Show me your handwork art and hobbies

[justginger]

PSers are clever, discerning, gorgeous, AND talented! My goodness, what a group! I had no idea some of you were so talented - you must have received all my abilities. The closest I get to art is doing some really beautiful microscopy stains.

 

[ckrickett]

I haven't done anything of this type in a while, but here is an Etruscan style chain I made - two-way loop-in-loop, fine silver, every link made by hand by me from 22 gauge wire. Sterling hook and endcaps, also made by me. I estimate about 50 hours of work in this...

This is MINDBOGGLING! I would love to learn such a craft! Absolutely beautiful

 

[ckrickett]

Catmom those quilts are absolutely gorgeous! quilting is something I want to pick up, but I am so daunted by it! Your work is great!

 

[MMtwo]

PSers are clever, discerning, gorgeous, AND talented! My goodness, what a group! I had no idea some of you were so talented - you must have received all my abilities. The closest I get to art is doing some really beautiful microscopy stains.

I did some time with rat retinas on a microtome. Microscopy is art

 

[Calliecake]

Catmom, Your quilts are so beautiful. I can only imagine the time that must go into making them or the look on an expectant mom's face when she receives one. One if the woman I used to work with made baby quilts. She usually made one for the pregnant girls in the office. They were always everyone's favorite gift at the baby showers.

 

[Starzin]

Love seeing the wonderful art and creativity here! Just stunning

 

[mochiko42]

Photography and cooking are my hobbies

 

[Cozystitches]

I knit and have been sewing and hand piecing this summer. I can't draw, so I play with fabric and yarn. This summer I made 8 shirts, and 4 skirts for me I'm also playing with a hexagon quilt.

 

[MichelleCarmen]

Photography and cooking are my hobbies

Pretty photos Mochiko!

I just had some photos sent to me from Snapfish. After looking back at the over 2300 pictures I have on my phone, I realized some of them are nice enough to enlarge and have printed out.. so now I'm in the process of framing some. I'm not sure if they're professional quality but I still like the idea of hanging some of my nature shots up rather than buying someone elses. So, I guess I can add photography to my list of hobbies

 

[MMtwo]

mochiko, what lovely photos!

 

[ckrickett]

Love the photos and food!!

 

[monarch64]

Beautiful things on this thread!

I dabble in all kinds of artsy craftsy things. Nothing so advanced as what has been posted here, though, so I'll spare you! Love looking at everyone else's lovely works, though.

 

[Sky56]

Great posts: you are all very talented!

One of my hobbies: Making beaded hairclips. Beads are all sewn on, no glue. I use real pearls and 14K and sterling silver beads along with the glass and gemstone beads. Many of the glass beads are vintage and also modern Czech glass.

 

[Sky56]

I like to draw with colored pencils.

 

[GliderPoss]

Wow you lot are a ridiculously talented bunch!

I'm sadly not quite up to this standard... My older sister got the creative talent in the family (plays piano by ear, paints/draws beautifully) but I dabble for my own enjoyment. I'm currently teaching myself to sew. I've made a few pencil skirts for work and some cushions covers, kids smock dresses (see pic below) that sort of simple thing. It's definitely quite slow going with a LOT of unpicking but I enjoy the challenge too. I used to design jewellery too - but as I can't draw its always better in my imagination than on paper which is frustrating! I used to enjoy writing poetry too and would like to get back into this again.

 

[swingirl]

What beautiful art everyone has posted. Thank you for the treat!!

 

[mochiko42]

That's a really cute girl's dress, HotPozzum! You're so talented.

 

[missy]

Wow, just seeing this thread and I am in awe at how talented PSers are. I love everything posted. Gorgeous! And OMG mochiko that first pic is making me hungry LOL.

Catmom, your quilts are truly beautiful.

Jimmianne, I love your creativity and your sense of fun and love your art. Colorful and full of great personality! Like you.

Sky, beautiful artwork. I would so love to hang your art on our walls.I have my mom's paintings and drawings around our homes and it reminds me of that for some reason. Warm and inviting and beautiful. And your hair clips OMG. I would love to wear any of those in my hair. Beautiful!


HotPozzum, love that dress you made. Anytime you have the urge I can send you my measurements LOL. I prefer handmade to store bought any day especially when it is as lovely as what you made. Lucky little girl who gets to wear your handiwork.


amc, I love your crocheted beanies! Fun!


Kenny, I love your artwork. beautiful and ethereal.

Moneymeister, your artwork is gorgeous!

Ckrickett, wow! Fabulous.
I cannot believe how talented our PSers are. Actually I can believe it!

Karen, amazing. So beautiful. Could we please see more of your handmade pieces?

Unfortunately I am not in the position to take pics of my dh's handmade pieces but he enjoys woodworking (among other things) as a hobby. Here are a few pieces of his that I managed to find in my computer files.

