He's got a name!

This guy,

has been dubbed Nathaniel by my sister.  My nephew's two favorite stuffed animals are also named after authors, so based on his reaction to the puppet, she figured it was fitting.  He smushed Nathaniel's head and arms, pulled his hair, grabbed his nose, and loved being "kissed" by him and having his arms, legs, and belly "eaten" by him.

Wanna know how I made him?  Look here.

And don't forget, he's part of a contest, which is located here.  If you vote and comment on the post, you are in the running to win a $25 gift certificate to anything in the Handmade Artists' Shops, located here.

Artist Spotlight: Part Twenty-One

The artist to whom I have the pleasure of introducing you this week is Kazumi, a multitalented woman from Japan.  You can read all about her various projects on her blog.  Not only has she tried her hand at beading and bead making...

... but she makes beautiful purses, totes, card holders, and keychains that you can see and get at her Etsy shop.

You may have noticed a sock monkey keychain up there.  That's not all Kazumi does with sock monkeys.  Here's a sock monkey card holder.

Here's a sock monkey card.  She's got a lot more cards at one of her Zazzle shops.

Like this wedding card.

Also at that shop is cool apparel, featuring her designs, like this.

Don't think we're done with the sock monkeys, though.  Oooooooooh, no.  See, here is an assortment of actual sock monkeys you can see and purchase here!

Want a 2-D version?  You really need to check out her sock monkey chalk drawings!

If you're into sock monkeys, though, she's got many other chalk drawings available here, here, and here.  There are signs for your shops or restaurants.

Her chalk drawings have also been commissioned as wedding welcome boards or anniversary party boards.

Many of her chalk drawings, though, are simply beautiful artwork for the purpose of art alone, like these.

Speaking of art for the sake of art, Kazumi's isn't limited to chalk drawing.  She's also got these wonderful mixed media pieces.

Definitely check her out!

Un-Soap-Like Things

News of the soapy sort will be forthcoming soon, but since getting back from New Orleans, life has been hectic.  I came back with a cold, which I then passed to Eric.  Between recovering from that, catching up with work and, rehearsing for the play I'm in, there hasn't been much soap-related to report.

So I thought I'd share this, something shared with me today:

It's just too cute, though they call it "ugly." It's one of those things that's so ugly it's cute again, I think. I'm not sure what it is... maybe a baby bat? If you know, let the rest of us know, for sure!

Edit:  This animal is an aye-aye.  My brilliant friend Lisa, who's an architect, professional baker, face painter, and henna artist was able to identify it!

And what's this about a show?


Oh, right, I hadn't mentioned that, I guess.  In addition to the other zillion things that Eric and I do, I'm involved in community theater.  I'm an actor who's also occasionally been known to build or tear down sets, usher for other shows, help with props, design programs, stage manage, work lights and sound, and even direct once.  Not a fan of the directing, I found out.

At any rate, I'm in a play that is up throughout the month of May, Comic Potential.

Info on the show is here, if you scroll down.

The hardest part of rehearsing is learning not to laugh; the show's that funny.  Even during the audition, I was laughing so hard I was in tears at some of the other actors' performances!

Hence the lack of soapy news, but I promise there will be some very soon!