Aside from writing/painting, what are your other creative outlets? Are you a theater actress/actor? Do you sing or dance?

My "gifts" are pretty much limited to writing. I can't sing or dance even if it means saving my life. Lol.

I'm not very confident in front of people; I can't imaging acting or singing on stage. Even the thought of having other people (people I know, anyway) read my written work makes me a little uncomfortable; my husband sometimes asks if he can read my writing but I've never let him yet.

I used to draw and paint a lot as a child but was never terribly proficient at it so it sort of fell by the wayside, though now I have my own children I have a lot more use for that sort of general craftiness; making things out of empty boxes and crepe paper, drawing up themed reward charts and hand-making decorations for birthdays, Christmas and Halloween.

My other creative hobby - one that I really want to devote a bit more time to - is sewing. I mainly make dolls' clothes, decorations and stuff at the moment but I really want to get in enough practice that I can start making clothes for the kids as well, even if only dressing up things rather than pay the store prices.

While I do enjoy writing, I think it is not at the top of the list of creative things for me. My imagination usually works overtime, and it is always thinking of things that I want to do, much of which I don't ever get to, unfortunately.
I used to draw all the time when I was in school, and after I got married and had little kids to take care of, being able to just sit down and spend an evening drawing something was no longer in the realms of possibility. 


I did enjoy knittting and crochet, and could do that in the evening when we were all sitting around and watching television. I made small projects like slippers and socks that didn't take a long time to do.
As the kids got older and started school, I had a little more free time, and used to draw on their jeans and shirts, and then paint designs on those.
I also enjoy singing and music, not real great at either one, but enjoy it anyway.

Now, I have been to those painting classes, and I am thinking about drawing and painting something again.
And I am spending more time writing, and enjoying myself developing that talent more, too.

Sometimes I get what I call "culinary muses" and I make up recipes. It's not quite stress-baking, but I do get stressed sometimes when it's over because... well, I ate my creative work like I was supposed to! And now there's nothing to show for it because I estimate ingredients so everything is to taste!

I also play a little guitar and sing some. I have never passed an audition, but I've gotten enough training (when I thought that my voice was complete garbage and only having the redeeming factor of being loud) to be convinced that anybody can sing decently with training. I really want to fight this sort of cultural message that you either can or can't sing, and if you think you can then you're egoistic or something. Everybody should be allowed to have a voice and use that for creative expression.

EllyMarks (10:54am Thu, Oct 23, 2014)

I really want to fight this sort of cultural message that you either can or can't sing, and if you think you can then you're egoistic or something. Everybody should be allowed to have a voice and use that for creative expression.

100% agree with that. I've never had training, and they'd be starting from a pretty poor base as I can't carry a tune to save my life, but more the point that you shouldn't let lack of "talent" stop you singing. I might not want to embarrass myself in front of an audience, but at home alone or with the kids, or with the radio on in the car, hell yes! I think singing is one of the best things you can do to brighten your mood if you're feeling a bit down or stressed or under the weather. I've even heard a theory that singing in the shower in the morning helps to wake you up.

I used to draw and paint for fun when I was younger, but it all kind of stopped when I had kids. I tried to take it up a again a couple of years ago, but found that I now lack patience. I now sew quilts for my creative outlet when I do not want to write. It is always a toss up though between writing and quilting and writing usually wins.

When I have a few days off from work I try to do a little of both as they are equally fun to me. I started making a quilt for my bed last year, but it is still not even close to being done. Writing is what I want to do for a career so I spend more time focusing on that.

One of the things that I really enjoy is working out in my yard. I know that we might usually think of that as just something that has to be done to keep the yard from looking like an overgrown pile of weeds; but it is something that I really enjoy doing.
 I love to go to Lowes because they always have clearance specials on some of their plants that are going out of season, or just looked wilted and need water and to be planted somewhere.
My yard has gotten a lot prettier with the plants and the flowers, and I look forward to planting even more in the spring.
I am also putting in some plants that will produce food, and be permanent, as opposed to a vegetable garden, which is replanted every year.  I have a few blueberry bushes, some asparagus plants, and an apple tree and a wild plum tree. 
  It wil be a while before we get anything from the fruit trees, but they will also be beautifying the back yard as they grow, and the asparagus plants are surrounding and hiding an old stump that we can't get out of the yard.
 

I wish that I had the space to really make a garden.  I only have a couple of potted plants and sometimes a few veggies growing on my back deck.  I live in a townhome that butts up against a wall of trees and blackberry bushes and so there is not room for me to do much.  We are going to buy a house in a couple of years and one of my requirements is to have a yard big enough to host a garden.

I am going to plant some veggies and fruit plants as I would like to become more self sustaining in my life.  They rob you at the grocery store for fresh produce and I get sick of paying the prices.  Plus having a garden would give me something to do outdoors in which I could breathe in some fresh clean air.

