Although the Guild of Makers is no longer going, #MakersHour continues!
Long live #MakersHour!
#MakersHour happens every Wednesday at 8pm UK time on Twitter.
A guest host posts some questions earlier in the week, and at 8pm every Wednesday, #Makers from around the world get together to answer and chat.
The guest host then uses the @GuildOfMakers twitter handle to post and respond.
Everyone is welcome, you do not need to classify yourself as a Maker, you do not need to book. Just pop along, chat, post or even just lurk!
Here are some of the questions from 2019:
#MakersHour Questions – 25th Dec 2019 Host: @DrLucyRogers
1: Am I alone tonight? Please say hi and tell me what you’re working on / got planned to make during the holidays. #MakersHour
2: List your favourite Quality Streets and/or Roses in order. If you don’t eat chocolates, what’s your favourite snack? #MakersHour
3: The German government requires craftspeople to attain ‘master’ status before they’re allowed to start a business. Good or bad idea? #MakersHour
4: What’s the best / worst biscuits for dunking in your cuppa? #MakersHour
5: Seasonal decorations? Show us your bling #MakersHour
6: What’s the best handmade gifts you’ve made / received? #MakersHour
#MakersHour Questions – 18th Dec 2019 Host:@PKM_ibles
1: Hello! Please introduce yourself and tell us what you’re working on at the moment. #MakersHour
2: I got the maker gene from my parents, who would both rather build something than buy it. What’s your family connection to making? #MakersHour
3: What’s the first thing you can remember making? #MakersHour
4: What’s your longest running make? #MakersHour
5: If you could go back and retry something you’ve made in the past, what would it be and what would you do differently? #MakersHour
6: What’s on your “maker bucket list” – something you aspire to make in the future when you have the ability? #MakersHour
#MakersHour Questions – 11th Dec 2019 Host:@samscam
1) Who are you and what have you had time to make this week?
2) What have you not had time to make this week?
3) How much time does it take to make the things you make?
4) “Time is irrelevant, lunchtime doubly so” – do you make time? For lunch?
5) Time and space are relative. Does having more space make time go faster, or slower?
6) If you could travel in time, when would you go and what would you do?
#MakersHour Questions – 4th Dec 2019 Host:@ransonccnikki
- Evening Everyone. Nikki would love to start by asking you to introduce yourself and your making. #MakersHour
- How long have you been making your creative creations! #MakersHour
- Do you still enjoy doing what you do, as much as you did in the beginning of your small business? #MakersHour
- Do you supply any brick and mortar stores? #MakersHour
- What’s the most challenging thing you have created and which ones are the easiest? #MakersHour
- Out of all your creative makes which one is your favourite and why? #MakersHour
#MakersHour Questions – 27th Nov 2019 Host:@grajohnt
Q1 Welcome! Introduce yourself, and show us your favorite picture of your making environment (and/or what you’re working on!). #MakersHour
Q2 Do you like to work on one project at a time or many? How do you manage the space when juggling multiple projects? #MakersHour
Q3 Can you share any space-saving or organization tips for your working space? #MakersHour
Q4 Poll:
Neat cable management is most important OR Ability to change configurations/devices is most important
Discuss. #MakersHour
Q5 Have you ever been in someone else’s making environment that you really admire? What was it about the space that you liked? #MakersHour
Q6 I suspect we’ve all made something to improve our toolbox / workbench – please tell us what you’ve done and share pictures! #MakersHour
#MakersHour Questions – 20th Nov 2019 Host:@clocksncandles
- Who are you and what do you make? #MakersHour
- Do you sell your makes and if so what’s your best seller? #MakersHour
- Where do you sell and what made you choose that option? #MakersHour
- What/who got you into making and why? #MakersHour
- How do you decide what you’re going to make next? #MakersHour
- If you could learn to make one different thing from another maker what would it be and from which maker? #MakersHour
Join us for #MakersHour every Wednesday, 8-9PM, on Twitter @GuildOfMakers!
#MakersHour Questions – 13th Nov 2019 Host:@TiklishHoneyBee
Q1: Welcome to #MakersHour, what have you been making this week? Please introduce yourself and show us your creations!
