All of the freezing cold and snow lately put me into the mood to make a few penguins! Here they are, the Bird of the Month for January is the adorable Chinstrap Penguin. I've never made this species of penguin before, they are really a striking looking bird, and the little "chin strap" is unique among penguins! A pin, pendant, and a glass beaded necklace and earring set are on sale on eBay.

I hope you and your feathered friends are staying warm where ever you are!

Kaleena has been hanging upside down so much lately, it's pretty funny! She has become fixated on picking the bark off of some of the branches on her gym and will hang down from her swing as far as she can reach, sometimes hanging by a single toe - what an acrobat! :)

Don't you love getting surprises in the mail? I had a nice one the other day - one of my lovely customers sent these pretty feathers to me, which were molted by her peacock. Aren't they beautiful? (Thanks again Dana!) Hmmm, maybe I will have to try sculpting a peacock one of these days!

Want to see a great dancing bird? :) Check out our friend Ty, the African Grey, and if you have a minute, be sure to vote for him in the Bird Channel Dance Off! Click here to see the video, and Ty is #2.

In other news, my mom ended up having a ruptured disc in her back, but is recuperating from her surgery pretty well. It's wonderful to see her able to walk around without excrutiating pain after two months of that!

I haven't posted any pictures of my creations here lately, so here is a photo of a custom bracelet that I recently finished. More photos of this order can be seen in my Flickr album as well!