New Hobbies

[y2kitty]

So, with rising prices for luxury items (gold, diamonds, etc) - have any of you taken up new hobbies? Personally, I've taken up sewing. A friend helped me make a skirt for my first item and now I have made 2 dresses and 2 tank tops. I'm not that great but I am getting better and it keeps me off PS. Anyone else?

 

[Clio]

Archery! I've been taking a class, along with my children, and it's really fun.

 

[Amys Bling]

Working out- but it hasn't kept me from PS

 

[Circe]

I have become perfume obsessed these last weeks. I hadn't made the connection, but you might be onto something there ....

Nah, I think my Shalimar Ode a la Vanille just smells addictively pretty.

 

[kelpie]

Funny, I just dusted off the old sewing machine too! I made two skirts last weekend. I'm hopeless for patterns though so I wing it. Next project is a quilt square for my unborn niece's baby quilt. I'm hoping to design a simplified version of this scene from The Little Prince. Can you show off what you made?

ETA- and too odd, Circe...my other new obsession is fragrance though I have a feeling it won't be any cheaper than gems. Get out of my head people! My new obsession is Biehl EO3. It's exactly what I want to smell like.

 

[JewelFreak]

It's not brand-new but when we moved South a few yrs ago I decided to read some Southern history to get to know the area. Picked up a book on the, ahem, War Between the States, & became obsessed. I'm now the proud parent of half a huge bookcase full of Civil War books with more on order, also joined a few CW forums & societies & have trekked up to Virginia to battle sites -- alone, because DH has no interest. As a kid I couldn't have cared less when my dad was a big CW buff, & my grandfather was a recognized authority on Gettysburg. Funny how things go in circles.

 

[Tanzigrrl]

JewelFreak - me too! We relocated to the South after originally coming from the West Coast and then spending years in Chicago. I gathered an entire bookcase of CW books. Fascinating era, isn't it!?

 

[purselover]

This has nothing to do with the price of diamonds/gold but DH and I just started indoor rock-climbing.

 

[kenny]

Can you guess my new hobby?

 

[iheartscience]

I bought a sewing machine a while ago and am going to sign up for a sewing class within the next few weeks once my schedule clears up! I'm pretty excited! I also want to sign up for a ceramics class...might do that after the sewing. I'm thinking I should stay away from jewelry classes right now!

 

[canuk-gal]

HI:

Add another exercise program to my current regimn--sign up for a triathalon and training.

cheers--Sharon

 

[centralsquare]

I guess diamond buying has been taken up by discussing how I'm not buying due to diamond prices. Does that count as a hobby?

 

[ForteKitty]

I replaced jewelry with travelling. There's been some amazing deals and i'm taking full advantage of it. just a little bit of research can save hundreds, and it's so much fun i feel like it's a hobby!

Now that gold is thru the roof, it's so much easier to spend on other stuff. If given the choice between an Alaskan cruise+ airfare+ 2 nights in Vancouver + food and drinks for $1k... or a gold setting for same price? Of course i'm gonna go w/ the cruise! We also did Orlando for 5.5 days: airfare+hotel+3 theme parks+ksc+car rental+all food and drinks+gifts for $800 each. (theme parks were the most $$ chunk of it) AND i have Boston, Chicago, SF, and Vegas lined up for the next 3 months. (flights were dirt cheap)

Can you believe that all of these trips combined, with everything calculated in (hotels, transportation, tons of food, drinks, and activities), will cost less than the custom ring setting i wanted?? (under $4.5k) This is the first year i'm gonna use up all 5 weeks of vacation time, and my bf/friends are all sick of hearing "omg look at this awesome deal i just found!".

 

[Jennifer W]

I sew too, but I'm more interested in the machines themselves.

I collect antique and vintage Singer sewing machines, and whenever possible, convert them to hand-turned, refurbish and restore them so they can go to people in the developing world to make a living with. This is the most fantastic charity, and I wish I had more time and money to devote to working on these machines (they can suck up days at a time, and I get so deeply obsessed with each one it's ridiculous).

http://www.tfsr.org/

 

[dragonfly411]

canning, preserving, gardening. I'm riding horses more, exercise, and school.

Oh wait. I already did all that.

We are fishing more!

 

[Arkteia]

It's not brand-new but when we moved South a few yrs ago I decided to read some Southern history to get to know the area. Picked up a book on the, ahem, War Between the States, & became obsessed. I'm now the proud parent of half a huge bookcase full of Civil War books with more on order, also joined a few CW forums & societies & have trekked up to Virginia to battle sites -- alone, because DH has no interest. As a kid I couldn't have cared less when my dad was a big CW buff, & my grandfather was a recognized authority on Gettysburg. Funny how things go in circles.

Laurie,

Do you have Lossing's "History of the Civil War"? It was published somewhere between 1911-1915 (they say "fiftieth anniversary of the great national struggle" but I do not know which date they take as a starting point).

 

[AmeliaG]

Very cool calligraphy Kenny! I used to do it - don't have my tools any more.

Sewing is one thing I wished I picked up but never did. Maybe because my mom knew but hated to sew so she never taught me.