Creative hobbies cover a huge range of activities. We won’t be
mentioning them all in this section – it would take for ever and
we’d still miss some out! However, we hope one or two of them
might excite you and/or that they might inspire you to try out
something else.
The first category is what we might call Arts and Crafts.
Included in this grouping are things such as knitting, cross
stitch and embroidery, scrap booking and card making, pottery
and wood turning, and willow weaving and dry stone walling.
You may think that some of these are things that are
old-fashioned and out-of-date – but you’d be wrong. They are
undergoing a renaissance and the chain of stores,
Hobbycraft, is
growing fast, as are on-line providers.
You could do no better than look at our
Arts and Crafts section
to get a feel on how to approach some of these activities.
Certainly the ones that you can do in your own lounge are
relatively easy to take up. Things like pottery and wood turning
require more initial commitment and organisation but are well
worth the effort if you are creatively-minded.
Painting is another creative hobby that requires its own
mention. Many people like to take up painting – particularly
watercolours – as they get older and move into retirement. There
are many ways you can learn, including classes through your
local FE College, activity weekends (look at
www.timetolearn.org.uk
), or on the internet. A nice website to start with is
www.wasp-art.skynow.co.uk . Similarly, if you want to
paint in oils, try
www.zest-it.com
Whichever you decide on, ease yourself in gently – you don’t
want to spend too much on paints and other materials if you find
that, after all, it’s not for you.
 Music in its many forms also interests people in retirement. How
about joining a choir so that you can sing properly and not just
in the bath?
Learning a musical instrument is very popular and there are some
very good music tuition books available through
Amazon and other
internet sites -try
www.drdowningmusic.com There will be local teachers in
your area if you prefer the personal touch whilst learning.
Writing is another way in which your creative side can come out.
There are numerous ways in which you can get published these
days – in fact it’s easy because if no-one else will publish
your work you can do it yourself by opening a web site. You can
write your own blog. Some blogs have been picked up by
publishers and turned into books. To get started with a blog, go
to www.blogger.com
Also take a look at one of our past features,
HOW TO GET YOURSELF PUBLISHED ON THE NET,
which
describes how Carla Ledbetter became a best-selling author through electronic book
publishing. In it she provides a useful checklist of how to go about it.
If you would like to get inspiration from other writers, you
could join the National Association of Writers’ Groups
www.nawg.co.uk ) and go
along to your local group.
There are, of course, lots more creative hobbies. To help you
think about them and to
 give you a few more ideas, some of them
are listed below:
- Sculpture
- Carving
- Tapestry
- Petit point
- Caligraphy
- Dress making
- Model making
- Flower arranging
- Stained glass
If you have a particular Hobby or Interest and would like to
research and write about it on the web, take a look at our
Associate scheme.
Now, take a look through the other pages and see if anything
takes your fancy – or something might trigger another
inspiration. If you don’t find what you want, however, take a
look at the
Sports and Activities
section, or go to
Amazon where you will be
certain to find a book on the hobby or interest of your choice.
This month why not visit our
New Retirement Courses site
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