Q2: Often our imaginations exceed our bank balance, so what are some of the ways you get creative in stretching your budget for making? #MakersHour
Q3: What’s the biggest, and the smallest, make you’ve ever made? #MakersHour
Q4: We all have our comfort zone with our skills; how often does your making take you out of that, and do you seek to do it on purpose? #MakersHour
Q5: If you had to switch to an entirely different branch of making, what would you do? Such as going from electronics to papercraft. #MakersHour
Q6: What do you do to get your making mojo back when the inspiration has gone? #MakersHour
#MakersHour Questions – 6th Nov 2019 Host:@suearcher6
Q1 Who? #MakersHour
Q2 What? #MakersHour
Q3 How? #MakersHour
Q4 Why? #MakersHour
Q5 When? #MakersHour
Q6 Tea or Coffee? #MakersHour
Join us for #MakersHour every Wednesday, 8-9PM, on Twitter @GuildOfMakers!
#MakersHour Questions – 30th Oct 2019 Host:@KnitsKLR
Q1 Hello! Please introduce yourself and tell us what you’ve been up to this week. #MakersHour
Q2 Did you start your hobby to be a ‘maker’ in order to help relieve stress? #MakersHour
Q3 What are the positive benefits from your making that helps any aspect of your health and wellbeing? #MakersHour
Q4 What part(s) of your body is absolutely vital for your making that actually produces a product/thing? Are there any exercises that you do to help relieve or rest the part(s) of your body most used for your makes? #MakersHour
Q5 Do you rely solely on yourself for your makes? Do you collaborate with others now or in the past? What were the positives/negatives? #MakersHour
Q6 Whether you’re a star trek fan or not, are you more a captain Kirk or a Spock when dealing with your makes or crafting? #MakersHour
Join us for #MakersHour every Wednesday, 8-9PM, on Twitter @GuildOfMakers!
#MakersHour Questions – 23rd Oct 2019 Host:@Maker_of_Things
Q1 #MakersHour: Who are you and what making things have you been playing with this week? Now read the question again… 😉
Q2 #MakersHour: As it is my birthday this week what maker presents have you received in the past? This can be tools and equipment, and/or things that have been made for you.
Q3 #MakersHour: Is there a maker thing that you would like to get for your birthday? Ideally real world, sensible budget but also sensible ‘out of budget’ type presents too.
Q4 #MakersHour: Name another maker and tell us what you think would make a nice present for their birthday.
Q5 #MakersHour: If a friend/relative wanted to get into some sort of making, what present might you get for them to help get them started, and why?
Q6 #MakersHour: What is your favourite type of cake? Is it home made or shop bought? Why is it your favourite?
Join us for #MakersHour every Wednesday, 8-9PM, on Twitter @GuildOfMakers!
#MakersHour Questions – 16th Oct 2019 Host:@crafticland
- Happy Wednesday! Please introduce yourself and tell us (or show us!) what you’ve been making this week. #MakersHour
- Since I was hosting the #CrafticChallenge last week, I’m going to pull a few prompts for this week’s questions. First up – what’s your favorite material / medium to work with? #MakersHour
3) What’s your favorite color and do you use it in your projects? #MakersHour
4) Let’s get messy and show us a work-in-progress / behind the scenes photo of your current project. 🙂 #MakersHour
5) Which scraps do you find accumulating the most? Also, what’s your favorite way to use up scraps? #MakersHour
6) Do you like doing creative challenges? If so, what kinds interest you and how do you keep motivated to finish them? #MakersHour
Join us for #MakersHour every Wednesday, 8-9PM, on Twitter @GuildOfMakers!
