[...] Binding books and printing buttons [...]

you can find packing supplies in plenty at the mall! stores get shipments every day. usually more on mondays and tuesdays. they have free used bubble wrap popcorn box’s. u name it. umm, besides the packing tape, ull prolly have to pay for that =o)

Now, I’ve started doing calligraphy, and having been trading it for babysitting hours from friends as well as getting it published in one of my husband’s products. So, no money yet, but I expect once our daughter is in preschool and I have more time that I can get this hobby to pay.

There is an open source graphics program called “The Gimp” that is available from gimp.org that is pretty heavy duty in terms of features – comparable to Photoshop. Takes a little getting used to using it after using photoshop. But the best part is the price – free!

You may want to take a look to see if it’s something you could use.

Jon

[...] e fui ver. E gostei do blogue. Mas é mesmo sobre dinheiro e essas coisas. E uma ideia antiga: Ganhar dinheiro com o hobby — levei isso à letra, já que tenho uma livraria especializada em banda [...]

Even if you don’t want to buy (and I don’t want anybody to debt to buy), looking and appreciating art is always free!

@bemental: Well I haven’t found a slamdunk way to ship cheaply. I package my stuff in a layer of bubble wrap and then either put it in a bubble pack envelope if its fragile (like a CD or DVD), or I buy the recycled paper envelopes in bulk. I can buy a huge box of bubble wrap and the envelopes at office depot in bulk, so saving on each unit. I think if you wanted to use paper grocery bags that would be the same as my recycled paper envelopes, but I’d encourage you to add the layer of bubble wrap. I sell a lot of brand new books and so it’s important to me that they arrive as new as I advertise them to be.

db

Cafepress let’s me realize my dream of having a t-shirt shop and it has proved to be a great compliment to my income.

I currently have three shops there. My most successful is birddoctor.biz but rockmyfaceoff.com is quickly catching up and my newest project is drinkshirt.com

It’s been tons of fun and I really believe that anybody can be successful with it.

db

Basically, I pick through the dumpster before trash day when its brimming with books, and post them on half.com. I usually only post them for a dollar or two, although some come back with average sell prices much higher then the fodder that they are.

Does this count as a “hobby”?

No hobby businesses released yet, though I’m working on them.

–I’m stockpiling earrings and bracelets I’m making from a bunch of vintage beads I inherited from my grandmother

–I’m working on some paintings that I want to turn into a line of cafepress items

–I’d also like to start simply selling some of my paintings though I’m not confident they are good enough yet; I’ll let the market decide though

–My long-term goals are to incorporate copywriting and forex trading into a bucket of things I do to make money. Right now I devote some very limited time to studying both

–My major project right now is the launch of a different blog which I hope will be a smashing success monetarily over time — my pf blog is more of an anonymous affair as well as a place for experimenting and learning how to blog, but my major blog idea will be identifiable with me.

My problems are fighting inertia (it took me over a year to start blogging) and tiredness, and not having a lot of time. Plus constantly having to prod myself to be creative, since mostly I want to veg out and recuperate from my job, which always leaves me feeling drained.

db