Melanie Toye's Hobbies

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...

Image by Yunus Emre Ilıca from Pixabay So when you are a parent of boys, when scrapbooking photos of boys, you need to find cool things that boys like. Because I have to do this, I thought I would give you some ideas for what I buy when scrapbooking photos of my kids, who are boys. Themes to consider for scrapbooking: Pokemon Cars Sports Stitch from Disney Lollies and cake Harry Potter Animals Also you may want to look at festive themes such as: Easter Christmas Halloween and whatever else! Then scrapbook for these holiday/festive themes. Find out what they are interested in and then buy double the stickers. Give your child/children a pack of stickers each and let them create their own scrapbook page.  When creating a theme, I always look for 3 types of scrapbooking supplies: Stickers Scrapbooking paper Washi Tape And I look for the theme of each item. I personally use the top 3 supplies for 90% of my scrapbooking.  So it is easier to shop for because I know I will use it in ...

Image by tengdu xiao from Pixabay I have to say, it was a year ago where I heard about mystery diamond paintings. I am part of hobby groups on Facebook and someone posted their myserty diamond painting. I thought this is pretty cool. So what is a mystery diamond painting? Sit down for this. You can buy mystery diamond paintings online. The store owner provides a product where you receive a diamond painting kit but have no idea what the image is until you finish diamond painting it! Pretty cool huh!? So everything comes in the kit is for the image. All the correct coloured drills etc. It takes out the amount of time we spend looking through pictures we like, and have someone else decide what that picture will be.  There are no clues either. Normally, there is a little image of the picture on the diamond painting side of the canvas. But for a mystery diamond painting there is no image of it. You literally have to wait till the end to see it. You can select what type of drills you wo...