#MakersHour Questions – 9th Oct 2019 Host: @SueArcher6
Q1 Hello! Introduce yourself and tell us what you’ve been up to. #MakersHour
Q2 Has there been that one thing that kept you up all night trying to figure out how to make, and then either it didn’t amount to anything, or ended up being a simpler solution than you first thought? And what was it? #MakersHour
Q3 What strategies do you use to stay focused and productive rather than just having a big pile of unfinished stuff oppressing you.#MakersHour
Q4 Where is the best place to show your stuff off – fairs, meets, markets, online etc? #MakersHour
Q5 Restock our Question Bank! Give us a question you’d like to ask on #MakersHour
Q6 When the season gets colder what’s your most comforting snack when you finish making? .#MakersHour
Join us for #MakersHour every Wednesday, 8-9PM, on Twitter @GuildOfMakers!
#MakersHour Questions – 2nd October 2019 Host:@Sarah_Dawns
1) Hi, I’m Sarah Dawn of Sarah Dawn’s Designs (@Sarah_Dawns) and I’m a Knit and Crochet designer! So, who are you, and what do you make? (pictures appreciated but not required!) #MakersHour
2) Is your making your job? Is it just a hobby? It is a side-gig? And does any of the above change how you think about your making? #MakersHour
3) What got you into your making? Did someone teach you, are you self-taught, or, both #MakersHour
4) Is there an underlying principle to your making? Do you make for a cause or a social ideal #MakersHour
5) What’s one fascinating historical thing about your making? Interpret the question as desired! It could be something you made, or a historical technique you use, or a tradition you work within or any other answer you can think of!) #MakersHour
6) What’s your favorite material for your making, and why? #MakersHour
Join us for #MakersHour every Wednesday, 8-9PM, on Twitter @GuildOfMakers!
#MakersHour Questions – 25th Sept 2019 Host:@dr_monkeyface
1) Wow, it’s been a whole week since we last met! What have you made since then? #MakersHour
2) I get nervous when using equipment that may cause serious damage if I’m not careful. Is there anything that is outside your comfort zone in terms of making? #MakersHour
3) How do you plan your builds? Do you sketch up designs, carefully pull together your source material or do you plunge in head first and hope for the best? #MakersHour
4) We are supposed to learn from our mistakes. What is the biggest maker fail you’ve ever done and what did you learn from it? #MakersHour
5) I do a lot of my sanding, spraying and cutting in the garden but I hear winter is coming. Is this going to mean there are things you can’t do until spring? #MakersHour
6) I sometimes make something then feel sorry to see it go. Do you ever find it hard to let something go that you’ve spend days/months/weeks making? #MakersHour
Join us for #MakersHour every Wednesday, 8-9PM, on Twitter @GuildOfMakers!
#MakersHour Questions – 18th Sept 2019 Host:@WokStation
Oh no, they’ve let me loose with the account again. So let us begin with Q1! I’m Wok, who are you and what have you been up to? #MakersHour
Q2 Animals. Do you make for them? Do they interfere with your makes? Does your kitty sleep on your heatbed? #MakersHour
Q3 Do you consider accessibility in your making (either for production or use)? If so, how? #MakersHour
Q4 Spur of the makements! What have you made there and then that came out ok? #MakersHour
Q5 How did you come by #MakersHour? What brought you to us?
Q6 Other than making, does your creativity seep out into other areas of your life? #MakersHour
Join us for #MakersHour every Wednesday, 8-9PM, on Twitter @GuildOfMakers!
#MakersHour Questions – 11th Sept 2019 Host:@Workshopshed
1 Hi, Andy from @Workshopshed hosting this week, please introduce yourself and share your recent makes
2 In the book “Enchanted Objects” David Rose complains about everything being run from black glass slabs. What modern technology do you dislike and what would you replace it with?
3 I like the mad scientist’s knife switch as the ultimate on/off device, what is your favourite form of control device.
4 Arthur C Clarke once stated, “Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.” What magical item would you like to see made real?
5 Some of my ideas and inspiration comes from magicians and movie magic. What unusual sources of inspiration do you have?
6 If you had just £10 budget for materials what would you make?
Join us for #MakersHour every Wednesday, 8-9PM, on Twitter @GuildOfMakers!
#MakersHour Questions – 4th Sept 2019 Host:@shmodelmaking
Q1 Welcome along to #MakersHour. As with tradition please introduce yourself and let us know what you have been making this week.
