Another week, another fabulously talented artist!  I'm pleased to introduce you to Kazumi, a Japanese artist who specializes in sock monkeys and chalk art.  Or should I say diversity?  She doesn't just stop at sock monkeys and chalk art, and has a wide range of products -- from baby clothes to coin purses to amigurumi and more.

Kazumi is a very busy businesswoman and artist and has her creations all over the internet.  Her zazzle shop includes a wide variety of merchandise featuring her fabulous, playful designs.  I'm currently visiting family for a wedding, and this design stuck out and made me grin:

You can read all about her sock monkeys here.  She has profiles of her monkeys, so you can learn all about her socky family and friends.  Just make sure to have you 5 bananas ready to pay your subscription! :)

Her chalk art can be found here.  These pieces would make a great signboard for a restaurant or kitchen, a welcome sign for a baby shower or wedding, or just as an artistic welcome to your home.  Here are two of my favorites:

But don't be fooled, she doesn't stop there!  Another etsy shop houses some of her sewing, crochet, and smaller art pieces.  Check out her coin purses and ACEO and other art! 

I'm dying, here!  We left to visit family, and I got notice today that my alpaca is waiting at the post office for me!  All of this time, I've been waiting and waiting and pining away for it, and it arrives a day after I leave.

Oh the injustice!  Oh the humanity!

My MIL is checking on the house, so I'm going to beg her to go pick it up for me so it doesn't wait too long in the cold, dark, unloving post office. :)

This week, I'm happy to share iKnitQuiltSew with you all!  Sandi is obviously passionate about what she does; and, after flipping through her shop and blog, it's apparent how genuinely caring she is as a person and how much love she puts into her creations.  I've looked at her lovelies before, and I'm always struck by how sweet her shop is and how much fibery talent one person can be blessed with.

I'm particularly enchanted with this little guy:

How could you not love such a charming little face and a well tailored outfit?

As a knitter, I had to pick a pair of her booties.  She has many different styles in traditional and some more wild colors, and I am in awe of her patience!  Whenever I attempt a pair of booties, it's like the world is against me, and I can never get two that look even remotely alike!  Here's a pair of blue, newborn booties that are absolutely perfect.  It doesn't get any sweeter than that.

I encourage you to stop by her shop and her blog.  On her blog, you'll find features from other artists and photo tutorials.

I've posted about a bazillion times about the alpaca yarn I've ordered, but today I'm very excited.  The Bolivian post service update shows that the yarn left the country three days ago.  It's not tracking in the US yet, but it's so nice to see it finally moving along on its journey.

It takes an average of two weeks to arrive, according to them, and it's only been one week.  I'm champing at the bit to get my hands on those lovely little skeins!  Until it arrives, I'll be compulsively running the number through track-trace and the USPS website to see if there's any news on its location.

I've reached an all-time high number of listings in my shop, so I've decided to slow down a bit on my tabi production.  I really want to beef up the number of traditional-toed socks before cool weather sets in, since they did so well last year, despite the limited colors available, and I was pretty stressed in getting them made.  I placed my order for the new yarn last week, so I've got awhile before I'm able to dig in on that.

While I wait, I've decided to work on some of my personal projects.  Things are pretty slow in etsy-land, so I figured it'd be a good thing to take advantage of.  I really want to crank out at least two sweaters before it gets cool, and have about six Chrismukkah stockings that I'd like to finish.

Knitting really causes a special kind of seasonal madness.  In June, the pressure starts to get warm woolies ready for The Season, so orders of wool, alpaca, etc. start arriving.  Thick sweaters, thrummed mittens, and warm slippers start production in the heat of the summer.  If you're not planning or already working by July, a little bit of a panic starts setting in.  By the end of August, you'd better have a nice bit of product stocked up, or the pinch is really on.  

And I'm a willing participant.  Below is the first repeat of the cabled cuff for a lovely, classic stocking.  I plan on making six of these, and I'm getting a head start!

I've been playing ring around the rosie with the supplier who I buy my alpaca yarns from for the past few months, and I finally gave up on Tuesday.  My refund is being processed and I've already placed another order with another supplier.

About a year ago, my favorite tabi yarn supplier dried up and I had a mad scramble to find a new source.  After that, I apparently learned my lesson and have spent a few hours each week keeping tabs on prices, shipping times, etc.  I'm very glad I did because it was much less painful to lose a supplier when I had another two lined up and ready to go.

I originally ordered only three colors (green, blue, black), but I decided to rethink the colors with this second order and I have black, gray, olive, and a lovely, soft lilac on their way.  I'm going to pay back twiddletoes for some of the lilac because I have a few women in my life who will love a pair of socks out of it over the holidays.

So we'll see how this goes.  I've been itching to play with more alpaca, and the brick/rust red that I ordered retail just isn't doing it for me, for some reason.  I'd like to have some blacks, grays, and greens ready for Father's Day.

I'm new to the Handmade Artist Forum, but decided to jump in with both feet.  Part of that is joining the HAF blog ring to learn about and feature artists, many who are new to me.  Haffina is this month's pick and I hope you all enjoy reading about her. :)

When I popped all of the links where you can find her, I was hugely impressed and a bit astonished.  I've dabbled a bit in polymer clay, but I'm far from accomplished.  I occasionally see things that astound me and put me in awe of the versatility of this medium, and the piece below (found in her Artfire shop) really caught my eye.  Image transfer onto polymer clay -- who knew?!  Super cool.

And she's not just a polymer clay artist!  Her jewelry shop is filled with creations that I feel span a wide range of tastes.  Jewelry creation is not one of my strengths (I can wad up wire like nobody's business), so I really admire the ability to combine textures and colors so well.

On top of that, Haffina is a mom of five, a blogger, enthusiastic about handmade, and I'm sure a good many other things.  It sounds like she's a bit of a superhero, to me!

I've mentioned a few times the lace piece that I'd been working on for my grandmother for Mother's Day.  Well, it went out in the mail on Tuesday to her after I soaked (mmmm, grapefruit Eucalan!) and blocked it.  I'm a terrible blocker, but it turned out pretty well.  It's 70% Angora, 25% Wool, 5% Nylon, so it's pretty crazy soft and a bit fluffy.

So here it is, for your viewing pleasure.  Don't look for any mistakes or you're sure to find them! ;)

A few weeks ago, I participated in a thread about branding your products.  It was interesting to hear how people identified their products and I got some ideas for the future.  Then I forgot all about it. ;)

Today, I noticed that I had an unusual number of views, consistent throughout the day and decided to check it out.  I found that my orange tabi were in the 'related items' section at the bottom of this article (which is as interesting as the original thread!)

It's spring/summer so I doubt I'll get any sales from it, but it made me smile all day to see my views climbing and the few extra hearts spread around.  Yay for nice surprises!

A few weeks ago, I got notice that a bunch of yarn that was backordered was on its way to me.  I've been waiting and waiting and planning, and it still hasn't arrived.

I called and it turns out that it won't be shipped...and they haven't refunded my money.  I've spent several hours trying to rectify the situation, and it's pissing me off more and more.  I'm itching to knit more alpaca socks, but I'm tired of making them in blue!

I'd like to make a black pair, definitely, and maybe I'll start on a green pair for my brother for the holidays.  I'm craving alpaca and I can't have it.  I'm even shunning a lovely yak blend that I was itching to use.

Gah!  The frustration.