Come on, I know you are a talented bunch

What do you make?  Do you sell it?  How do you sell it?

I'm seriously looking at sculpting and jewellery making then selling it to make some pocket money (and obviously not forgetting the tax man).  I really enjoy working with new clay and polymer clay, but this time I think I would like to try taking moulds and reproducing a few of my originals in plaster.  I also saw some resin jewellery and I really really fancy getting into that. I know it's not something I could possibly make a living out of, but I would hope there would be some pennies to put away for a rainy day.

Not bad with a needle and thread although I do say so myself. Used to cross stitch for hours. I've also done a lot of knitting. OH is still sporting his cable knit jumper I made years ago. He gets it out when its really cold. I also re-do my furniture now and then. I recover dining chair seats and make matching backs and I have made loads of curtains. Not sold anything though.

dog coats for giants

I used to knit aran sweaters for a local shop, also did some machine knitting for the same shop and for friends but had to give up as I have Carpal Tunnel Syndrome. I enjoyed making cards and still do although selling them proved really difficult. I bought a cross stitch last year but haven't started it yet as I think I have bitten off more than I can chew. Might look for a simpler one to start with!

I have done lots of knitting, sewing and card making.  Mainly just for family/friends etc.  I did make loads of cards but no-one wanted to buy them!  I think as they're hand made people don't want to pay much for them, some were emroidered and took ages to make.
I've just had to mend my daughters horse rugs - could that be something I could make money at?  I doubt it!
Crafting is just a hobby, I don't know how you could even cover costs involved.

Wow, yup I knew there were crafty folk on here

I've had a look at Folksy and MISI with regards a way of selling whatever I make - they seem to be quite popular websites with crafters.  I'd love to do a craft fair, if I made enough stuff and it was good enough, but I need to finish learning to drive lol.

Ells-Bells, my friend sent her horse rugs away to be mended so there are people out there who must make something from it.

I agree it's a hobby but I need an outlet, just a bit stressed recently, and any money made would be a bonus.

Ells-Belles there is plenty of demand for rug repairers out there, the amount of money i have spent having them mended is unreal, over 10 years for 2 horses i bet i have spent a good £2000 on repairs! thats £200 a year for one customer alone! doesnt seem like much but if you have 100 customers a year thats £20,000. there isnt much competition either, only down side is income generally tends to be seasonal, beginning in oct ending in march ish

My horse rugs go to get mended when they are cleaned and reproofed - so unless you have a giant washing machine...

I knit small cardigans for premature babies which I am going to send to the Bonnie Babies Charity when I have a few to send. I started to help me lose weight as I figured that with all the pastel wool I couldn't knit and eat .  I've also made scrapbooks for my daughter's 18th birthday and my mum and Dad's Golden Wedding anniversary. I used to make lots of soft toys too when I was much much younger!

I wouldn't sell anything though, I do it for pleasure and if it became a business it wouldn't be a pleasure

i do Kumihimo and use morano glass to make jewellry which my sons partner sells on ebay for me and at Uni. I also do cross stich, machine sewing, hand sewing and knitting but I cant crochet to save my life.

I use the money for what I want as opposed to "our money" which is fir the rebuilding of the house ect...

Go for it you never know unless you try and its good to be arty crafty. My sons are really clever Sam and Ben paint and model and I have no idea where that comes from as I cant draw a straight line. Sam has released his first animation and is hoping it will be a lucrative idea for readies.

Go for it girl you will regret it if you dont. there are craft markets,all over the place and ebay shops so pleanty of outlets.

I do lots of "crafty" things to sell for Rescue - painted glass and china, windchimes, dreamcatchers, cards, shadow boxes, cushions, etc. etc.  Anything which comes to mind and which could sell (and I can work out a way of making.  I have also done some jewellery, and my latest thing is Hats and fascinators, which are a lot of fun to make.  I also do doggy coats, towelling robes and fancy dress.  Hope to get a website up an running later this year.

I did a ceramic restoration course when I took redundancy from teaching.  Haven't earned very much from it because it is quite a slow process.  Was going to repair broken ceramics and put them back into auction but building our new house has taken up all my time and everything crafty is boxed up waiting for me to move into my lovely new workroom.  Also do stained glass now - with my OH - we have one window made and put into our new house and the other is still in the design stage.  Not so interested in selling because you have to put so much time and effort into making things and it is difficult to put a price on that.   I love the idea of making baby cardigans for charity - Dakkobear - knitting is very calming.  I don't knit for myself now because it works out very expensive - used to be that knitting jumpers was cheaper than buying - now you can't make anything for what you can buy them for these days.

