So this one was really special to me, for multiple reasons in fact. If you want to read the details of my health journey, scroll down to the section labeled Backstory.
Recently I had been working on trying to make a leather back for myself but was running into some issues with alignment in inkscape so I was just doing what all good crafters do and put it on the pile of “I’ll come back to this later” projects. Then I came across Desilpunks bag video on YouTube and it gave me some ideas to fix the pattern I had been working on. While my bag ends up being a bit smaller then the one he was making, it’s perfect for what I’m aiming for.
I cut my parts and wanted to make the bag unique to me, as many of you may know, I some unique tastes and try not to have anything too boring or mundane representing me or my work. This was one of 4 custom biohazard logos I made with Magic canvas, adding to the gothic styled logo (the upper two facing curves are designed to look like horns (after some editing in inkscape after the fact) and the tight Celtic knot work around the main center, I was pretty stoked with how well this came out.
Stitched the main patch to the back patch, this had been one of the biggest issues I had been having with my pattern, but I was originally trying to attach it from the front but having 3 layers outward made it look dumpy and not great. I have to say, giving what was happening the day I did that stitching (another story for another time) I’m stoked I was able to get those stitches so dang smooth.
I got the straps setup and fixed up the D rings on the gussets, I debated on adding studs here but didn’t want to take away from the over all aesthetic of the bag.
Stitching was slow going but eventually the first side was done
I found out after getting this done and adding my screw nubs that I’m gonna have to modify the strap holes in order to accommodate the slightly larger nubs as the craft store was all out of the size I wanted.
After a long stitching session, a bit of swearing at my needle for coming unthreaded every other stich and a late night later, I can happily say the bag itself is done and looks fantastic, the stitching once again on point and it hold all the supplements and testing kit that I wanted it to hold. I’m extremely happy with how it turned out and have made some notes for things I want to do differently in version 2 of this bag. And who knows, maybe it’ll end up in the catalog one day.
Till next time
-Hock
Backstory: about a month and a half ago I was taking myself off of my ADHD meds, it was causing issues, I had the Dr check my blood for low Testosterone , I had a lot of the signs and also had about a month of straight migraines from hell. She came back around saying I was Type 2 diabetic and had low Testosterone. The odd thing about this is my A1C was at a 6 before I started taking my ADHD meds 6 months prior.
Fast forward for a moment and I had been doing research to see if my ADHD meds had any other lasting side effects due to new information I had been hearing. What I found was that this med for starters is known to jack up your A1C levels, that it takes up to 3 months to get out of your system, and that it “Works” by essentially overwriting your brains dopamine nural pathways by going completely around the dopamine centers fully. One of the major red flags me and my wife had talked about was my lack of creativity. I’m always doing something creative, and going from being super creative multiple days a week to 0% creative, having lots of brain fog that was effecting my speech as well as how I was processing things it was kinda scary.
The Dr wanted to " get my diabetes under control " before she even thought about sending me to someone for Testosterone therapy. And from what I found out when pressing her the testosterone they wanted to give me was synthetic with a laundry list of side effects, health risks and having to cycle on and off. Additionally this particular strain of testosterone they were talking about has the potential to introduce MPD or major personality changes to the point where you don’t even recognize who’s looking back at you in the mirror. That’s some scary shit.
Me and my wife started doing a ton of research, I found and narrowed down my selection to the Bucked up brand of supplements for Testosterone boosting and weight management. Id taken some of their stuff in the past and it’s always been very clean and very upfront about what you get, and enjoyed the fact they had a buy one get one free going. I’ve been taking them for 3 weeks and Ive already ordered the next 2 months supply as well, and my wife has been very happy with the results .
I’ll skip some boring details but I’ve been working out and walking just about every damn day for the last month, last week I walked almost 25 miles in total, as well as took over 55,500 steps. I was ingored when I told my Dr my previous findings about the ADHD medication even though the information was on several medical journals. So I threw down the gauntlet, my wording to her was “I’ll be ready” she has no idea how hard I’m pushing myself to not only make better life choices but changing my entire diet, and motivation structure as well. I get the feeling she doesn’t believe me because “the numbers don’t lie” well I’m gonna prove her wrong.
The bag project was my first project coming off the ADHD meds and I can feel my old self waking back up again and I did it (the bag)to house my current life changing supplements and necessary items. My creativity starting to rise up and like a sleeping dragon I’m going to awaken with vengeance. If you made it this far, send the tacos emoji