball python, and a female brazilian rainbow boa (from the Lamar lines if that means anything to anyone).

I've always wanted to try a knitting machine...

And I envy you your snakes. This is the first time in 20 years I've been snake-less. My last, a really gorgeous corn snake, died at the ripe old age of 15 not too long ago. Gotta say as much as I loved my corn snake, that pythons have been my favorites over the years

 

[Mary Kay]

Buttons! I love buttons..I have no clue why..lol
We used to have an old Victorian house in the neighborhood that was called "The House of Buttons" I spent hours there. Nice old gal who let me tie the buttons onto cards, in exchange for some sewing lessons. I enjoyed the peek around your collection, but some of the links didn't work for me.

 

[Hellen A. Handbasket]

ah phoey! I hadn't used that webpage storage for a long time. Can't remember now how to post the right link for those. Well... you got the idea.

 

[mixxy]

You guys are pretty amazing (still trying to get over those babies). I'm sure I'll be PMing a few of you for some info. I love crafting and have a room stuffed full of beads, quilling, scrap booking, paints, leather work stuff, fabrics, jewelry findings and fun old found odds and ends. Most of what I do today though are Studio Clothing Buttons for collectors and others.

I sold/collected antiques for lots of years... I have a large collection of vintage clothing and jewelry that I love to wear and still add to more than I'd like to admit. I've focused on collecting antique sewing buttons for the last 16 years or so and am involved with several collecting societies which has the added bonus of friends that I've made all over the world who also collect. I also enjoy doing research on buttons, which turned into opportunities to do some writing of educational articles. So far, I've done about 10 for 3 different societies, do a quarterly Q&A column for one in AZ, and wrote one for an antiques magazine.

It is pretty amazing that these tiny works of art document politics, art styles, history and hundreds of years of fashion trends - all in a jewelry like form. For me, there isn't one particular type I collect, I love them all. I have Victorian black glass, unusual early buttons with political messages (yup, you would sew them to a jacket), several cards of buttons with just Poodles on them, buttons with glass jewels called Gay '90s, Bakelite from the 1940's. The list goes on... The collection is taking over (and also has it's own room!). They ranges in age from 17th Century (not too many of those), quite a few nice 18th C. ones (really lovely hand work) and 80% of the collection are 1800's through anything I find that I think is interesting in a fabric store today.

I also love the competition aspect of collecting buttons. Buttons are classified as to materials, age and attributes/features such as pictorial and size (all at once!). Very specific rules have to be followed to enter competitions... it is lots to learn initially, but really fasten-ating (get it? mmmm... nevermind...

). I entered 30 trays of buttons at our last AZ show in February (right as I started e-smoking too!), and won a whopping 22 ribbons (and prize money for each one so guess what I bought?? Puff puff!).

If you care to see how beautiful and fun they can be (most people imagine a 4 hole white button, ha) you can click any of the links below. I posted lots of links for different types, so you can pick what sounds interesting to you. You don't have to look at all of them,
Assorted Materials all pre circa 1918:
Arizona State Button Society Competition Trays
People wearing Head Coverings (yup, they all were sewn on to clothing at one time!)
Arizona State Button Society Competition Trays
Identifiable People on Buttons (one of my favorite trays):
Arizona State Button Society Competition Trays
A competition tray of buttons that are all Aluminum material:
http://image58.webshots.com/558/8/71/22/2372871220102873171CspxEA_fs.jpg
'Junque Deco' buttons made circa 1950-70 (beads, sequins charms and jewelry bits embedded in a clear polymer). The one with the Men's Shirt in the middle is one that I made for collectors but decided to keep one.
http://image69.webshots.com/169/2/2/50/2079202500102873171bLIEpp_fs.jpg
This award competition was for a tray of buttons with the requirement that they each had a different Desert animal:
Arizona State Button Society Competition Trays
A fun group of 1920-1940 Celluloid Buttons:
Arizona State Button Society Competition Trays
Interesting competition that required that they be all Red/White/Blue:
Arizona State Button Society Competition Trays
Here is a picture of me at a button show a while ago just so you know that's not my big red hand in the avatar (I'm in the basket!)