I make & sell jewellery, and also work with polymer clay too!!! It's great stuff, just like 'plasticine for grown ups'!!

As an income it is quite irregular, which is why I still have my full time job, but in the past year I've managed to get a little bit more well known, and have had some success with online sales and fairs.

I sell on MISI & Folksy too - both great places although Folksy is definitely the busier of the 2.

I can't sew very well at all, although would love to - Im going to try and improve if I can, but I find it a real struggle.

Feel free to drop me an email GCG if you want to natter about jewellery/beads/fairs etc at any time!!

Claire

I relax with my rugmaking.  Give me a latch hook and I can escape from the world!

Trouble is, I like huge ones 4ft plus, and they take millions of hours, so you could never make a business of it. 

I made a big cream rug covered in different varieties of butterflies, and it looks quite stunning.

> they take millions of hours, so you could never make a business of it.

Quiet - just what I was trying to say.  This is another craft that I would love to try - have you got a piccie of your butterfly rug? 

Oh what a crafty bunch you all are!

I really want to get into making dog collars. Think it would work out cheaper than the amount that I buy! I love crafty things.

I make cards, hundreds of them, and we sell them at shows. agricultural shows, farmers markets, etc. I don't know about making mones, it costs me a fortune as all the money we make is donated to rescue. My friend makes jewellery, but she struggles to cover costs when she sells them.

I do leather work

> get into making dog collars. Think it would work out cheaper than the amount that I buy

our lot (was 3 now 2) have more collars leads etc than 6 dogs would need, if I start doing something new I 'have' to do ones for them
'just to try and see if it works!'

Plus I do things like I saw a nice piece of nubuck leather and bought it then thought 'what the **** am I going to do with it', so I made a handbag (actually made 3) You get a sort of compulsive bug to keep getting more.
Couple of bits I have been asked to do were different repair a pair of
of chinstraps for an antique firemans helmet and also new pulley belts and new trapdoor hinges for our local windmill
Chris

I make all my own christmas/birthday cards ect!!

I used to make all my daughters clothes when she was younger, and I have made other things in the days that I had lots of time. I no longer have time to do these things. but I did enjoy it when I did.

> our lot (was 3 now 2) have more collars leads etc than 6 dogs would need

Mine too! I think each dog has about 10 different collars and even more leads! have different type's of leads for different walks and because they are both so different in size each dog has them in "thier" size! see im even defending my mad lead and collar obsession now! oh dear

Where do you buy your leather from? do you hand stitch it, or machine?

> This is another craft that I would love to try - have you got a piccie of your butterfly rug? 

No, I've never thought of taking a pic, but I have it in the living room down at my caravan - which is where my next project will be started.  After training sessions on the beach, I go back to the van and get stuck in to my rugmaking.  It's great, mobile off, and you feel as if you're in your own world!

Quite a few years ago, I used to make salt dough items and have parties every 2 weeks. People would book a party and my friend and I would make samples of all the items we wanted to sell, take them along, book orders and then deliver them 2 weeks later. We always made enough to give our children a very good Christmas - we were both on very low incomes at the time and it paid for all the presents. We loved doing it and the house always smelled of baking biscuits! :D

A few years ago, I started egg carving - emu, rhea and goose eggs. I did want to sell them but unfortunately, Louis was scared of the noise the compressor made, so I put all my equipment away! One day I will get it all out again!!

This Christmas, I fished out a decorated emu egg I had made a la Faberge . The outside I painted with pearlised acrylic, added rhinestone chains and pale rose waterslide decals. It had a hinged ring so opened to display the satin lining I put in. I gave it to Pierre's breeder who thought I had bought it! She couldn't stop staring at it
I also made my very first Christmas cards this year - a pic of Pierre wearing antlers, stuck on a red crystal nose and those googly eye thingies, stuck onto holographic card and decorated with gold and siver snowflakes.

I love crafty things and should really start doing more :D

> I go back to the van and get stuck in to my rugmaking.  It's great, mobile off, and you feel as if you're in your own world!

I used to feel this way when doing tapestry and needlepoint.  Soemtimes got so carried away woudl find myself still sewing at 2 or 3am!  Sadly arthritis in my hands mean I can only do a lttle of this type of needlework at a time now.