Q2 Do you ever suffer from makers block and if you do how to reignite the creative juices? #MakersHour
Q3 Have you ever been to a show/exhibition or been watching a fellow makers video online and seen a tool that you thought I should have one of those, what was it? #MakersHour
Q4 With summer now over (depending who you ask) will you be spending more or less time in the workshop/makers space. #MakersHour
Q5 I’m a model maker specialising in Railways and I’m sometimes seen as a geek by others. Do you tell people what you do and how do they react? #MakersHour
Q6, Who got you into making, parent, partner friend, stranger? For me it was a parent. #MakersHour
Join us for #MakersHour every Wednesday, 8-9PM, on Twitter @GuildOfMakers!
#MakersHour Questions – 28th August 2019 Host:@ncmreynolds
Q1 Welcome, please introduce yourself and let us know what you’ve been up to this week. Don’t forget to include #MakersHour when you reply.
Q2 This week I started making some lights just because I wanted them to look ‘sci-fi’. Do you often make something ‘because reasons’ even though somebody could easily buy something functionally equivalent? #MakersHour
Q3 Setting time aside for making is something I struggle with. Do you have any strategies for ensuring you can progress your makes and get them done in a timely fashion? #MakersHour
Q4 There are a million memes about not being able to work without coffee. I ‘need’ music to work, what do you ‘need’ to be able to work effectively? #MakersHour
Q5 I’m currently guilty of building a hoard of CRT Sony Watchmen. Is there anything odd or hard to find you are actively collecting for a future make? #MakersHour
Q6 My brother gifted me a TS100 soldering iron and I use it regularly. Is there anything you use all the time in your makes that somebody else gifted/found for you? #MakersHour
#MakersHour Questions – 21st August 2019 Host:@grajohnt
- Welcome! Introduce yourself and tell us what you’d *like* to be making right now. (Feel free to show pictures of what you’ve been up to as well!) #MakersHour
- Do you make things while travelling (business/vacation)? What is in your ‘must bring’ toolbox? #MakersHour
- Have you ever made something on a plane / train / car journey? Does the item spark a memory of the journey? #MakersHour
- Have you ever made something to make a journey of any kind easier? #MakersHour
- Have you learned a new maker skill while on holiday? Is it something you seek out? #MakersHour
- If you could have an all-expense paid maker holiday, where would you go and why? #MakersHour
#MakersHour Questions – 14th August 2019 Host:@CatherineWeird
- Introduce yourself, tell us what you have made this week and if you haven’t made anything what have you been thinking about making? #MakersHour
- Is there anything in your making that you find frustrating and wish you could improve like a tool or technique and have you been able to do it? #MakersHour
- Are there any tastes or smells that you associate with your making, like the smell of solder, leather or the taste of a good cup of tea or coffee while you work? #MakersHour
- Do you use any kits, plans, patterns when you make, start from scratch or a combination of the two, any good ones to recommend? #MakersHour
- Are you a specialist who concentrates on one area or a generalist who puts together different skills? #MakersHour
- When do you know you are finished with a make? #MakersHour
#MakersHour Questions – 7th August 2019 Host:@recycledrobotix
1) Welcome! Introduce yourself and tell us about a project you have not yet finished (if you are completely up to date at the moment, tell us a project that took a long time). #MakersHour
2) I’ve been unavoidably unable to make much for the last few weeks. How long can you go without making? #MakersHour
3) Tell us about (or show us!) your main workspace. What makes it great, or not-so-great, for your making needs? #MakersHour
4) What is your best piece of advice for somebody setting up a new space for making? #MakersHour
5) What is the most drastic mistake you’ve learned from as part of a making project? #MakersHour
6) What’s the success you’re proudest of? For the purposes of this question, you are free to boast without having to feel arrogant. #MakersHour
#MakersHour Questions – 31st July 2019 Host:@52_square
Q1 Hello, and welcome to #MakersHour, why not introduce yourself and let us know what you have been making recently?
