Melanie Toye's Hobbies

Image by carla Bron from Pixabay So... When I started crocheting amigurumi I crocheted faces ... as a beginner. Which is great!  No one should fear crocheting faces ...  Although, as time and experience continued to grow, I started to drop the faces. I felt that some of the crochet creations were ruined by the crocheted face. Then of course, I crocheted heaps of amigurumi in the year and you wouldn't believe it, non-crocheters would say, "Hey, a face would have been great to have been added."  I was shocked... what do non-crocheters even know about the face? But deep down it was because, I just lost confidence with faces.  And fair enough, to me, it could ruin a perfectly good amigurumi that I spent a few hours to a few days crocheting.  I would love to hear your thoughts on the faces issue... do you crochet faces? How long have you been crocheting faces? Is the face always the same, or do you change it up with the eyes, nose and smile? Do you even use differen...

So you want to write?! That is awesome. Congratulations you have decided to enter the world of ideas, brainstorming and creating worlds that never existed.  So where do you begin if you want to write?  First off, everything you write you may feel is not good enough and it actually might make you want to quit before you start. I’m here to tell you, what you write is good enough! It might even be great!  So why not try it out? The best part, if you are really worried, you don’t even have to show anyone. So just start writing. I would suggest, to write in a notepad with a pen first. Especially if you have barely written much in your whole life. Because using a pen, I find, feels so much more easier to create then just typing away.  Just write as much as you feel each week. It doesn’t have to be long and it could even be one sentence. It doesn’t matter. Nobody is watching you, remember?  Things to think about when writing... Don’t focus on a niche. So many people sa...

Image by Jill Wellington from Pixabay I don’t know about you but I love gift making and as the New Year has begun, I am also already behind. Hah. What do I mean by that? I crocheted a year of gifts and gave them away at Christmas but now I have friends and family experiencing life events and I want to give them a gift from my heart. Through crocheting, I am gifting a piece of happiness from my heart to theirs. And this is why even in today’s age, where you can even buy crochet gifts online or at the markets, it feels so much more when you make it and then gift it. This is why gift giving, and any type of home made gift is just priceless. See when we make something for someone who we think might like and appreciate it, we think about them throughout the whole project. For example, first you think … I should make them a gift. And then you think what would they like? And then as you choose what to make … you think as you crochet the gift, they are going to love this. And you think about ...

Well I have to say, I’m slightly embarrassed… normally when I start a blog the first post I create is an about me and an introduction to my blog. It appears and I could be wrong, that I haven’t created this yet for my hobbies blog. I think I did initially in my tabs and had one but then removed it and forgot all about it. No biggy. I will share with you now. If you have read some of my blogs, you would learn about me and my journey and stories in between the midst of blog posts. But let’s write the full scope here: Hi, I’m Melanie Toye. I am a professional writer and hobbyist. I am an author of currently 10 books and I run an Etsy store selling hobby digital products that only help my readers. I am also the blog owner and writer of this blog Melanie Toye’s Hobbies.  My hobby blog is based on crocheting, scrapbooking, diamond painting and writing. My books for sale are fiction, non-fiction and children’s books.  I used to write for 7 years and did a range of writing from wri...

If this is the year you want to start writing your first fiction novel and actually finish it and turn it into a book. Then let me share with you, I made you the perfect course. It’s called, Fiction Novel Writing online course, which is available for purchase from my Etsy store . Why you need to write your book this year It’s important when we want to write a book that we don’t wait years down the track to write it. We begin, today. With my guided course I help:  Guide you with creating a routine to write.  Help you with writing prompts if you are unsure where to start.  Help you learn that if you just focus on writing your book, the first draft can be anything you want it to be and to let go of editing until you are in the editing phase.  What are some reasons people put off writing a novel: They don’t have time for it. I help you find time and set time to write in my online course. You are unsure if you have a good enough story. The best way is to write your story...

Image by Vicki Becker from Pixabay Left over yarn, can be very annoying. Ha! Because, you want to use it all but you also don't want to run out. So we play this balancing game, buy more than we need and then wonder what to do with the left overs. Here are 5 ideas of what to do with your left over yarn: 1. Chuck your left-over yarn Let's be real, if you are crocheting amigurumi. If you are like me, I end up with little bits of all different colours that have been cut off throughout crocheting amigurumi.  I have tried to place the left over yarn, inside the amigurumi as stuffing. The problem here is, if your outer yarn is a light colour, like white and you are stuffing with bright colours, like green and hot pink... you can actually see the yarn that's been stuffed on the inside.  Also, it is annoying to stuff. For example, I use pillow stuffing (it is cheaper than cushion stuffing) and it just sits how you want it to sit inside the amigurumi shape. I guess that's what I...