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If you could make the hobby your job would you?

Aug 9, 2018

    1. I'd be happy to do it as a hobby business if I was crafting decent stuff for fun (which I'm not - I can't sew or paint face-ups for shit). But I wouldn't do commissions and I wouldn't want it to be my main source of income, because I get stressed around work - doesn't seem to matter what job I'm doing, I will get impostor syndrome and freak out that I'm going to screw it up - and I like the dolls to be an escape. To the extent that even though I'm an OK artist on paper, I haven't seriously tried to get good at faceups, and my running photostory is just crappy grainy pics taken with my iPad, because I know if I try and make it good then I'll start beating myself up over it. This is relaxation time for me.
       
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    2. Having been self employed for a number of years, I would have to say no. It is important to keep my hobbies my hobbies. It's hard enough maintaining focus without added distractions of things I do for fun.
       
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    3. I don't think so. I wouldn't like that stress. That's not to say that I wouldn't enjoy a BJD related side-hustle of some sort.
       
    4. Someday, I would like to take faceup commissions on the side, but I don't think that would ever get me enough for a decent living (especially in my super expensive city). I admire someone who would be able to make a living off either sculpting and casting their own BJDs, or making accessories/wigs/clothes/faceups.
       
    5. I don't think I'd ever be able to make into a business.The hardest part of about running your own business is that you are running your own business. You have wear a lot of hats and be very focused. Do I think that one day I might make clothes that I could sell? Sure. But I don't think I would able to handle all the business trappings that go with it.

      Also, I don't think it could do it money wise. I would have to make a $1000 a month to cover all the household bills not including rent and food which my husband pays. Let's say I sold Lati Yellow dress or yarn wigs for $20 a piece. I would have to make 50 sales in a month to cover bills. And do that every month. And that doesn't cover the cost to make the items.

      Really I feel like you have to start as doing part time in your spare time and build up a brand for yourself. And then depending how people like your items you can go from there.

      But it's simply too much stress for me. I like being able to go to work and put in my eight hours and go home. I like that my identity is not tied to my work. But that simply me. If you are passionate about being in a doll hobby as a career do it. But me not so much.
       
    6. If I could, that would be amazing. Getting to focus on taking pictures of them all over the place, possibly making youtube videos about them, and just overall getting to spend a lot of time with my dolls and getting paid for it?
      Sign me up!
      Currently I work anywhere from 48-60 hours a week just to make ends meet and keep up with the hobbies I want to do. So getting to do something I love would make it feel less like work and more rejuvenating.
       
    7. This is a very interesting topic. I was worried about my own situation but reading other people comments makes me realize that they would be in a similar situation.

      I work making dolls and even if I love making dolls, my "work" has killed the joy I had from this hobby. I can't enjoy it as before and that makes me really sad. I overthink too much everytime that I take a photo or do a faceup, feeling that they are not good enough and that I can't show them if they are not good enough because it is my job... and it gives me anxiety. Also I have to restric a lot the kind of photos that I do, or the things I share about my dolls. Not to mention living with the fear that someone stole my work and recast it and I could do nothing about it. And reading how many people support counterfeits is disheartening...

      Don't get me wrong, I feel very lucky to be able to work in something that I like but at the same time I wish to find another job and get back to make dolls as a hobby, with less pressure. Also in my country is so expensive to be a selfemployed (pay $320 each month only to be able to work) and plus that we pay so many taxes for everything that it is almost imposible to make a living only with dolls unless you are a very famous dollmaker and can sell many dolls every month, if not you have to take this as a partial job or a temporary one during a few months.
       
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    8. No, I prefer to keep my work and hobbies separate. I am very critical of myself and my artwork, so I am pretty sure I would be less pleased with this hobby if it was part of my occupation.
       
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    9. I'd love to be able to have my own studio and do faceups/tattoos, but to be honest I don't toink I would enjoy this hobby as much if it was full-time. I'd rather work part-time and do doll/art stuff part time:)
       
    10. I think I’d really like to have the hobby be my full time job for awhile, but I don’t know if I’d have it be my job forever? It just depends, I suppose. I like variety, so I may get into doing other things.
       
