Jamika

I'm working on a new Kid4 Poser character, tentatively named Jamika. Here's a peek at her portrait, and one of her in an adorable new Regency outfit. :)

Back to the Poser Universe

The last month or so I've been working hard to get back into making and selling my 3D Poser characters. I'm happy to say that my Josie for the new Kids4 is complete and now available at Daz3D. Here's a couple peeks at Josie! :)


OK, I can't resist one more of her as a little elf!


I've already begun working on a new kid character, using photos of a Caribbean woman with the most gorgeous golden-toned skin. Lots of interesting little freckles and bumps that make her stand out.

Soapmaking? Oh yeah. I really need to get back to making more soap. I'm running out of stock. So many creative ideas, so little time...

I can't believe the school year is almost over. Geoff will be checking out of his dorm on April 28th and beginning his summer classes within 10 days of that. Vicky gets out the week after that. She will be going back to Tampa for the first summer session.

Kids with Bright Futures have to take a total of 12 credits in summer to maintain the scholarship, so they want to get it finished within their first two years. Next summer they both want to go to Sweden for a fantastic summer program at Uppsala.

Still Alive...

Things got very busy. First one kid was home for spring break, then the other kid. It's been fun having them here and cooking their favorite meals, going to the movies and beach with them, etc. But now both kids are back at college and we are back to our normal routines. A little boring, but comforting nevertheless.

I'm back to trying to get my stock up again. I have a few new/revived soaps coming soon: Hawaiian Lei Flowers, Lilac, Coco Lime Verbena and Sea Fan, which is an awesome dupe of Lolita Lempicka. Tomorrow I'm going to try to make Gardenia and Havana Nights, maybe even some Sugared Walnut. I'd love to make more new ones, but then I run out of the old ones and have to make them first, so it's hard to add new stuff. I've really got to thin out my offerings, but if only a couple people like something, it's hard for me to take it out of rotation.

I'm making a lot of progress on my new Poser character. I wish I could show it off, but I can't because of an NDA. Even if I do say so myself, it's adorable.

Two New Handmade Soaps

I've been out of action online for a while, trying a couple of different things and returning to my Poser roots to start creating some more 3D characters.

In the meantime, I've been doing lots of soaping too. Brand new in my shop today, hints of Spring with two fresh floral fragrances: Pink Carnation and Lavender Ginger. I wasn't going to bring back the Pink Carnation after I sold out the last batch, but so many people emailed me about it that I decided to make more. These soaps are also in my Etsy shop here.

My Lilac and Lavender soap was featured today in the RI Handmade blog. Who can resist Lavender? It's nice to be in such good company too, some good looking stuff in this feature.

Dragons Galore

My Dragon's Blood soap was featured today in Barbed Lotus' Dragons to Keep gift guide. Thanks!

It's still cold and dreary here, much more so than our usual winter weather. On top of that, I've got a lingering cold. It makes me not want to get out much. We're going to have an outing today to a new health food store, hopefully it will warm up some.

Haiti: How to Help

The devastation in Haiti from the earthquake yesterday is reported to be "unimaginable." It's possible that tens of thousands have died in this tragedy. What can you and I do to help? Money is going to be needed desperately to provide food, clothing and shelter for survivors. I've just donated to Wyclef Jean's Yele Haiti organization. Other options are here.

Copyright and Product Photos

This is starting to happen more and more lately, and it's really getting to me. Yesterday someone notified me that a new shop on Etsy had used one of my product photos. I went and checked it out. Sure enough, there was my Blood Orange Patchouli photo on a listing for someone selling $75 worth of shea butter soap. Now who on earth opens a new shop and on their very first listing uses a stolen photo of someone else's soap?

I decided to find out. I contacted this new seller and she told me that she had paid $1.99 for my photo from someone selling them on Flickr. Somehow she couldn't provide the link to that person. Not only that, she'd bought about 10 other photos because "I can't take good photos." This new seller contended she had been selling soap and candles for about 10 years. It's hard for me to believe that in 10 years, she couldn't come up with a decent photo of her own products.

The seller took my photo down immediately after I contacted her. She replaced it with another one that looks very familiar. I am almost certain that I've seen it elsewhere on Etsy or on The Dish forum. So it's possible that the seller still is using someone else's photo.

I wonder what happens when a buyer orders a product based on the photo they've seen, then when the seller sends it to them, the product looks nothing like the photo? Who would take a chance on something like that? Apparently a depressing number of sellers are doing so.

And it's not just soap photos being stolen. It's all kinds of products. That's why I started this thread in the Ideas forum on Etsy. I would like Etsy to require sellers to certify in some way that they own the copyright or licensing rights to photos they upload to their stores. It will not stop all of the blatant thieves and cheaters, but it might make those who are unsure of these things think twice about it.