When it comes to hobbies, cost is not a factor... or is it? It shouldn't be if you really love what you are making. But sometimes you have priorities and have to keep it down. I have hobbies that span the spectrum. Making junk journals from recycled junk mail envelopes is at the lowest end of it, but the most satisfying for me as far as design work goes. It's the least expensive but most rewarding.
My biggest expense in making these is the cost of paper to print on. And the glue. I use a lot of glue. I wouldn't use anything else but Aleene's tacky glue for this job. I have a Graphics Fairy subscription for the graphics, an ink tank printer which costs next to nothing for the ink, and a few laces and ribbons from my sewing stash for decoration. Occasionally I add die cuts to embellish the journals and little charms for decoration. Sometimes I sew in fancy fabric swatches to the pages to add interest. It's the one hobby I have where I can incorporate so many of my other hobbies into it and they all come together.
My mid-range hobbies include all my knitting and crocheting. I bought all my yarn when it was on sale and very inexpensive... not at today's prices. I have enough yarn to last the rest of my life and then some. So my cost has already been paid for this hobby. I now occasionally just buy a pattern for a few bucks when needed.
I also occasionally dabble in jewelry making. I don't wear a lot of jewelry but I do love to make beads, bracelets and dangle charms. I have all the jump rings and polymer clay any true artist would ever want so that's an expense that is just pennies to maintain if I need a few supplies here and there. The same goes with sewing, painting and paper sculpting/paper clay. I already have everything I need to make projects. My room looks like a craft store. Jewelry making can get expensive if you want it to.
But without a doubt the most expensive hobby I've ever had is paper card and crafting with Anna Griffin supplies. Ask me if this makes sense... You spend thirty dollars for one die cut set to make maybe three or four cards. You pay twenty to thirty dollars on the "Anna Griffin" paper and embellishments to make them, not to mention adhesive, foam adhesive, stickers, bows... all have to be Anna Griffin to participate in the Anna Griffin groups and her web site to show your creations. You can opt in to her on site classes for about a hundred dollars a year. You used to be able to pay reasonable by the month but now you have to do it all at once by the year.
She sells boxes of die cuts, paper and embellishments with a theme from around sixty dollars and on up to five hundred dollars for her Create events once a year where you participate in online crafting weekends making items with her products in a classroom setting with hundreds of other people you can interact with at the same time. Can't afford that? No problem. You can pay on time with an app or split your payments for her stuff through HSN, her sponsor.
Without a doubt, this is my most expensive (and not too logical) hobby. It costs a lot but without a doubt the most beautiful cards and paper gift items on the market. Nobody compares to her high quality and gorgeous richness of product. This is definitely an obsession with the beautiful craft that she does.
These cards are so beautiful that people don't throw them away. They are keepers. And as long as I can afford it, I will be making Anna Griffin cards because nothing else on the market even comes close to the beauty and quality of these products. My Anna Griffin obsession is not only beautiful gift making for others but it's a gift I give to myself whenever I can afford to.
It's a love/hate thing. The cost is prohibitive for most of us. I hate the obsession and cost but I love the beauty of the embossed die cuts. So I try to keep it down by being more selective in my purchases and using more of what I already have mixed with the low cost of journaling. In fact I try to combine a little of several hobbies into one - my journals.
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