I feel like I'm stuck in this horrid black hole of no creativity. No energy, no motivation. UGH!

It doesn't help that we have no anime convention to plan for this year. We decided to be all boring and responsible and skip Sakuracon this year, so we can pay off our debts instead of racking up more of them with the crazy-expensive hotel bills.

I'm still here though. Maybe now that spring's close, the warmer weather and increased sunshine (I live in the pacific northwest where it's grey for months at a time) will give me more energy.

I hope all 3 people reading this are doing well!

I'm really here. I just can't seem to do anything creative lately. I pretty much spent the entire summer (and autumn, so far) just sitting at my computer watching anime or various other shows. My sewing machine is gathering dust and all my bins full of fabric and costume supplies are sadly waiting for me to give them some attention.

I hope this clears up soon. *sigh* I blame it on the fact that I've been trying to wean myself off this anxiety medication that I have been taking for a couple of years. I did really need it at one point in my life but I think things are more balanced now so I'm ready to stop taking it. Dropping the dose down gradually over several months helps to alleviate the worst of the withdrawal symptoms, but it also seems to have made me into this unproductive lump. I think it will be better once I'm totally off the meds, but I can't go off them quickly (trying to do that over the past couple of weeks has made me feel dizzy and nauseous and given me really terrible headaches). Sooo... I am really hoping that by the new year I will be 100% off this medication and feeling like being creative again.

Anyway, if anyone's still watching this space you will know that I'm haven't disappeared off the face of the earth!

So, I have kind of slowed down with the bag-making lately because I've been watching Six Feet Under. I got completely sucked in within two episodes. It's so good! I needed something completely different once I got done with Azumanga Daioh, because it was so wonderful and I knew any anime I watched after that would seem lacking. I'm finally on season 5, so I'll be done with the series soon and can get back to my summer projects.

I've also been trying to exercise more and get ahead with my taekwondo. I ate a lot of crap and didn't do much active stuff at all while I was so busy with school the last two or three semesters. I mostly seemed to spend my "spare" time zoning out at the computer.

Just about all the sewing I'm doing recently is hemming pants. Boooooring.... hopefully I'll have something new to show you all soon.

(Hai! Dekimashita!)

I'm still enjoying making bags. They are great short-term projects with an instantly useful result. The first bag became a handy swimming tote for my daughter, and she even got a compliment from one of her friends :-D The second bag I've been using as a purse. I'm trying not to get ahead of myself too much in terms of the level of complexity of the patterns. I'm working on bag #3 at the moment, which will have a total of four different fabrics inside it. I'm also making plans for bag four which will be anime-themed. Watch this space for more pics.

EDIT: Pictures of Bag 3 are now up!

So, I have been inspired by some bag sewing tutorials I found on craftster.org (dorky name, but pretty interesting site with lots of info). I decided that I'd like to try and make some messenger bags, or maybe tote bags and purses with some of that nice fabric I brought home from Japan.

So... as I didn't want to potentially ruin and waste some of that precious fabric, I went to the local thrift store and bought a bunch of really cheap cloth there -- they are practically giving away corduroy this week, it seems, as I got yards and yards of the stuff in four different colours for around $14. I also found this really cute chef's apron for $2 which I decided would be far better off as a guinea pig in one of my sewing projects.

The result of my first experiment: a lined book bag with an extra-long strap. Very basic - no closures, no decoration, no zippered pockets or anything - just a nice deep bag to carry some books, or maybe a ps2 and some games & controllers, or a picnic for a day at the beach...

I'll post a pic or two in my deviations -- also check the scraps for three more scans of some of the cool and whimsical fabrics we bought in Shibuya!