Blaugust

Hobbies – Round Four: Art

stargrace August 8, 2023 0Comment

It’s the fourth and final round of hobbies for the week, and I’m ending it with one of my most passionate ones but also a sorely neglected one (aren’t they all) – art. I used to do a lot of traditional art but stopped for about 20 years, and then when I picked it up again I found some days my body simply wouldn’t listen, so I now switch between digital art and traditional art.

Tools of the trade: For digital art I use an ipad and an apple pencil 1st generation. Software is Procreate, but I know everyone has their favourites. I use default brushes, and most of my pieces are nature related.

For traditional art I’ve been learning how to use watercolours, though I also have some gouache that I’m trying to learn. My favourite is probably just pen and ink. am fascinated by urban sketching, and my YouTube shows a lot of that. The thing is, art takes time and practice to get better at, and it’s been many years since I was any good at it. I don’t dedicate nearly the amount of time that I wish I did. Last year I was trying to complete one piece a week, and I ended just shy of that. This year I attempted the same, but I’ve only completed four pieces for the year. It’s a mixture of reasons, all of them excuses. I am happy to be back doing art though. It always holds a very special sacred place in my heart.

I try to keep my art supplies neat and tidy and all in one location, but it eventually spills out around the house over time. My computer desk is home to most of it, with a few bins underneath for sketch books. A plastic stand with drawers to the side of my desk holds paint, brushes, and other bits and bobs.

That makes four days of hobbies. Knitting (and fiber related arts), miniatures, cross stitch, and art. That doesn’t included other hobbies that I dabble in, including cooking, reading, photography, and whatever else happens to cross my path, honestly. I love trying different things and finding out what works (or doesn’t work) for me.

Tomorrow? Back to our regular scheduled video game posts!

Cross Stitch Yarn

Hobbies – Round Three: Cross Stitch

stargrace August 7, 2023 0Comment

My Mom taught me to cross stitch when I was around 10 years old. It was her main hobby (besides reading) and I always admired the pieces she created. She would do these elaborate, sometimes blanket sized, pieces full of colours. It was no surprise when I wanted to take it up, but it turns out that I do not have her patience or perseverance when it comes to this hobby. I would get bored easily, want to start new projects constantly, and I’ve never completed anything large. Now that I’m older it’s a bit easier, but because of the number of hobbies I have, cross stitch is probably one of the more neglected ones. Especially since my eyesight has been going. I’ve been thinking about investing in one of those magnifying glasses that you can clamp to the couch, so that I can see my stitches clearly.

Cross stitch happens exactly as it sounds. You stitch tiny little X’s over and over. Sometimes that’s mixed in with other types of stitches (back stitching for outlining, half stitches just for a different look, knots, etc) but the majority are the repeating X’s. I have a huge collection of kits, as well as patterns I’ve bought online or ones I’ve printed out. I subscribed to a yearly magazine for a while that included a tiny little seasonal project, but they mostly sat there, unused.

I have bins of canvas, threads neatly organized in craft cases, bags of threads less organized, and everything in between. The size of my cross stitch collection is (IMO) under control and quite small (I have one plastic tote dedicated to it, I make sure everything can fit into the tote minus my containers of floss) compared to other crafts I have (knitting, I’m looking at you) and I prefer to keep it that way. Like most of my hobbies, if I don’t set aside dedicated time to it, it tends to get neglected. I’d like to do a little stitching each day and then at least over time I might be able to see some progress. As it is now, I tend to rotate my hobbies in and out, so I’ll work on knitting for a few months, then swap over to cross stitch or miniatures, then swap over to my 4th hobby which I’ll talk about in tomorrow’s post.

How do you handle having multiple hobbies? Do they all get an equal amount of attention or do you tend to hyper focus on one and rotate them out like I do? Let me know in comments!

DailyCreative Real Life

Hobbies – Round Two: Miniatures

stargrace August 6, 2023 0Comment

Miniatures are a relatively ‘new’ hobby of mine, but I’ve been obsessed with them for years. I don’t necessarily mean the little tokens that people paint for TTRPG or the ones that sit on giant tables depicting massive wars but I suppose they can fall under the umbrella, too. I mean miniature anything. Small. Tiny. Adorable. I love creating tiny scenes and all the little items that go into those scenes. My facebook is filled with miniature groups that I belong to, and it is my happy place.

I bought a few small kits to start with, but kit bashing is incredibly popular, and I can see why. So far I’ve only built one of the kits from start to finish. It took a few days, but I loved doing it. Even learning how to do the wiring so the lights work.

The kits I had purchased were VERY small, I think 1:12 range is more comfortable. My eyes are not the greatest and I need progressives so I’m constantly taking my glasses off so I can see what I’m looking at. Not to mention my hands can be very unsteady some days.

I tried to get into polymer clay miniatures, but it just wasn’t for me. I would much rather build with paper / wood / glue than create with clay and not for lack of trying.

