I thought I would share with you my hobbies and interests on the blog today as a way of getting to know me a bit better. I find that knowing what someone enjoys doing, what their hobbies and interests are lets me get to know them on a bit more of a personal level. So here are my hobbies and interests…
Arts and Crafts
I’ve always been into arts and crafts, from a very young age you would find me at the table with a paint brush or coloured pencils and crayons grasped in my hand creating masterpieces for people’s fridges! My Grandma nurtured this instinct in me, both her and my Dad share a love of painting, and I used to go to her house and we would have a fantastic time painting and making things with toilet rolls, glitter, glue and plasticine. That love of art saw me gain an A in GCSE art, then a D in A Level art. I continued with my love of art and discovered scrapbooks and card making, photography and jewellery making which helped me no end when I studied a Foundation Degree in Art, Media and Design and then a Bachelor’s Degree in Photographic Art.
Currently I am enjoying candle making which I find has been really good for my head space since I have been off with stress, anxiety and depression. It is something that I can lose myself in and has a somewhat medative quality to the processes (melting the wax, adding dye, scent then pouring the wax).
I have also started a lettering journal as I have found a love for hand lettering and really wanted to create a book of different hand lettering styles that I can use in my bullet journal and in other crafts in the future. I have been sitting of an evening with a hot cup of tea and sketching out different alphabet styles which has been really relaxing and fun. I have found it to be a great way to empty my mind of all the thoughts I have had during the day and helps to prepare my mind for bed.
I am intending to go over the pencil lines with pen at some point and add some colour and notes to the pages.
Reading
I love reading, being all snuggled under a blanket and getting lost in another world is one of my favorite things to do. Unfortunately, since my mental health took a nose dive I’ve not really done much reading. My stress and anxiety have decreased my concentration levels to a state where I found that I couldn’t follow a story and kept reading the same thing over and over again, I’d lose my place and get distracted easily which has been super frustrating for me. I used to read at least a book or 2 each week but since september I have not read a full book. I started reading The Snowman by Jo Nesbo back in september and am still reading it now. I did manage 5 whole minutes the other day which I was pleased with and feel that is a sign to me getting better slowly.
Home Interiors
I have put this as one title though it includes painting and decorating, upcycling and DIY! Since I moved into my own home I have been obsessed with all things decoration from upcycling my chairs and my lamp, to choosing colours to paint my rooms. I have really enjoyed all parts of making my house a cozy home that reflects my personality and I’m on the look out to create some more lovely things for my home this year. I already have a project lined up for the summer months that involves a lot of sanding, painting and cutting of wood!
Planners and Diaries
You may have seen my post Preparing for 2019 where I spoke about the diaries and planners I had ready for 2019, and I suppose you could call it a hobby or interest of mine as I’m forever on the search for the perfect planner for my life, even now, with the planners and diaries I already have for 2019 there are a few that I’m still looking at (hey, you can never have too many right?!). I love to be organised and find that writing things down helps them to stick better in my brain rather than using my phone calendar and I have a lot to remember from bills that need paying, blog posts to write, household things and doctors appointments, along with making notes on what I have done that day, work things, dates, places to visit etc my planner can get full pretty quick! I had used a bullet journal for a few years as I loved the creative side to it, designing layouts, doodling and painting on the pages and adding things in but eventually fell out of love with that method, especially in the run up to Christmas where I seemed to be too busy to make layouts and it all sort of slid off my radar. While I still like the idea of a bullet journal I decided it wasn’t really the right method for me and have gone down the pre printed, multi diary/planner route for this year as I think having several planners/diaries for different aspects of my life may be a better option though only time will tell!
Blogs and Blogging
While I may not have been reading books at the moment I have been reading lots of blogs and blog posts. I love reading about people’s lives, things people are doing, outfit posts, posts about products, creative posts about art and making things, recipes, lifestyle and all manner of other things. I sit down each morning when I wake and, accompanied by my dog Roxy, and a coffee I catch up on the blogs I follow, sometimes I search for topics that I am interested in and read a few posts that catch my eye and I feel like I have caught up with friends.
Since starting this blog I have really enjoyed the freedom it has given me to express myself and share bits of my life, what I have been doing and thoughts and feelings. I have found it to be really therapeutic, sitting in front of my laptop and composing posts, taking photos and planning topics to write about.
What hobbies and interests do you have?
My Colourful Life 