Do any of you have a specific hobby or pastime that you enjoy? I know we've discussed this before in the forums, but we have so many new people that I thought it would be fun to tell about them again.

Me --- I LOVE to work jigsaw puzzles (1,000 pieces and up), and then glue and frame them. I usually give them away to shelters, or friends. I have a ton of Elvis ones here at home. No surprise there, eh? I also love Amy Geddes puzzles. Don't you love baby pics of any kind? So adorable! And I have James Dean, Marilyn Monroe, etc...I love THEME puzzles. I DO NOT like the ones that are 3-d or ROUND ones, or ones that have a mystery attached to them. That's NOT my thing.

I use to play around with antiques until they got so expensive I had to bow out. Anybody want to buy the bottom to a Cash Register?

So thats who bought the other part of that cash register, huh?

I work with polymer clay, Sculpy. I make fairies, fae,OOAKs (One of a kinds).

The clay is the best way to release stress. I call it my cheap drug.I never know how the fae will turn out when I begin so I am always surprised at the end result.

My workspace is my dining room table and it is always accessible. Right now I am working on an anatomically correct male fairy. He is a doll...with a six pack, long hair and a smile to die for, lol. I'll post his pic here when I am finished.

Anyone else create with clay?

Did you have to pick up any special skills or tools to do this EChick? I'm curious as to how you picked clay.

Playdoh is about as adventureous as I've gotten with clay.

JJ, The skills can be learned, like how to make lips, ears etc and I have a book, but I start from scratch and do it the way I think (feel)it should be done.

I use around the house tools like toothpicks, knitting needles,exacto knife, paint brushes etc. I have bought a few tools and they are not that expensive.

I chose clay because I saw some fairies for sale once and thought 'I could do that'.

For less than 10 dollars a box and hours of fun, you can't beat it...well you can and that feels good too.

I have pieces that hold memories, tears and happiness...It is my release these days.

The clay remains soft until it is baked. Now baking it properly so it doesn't crack...that's a 'whole other story'.

I like puzzles too.

So do you bake it in your regular oven? I think its a cool hobby.

chick,

my 18 year old daughter works with that clay also. she has produced some AWESOME creatures!!!!!!

I love to see people's creativity flow!

Danita, would you care to share how she does her's? Does she use a regular oven? What kinds of things does she make and I would love to know how she got started with this hobby, too.

My biggest hobby is nature photography. I got tired of buying film and waiting for it to get developed, so the past weekend I treated myself to a brand-spanking-new digital SLR. The lenses I already have will work with it so now I have to get all the buttons and settings figured out! We're going on a 'photo safari' this weekend so I can check it out. I figured out that it will pay for itself in a year since I won't have to buy film or pay to get pictures developed. Printing pictures at home is actually cheaper because I will only print out ones I want to hang or send to someone. The rest will be on my storage hard drive or on a CD.

What a neat hobby. Just out of curiousity, what kind of paper will you use to print out the photos? And printer, for that matter. Is any type printer sufficient? I've always thought photography would be a great hobby; especially since the age of digital.

I use photographic paper for printing. We invested in a great printer for Christmas that prints up to 13 by 19 and will also print on a roll up to 40" long. It will also print on all the art papers like canvas, velvet, etc. But any decent color printer will print photos. I had an older printer I bought for under $100 some time ago that prints great pictures but the size is limited. We buy photographic paper at the office supply store and stock up when it's on sale. I also have a couple of software programs that I use to edit the photographs, though they are still on my old computer as I haven't had the time to move everything over yet. I love playing with the pictures and using different effects in the software. I also use my pictures to make greeting cards - I set them up and print using greeting card paper or card stock.