I havent done rug making for years and years, may have to give it another go.  My grandma taught me 3 styles - the traditional "Latch hook" type, plus 2 varieties which I think are typically North East "Proggy Rugs" and "Hooky Rugs".  The Hooky rug is almost the same as the usual type which uses cut strands of thick wool, but you cut your own strands from old jumpers etc.  The proggy rugs are based on a piece of sacking traditionally (any coarse loose woven fabric base would do I think) and are made by cutting continuous strands from old clothes, blankets etc, and firmly prodding them through the backing so you get a firm, stitch like effect on the rug surface.  Using various thickness of fabric you get a great textured effect, although the traditonal ones were just brightly coloured lengths put together at random. My grandma always had a new one on the go, ready to be used as a hearth rug when sparks from the fire casued too many burn marks in the current model - lots of them were in varying shades of beige as she made them from old stockings! Very appropriate craft for the current trend for receyclign and vintage looks - might have another go soon!

> although the traditonal ones were just brightly coloured lengths put together at random.

WOW!   That takes me back in time.  My great, great aunt always had one on the hearth, and I was fascinated by it as a child!

Knitting, cross stitch and yes card making have also dabbled with beading but all for my own entertainment or family I don't wan t the pressure of producing things to sell.

WOW!!! I thought I was being a little bit sad sitting at the table playing with clay   You are all inspiring me, truly I thought there might be a couple of crafters here, but there are loads of us!

Hairyloon, I may well take you up on that offer.  Just have to get my mojo back lol, I'm out of the habit and have forgotten so much about sculpting.

Thank you everyone!  You have been so inspiring and encouraging.

not really that talented, but i make and sell dog treats...all different flavours and varieties..it keeps me busy

I used to make vignettes. It's along the lines of dolls house making but you only make one room. My favourite was a Victorian Christmas Scene and the whole room, furniture, tree, fireplace, mince pie on a plate etc were all crafted from various items that I had either made or adapted. My husband used to make the wooden furniture and I would make all the other items. He would make the rooms - about a foot wide by six inches deep - and then put a glass door on the front of the box to keep the dust out. I stopped making them after my husband died but may one day take up the hobby again.

I knit hats for the premature baby unit - they have buttoned flaps on the top to accommodate drips and they are very, very tiny. I also make cards which are sold at our local hospice for their fundraising. I enjoy making fabric collages - made one of our house and garden but never seem to have the time to make much at all just lately.

I really should not have looked at Folksy, I hate shopping (even internet shopping!) but I could spend so much money on there! lol

Folksy looks sooooo good.  I could spend a fortune on there, which would defeat the purpose of me trying to make some pocket money lol.

I make collars, leads - whatever you want out of leather (hand sewn no machines and no rivets here! tis my pet hate, well one of my millions of pet hates )

I also sometimes do bead loom weaving, drawing, silver-clay, fimo - painting OH's warhammer miniatures because he hasnt the patience, ooh... model horse customising... soft toy customising.

Hi Whistler, I was looking to take up kumihimo--still saving up the dogs' pocket money for it though! Looks like great meditative fun. I used to do silversmithing and make mosaic tiles (black and yellow pavement and delft type, I made a copy of the Byland Abbey floor--for those of you who have seen the original in the British Museum you will know about these, but this is a photo for anyone interested:  http://www.britishmuseum.org/explore/highlights/highlight_objects/pe_mla/m/mosaic_tiles_from_byland_abbey.aspx

I also screenprint and hand colour cards and at the moment I use the lucet, inkle and table loom for weaving. I use the lucet and inkle loom for dog leads--bought some fab ex-MoD ex-audit stock canvas thread from the 1950's, still in its original wrappers, it's strong enough to stop an ox and best of all doesn't cut your hands the way nylon leads do. Oh, and I bake/do sugarcraft modelling for weddings, birthdays and happy times...I think that's about it

I make christmas cards for Rescue (photos, print, then embellish with santa hats, glitter, or anything which comes to mind and will sell!)  USed ot love tapestry, but arthritis in hand and wrist has limited this.  Machine patchwork and free hand machine embroidery.  Sewing which has turned into a small home business for dog coats and fancy dress ) and what started as an experiment ot make fascinators for a few of my sisters clients has turned into a "cottage industry" too!  I love working with all the glorious colours, feathers, crystals etc used for hats and fascinators, lots of fun - and the dogs have a great time with lesft over or dropped feathers!  Also love revamping worn out or ugly furniture with paint effects and fabric.

I used to make clothes for my DD when she was little, even her Christening Gown - until my machine blew up     When DS was born I made all his quilt covers, quilts etc. and restored a lovely old wooden highchair including upholstery

Before the children were born we used to do 'proper' sign writing, including gilding (22carat)  No call for it now

Now I paint - Pets, plant portraits - in watercolour and pastels