Hobby Mania

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.

Okay...let's get down to brass tacks then. I have tons of pictures of my grandbeauties that I want to eventually print out and put into a book to give each girl when they turn 16. I started printing them out and the quality is "okay." I did not use photo paper, just regular paper.

Do you mind sharing the name of the printer you have? I can google the "bells and whistles" and if you don't mind, would you also share the software you use to edit the photos? I might want to invest in some of this. I LOVE doing books for people, birthday cards, and coupon books, etc...I use PrintMaster right now, but I'm sure there's something better.

JJ, Printmaster is actually pretty good - it's what I use for cards, posters, etc. For photographs I use Jasc Print Shop Pro. I think Corel bought it a while ago, but it's still available. My camera came with a program called Picture Project, but I don't know if you can get that. Adobe Photoshop is supposed to be good, but it's quite expensive. The Printshop Pro is excellent, and has more stuff than I know how to use.

The big printer we have is an Epson Stylus Photo R1800. We also have a Canon i450 that prints great. Before you buy another printer, I would recommend that you try printing with the photo paper and look at the difference. The glossy finish makes them look so much better. You could even use matte photo paper if you don't like the high gloss. There is a world of difference in printing pictures on regular paper or on photo paper. I sometimes buy the photo paper at Target, if they have a good deal (like 1/2 off!!) If you do buy a printer, make sure it can print the smaller sizes, like 3x5 or 4x6 - some printers will only print on 8x10.

Let me know if you have more questions.

I make costume jewelry - beaded necklaces, bracelets and earrings. I mostly use crystals, faux pearls and other glass beads (frosted, faceted, etc.) Then accent with sterling silver or goldtone beads. Some of my wedding jewelery designs are on display in a local wedding invitation store, but mostly I just do it for fun. I like to give my designs away and it gives me something to do in the winter when I can't garden.

This will probably make everyone laugh, but I make dog/kitty cat jewlery, too!

ktri

Thank you Yonuh. I'll check with target on the paper. I think I'll try some glossy AND some matte, just to see which one I like better. I have a HP printer and its a no frills kind of printer but a good one. I'm going to try printing some pics on that with the photo paper and see what kind of results it gives FIRST.

ktri---why laugh? I would think making jewelry for animal collars would be a GREAT business to be in. No joke! Trixie, my dog, has all kinds of leashes...one is even a leopard type leash. Hey, ain't nothing too good for my dog! I bet its great! I can just see a pretty cat walking around with a diamond-studded collar. WOW!

Ok, I'm trying something here, so keep you're fingers crossed! Here's a picture I took today:

Now I have to figure out how to make it smaller!! This is a cactus flower at the Desert Museum.

OMGosh...its like we can reach out and touch it! Fantastic job!

Thanks, JJ, I love nature photography! I'm going to upload some of my pictures to Photobucket as soon as I figure it out. That way, anyone who wants to can go look at them and I won't bore everyone with a bunch of pictures.

Well, I'll tell you what I do as far as size. I open the picture in "Paint." Then I go under the "Image" button at the top and select "stretch/skew." When that menu comes up, I usually put 80% in the horizontal and 80% in the vertical till I get the picture to the size I want. I don't know if you have PAINT or not, but I love it!

That's a beautiful picutre, yonuh. So real.

JJ, Using photo paper makes a big difference, but you also need to change the printer to the photo paper setting when you do this. I also mostly use Picture Project because it came with my camera. Printmaster is good. I have HP photosmart and a couple of other things but I can't think of what they are. WhenI do aol albums, I edit the photos in that sometimes too.

JJ, do you do scrapbooking? Making a scrapbook for them is great. Also, now I'm into using the pictures to make slide shows and transfer them onto DVD's for them. I'm going to do one of all the grandkids for each of their parents for Christmas.

Yonuh, I have 3 types of night-blooming cereus, one with almost identical flowers to the pic you took. If you took a daytime pic, then it's a different variety from mine. My babies bloom mid-summer.

Gorgeous cereus flower!

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Now I have to figure out how to make it smaller!! This is a cactus flower at the Desert Museum.

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Stunning pic!

Yonuh, you can also 'resize' your pic on the photobucket site. It is directly above the pic.
JJ's way will work also.