There’s a local organization called Friends of Noah. They are a non profit, all volunteer group that supports pet rescue, education and fostering of dogs, cats and rabbits. It’s a wonderful group, and today they had a spectacular fundraiser called Arftic Art for Animals. It had artists and products of all types – jewelry, fiber art, soap and lotion, and a huge variety of pet products and service from treats to collars to costumes. There was even a demonstration of canine acupuncture (and the dog loved it).

For me, the highlight of the show was the booth by Aunty K’s Guyz, a collection of crocheted softies unlike anything I’ve ever seen before. I wanted to take three or four home with me, but limited myself to Squish. Now, I don’t need a softie, and this wasn’t a cheap purchase, but I fell in love with her. Though the artist told me it wasn’t her intention and in fact she didn’t notice the resemblance at first, Squish has googly eyes that resemble nothing so much as a pair of lopsided breasts. At my age, I see something similar every day! Check her out:

Isn’t she wonderful? She’s sturdy enough to be a toy, and creative enough to be art. She is, to quote Ne-Yo, a beautiful monster. If you’d like to see some of the artist’s other work, check out her Etsy shop, Aunty K’s Guyz. You can see some of the others I was looking at, including Sylvester, a handsome birdie, and Ornella, another feminine monster.

And now I have the song Beautiful Monster stuck in my head. Wanna share?