:
http://image24.webshots.com/665/0/43/28/2532043280102873171KqXChM_ph.jpg

Many people who collect something else start to include buttons in their collection once they become aware of them (Satsuma pottery buttons, buttons featuring Raggedy Ann or Pigs are some examples). I sell Teddy Bear buttons to collectors a lot. I have a weird group of buttons that feature cigarettes or people smoking... another one of my favorites, but no pictures available right now!!

I also sell antique/collectible buttons, buckles and assorted clothing fasteners and trims to collectors, weavers, yarn workers, quilters, Alaskan Tlingit Indian Button Blanket artists, clothing collectors a few clothing designers and jewelry designers. I have also been a studio button artist for quite a while, selling most of them to collectors. I'm hoping to finally get out my new torch and tank and concentrate on making some silver and metal buttons/jewelry by the end of summer. Right now I work in leather, cork, shell and polymers. Fortunately for you guys, I'm downstairs on the laptop and the pictures are on the computer upstairs, and not uploaded. Ha

BTW, if you have grandmother's old button box and don't know what to do with them... I'll protect them and give them a good home!!! Added bonus is $$ for your next e-ciggie. I'm always looking to add to my collection. If you collect anything at all (name it I probably have it) or are interested in buttons for your creations, I also trade... PM me (end of commercial).

Since my father was diagnosed with lung cancer (a year ago) I have been focusing on trying to get off of cigarettes (my last one was 5am on March 25th!!). I haven't done much with buttons (collecting or making studios) since mid-February... when I started hanging out on the ECF learning about my new addiction/collection of PV's.

Whew... Looks like RazorsNRibbons and I have something in common... I'm a wordy girl! Oh, and obviously, I likes da smileys!! Hope this didn't put you back to

sleep this morning!!

Wow... you have some awesome buttons... and I'd never thought about how much fun buttons could be!

 

[Hellen A. Handbasket]

Thanks Mixxy! That's the reaction that button collectors love! ha. There are quite a few websites on line to look at, and of course, eBay is a great place to look for fun ones (and a great education on how costly they can be.... I have seen one button go for $3,000 or more).

 

[Tilly]

Beautiful baby Karen. I accidentally discovered reborns on Ebay a few years ago and my hub bought one for a V-day gift. I thought I would like to try to learn the art and even collected some supplies, then my grandson came along. He plays with one of the cheapie dolls I had bought for practice. I would still like to do it but learning the rooting process intimidates me.

 

[Cori]

Ok I must say I had never heard of reborns before seeing them posted here. All I can say is WOW. I absolutely love them and can only imagine the work that goes into these. Now I want one for myself lol.

My hobbies are reading *now done on my Kindle*, computer graphics *Photoshop, Corel Painter*, online gaming *mmorpgs*, poetry *I try to write*...not so much into crafts anymore. I used to cross stitch a good bit but computers have pretty much taken over all my time these days. I used to waterski a good bit when I was younger.

 

[Fox3]

I'm an oddball . My family never told me I couldn't do anything so I pursued what looked interesting with encouragement . From my age group I gather that is rather uncommon.

Hobbies include my Cats ; computer hardware, software and networking; microcontroller design and development; Machine shop stuff (have my own lathe and mill and a pile of supporting tools), CAD and CNC; Flight simulators; Ham radio; Of a lesser extent anymore lapidary and related metal working; sewing (not much need anymore); Creative cooking. Gardening is out in this apartment :-(.

Not forgetting the Northlake area Ladies Cooking and Vaping Association . Yes, we do share recipes and ingredients and discuss them. Nice having alternate juices to try and people to try out my DIY mixes.

Did I mention Vaping ;-)?

Yes, a fair chunk of my hobbies are what most would consider "Jobs", not so for me! Getting paid to play and learn is a wonderful thing!

And my number one absolute favorite hobby: Learning. With the net as it is you can track down and really understand pretty much anything that goes on. Add real libraries to that and you will be incredibly happy .

