I am Crafty Otaku, a 25-year-old anime fan from the suburbs of St. Louis, Missouri. For the past 6 years, I've been studying Japanese, watching anime, and attending conventions; about 2 years ago, I decided join a good friend of mine at her table in Artist Alley to sell a few craft projects of my own. (That friend is Handmade Geek - check her stuff out!) Every year, I go to more conventions, and don't seem to be running out of craft ideas any time soon!
You can reach me at craftyotaku at gmail dot com.
Crafty-ness
The majority of my work is done on the sewing machine, creating items of supreme adorability. (Check out my merchandise page for specific examples!) I'm also starting to get into silk dying - so far, I've only done solid colors, but I'm hoping to experiment with shibari dyeing (Japanese tie-dye) when I can find enough free time...
Otaku-ness
At the beginning of college, I discovered three things almost simultaneously: anime conventions, Japanese language study, and taiko. If you're not familiar with taiko, it is Japanese drumming, and you must look it up on YouTube right now. The group in St. Louis is called St. Louis Osuwa Taiko, and we perform every year at the MOBot Japanese Festival on Labor Day weekend. (You can find both me and Handmade Geek among the members!)
My study of Japanese language has fallen off a bit since graduating, but I still have 5 years of college classes (one of those spent in Kyoto) under my belt. Someday, if I can get some good calligraphy lessons, I might incorporate my knowledge of Japanese into my arts and crafts, but for now my handwriting is merely legible, and not so much "pretty." If you need some quick basic translation help at a convention, feel free to stop by my table to chat!
Finally, of course, are the inappropriate number of hours I have spent watching anime. I'll go on the wagon for weeks (or months) at a time, but once I've started a new show, I won't emerge until it's done. Some things I've watched/am watching, in no particular order (though my favorites/most recent shows are mostly at the beginning): Bleach, Panty and Stocking with Garterbelt, GetBackers, Code Geass, Soul Eater, Samurai Champloo, Cowboy Bebop, FLCL, Trigun, Fruits Basket, Azumanga Daioh, Outlaw Star, D.Gray-Man, Fullmetal Alchemist (Brotherhood is better!), Planetes, Red Garden, Escaflowne, and probably a few I'm forgetting. Oh, and pretty much every Miyazaki movie ever made. ^___^ I've got a decent To-Watch list going too, but recommendations are always welcome.
Other
In "real life," meaning where the paycheck comes from, I'm applying to graduate school in Physics for this coming fall. In the meantime, I'm a substitute teacher, and also work at a call center doing tech support. This means I probably won't be hitting the St. Louis conventions as much after this summer, but I will be able to expand to cons near whatever school I end up attending!