Q2 I am a cloth doll, cloth is a great medium for working in but I do need to know each fabric, how to sew it, and how to cut the shapes for sewing. What is your favourite medium; what’s its limitations and its advantages? #MakersHour
Q3 I am 1/12th scale. If you did your making at 1/12th how would it work out? What would be the challenges if you had to scale down 1/12th (or scale up if you already work in miniature) what you do? #MakersHour
Q4 A dolls house is a big project with many little projects inside it. Do you work with big complex compositions, or is each make a single job? Would you prefer it one way or the other? #MakersHour
Q5 Fundamentally a dolls house is a flight of fancy, mine dates back to my youth. If you were going to make a whimsy, a retrospective, or a sentimental make for yourself what would you choose? #MakersHour
Q6 Imagine sentient 1/12th scale dolls have taken over the world, how would you survive, escape, or choose to serve, your new overlords? #MakersHour
#MakersHour Questions – 24th July 2019 Host:@AntiochGrey
Q1 Who are you and what have you been up to this week? #MakersHour
Q2 The moon landings – did you see them and did they inspire you? If not, was there a big event that made you think oh I want to do that? #MakersHour
Q3 Moon landings part two – one of the things that has come out is the hidden involvement of women and people colour. Was there a skill when you were growing up that you really wanted to learn but weren’t allowed to because you were the wrong gender or other category? And have you learned it since? #MakersHour
Q4 Elon Musk has talked about connecting his brain to the Internet. What cyborg Upgrade would you want? #MakersHour
Q5 A lot of my friends are self published authors and spend a lot of time and money on marketing, Amazon ads, Facebook ads, Google ads. What marketing do you do and what has been most successful for you? #MakersHour
Q6 What’s the oddest thing you’ve ever been asked to make for someone? #MakersHour
#MakersHour Questions – 17th July 2019 Host:@Weaves_n_Rings
Q1. Rarely do people just fall into what they love to do. What kind of craft/art/makes did you try in the past and how did you feel about them? How does it differ from what you do now? #MakersHour
Q2. If I could, I would love to own and run a little shop that not only sells what I make but encourages local artists to show and sell their art there. Support each other. How far would you take your works if you could? #MakersHour
Q3. Word Play! Describe what you do while being overly-descriptive without actually saying what you do. Be creative with your words! Let’s see if we can guess what you do. #MakersHour
Q4. Art is a gift to share with others. How would you use your works to give to those in need? If you have already done so, tell us about it! #MakersHour
Q5. How would you use your works to mess with others? I found out about yarn-bombing, which is basically around benches, trees, etc. all around town to mess with people. What kind of fun would you try with what you do? (don’t be too mean) #MakersHour
Q6. We are always trying to improve. What’s the next milestone you hope to hit with your craft? #MakersHour
#MakersHour Questions – 10th July 2019 Host:@TiklishHoneyBee
Q1: Welcome to #MakersHour, what have you been making this week? Please introduce yourself and show us your creations!
Q2: Us makers will often take something we have and improve or personalise it, but have you ever thought “If I had one of those, I’d do … to it?” Tell us about it, what is something you don’t have that you’d love to let your creativity loose on? #MakersHour
Q3: The other day I was marking out a large radius arc using a marker pen tied to a length of string. What are some simple slapped-together tools or methods you use in your making? #MakersHour
Q4: We often ask about a ‘dream’ make with unlimited time, money and resources: But do you have a more readily achievable ‘dream’ make? Something you feel you’ll be able to do in your lifetime, but perhaps not just yet. What is it? And why not now? #MakersHour
Q5: How did you get started in making? Are your making skills mostly self taught or did/do you take lessons or classes? #MakersHour
Q6: If there’s a brush (paint, glue, oil) and a cup of tea (or other drink), it’s almost inevitable that one will end up in the other. What are some other silly little goofs you have to watch out for when you make? #MakersHour
#MakersHour Questions – 3rd July 2019 Host:@strangecurios
Q1. Your tag/name, geographic location, preferred maker medium & something you made this week. Pictures be nice & add #MakersHour!