Rosy, have you ever looked into what is known as "vertical gardening "? ?  Even people who live in an apartment with only a small deck or balcony can actually grow quite a bit of produce using this technique.
If you google the term, there are a lot of different pictures of ways that people have made vertical gardens, and some interesting articles as well.
Amazon is a great place to find free ebooks, and the list changes every day, so if you do a search at the Kindle Store, you should find some good tutorials there, and also some videos on Youtube.
One    easy way  to make a vertical garden (cheaply, as well !) is to use an old pallet, which you can often pick up free from stores that just throw them away.
You would first lay the pallet flat in the area where you want to grow, cover the back and sides with that black gardening cloth, and then fill the spaces with potting soil, or other dirt.  Then, you add small started plants of veggies and flowers. let it lay flat for a week or so, to start the plants growing and getting good roots, and then you stand the pallet up against the wall where you want it to be.

I love music and my favourite thing to do is to rollerskate and listen to music just to help me unwind. I have tried painting and  I do enjoy it but I am not good at that at all. I can't sing but I do work with musicians and the most important past time for me is to spend time with the people that I love...my family.

My daughter has been telling me for some time now that I should sell my knitted socks and crocheted throw rugs on Etsy, which is a website where many home crafters sell their creations. I have promised several times to look at the website, and finally did so (after yet  another encouragement from Robin), and I was completely amazed at the prices people get for hand-made crafts.
Little Christmas decorations made from a piece of driftwood and a few pinecones sell for over $20. Knitted socks are around the same price, or more, in some cases. and my little throw rugs are up to $100 or more !
I make the throw rugs out of plarn, which is plastic bag yarn, so it is also recycling a product that takes 1000 years to disintegrate in a landfill. Several of my throw rugs have been around for a couple of years or more, and they just seem to get softer each time I wash them.
Now, that I have seen how much they can sell for; I am definitely going to try crocheting some and see if I can sell them.
It is something that I enjoy doing, especially in the cold winter months when I am not outside much; and if I can also make some extra money doing it; I am all for that part , too.

I love ballet.  I have been doing it a little over a year and it is one of the most fun things I have ever done.  Yes, it is very, very hard, but it is so rewarding.  I am 26 and the strongest I have ever been in my life.  I may even be going en pointe soon.

I am definitely not a creative writer as I can't really come up with any stories, even when I try really hard, I just draw a total blank and I can't stand any of the stupid poems I tried to write years ago.

I used to be a musician, I am still musical, but for various reasons I put playing that instrument behind me and have moved on with my life. 

Etsy is one of my favorite websites!  I love looking at all of the amazing projects that people come up with and sell on there. I sold a few handmade beads on Etsy a couple of years ago and made a little money doing it.  I had one lady buy a package of beads from me for like $5.00 and then once she got them, she asked me to make her a thousand more.  It took me about a week to get them all done and I ended up making about $150.00 off the sale.  I got away from Etsy a while ago because life got in the way, but I would really like to start selling some of my craft projects on there again at some point in the near future.

Rosy, how do you make the hand made beads? Are they wooden, or what kind of material ?  Most of the beads that I have seen in the stores are either glass or plastic or wooden, although I think I read something about making beads from some kind of newspaper and glue.
When I was growing up, I had one of those little Indian looms, and used to bead headbands for my cowboy hat, and things like that.
It took me forever to make a hat band, and I am not sure that I could even see well enough to get the skinny needle through the tiny hole in the bead.
When you were making beads, what did you makke out of them ? I would love to see a picture if you have any !

Kudos to you for succeeding on Etsy. I am genuinely impressed by anyone who can sell things on their or ebay.  I've sure tried at ebay, but not succeeded.  I would love to see a picture of your work, or a link to your page if you are still doing it at all.  That is really great that you were able to make $150 on one sale.  Wow, I wish I could do that.

My store on Etsy is Rosyrain's Creations. I think you can look through the beads and items I have sold. I have not listed anything on there in about 2 years now, but you can look through what I made in the past.

I made rolled paper beads. Basically what I did was cut origami paper into quarter inch strips and rolled them on a skewer and glued them along the way. Sometimes I would dip the ends in enamel paint and then give them a couple of coats of paper glaze, which you can get at any craft store just about. They were fun and very cheap to make and I could sell them for about $3 a package of 10.

Rosy, that sounds like a fun thing to do, and it is really creative ! You could make those paper beads look like just about anything after you painted them. I have heard of origami, where you fold the paper and make things like birds out of it; but I have no clue what origami paper might be. Is that something similar to regualr colored construction paper, or altogether different ?
I am going to have to look on Etsy and see if I can find your page and the beads that you made.
I would be really happy if i made $150 for a weeks worth of work.
My husband like doing things with wood,and Robin has been bringing him some of thedriftwood that she finds; so he is going to see about doing some kind of a craft with that and selling it.

I do a variety of creative activities. I love to write, but am not much of a story-teller so I stick to non-fiction. I also am an artist that works in mixed media including graphite, ink, colored pencil, watercolor, and other media.

Along with that, I also do a number of different crafty-type things. Crochet and decoupage are two of my mainstays. I can crochet just about anything, however my vision has deteriorated to the point that I can no longer crochet with the delicate threads I used to be able to. I hate not being able to make the fine lace that I used to, but at least I can use the larger threads and yarns.

I either have tried or will try just about any form of craft. I'm hoping to build an Etsy shop of my own, specializing in baby afghans, but including whatever else I feel like doing. I'm also in the process of being able to sell items with my art work like t-shirts and tote bags, using sites like Zazzle.

I used to act in theatre and in movies too and this made me feel good as it is a great way to let out steam and become someone else for a while, letting go of whatever the day has brought you.