Do what you love, and what God gifted you to do. I'm not "crafty," but I have my loves. I love to crochet, and I want to learn quilting. And I love writing. And painting furniture. Nothing fancy, just a new life for a curb side find. Each thing does something very different for me and I would lose if I let anything go.

Well embroidery came 1st when I was 7 as mom taught me to make my little brother's gowns she made look cute. Next 13 yrs I did sports,swimming,boating,babysitting,worked & collected records. Oh, came to Ca. & took up embroidery then cake decorating ,antique refinishing, painting my house inside & out, wallpapering,kids got older & more time so made things for boutiques, crochet, dried flower arrangements, cookie ornaments,& whatever else was popular, mop dolls,(designed tree top dolls of macrame)beaded dolls,macrame hangers & kitchen window covering, Christmas trees of macrame(still use)made shawls & afghans,vests, then did the doily & buttons etc sweatshirts & Wonder-under stuff, next I think Tole painting & the Donna Dewberry type painting, painted on rocks, wood, made mom a pillow for her bed of needlepoint- hard but came out beautiful(hated the sewing part but came out well)Tried quilting-ha! not for me, ruler slips, doesn't match up perfectly ugh! In last year made some things I saw on here & crafts forum, button jewelry, changing them to be mine! Beaded candy canes,bracelet buddies from old pens & beads with alligator clip.Made lady bug paver & am finishing a snowman paver with fleece cap & scarf. Sort of like 1 I saw in magazine,Uncle Sam paver, done with that as rest of them went into patio I laid out back. Just made some earring/necklace pendant for gifts. Sock snowman head with cap, love the Styrofoam tree I made from antique buttons & bits of old jewelry.Made a cute little bird from old light bulb,also pumpkin guy from another light bulb.Painted sea shells with Folkart metallic paint in white or champagne & brushed on Decoart Twinkles in crystal- beautiful!(Last years ornies from me to relatives. So I get bored easily!! After a few of anything I move on. I did crochet a lot, knitting ended with dishcloths, makes me nervous doing it. Sew from time to time but don't like to,maybe because I made DD beautiful outfit & she looked so cute in it at church & then she wanted to go skating afterwards with bunch of kids. Well, no hope for the vest, full skirt or white long sleeved fancy front lot of buttons blouse except to cut buttons off & use on something else. DD was also a tomboy!! Lot of beads are off sweaters I've been given, TS finds, so I'm helping the planet & if I didn't craft I'd need a straight jacket. I make about 6-10 kinds of candy & same for cookies each year so I have lots to give away.Is that crafting? Maybe I need to be medicated!! Cause I'm not giving most of it up. What I will give up is things that are hard to do because fingers won't work. Small bows will probably have to go soon. Don't do lot of hot gluing if have to have fingers holding it down(mop dolls)not worth the burns. Can't wait to see if I'm alone in this or have lots of company!! Jan

I've been like you Sunnyca!!!
Done most of the same things you have over the years.
The 15 years of craft shows were mostly wood/folkart, altho
macrame tables and various hangers were done the first
couple of those years. Lately I have been doing more felt and smaller crafts--some gag gift/stocking stuffers. Had a few years of doing afghans. Cake decorating in the 50's. Tried counted cross stitch, quilting and crewel, and knitting, but that was not for me. Didn't like decopage either. Did a little bread dough, but in the humid South it doesn't last--falls apart. Made all my own clothes for about 25 years. but when I gained weight, I wasn't happy with the way things looked, so I quit that. The last big sewing project was my DDs wedding dress 18 years ago--about 75 yards of 11 inch ruffles that had to be hand sewn to the satin skirt and train.
Have done the painted pavers and some jewelry, lots of totems and plate flowers, Painted on saw blades and shovels, and other metal things. Done several types of christmas ornies. Still do some flower arranging for church, ane wreaths for the doors. Crochet is pretty limited now to towel tops to hang in the kitchen.
I have tried a LOT of things over the years-LOL.

I struggle with the same question. At craft shows, I look at other tables and they seem to concentrate on just one or two things and my table is a modge-podge of all kinds of things.

I'm constantly sorting-thru and purging old craft items, while muttering 'what was I thinking?' but we are who we are! We just love to create and constantly try new things! We need to embrace who we are and maybe feel a little sorry for those who might be missing out on other fun crafts!

Besides, if the next big craft-craze came along and you resisted just so you could concentrate on your one-thing, you'd drive yourself crazy and be miserable!

Here is a link that might be useful: Shabby Garden Creations

Well, I'm thinking that we are all in the same boat or at the very least in the same fleet! ;-) I've found that as years go by my interests have changed and what I LOVED ten years ago, I may not even like anymore. I say do whatever brings you joy in the moment. If it makes you happy to be sewing, crocheting, making jewelry, totems, or gardening or doing them all at once, then go for it! Everything seems to have become so specialized anymore that it's hard to find something or someone who can be versatile and willing to share their knowledge and enthusiasm for their craft. I love seeing new things and learning new things. Some I'm pretty good at, others I make a royal mess of, but at least I've given it a go.

Is this a trick question?
But seriously, I think Marlene has hit the thumb with the hammer. We change as people, naturally our tastes and interests do too. As long as we actually are "doing" crafts and not just stashing stuff or thinking" I might get back into that some day" and winding up with a mess, what does it matter how many we "do"?
Like that company says "Do what you like, like what you do".