First up is a handmade ring box. His very first woodworking project around 2008 and he taught himself how.

next are his handmade bookshelves and tv stand for our library room. Wish I could find the headboard pics and radiator cover pics among others but at least I found these. Hope you enjoy.
Last pic is with Norm Abram from This Old House when he was in our neighborhood 2009. He and my dh were chatting about woodworking. Greg met him through our contractor who is very impressed with Greg's handiwork.

 

[missy]

Managed to find some more pics.
First up is our headboard in our apartment. No pics of the headboard at the Beach house unfortunately.

Next up a pic of one of the radiator covers my dh made.
And then a before pic as he started on the bookshelves and then an after pic.

 

[diamondseeker2006]

My goodness, what beautiful things and such talent! I have none whatsoever! Our youngest is quite talented in art, though, and will go to college in the fall to major in art and graphic design!

 

[Sky56]

One more, one of my 2014 colored pencil drawings.

 

[missy]

One more, one of my 2014 colored pencil drawings.

Love this! Sky, you need to open an Etsy shop at the very least for your beautiful beaded hair clips.

In fact many PSers have such talent it makes me wonder why they all don't open up Etsy or other shops online at least. Of course my dh once said that once a hobby becomes a "job" of sorts it can become less enjoyable and more of a chore. And I get and respect that so please ignore if that is how you feel.

My goodness, what beautiful things and such talent! I have none whatsoever! Our youngest is quite talented in art, though, and will go to college in the fall to major in art and graphic design!

Ooh congratulations DiamondSeeker! Very exciting and I wish her all the best.

And I agree with you in that I possess no talent whatsoever (though you do have a talent of helping others as I see that firsthand at PS) but I enjoy other's unique gifts greatly. I hope more people will share their gifts with us in this thread.

 

[MMtwo]

With all due respect Miss Missy...I think you have a great eye for line and detail. Your home is fabulous and I LOVE the arts and crafts style I see in your uber cozy library. Maybe you do not do crafty things, but that eye for line is the same thing in my book. I also would like to add I find you one of the most gracious of PSers. By the response to your other thread, I am pretty sure I am not alone if finding you a charming person. If posting were an art you would be a master. You take the time to respond to everyone as you can. That is definitely an art I wish I had.

Hubby did a fabulous job with the wood projects. I love the headboard so much! Twice lucky his hobbies make the home so beautiful.

 

[Sky56]

Thank you for the kind words. I have an Etsy account, but all I have ever done with it is BUY stuff. Beads, and bead containers and a few nice things by other artists. My husband is literally begging me to open a Etsy selling business and sell my stuff.

I'm procrastinating because of several reasons:

I'm not hungry enough to be motivated to sell and deal with customers. I already make a living through Real Estate investing and buy/sell/fix-up/renting. I worry that my hobbies will cease to be fun if customer service is involved. I know it, I'm a weenie and oversensitive, like many arty folks are.

I may start selling on Etsy because my husband is retiring from his job soon, and he has offered to deal with customers and shipping which is the part I don't like.

I don't mind the act of shipping but though friendly, I am misanthropic enough to have a dim view of most people hence my dread of doing customer service with my fun hobbies. He has been very supportive of my work and has been my muse. I've sold before to friends/family/acquaintances and done lots of gift-giving. I'm torn, I want to sell on Etsy but balk!

 

[Sky56]

There is another aspect of selling I don't like: In about 50% of my previous art selling situations, I felt some of the comments and attitudes of the customers were insulting, and as I said before, I am very sensitive. Examples:

1. Someone ordered two hair clips, a pink one and a purple one for each of her granddaughters. Communication was all done by email. I shipped with tracking to her home address. My final tracking showed they were delivered to her post office, yet she never emailed me that she had actually picked them up. After waiting a while, the day I sent her a friendly email asking about their arrival, a letter and check arrived from the East Coast. I was mortified, as she never answered my email, and in the letter she wrote that the hair clips were nice, and that she especially loved the purple one. I worried that she didn't like the pink one. I hate to say it, she didn't do anything really wrong, but I felt hurt...and I would never have phrased it that way if I had bought two items from an artisan at the same time.

2. I was regularly selling to an acquaintance. More and more, she started treating me like a "thing," like I wasn't a person, just a pair of working hands. Same thing with a shop I consigned in. I don't tolerate rudeness well. I cut contact with those people and even deleted Facebook contact with them, too. I know customer service is a different animal when dealing with the general public, but those experiences gave me pause. Though I am a sensitive person, I am easy-going. But, I have very keen antennae.

