Anyone have any interesting hobbies?

[amastie]

Because I find doing small sewing repairs calming - because they need close and singular attention - I can imagine doing these carvings may well be too. What is "Corian"? Is it like soap? Or a form of wood? Does it last once the carvings are done?

Thanks,

 

[Retired]

Corian is the material used in countertops, and is sold under other brand names now but Corian was the original. It's an epoxy type material that is durable but granite is becoming more popular now.

Corian is relatively soft and responds to sandpaper and grinding with a Dremel rotary tool. Once I cut out the general shape, I grind out the finer details using the Dremel. The final finish is done by wet sanding to make a finish that looks like glass.

Kitchen cabinet makers discard cutouts from countertops, so there is plenty of material available for free, so it's a hobby where the raw material is readily available at no cost.

Steve

 

[Always Changing]

[h=2][/h]

You've inspired me. Thinking I should try to give scrapbooking a go. I've plenty of photos of my cats and all of the pets I've had throughout the years. If I can motivate myself, I may just try this out

Hi limbo, just wondering if you have tried this out yet..?? if so.... how is is coming along for you?

 

[rayjay]

Without my hobbies I'd just be sitting on my _ss getting fatter. Instead, my veggie garden in the summer gets me out and doing a bit, but year round I'm a reefer.
I have salt water aquariums with corals, inverts and fish, and, I have a lot of seahorse tanks.
Unfortunately my seahorses need a lot of care and I neglected them somewhat since my wife passed, but I think I'm getting back on schedule now for their husbandry.
Poor husbandry means losses in this hobby.
It is fascinating to watch them interact, especially when they do the mating dance and I've been known to sit and watch them for hours in a day rather than do something constructive.

 

[Retired]

I have a lot of seahorse tanks

It would be interesting to see some photos of your tanks and the seahorses if you have them!

You can attach photos to a post, or create a photo album from your profile page.

 

[rayjay]

I have a website with the pictures located HERE

That is the main page with links to all the other pages including the seahorse ones.

 

[Retired]

Thank you for sharing the photos of your aquariums, Rayjay!

 

[making_art]

Wow, Rayjay! Those are really interesting, wonderful creatures you have there.

My hobbie or interest at the moment is jewelry making and art journaling. So good for the soul!

 

[Retired]

My hobby or interest at the moment is jewelry making and art journaling

I am not familiar with art journaling...what's involved?

Any photos of some of your jewelry creations?

 

[making_art]

Hi Steve,

Art journaling is a wonderful art making process that has no rules! I have found that it has gotten me through the most difficult times in my life as well I use art journaling just for inspiration in the creative process! It's interesting to go back and read/look through my art journals (sketch books) and I never fail to get inspired and want to put paint/pen to paper when I review them. Here is a great visual link so you can see some examples of wonderful art journals. Maybe it will inspire you to start one! Art Journaling

Here is an example of the style of jewelry I make. I am just learning silver smithing and still need some tools to do more with solid silver so silver chain and wire are my current choice of materials. This is a custom necklace for someone and not quite finished. This has matching earrings and hair pins for a wedding.

 

[Cat Dancer]

Beautiful necklace.

 

[making_art]

Thank you, Cat Dancer. Hey, I dance with cats like you!

 

[Retired]

Make Art,

Thanks for the info on Art Journaling. I especially liked the necklace.

 

[AmZ]

Hi Steve,

Art journaling is a wonderful art making process that has no rules! I have found that it has gotten me through the most difficult times in my life as well I use art journaling just for inspiration in the creative process! It's interesting to go back and read/look through my art journals (sketch books) and I never fail to get inspired and want to put paint/pen to paper when I review them. Here is a great visual link so you can see some examples of wonderful art journals. Maybe it will inspire you to start one! Art Journaling

Here is an example of the style of jewelry I make. I am just learning silver smithing and still need some tools to do more with solid silver so silver chain and wire are my current choice of materials. This is a custom necklace for someone and not quite finished. This has matching earrings and hair pins for a wedding.

Beautiful necklace.

And the art journalling looks excellent. Maybe I'll have to try to get in to some of that.

Right now in the hospital, I am currently working on two things. One is embossed flowers on copper sheet and the other things is making a box purely out of pegs and glue! Then I will paint the box and maybe add some sequins or something.

 

[Retired]

making a box purely out of pegs and glue!

What kind of pegs are you using?

 

[AmZ]

What kind of pegs are you using?

Wooden clothing pegs.

 

[Retired]

Wooden clothing pegs

The clothes pegs I'm familiar with have a metal spring holding two identical wooden halves. Are you removing the spring and assembling the individual wooden pieces? Are you reshaping or cutting the pegs or are you using the unique shape of the entire pegs for the style of your project?

Sounds like a clever use of a common material for a creative project!

 

[making_art]

AmZ,
Embossed copper and wooden peg boxes sound like fun.
Be warned....art journaling is addictive :reading: The nice part about art journaling is there are no rules. Look through many online journals and copy some of the pages just for inspiration and to learn different ways to do some of the styles or techniques that you like. If you do a page that you don't like you just simply add more layers and change it completely. Videos are a great way to learn about how to use different materials. Materials such as magazine pictures, glue, pens and crayons can go a long way!

 

[AmZ]

The clothes pegs I'm familiar with have a metal spring holding two identical wooden halves. Are you removing the spring and assembling the individual wooden pieces? Are you reshaping or cutting the pegs or are you using the unique shape of the entire pegs for the style of your project?

Sounds like a clever use of a common material for a creative project!

Hi Steve,

Yes, precisely - The metal springs are removed so I am working with halves and gluing them together. Building them up to make rows of 16 halves and making 5 of those so that I have 4 sides and the bottom. Then gluing all of those pieces together to make the final result. I finished it today but for some reason it doesn't fit together very well and there are gaps. I'm a bit disappointed seeing the amount of time it took me to make! Oh well.

But make_art, the copper sheet is fun and a good workout too (for the arms!). I already made a butterfly for my niece to put up on her wall and it came out really nice. It's a lot of work to do but is worth it in the end. And in the end I put clear varnish on it so it's a bit shiny and looks all nice.

I am seriously going to have to get in to some art journalling. If I can ever get out of (this darned) hospital and get myself to an art shop then I'd love to get a new sketchbook and start an art journal book. Maybe I can take excerpts from my blog to use as the text? That's not cheating too much is it?

 

[making_art]

I am seriously going to have to get in to some art journalling. If I can ever get out of (this darned) hospital and get myself to an art shop then I'd love to get a new sketchbook and start an art journal book. Maybe I can take excerpts from my blog to use as the text? That's not cheating too much is it?

AmZ, that's the beauty of making an art journal...there are no rules so there is no such thing as cheating. You don't even need to go to an art shop and the hospital has everything you need to start now. Here is a link that talks about doing your first art journal and she suggests using any old book at all.

Art Journaling for Beginners

You can start cutting and pasting and writing and doodling with lines and colour right over the pages that are there in a used book. If you remove some of the pages every 20 pages or so it gives you more room to grow your pages and allow for thicknesses with collage so you can close it. You can use text from any source you like...there are no rules. You and only you decide what and how to create your art journal. Have fun!