Hyper Japan 2016

This Sunday Matt and I headed up to Hyper Japan. We attended the Christmas one and also the summer one back in 2014. Matt is a  huge fan of Japanese culture and Anime and Manga so I thought it would be a great day out for both of us.

We got Sunday tickets and headed up to London for about 10am stopped for a huge breakfast on the way there. The trains were absolutely manic on the way up there and the weather was really warm too so we were a little frazzled by the time we got there. However we got in there quickly and it was nice and quiet inside.

I picked my little green foxy dress from Hell Bunny and paired it with a green cardigan I picked up from New Look. 

We got to have a really good look around all the stalls before it started to get crazy busy. There were a lot more stalls and art stalls than previous years and I really enjoyed looking around those. I picked up some really cute Firefly badges and Matt was the one this time round that got some POP! Funkos and a Gundam figure.

We mostly spent the day wondering about and attended a talk by Kihara Hirokatsu, who showed us some original sketches from Studio Ghibli films. They were awesome and I really enjoyed that. Mostly we did shopping and I demanded Matt take lots of photos which I shall share! 

Matt and I, I demanded a selfie. 

DOMO

My favorite candy ever.

The clawwwww

Domo dancing was pretty awesome

We always spend too much money on Japanese candy 

At the end of the day we also attended IA 1st Live Concert in Japan -PARTY A GO-GO and that was really fun to watch too. 

I really did have a fab day out, Matt and I haven't had much to the last few months so I was super excited for this. The weather was absolutely amazing which also made a nice change as here in the UK the summer so far has literally been a wash out.

Like all conventions I go to the atmosphere was great and I really do wish there were more out that as this is my favorite way to spend my free time.... although it also seems to be my favourite way to spend my money too so my purse probably thanks the lord that it isn't an every week thing.

I also have found a whole new obsession that has sprung to life very quickly. I found an Illustration Collection art book for the Anime Jyunjo Romantica. I didn't know what it was but Matt had watched World's greatest first love which is by the same author.... and it just reminded me so much of how I picture Charles and Eric when I read my Cherik fics so I bought it and started watching the Anime as soon as I got in and I am now 100% hooked. Oops... 

My little fan girl heart is beaming right now and I just want to stay at home curled up on the sofa watching these back to back. BUT ALAS, I have to get up and do adult things. Luckily I have a whole week off next week so I will be over indulging it then.

ALSO Star Trek is next week too, I am going to watch it at the BFI IMAX which I am sooo excited for... 

I hope you have a lovely week ahead and can concentrate more than I can at the moment! 

Half way through the year, half the year to go!

Life has been quiet of late and we are now well and truly half way through the year. Yet again that is terrifying as I do not know where the time went. Goodness me. I have some slightly sad news, I wrote back in March about an amazing opportunity I had to go to Singapore. Unfortunately due to circumstances changing we have had to cancel that trip. It is a real shame as I was really looking forward to going somewhere completely different and having a whole new experience. However it isn’t going to happen now and Matt and I are back on the path of saving up to go to Florida instead again.

Other than that I thought it would be a good time to reflect on the resolutions I made at the beginning of the year,.

Saving for a once in a life time holiday

So I guess this hasn’t exactly happened as I stated above. We were planning on saving for Florida but as I said above with the trip to Singapore we stopped… however back to it now.

Making sure I enjoy my free time and get out and do more

I’ve been not too bad at this. I have been out and about much more than last year and now I don’t have to save for Singapore anymore so we will be going to Hyper Japan and other similar events so I am looking forward to that! I went out with some friends after work too a few weeks ago and plan to do the same in August so I am looking forward to that.

 Continuing with the self love!

This has not been so great this year. I think this year I have struggled with this more than the previous year. I haven’t really shifted the weight I put on at Christmas. I know it isn’t much and a few pounds really don’t make much of a difference but I still seem to beat myself up about it. I makes me forget what I have achieved when I am in this sort of slump. But I am trying, some days I can feel my generally attitude changing so I just need to keep working on it. As I have always said it is a lifelong battle and hopefully with each year it will improve.

Heck as a reminder I found this old picture from 4 years ago today and that really reminds me of how far I have come. 

However sad I may be that my holiday isn’t happening anymore, I do still however have lots planned for the year. Comic con at the end of the month and a whole week off work. I then have some shows in the autumn and the NFL. Shortly followed by a trip to Birmingham to Destination Star Trek for my birthday. I plan to fill my summer with nice things to do too. Perhaps some trips to the coast and maybe even a weekend break if we can squeeze that in!

