My ETSY SHOP
My Amazon KDP Book SHOP
One of my „side hustle“ hobbies is creating notebooks, journals, coloring books, etc. via Amazon KDP – Kindle Direct Publishing.
This way I can design my own books in paperback & hard cover form and simply publish them. Amazon will take care of printing and shipping them to their final destination – either for myself or for people all around the globe.
Such a nice way to spend time on something creative. I must thank to my close friend Mia for suggesting me to try this out – I did not know something like this existed until she point it out for me. I truly enjoy the process.
- paperback & hardcover
- Quality product
- Shipping worldwide
- supporting small creators
- cute & cozy
- great for journaling
wanna be carpentry
My passion to work with wood started out in 2013 as a pyrography. I’ve been decorating pre-made wooden objects – little boxes, necklaces, frames, candlesticks, etc. by a wood-burning technique. But it did not occur to me until 2022, that I actually could try to „build something bigger“ by myself too.
Until 2022 I’ve never – not even once – used a drill or electric saw. I’ve always considered myself as a „technical anti-talent“, because I simply do not understand machines and was always a bit scared to try out such things. I never knew how tools work and how to use them. For some people normal common skill, for me completely unexplored area.
With all creative artsy work I always loved to do – but in a „small scale“, I eventually craved creating something bigger – useful not only in a decorative way, but also for a daily use. I wanted to experience that I’m capable in doing things I always though I’m not. This way I’ve built my first drill & saw attempt – wooden raised bed for tomatoes. I’ve borrowed tools from my sister in law.
After making a raised tomato bed I’ve been extremely motivated to continue – so maybe two months later I’ve finished my second attempt – a garden gate for my sister in law, as an entrance for her fruit orchard.
Working on this garden gate was very satisfying for me – each time I came and made some part, it was so nice to see a progress. Took me altogether 5 visits and if I remember correctly – around 22 hours of total work. Though, final painting of the decorations – acorns, mushrooms & fruits – took 12 hours from it.
The old gate was in a terrible condition – as You can see on the photos below – so this new one is much more pleasant to look at each time someone goes down to the orchard. Could not be more proud of the result. Next thing I aim for is to build a kid’s house for my little niece. I can’t wait to start working on it this Spring.
When in 2022 I saw the joy in the eyes of my little at that time only 1-year old niece, when she climbed into the dog’s house in the pet shop, I said I will build her own house to play in … And eventually I did – during Summer 2023.
It took some time to gather my own tools piece by piece – drill, electric saw, grinder, etc. Luckily I had help also from my brother and sister in law, who also ticked some of it from my wish list on several gift occasions.
Also most of the used material I got for free from my friend Majky, who gave me plenty of wooden palettes. Thank You.
This way I saved up a lot of money, but also got myself into a huge challenge. How to build a house from the exact amount and shape of material. You cannot follow any DIY tutorial, just Your own imagination. And have to count correct numbers. 😀 But somehow I managed to figure it out. I still to plan finish details on the house and decorate it. Paint it and build a furniture. But my niece already uses it with the big smile on her face. 🙂
With my partner we moved for Winter 2023 to Bulgaria.
I took all my pawsome companions with me to the rented house there. My dog needed some outdoor house to be built for him.
So I figured out „design“, materials, measurements and with my partner we got to work then, because some parts are much easier done in two people. 🙂 One person always has to hold, while other drills. 😀
I had one leftover wooden palette from a friend Majky (building a kid’s house), so we transported it from Slovakia to Bulgaria, haha. It serves very well as the base.
For the house itself I just needed to buy 2 OSB tiles, as I already had everything else from the previous „project“. For the roof we used the roofing leftover material from local village’s construction site, for free. 🙂
In like 2-3 hours then we finished and I think we did a pretty good job. Benik seems to approve it too.
Painting & Drawing
Pyrography
I found a joy in this hobby in 2013, when I started decorating some simple pieces of wood. Not long after that I’ve wood-burned the first jewelry box and since then it went rapidly to the custom orders from family, friends and later also people outside of this circle.
I’ve poured my time into this for many years and for a time it became my source of income as well. Though, the problem with pyrography is that it is a huge time consumer vs. the price You can actually ask for Your work and time put in. At least I’ve always struggled with knowing how to ask my price.
That way I got burned out and stopped doing it completely in 2020, which I think is a pitty. Though, I would like to revive this hobby at least for making few little pieces here & there again. Lets see if I can manage in 2023 and years to come.
Digital Art
I got myself to digital drawing only very recently – in the middle of the 2022. But I suppose its never too late to start something new.
For this I use the basic tablet with pen and a paid program Clip Studio Paint. The same as I do for creating my Amazon KDP book designs. Usually I don’t like watching tutorials, so I basically learn all by myself, even when it takes much longer this way.
Unfortunately I do not have that much spare time to develop skills in this hobby as much as I would like to. That is why for now I have only a few pieces to show You here. I’ll be adding more by time though.