Q2. I sculpt figures & love the classical sculptures of Praxiteles & Thorvaldsen. Name a maker/creative from History who has influenced your creative making & why? #MakersHour
Q3. I have technical electronics skill of a blind goldfish. What skill are you in awe of & consider your personal ‘creative’ skills gap? #MakersHour
Q4. Given impending Climate Crisis – What are you doing in your making to mitigate its potential negative environmental impact & resource usage? #MakersHour
Q5. The world is on Fire! You can only save three works of Art/Sculpture/Architecture to put on a (Big) spaceship to best represent creative culture of Humanity. What are they? #MakersHour
Q6. Name a manual/guide/book that has informed your making & why? – for me it was Betty Edwards -‘Drawing on the right hand side of the Brain’ #MakersHour
#MakersHour Questions – 26th June 2019 Host:@arthyanofiicial
- Hello! I’m Ellanor. I would love to know who you are and what your favourite make or funniest mishap has been this week. #MakersHour
- You have the power to instantly master any skill! What is it? #MakersHour
- If you could collaborate with any person from history to make something with, who would it be and why? #MakersHour
- Which famous masterpiece (landmark, painting, instrument, jewellery etc) would you try and re-create if you had the chance? #MakersHour
- If you could bring any one tool you use to time-travel back in time with, what would it be? This choice could change the course of history … #MakersHour
- Tell us a pivotal moment in your life that inspired or reaffirmed your love of making? #MakersHour
#MakersHour Questions – 19th June 2019 Host:@suearcher6
Q1 Hello Makers! I’ve had a birthday this week, so tell us how old you are and what you’ve been doing! There’s a cryptic clue to my age in the rest of the questions…. #MakersHour
Q2 Fun – what do you do for fun when you’re not making? #MakersHour
Q3 Invaluable – what tool or material could you absolutely not do without? #MakersHour
Q4 Fame – if you could be world famous for one of the things you’ve made, which one would you like that to be? #MakersHour
Q5 Training – Have you had any formal training in your making or are you self taught, and if the latter, how did you teach yourself? #MakersHour
Q6 Youth – what things did you do in your youth that still influence your making? #MakersHour
#MakersHour Questions – 12th June 2019 Host:@monkeysailor
Q1) Introduce yourself, show us what you’ve been making this week, and show us your workspace. #MakersHour
Q2) We all joke about “safety third” and Rule Zero, but how do you REALLY deal with safety when you work? Do you consider the long term effects of dust, fumes, and chemicals? Do you wear all the PPE? #MakersHour
Q3) How do you advertise what you do, and how much networking do you do? What drives that networking? Potential sales, potential purchases, potential collaboration, or something else? #MakersHour
Q4) Resource consumption and waste products production are the inevitable result of creation. How do you minimise waste, and how do you consider the environmental impact of your making? #MakersHour
Q5) Do you bulk buy to save money in the long run, or do you buy just enough material and consumables for the job at hand? #MakersHour
Q6) Would you rather hand out business cards, fliers, postcards, or stickers at an event? What sort of advertising would you rather receive at an event? #MakersHour
#MakersHour Questions – 5th June 2019
Host:@DrLucyRogers
Q1) . What has been your most memorable make of the last year? Yours or someone else’s. Pics if possible please … #MakersHour
Q2) Have you collaborated with someone new this year? What did you do? #MakersHour
Q3) Have you learnt any new skills this year? Would you recommend them? #MakersHour
Q4) Have you surprised yourself this year by making something you didn’t think you could or something turned out better than expected? If so, what? #MakersHour
Q5) This time next year, what do you want to be able to point at and say “I made that” ? Sketches welcome! #MakersHour
Q6 – BONUS PRIZE QUESTION: What would you use a #3DPrinter for? Prize of an #Ender2 to the best answer (As chosen by @Woodpunk, who kindly has provided one). Answers must be in by 9:30pm UK time tonight (Wed 5th June 2019), and tagged #MakersHour and A6.
Here’s some of the past #MakersHour tweets:
20180606 Hosted by @DrLucyRogers (#Birthday)
20180531 Hosted by @BadDogDesigns_
20180523 Hosted by @Dr_Monkeyface