Of course the other issue with having so many different hobbies is the storage issue. I like to keep everything neat and tidy in its own little section, but it’s all too easy to have things get out of hand. Especially when you add children and inquisitive cat to the equation.

There’s two more hobbies to go, and then after that maybe I’ll get back to writing about video games!

Knitting Yarn

Hobbies – Round One: Knitting (Little Sock Arms 1)

stargrace August 5, 2023 1Comment

There are a lot of things I enjoy doing besides video games. For the longest time, I thought there were too many other things I enjoyed doing, and I would actively try to narrow them down only to feel their lure once again after some time had passed. Unfortunately, I do not have all of the free time in the world, and trying to make sure I dedicate time to everything rarely ever happens. One of the main hobbies in my life is knitting (and other fiber related activities, including spinning) and above is a sweater in progress that I’m knitting for my 5 year old daughter. Eventually it will have rainbow striped arms, and it might even be completed in time for use this fall / winter. I’m knitting it in fingering weight yarn which is perfect for socks but takes FOREVER for garments. I think the last time I knit such a garment I swore I’d never do it again – and yet, here I am.

I try to knit for at least 30m-1h each day, but if I can’t manage that even 10 minutes is enough to see a bit of progress. I feel like if I can just dedicate a little bit of time each day to the hobbies I enjoy, then slowly over time I might see results. Whether those results are getting better in a craft, or a completed piece, depends on the craft.

I love talking to other fiber lovers about the hobby, too. I love sharing projects, seeing what others are up to, and learning what yarns they enjoy using. I have any close friends who spin yarn, but I do know a handful who knit or crochet. It’s a subject I could go on about for some time. One of my major motivators is this blog, DailyCreativeThing. I’ve been following it for years now and it always makes me smile.

Have a crafty blog to suggest? Let me know in comments and I’ll add it to my to-read pile.

Gaming WoW Gold Making

What Does it Mean to be a Goblin

stargrace August 4, 2023 0Comment

I don’t play World of Warcraft the traditional way it was meant to be played. I don’t enjoy raids, I don’t do group content. I do like collecting pets, and other pet related activities – but what I REALLY like to do in World of Warcraft, is make gold. If you enjoy making gold the term ‘goblin’ is often used. It isn’t a mean comment, it just means you enjoy making gold. It doesn’t even necessarily mean you’re any good at it (although I am). Right now in WoW I have 50,000,000 gold in liquid form (that means actual gold, not stock). That’s over 14 years of game time if I were to convert it all to battlenet tokens right now. I’ve been paying with gold for anything digital that Blizzard releases for years now, and I do that with my gold making. Diablo digital deluxe? Gold. Hearthstone packs? Gold. 2 WoW subscriptions and all the expansions? Gold. It allows me a certain freedom and also lets me feel guilt-free if I decide to take a break unlike other games where I’m actively paying a monthly subscription with my credit card.

This amount of gold is practically nothing compared to some of the bigger goblins out there – but time IS money, and the more time you devote to your trade, the more gold you’re going to earn. Right now I spend less than one hour a day on goblin activities and I’ve been established for a number of years which is what makes all of this easier. It takes time and effort to get set up and to learn the market and figure out your role in it. Once you’re there, it gets easier.

I started getting into gold making in BFA when the auction house mount was on a vendor for 5 million. My husband was away at depot for 6 months, and I was home with a newborn baby. I used gold making to get me through the incredibly long and lonely days, and it just sort of took off from there. Prior to that I had zero gold making knowledge. I used to ask my husband for gold to help me be able to afford to craft. Needless to say I no longer have that problem, lol.

I personally like to use my gold for good. I like to gift things to friends and family, help out guilds, and I never forget what it was like NOT to have that extra gold. It’s supposed to be a fun game after all, so I would rather help people have fun and not have to stress about an in-game currency when real life makes us stress so much already. Along those same lines, I also don’t enjoy making gold in a method that would bring harm to others. I don’t bait on the auction house or try to talk people out of their money. It’s simply not needed. I WILL spend time sniping auctions, but if someone messages me and kindly requests an item back without instigating an argument, I tend to give it back. After all, mistakes can happen.

My gold making habits tend to carry over into other games, but WoW is the only one I’ve managed to create such an extensive system on. Unfortunately, when I’m bored with gold making it also usually means I’m bored of the game, and need a break. Not necessarily a bad thing, but you don’t make a lot of gold if you’re not playing the game.

Anyway, there’s an introduction into my role as a goblin, and a bit of an explanation. As always, happy gaming – no matter where you find yourself!

Hobbies – Round Four: Art

Hobbies – Round Three: Cross Stitch

Hobbies – Round Two: Miniatures

Hobbies – Round One: Knitting (Little Sock Arms 1)

What Does it Mean to be a Goblin

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