 

[missy]

With all due respect Miss Missy...I think you have a great eye for line and detail. Your home is fabulous and I LOVE the arts and crafts style I see in your uber cozy library. Maybe you do not do crafty things, but that eye for line is the same thing in my book. I also would like to add I find you one of the most gracious of PSers. By the response to your other thread, I am pretty sure I am not alone if finding you a charming person. If posting were an art you would be a master. You take the time to respond to everyone as you can. That is definitely an art I wish I had.

Hubby did a fabulous job with the wood projects. I love the headboard so much! Twice lucky his hobbies make the home so beautiful.

Aww thank you for those too kind comments moneymeister. Big hugs to you and thanks.
And my dh makes up for my lack of talent by his many talents. And I am OK with that haha.

Thank you for the kind words. I have an Etsy account, but all I have ever done with it is BUY stuff. Beads, and bead containers and a few nice things by other artists. My husband is literally begging me to open a Etsy selling business and sell my stuff.

I'm procrastinating because of several reasons:

I'm not hungry enough to be motivated to sell and deal with customers. I already make a living through Real Estate investing and buy/sell/fix-up/renting. I worry that my hobbies will cease to be fun if customer service is involved. I know it, I'm a weenie and oversensitive, like many arty folks are.

I may start selling on Etsy because my husband is retiring from his job soon, and he has offered to deal with customers and shipping which is the part I don't like.

I don't mind the act of shipping but though friendly, I am misanthropic enough to have a dim view of most people hence my dread of doing customer service with my fun hobbies. He has been very supportive of my work and has been my muse. I've sold before to friends/family/acquaintances and done lots of gift-giving. I'm torn, I want to sell on Etsy but balk!

I totally get how you are feeling about the customers and all that extraneous stuff. And I hear you on how some people can be rude and insensitive and clueless. I am very intuitive about people and can read them too easily and believe me I don't consider it a gift much of the time.

It's great that your dh is so supportive and willing to take that on so you can do what you do best and that is creating beautiful art. Please let me know if and when you do start selling on Etsy. I could be one of your first customers!

 

[Sky56]

Thanks! ps Your home is beautiful. I love seeing yours and everyone's beautiful hand-made things.

 

[LAJennifer]

I take vintage sports tees and cut them up and make them into cute, fan wear for girls. These are just a few examples.

 

[MMtwo]

There is another aspect of selling I don't like: In about 50% of my previous art selling situations, I felt some of the comments and attitudes of the customers were insulting, and as I said before, I am very sensitive. Examples:

1. Someone ordered two hair clips, a pink one and a purple one for each of her granddaughters. Communication was all done by email. I shipped with tracking to her home address. My final tracking showed they were delivered to her post office, yet she never emailed me that she had actually picked them up. After waiting a while, the day I sent her a friendly email asking about their arrival, a letter and check arrived from the East Coast. I was mortified, as she never answered my email, and in the letter she wrote that the hair clips were nice, and that she especially loved the purple one. I worried that she didn't like the pink one. I hate to say it, she didn't do anything really wrong, but I felt hurt...and I would never have phrased it that way if I had bought two items from an artisan at the same time.

2. I was regularly selling to an acquaintance. More and more, she started treating me like a "thing," like I wasn't a person, just a pair of working hands. Same thing with a shop I consigned in. I don't tolerate rudeness well. I cut contact with those people and even deleted Facebook contact with them, too. I know customer service is a different animal when dealing with the general public, but those experiences gave me pause. Though I am a sensitive person, I am easy-going. But, I have very keen antennae.

Sky56, I love your barrettes and artwork. I am especially fond of the picture you drew of the jungle. Reading the above comment about the pitfalls of selling as a vendor, I understand your point! When I have put my art out there for public comment, it is a very vulnerable experience to stand work up against other people and ask for judgement (the money/business goes to the winner). There is also a feeling of prostituting something God given and done in a personal zen moment of creation for money. When I have something go right in art, and I love it, it';s easy to give to people I care about but hard to think of selling for money.

 

[Sky56]

Thanks, your comments ring true. In theory, I would like to promote and sell more than I do, but the things you mention hold me back.
I do some "nutty" things which have made me happy: I've grossly undersold my art to people I love who are enthusiastic and caring about me - such as sell a work of art worth $500 on the general market for $50 or $75.

It's shocking to me how expensive art is in galleries, and I like to sell it for cheap to ordinary working class people so they can enjoy it too. I have a big collection of expensive, top-quality frames I've collected over the years for pennies at yard sales. And I have put quite a bit of unsigned or just initialed art on the Internet over the years and encouraged people to copy and paste it. There are people on the other side of the world who use my art as their screensavers, they tell me and thank me. There is something about not selling it, but instead sharing it, that gives people a lot of joy, including myself. But, it is a bit crazy because I am hardly profiting monetarily from it. All my needs are met from my career, so art and hobbies is just pure fun for me. Several people close to me are begging me to promote and sell.