<a href="http://casperelectronics.com/finished-pieces/speak-n-spell/touchandspell/"><img src="http://casperelectronics.com/images/finishedpieces/speak-n-spell/touchnspell/_touch%26spell.jpg" width="400" height="266" alt="" title="" /></a>
I've been playing around with touch sensors lately. It's pretty cool what you can do with just a few transistors. Here's a touch pad Speak&Spell I build recently. It's a really cool project and easy to build. 
The "HOLD" touch point is amazing. One of the coolest effects I've found in a Speak in years and years.
Schematics are available <a href="http://casperelectronics.com/finished-pieces/speak-n-spell/touchandspell/">here</a>.