 

[Nephthys]

Wow! What a creative group of people!


I am a tribal belly dancer and burlesque dancer and I make most of my own costuming. My latest costume has a coordinated 901 using the same Swarovsky crystals. I think that happened more from hours of breathing in craft glue and boredom than from any creative forethought.

I used to do altered books, bind my own, and art books, but haven't done it recently as costuming been consuming all my free time.

 

[Mary Kay]

Nephthys, Welcome to the Girl fort! I have to say you guys come up with creative names..I can't spell them..but creative!
I once worked in a burlesque house (in the early 70's) as the lady in the front who sold the tickets..lol
Once a group of very tall men came in and wanted to go inside the bar..I was told it was a $5.00 entry fee, no exceptions. You have to understand that I am 5'3 and these guys were like 7 feet tall! (from my perspective all tall men look 7 feet tall)
All were dressed in what we used to call "Pimp Style" it was a STYLE not a moral judgement.. Purple hats, platform shoes, striped jackets with loud colored pants. Anyway I stood in front of one of them and told him the rules, as I was talking to his belt buckle, he was laughing. My boss came out front and all but bowed to them. It was the Harlem Globetrotters.
They insisted on paying the fee and gave me a huge tip.

 

[Nephthys]

Nephthys, Welcome to the Girl fort! I have to say you guys come up with creative names..I can't spell them..but creative!
I once worked in a burlesque house (in the early 70's) as the lady in the front who sold the tickets..lol

Thank you for the welcome, MaryKay.

Nephthys is the name I chose about 15 years ago when I first started using the internet and it's just been easier to keep it than to change it at this point. The name comes from an Egyptian goddess, and, yes, it's a bear to spell!

I'm really excited to debut my PV tonight. It's encrusted with crystals and matches my costume. Dancing to Ella Fitzgerald's Black Coffee, which is an invitation to smoke cigarettes and drink coffee on stage.

I bet you have great stories from back in the day.

 

[Mary Kay]

ummm back in the day..I am only 58! I would tell you more but at my age..I forget! LOL

 

[Nephthys]

ummm back in the day..I am only 58! I would tell you more but at my age..I forget! LOL

Oh goodness, I didn't mean to imply anything... Just that things have changed so much throughout the history and some of us are working really hard to recapture the art form as it was before lucite shoes and pole dancing. I'm fascinated by the history and how it's transformed since the first vaudevillian hiked a skirt.

 

[Mary Kay]

No offence taken, I was just teasing you! BurlyQ as my granddad called it is an artform, not at all like stripping and pole dancing. In the place I worked there was NO nudity. Gypsy Rose Lee barely took off more then her gloves, but she made a meal of of doing that. LOL
Anyway since we are sooo off topic..
I also do some beadwork on lace. I did my prom dresses (they had lace but no embellishments) and some costumes. They had a great old fashioned craft store in Fort Collins Colo. called the Floratora I think. They carried real bird quills. I made a native American dress and decorated it with quills and tiny shells for a halloween costume.

 

[Nephthys]

No offence taken, I was just teasing you! BurlyQ as my granddad called it is an artform, not at all like stripping and pole dancing. In the place I worked there was NO nudity. Gypsy Rose Lee barely took off more then her gloves, but she made a meal of of doing that. LOL
Anyway since we are sooo off topic..

<3, Gypsy Rose Lee...

Oh yes, back on topic...

I also do some beadwork on lace. I did my prom dresses (they had lace but no embellishments) and some costumes. They had a great old fashioned craft store in Fort Collins Colo. called the Floratora I think. They carried real bird quills. I made a native American dress and decorated it with quills and tiny shells for a halloween costume.

Ever work on commission? I don't have the skill or patience for bead work, but would love to have some beaded underthingies.

 

[donei]

I used to decorate cakes when it was fun. Then I started selling them What a mistake! People wanted what I could make but wanted to pay grocery store prices. I got tired of the hassle and one day just decided that I no longer wanted to make cakes... now I scrap. I don't scrap much either... by the time I get home from work every day, I don't want to think about anything. I just want to vegitate.