List of Hobbies

Archive for the ‘Achievement’ Category

Do you like working with paper? Do you like paper crafting? Then you might also like paper quilling. It is fun and you can create something delicate and beautiful as a result. Many people make cards and decorations out of paper quilling. If you are new to paper quilling, you can start small and inexpensively. Just cut a long strip of paper and use something sharp and pointy, such as a bamboo skewer, to roll the paper. You may not get a delicate and nice finish product using these crude supplies but you will get a hang of what paper quilling is like and decide if it is something that you want to pursue further. If so, there are basic supplies and tools that will help improve your paper quilling projects.

What is paper quilling?

Quilling, paper quilling or paper filigree is an art form that involves the use of strips of paper that are rolled, shaped, and glued together to create decorative designs. The paper is wound around a quill to create a basic coil shape. The paper is then glued at the tip and the coil shaped, these shaped coils are arranged to form flowers, leaves, and various ornamental patterns similar to ironwork.

Basic paper quilling supplies and tools

When starting out, you will not need all the tools and supplies. You  might just want to get nice paper and just a quilling tool. A quilling tool has a metal end with a tiny slot so that you can slide paper in and keep the end there while rolling the paper. With this tool, anyone without any experience, can roll paper strips nicely and make beautiful finished projects.

If you are ready to start paper quilling or need some paper quilling ideas or instructions, then here are some book suggestions. These books will help you with ideas and they also have step by step paper quilling instructions for lots of different projects that you can do.

New Concepts in Paper Quilling: Techniques for Cards & Gifts

Paper Quilling for the first time

Shoe making can be challenging but some people love shoes and they just cannot seem to find shoes that they love in stores so they make them themselves. It is fun to make shoes if you know what you are doing and you like making, designing, creating, sewing and so forth. Shoes can be made of many materials such as leather, cloth, plastic, or canvas. Leather shoes are popular because it stops feet getting too hot but sewing leather can be tricky if you are not used to it. There are many grades of leather, some are tough and hard to work with whereas others are more delicate and, of course, more expensive.

How to make shoes?

Shoes are not something you attempt to make if you have never sew, designed or created anything. Start with something easier than shoes and get used to sewing and creating something simpler. When making shoes, you need to be precise and cannot make errors or your shoes will not fit or they will be extremely uncomfortable to wear.

Shoes are made on models of feet called lasts. You first need to design your shoes. You need to draw a pattern for different parts of the shoes such as vamp, quarters, tongue, and counter. You then need to cut the different parts out of whatever material you are going to make the shoes from. Then you need to sew the pieces together. Then the insole is nailed to the bottom of the last. The upper is stretched over the last. The edges are glued to the insole and so on. The process of making great shoes is long and you need to pay attention to every little detail.

If you want to start making shoes as a hobby, you can get some books to help you. Here is a suggestion below.

Make Your Own Slippers and Shoes (Do It Yourself Projects!)

Have you ever tried needle felting? It is a great, fun and exciting hobby for many crafters. Needle felting is sculpting wool with a specialized needle. It is somewhat a new hobby that some say has been around since the 1980s.

What you need to start needle felting?

You need some basic tools that are not expensive such as:

• felting needles
• a firm foam block
• sheep’s wool
• dyed wool (Rovings)

There are also tools that will help you with needle felting but some of them are not necessary so you can start this hobby with little money and then grow your supplies as you see fit. Some of these tools are carders, card blanks, threads and beads, thimble, jewelry pliers, pipe cleaners, and so on.

Techniques used in Needle Felting

When you are learning how to needle felt, you will learn many techniques. Some of the basic techniques are needling, making ball shape, shape forming, using an armature or a skeletal structure, blending colors by carding, etc.

If you are ready to learn needle felting or you want to start and need some ideas and step-by step instructions, this is a great book to start off with.

Beginner’s Guide to Needle Felting

Flower pressing is a great hobby for people who love flowers. By pressing them, you can keep your favorite flowers longer and use them in creative, craft projects such as making cards, pictures and other decorative items. Some flowers are easier to press than others. You need to learn which ones are great for pressing and which ones are no good so that you will not waste your time. You will learn to recognize great flowers for pressing with experience.

Which flowers are easy to press?

The easiest flowers to press are open-faced flowers such as pansies or bell shaped flowers.

When is a good time to press flowers?

The best time to press flowers is when you just picked them so they will not wilt first. You want to start with flowers that are undamaged and have fully opened. The flowers should be dry, not wet. Summer is a great season to press flowers because there are many colorful flowers that are blooming in the summer.

How long to press flowers for?

Usually, you need to leave flowers pressed for about four weeks.

Fun things to do with pressed flowers

Once you have pressed flowers, there are many fun things you can use them in. You can make them into cards to give to your friends. You can make bookmarks. You can make gift tags or you can use them in your scrapbooking projects.

Some people love to do landscaping as a hobby. But, how about landscaping with native plants? Landscaping with native plants is  great way to reduce the amount of runoff that leaves your property. It is also easier than landscaping with non-native plants because, usually, native plants require very little maintenance since they have evolved and adapted natural defenses to local conditions.

If you live in areas with drought, nutrient poor soil, severe winter conditions, disease and insects, non-native plants may not survive but native plants could. By doing your landscaping with native plants, you will save time as well as money. You may not need any lawn chemicals or even irrigation to maintain your lawn when working with native plants.

What are native plants?

Native plants are trees, shrubs, flowers, grasses, ferns and other plants that originate and evolve in a region over time. They have adapted to local climate and ecological conditions.