I have tools for:
leather crafts
ceramics
mosaics
stained glass
drying flowers
wallpapering
painting inside/ouside
painting crafts
carpentry
gardening
emboidery
crochet
sewing
cooking
quilting
some that I probably forgot

I still like them all. I do not know which one I will be inspired to do at any given time. But whatever I am doing seems to satisfy me at the moment.

I've done a variety of crafts as well over the years. I was pretty big on embroidery, macrame, jewelry making, gourd crafts, mosaicing and various garden junkin' crafty stuff. I have learned to not get too crazy with the more expensive stuff like beading/jewelry making. It can cost you a fortune and you end up making something that you could buy for under $10 at a store ready made and it looks just as nice.

The one thing I love about Garden Junk is it is relatively inexpensive or even free. The same goes for mosaicing. So I tend to be attracted to crafts that cost less money but are still fun to do.

I don't think there is anything wrong with dabbling in various types of crafts. To me, it challenges creativity and imagination. I think the important thing is not to put yourself in the poor house or to let your craft supplies overwhelm your house in the process.

Luna, I don't spend much on beading,lady that gives me her clothes(same size as I am) gives me beaded gowns, fancy sweaters with pearls, Christmas sweaters with all kinds of jewels,pearls & beads.Yard salers aren't interested in buying that stuff, I keep what I like & give to DD & Mom too. The TS's when they were new had no idea what to do with craft stuff so would put all kinds of stuff in a bag I could barely lift & it would be $3.98 & not sell so go down to $1.98 & maybe even 98cents. They have gotten savvy now & are much higher but it was great while it lasted. Only problem is it takes "forever" using a thread puller to get all the goodies off the sweaters & dresses. 1 day TS had sample book of laces 18 in long by15 in wide by about 6 in high,all samples were stapled on,about 4 pieces to a page, so all pieces ready to use on projects for $1.98 for book. All colors too, too bad days of making wedding books is over. You know those brocade,lace & pearl books that you put the pics in several years ago. I do see some gals take jewelry classes & spend a fortune on supplies. If I do need something to finish a project I get it with coupon/or 40-50 % off at Joanne's or Michael's. I'm finishing up a beaded butterfly for the garden 8 1/2 in. long by 8 in wide, copper body. I had to buy stainless steel wire & then twisted 2 wires together for strength, some of beads came from old broken necklaces those are the larger ones. spaghetti bead on tail is from when I made beaded reindeer ornies, over 25 years ago. I saved up beads & broken jewelry as thought I would make a Christmas tree on board someday, instead updated & made a Christmas tree last year of Styrofoam cone & beads & old buttons & jewelry & didn't glue(U shaped wires) as some are very old & didn't want to damage any value they might have. I made bunch of hair combs last year posted on crafts & decorations forum & used combs I used to use when my hair was so thick, did get some beads on sale as I wanted the colors to match what I wear. Also GF & I trade back & forth, I get a bunch of black beads & give her some,she gives me stuff she used to sell at Quartzite when they had a booth each year. Jan

Hey Kathy

I think you should follow your heart and do whatever you feel like doing at the time. I have done a lot of different crafts and forms of art for as long as I can remember. I now find myself using all of the different things I have learned along the way in whatever I am working on at the time....and my art today is better than what it used to be.

I have one hobby: being creative. It may involve painting, carpentry, planting, decoupage, beading, sewing, cooking, writing, repurposing junk, hypertufa, tiling, or a zillion other things, but it's all boils down to being creative.

I don't understand how so called normal people function with only one outlet or for that matter less than 5 projects in the works and 6 more in the planning stages.

Everyone is different. Some people are happy with just scrap booking or just sewing or just whatevering. How many crafts should one person do? As many or as few as they like.

Lizzardly, great reply!
I think I might adopt "being creative" as my hobby description. It sums it all up in one neat package.
Love it! Thanks for the idea.

Oh Lizzardly........you are my kind of person and YES I love your description....and who the heck cares how many "passions" one has. Variety is the spice of life and I love spicing my life up. It's certainly no fun getting in a rut....then a person becomes way tooooo predictable....kinda gotta keep the others wondering....What the heck is she gonna try next!!!!!

Hey there,
My daughter was just complaining because I do so many kinds of different crafts. No really teasing me. I do so many crafts, I have lost count. But I enjoy them all at different times. Just love to craft

Why on Earth should Crafting be confined to one thing?? My Mother called herself a "Dabbler". She tried just about every craft that came along and encourage her children to do the same. Over the years I have learned many, many SKILLS through crafting. When I see something cool online, or in a store, my first thought is usually, "How can I make that, myself?" My mind sorts through the multitude of skills I have taught myself over the years and, usually, I find that that awesome item can indeed be hand-crafted by yours truly. I love combining the crafts I have learned, like making wonderful character dolls with polymer clay heads, hand-stiched clothing using embroidery, beading, etc, and hand-crafted accessories. Honestly, I think that for some of us, crafting is genetic. Our Ancestors were successful because they learned how to create the things they needed to survive. We don't NEED to craft to survive today, but personally, I NEED to craft, to be happy!

Yes, one hobby, being creative like lizzardly said. I love it! I haven't been here as much because I've been sewing and restyling clothing and shoes plus some other stuff. May need to move some gardens to make way for workers and reno, so decorating the garden isn't practical right now.
I still lurk just to see whats up!
Kathy