This year is certainly quieter and less life changing than previous years, but so far 2016 has been going well and I hope it continues!

New sewing project with a dash of self confidence boosting.

Sorry things have been quiet here recently. I have rediscovered Tumblr. Actually I have distanced myself a little from blogs and Instagram recently. I started to feel like they were effecting my self confidence. When you have these perfect lives, styles and bodies thrust at you every waking hour of the day, you start to question yourself. I know deep down that these bloggers and Instagramers only show the best parts of their, lives much like I tend to do. But I really did feel like it was having an effect on how I felt about myself and my life. It also changed the way I started to blog. I wanted to use this space to document things in my life and to share it with like minded people. Instead I started to focus on how I could look like these perfect people and have lives like them. Does that make sense? I hope it does.

Tumblr for me is more of a safe place full of fandoms. They give me a warm feeling and make me proud of myself and my interests. Although I know I use my fangirl ways as a type of escapism, it doesn't effect or decrease my self esteem, it actually makes me feel far more content and happy.

Anyway, this was meant to be about some sewing I have done this weekend, bit of a heavy start to the post huh?

So this year I have gotten my sewing machine out a few times, after years of it sitting lonely in a box in my parents loft. I made a skirt earlier in the year which you can see here.

I had planned on making more, but I sort of forgot about it. I have been so desperate for some just plain coloured circle skirts to wear with t-shirts and jumpers, basically an all year round skirt. If I do find ones I like, and that's a big if. They are usually far too short. Or if they are long enough the fabric is usually horrible or the pattern or colour isn't to my taste. So basically although I have searched long and hard I really haven't had much luck. I know exactly how I can fix this and have something that is perfect, I know I can make them really easily, but you know.... I'm pretty lazy haha!

This weekend I had, had enough. I wanted to wear some at work with clear tights and t-shirts as it gets so warm in here. So Saturday I popped to the fabric shop and picked up two colours and on Sunday I got to it!

I had my pattern from my previous skirt, which I had altered length wise so that cut a lot of time off compared to the first one I made. I was too safe and made it far too long, and after washing the fabric I got straight into it!

I picked a lovely hot pink colour for the summer, I also thought with black it could add a real pop of colour to miserable cold days too. Again this one was far too big round my waist like the first one I made, I believe it is to do with cutting it on the bias of the fabric. One website suggests making the pattern smaller but I didn't alter that as I thought it was far more easy to cut some extra off than try and add some if it was too small.

The skirt came together really easily and the waist band looked really good on it too. I was so happy with the end result!

I also picked a charcoal grey colour with a hint of blue to it. Both fabrics were a thick jersey material. I like this material as it flows nicely and doesn't cling and has a good weight to it. But it is also super soft and comfy so will be great on warm days and casual days (which are most days for me at work).

This skirt was a little trickier to sew. The pink fabric was stiffer and had a texture to it, where as this one was very soft and more stretchy which meant the ends kept rolling up and was harder to control. I took my time with this one more and I was happy with the result.

The only thing I wasn't as happy with was the waist band as you can see the seam through the fabric, but that doesn't matter too much as I tend to wear my tops over the top of the waist band.

This one also came out too large as well, and i discovered its actually easier to sew the waist band on and then cut it afterwards as I know the waistband is a good fit.

I am really happy with the end results, and I am also really happy to have something that is the exact length, colours and style I want. The price also isn't too bad. One reason I am reluctant at times to make my own clothes is it can cost considerably more. But these two cost me just under £30 and that was for 2 meters of fabric each, I think if I did it again I would only need 1.5 meters. 

I am super happy with these, and I hope you agree but I think they look fab with a t-shirt or even a jumper style top (FYI the top at the top with the cherries is my absolute favourite!). I don’t have any plans at the moment to make more but I will be keeping an eye out for fabric. Also if you made it to the end (kudos to you) and know of anywhere that sells jersey geeky fabric then please PLEASE point me in that direction as I would love to make some Star Trek, or Walking Dead  or or or… to be honest with my list is huge so please do send me a link!

I did mention in my previous post, but please do check out AnnikaVictoria’s YourTube channel, this is where I found the tutorial to make these! She has LOADS of amazing videos and idea to get you DIY-ing! 

I really hope to do some more sewing this year, including two cosplay ideas! Fingers crossed I can be less lazy for the second half of the year ha!