Crafting was brought up in the chat box and I thought it would be a good topic to discuss. What are your interests and what do you make?

(1-10 scale; 1 lowest, 10 highest) I don't do that much, but I can:

Knit (10)
Crochet (2)
Draw (5)
Sew (7)
Soap-making (6)
Jewelry from polymer clay (10)
Figurines from polymer clay (3)
Dollhouse miniatures from polymer clay (8)
Hair accessories (4)
Hat accessories (4)
Leatherworking (2)
Woodworking (1)

Now, to break down what I do with a few of them:

Knit - stuffed animals, hats, scarves, gloves, socks, bracelets, & capelets.
Crochet - gloves
Draw - gesture & still life.
Sew - I've made all of my Steampunk outfits except one.
Soap-making - melt & pour soap = layered, swirled, embedding, & stamping.
Jewelry from polymer clay - earrings, necklaces, bracelets, pendants, & started doing plugs as well.
Figurines from polymer clay - animals
Dollhouse miniatures from polymer clay - Food & plates of food.
Leatherworking = leather ring bands & leather bracelets to install buttons into them.
Woodworking - abstract art

That's what I can do so far. :)

Since I started the topic, I should include my interests as well. I'll start with my crew members, both daughters make jewelry with re-purposed and new items. My youngest uses polymer clay to make charms and trinkets for the jewelry. Her current obsession is food items, such as mushrooms, pea pods, strawberries and such. Both make their own costumes for COSPLAY and steampunk. They both sew. The youngest also likes to make weapons from whatever she can use, bondo, fiberglass, wood, plastic, etc. My wife likes to crochet and sew.

My list is long:

Woodworking, all types from building houses to furniture. I have my own sawmill and can go from tree to finished product in house. I turn wood on the lath for bowls, pens, spindles. I like using old hand tools as much as possible. I have over 30 years experience in this field both hobby and professional and am considered a master carpenter.

Leather work, I was introduced to leather by the Isabella and Captain Whittaker. I have acquired a good bit of the tooling and started making items such as goggles, arm bracers, and small pouches. I see this growing into a much bigger hobby than I ever imagined.

Blacksmithing, I dabble with making pulls, knobs, and small items to use around the house. My goal is to forge a few knives in the furture.

Model building, I build and fly remote controlled airplanes.

I also learned how to sew while my daughters and wife were learning. In the same regard, I had to learn soap-making, candle making, and a variety of other crafts to understand and support my family's interest.

I am a master at researching and have been called a jack of all trades and master of none. If I want to learn something new, I read everything I can before I begin and usually have pretty good success teaching myself.

My skills are limited, but I'm learning. I make duck tape roses, and carnations, of varying sizes and intricacy. I've been making roses for a few year now. It all started with a date between me and B. I wanted to take HIM out to dinner and movie, the whole shebang... and I even wanted to give him flowers, but I couldn't find a flower that was manly enough. So I decided to make a rose out of duct tape. I realized how much freaking fun it was to make them so I made a couple dozen for fun. Eventually I started selling them at cons that my film group went to. I then took them to my first event on my own Onicon 2010.


carnation by theshyfox photography, on Flickr


steampunk rose by theshyfox photography, on Flickr

I also have started to branch off into other things... namely my faerrariums! This one was made last night, and I'm working on my second one in an hour or so. :) I'm really happy with them.


faerrarium 1 by theshyfox photography, on Flickr


faerrarium 2 by theshyfox photography, on Flickr

Let me start by saying this: I have never ever had a store bought costume for Halloween. My mom is a seamstress and costumer, so I learned to sew and modify things very young. I guess you could call those my primary skills, but I don't call myself an expert; I'm still learning and experimenting. I've drafted patterns for my own costumes, but will tend to use purchased patterns for others unless I am commissioned to make something that I had drafted myself. Those drafted ones have been everything from cosplay costumes to my new leather harness to clothes for dolls (in any scale from 1/12 to 1/3).

Going with that, I've been doing a bit of leather-work, but only in using it for braiding or garment making. I want to get into making more harnesses and spats to sell; I think I worked out a good harness pattern, just need to fine-tune my spats. The leather braiding is something I'm learning from my dad; I've gotten a few styles down, just needing to get some of the more advanced once started.

Other skills...hmmm....I draw, but not very often....I use it mostly to get costume or other ideas down on paper when I can't verbally describe it. Beading...I've done a fair bit, but I want badly to get into doing crochet beading or some of the more complex styles.

Ok, crocheting....I keep going back and forth on it. I enjoy crocheting, but I lose my attention span on repetitious patterns and so lose interest pretty quick. ((For the record, I have tried knitting, but it wasn't comfortable for me...))

My newest one is gun modding, but I am still learning tricks on that from Javert. I have liked the few that I have done so far though...

There is also evidence in my room of paintings I have done, models I've built, plans for a plane I built for school, and origami. Random, yes, but I am proud of my paper crane strand and my paper irises. Erm....those are the major ones I guess....

I'll add this. I can't sew.... like at all. I can barely stitch up holes in fabric. However, I'm a costume builder. I do buy all my costume pieces, but I never wear it as it comes. I mix and match! I guess that could be considered crafting right?

Like this outfit for example:

IMG_3777 by theshyfox photography, on Flickr
The hat came from one place, then was contributed to by 5 other artists.
The necklace was a gift from a friend a million years ago.
The shirts were two that I got at a store in the mall also a million years ago. If I recall I bought them with a gift card.
The belt was bought for me when I was in school and part of our dress code was that we had to wear a belt at all times.
The bracelet on my left hand was one my mother gave me a long time ago.
The skirt came from my trip to France.
The boots I found on sale a few years back and I bought them for my ren costume.
The jinglies on my boots were purchased at faire.

So you see my hat, and my boots were the only things specifically bought to be part of a costume. The rest came from my own closet! :)
I'm always on the look out for my newest costume piece. I have a box in my closet where I keep all my costumes, but it needs to be upgraded to a trunk!

:)