    11. I love the idea of being able to own my own business and make things people would enjoy but I would worry that a lot of fun would be lost in the daily grind. I like being able to escape into my hobby on my own terms.
       
    12. This is my goal that I am currently working on! I hope to make, cast, and sell dolls, jewelry, weapons, props, and more!
       
    13. well, if you include other hobbies, i have already make my main hobby (drawing) as a job. so, dolls have taken place as my hobby for a number of years now. i don't think i will turn it into a full time job like drawing, however,i can make it a (small) side business. i do sell some of the stuff i sew from time to time. i consider them as extra pocket money, & usually spend them on snacks and comic books. :3nodding::3nodding::3nodding:

      having a lot of scrap fabrics around the house (thanks to my mom being a seamstress) i am able to make doll dresses at very low cost & sell them for cheaper than most. so far i only sell my stuff to friends & acquaintances in the hobby, & they seem to like them a lot. so lately, i've been thinking of putting them up online.

      thanks to art thieves, i've had an etsy account for years. so maybe it's time for me to make use of it for purposes other than making complaints.
       
      #73 sureya, Nov 27, 2018
      Last edited: Nov 27, 2018
    14. I'm almost done sculpting my first doll. He looks so good! My second one is not as far though. I also REALLY love sewing, so I sell clothes. I also am generally crafty, so I sell props as well. It just sucks that the size I collect isn't as popular, and since I don't have a MNF most of my clothes don't sell. I'm intending to get one soon just to sell clothes, and to make her the opposite of normal (aka no cutesy makeup, she's gonna be creepy!) but yeah...
      I also make money just selling my art. I paint and draw a lot and occasionally do commissions. I also do home decor- that always sells well. I make these old map paper flowers with driftwood stems and they sell like hotcakes!
       
    15. i have a doll leaves amara (old body) & sew based on her measurements. i took my works to a conventions a few times, where i met minifee owners. they tried out my dresses on their dolls (on the spot) and they fit almost perfectly. one of them could even fit a dress on a boy minifee (because i made the waist a bit loose on that one) so, turns out that doll leaves & minifee girls are almost compatible in size & shape, except that doll leaves have slightly thicker waist. which is not much of an issue, unless you want really tight fitting bodice.

      so i can sell my stuff for minifee dolls, although i don't have one myself...
       
      #75 sureya, Nov 28, 2018
      Last edited: Nov 28, 2018
    16. If I had the skills, I would like to sell some heads as a side job. Like ordering a small batch from a casting company so that I can have my own heads and sell the rest if anybody wants. I really hate dealing with customer service stuff so this is probably the furthest I'll go in making my hobby a job.
       
    17. I've daydreamed a couple times of making a side-income from doll clothes and accessories to supplement my part-time job, but I really don't think I'd do well when pressure and deadlines are suddenly put on my hobbies. I also prefer myself being the only one who gets disappointed if I make an oopsie and something breaks or tears or doesn't fit.
       
    18. I would love to make customising dolls more than just my hobby
       
    19. Not with BJDs, but I've loved antique dolls for years and now work in the doll world. So while I can't speak to the specific nuances of building a career around BJDs, I do know what it's like to go pro with a doll hobby. I think it takes a certain temperament to keep loving both your job and your private work as a collector. If you sew/customize/make wigs/make eyes/etc. as a way to relax, attaching your livelihood to that carries a very real risk of turning it into a source of stress rather than enjoyment. In my experience, it can help to have a separate hobby (or aspect of the same hobby) that remains strictly that, so you still have somewhere to turn for no-pressure fun.

      Some people are able to work at their hobby and still love it just as much. Some people aren't. Both are equally valid; it's just important to know which category you fall into before you take the leap.
       
    20. I would but I'm so insecure and to be able to replace a job for this I would have to be a very popular artist, if not and I just sell a few here and there then it can't replace my current job. I don't think I'm good enough to become popular. It has worked for others .