My "Christmas Birds" Killian and Kaleena and I send our best wishes for a very Happy Holiday season to you and your flocks!

On the topic of holidays and gift giving, I'd like to tell you about Parrot Toy Angels, an all-volunteer organization committed to providing toys, food and other avian supplies to companion birds in difficult situations. Each year they have fundraising auctions on eBay, and it's a great chance to get some fantastic gifts (for your human and bird friends) and help parrots at the same time!

I donated one of my "scrap clay" bird necklaces which you can view here: Cockatoo Necklace. This year's auctions run until December 11th, and to view all items that are up for sale, please go to the Parrot Toy Angels eBay store: http://stores.ebay.com/parrottoyangels

This month, instead of just one species, the Bird of the Month is an assortment of birds, in a unique style! I experimented with a polymer clay that has the look of stone, and the pieces have the look of carved granite, in muted colors, with coordinating beads in earthy tones.

There are six "stone bird" necklaces up for auction,, which include four glass beaded necklace/earring sets featuring a Conure, African Grey, Macaw and Cockatiel. There are two necklaces on cord (without beads) featuring a Goffin's Cockatoo and Amazon.

The low starting bids are a whopping 50% off the regular price of beaded necklaces on my website, so here is your chance to snag a GREAT deal!

Please note that ALL of this month's auctions are only going for FIVE DAYS, instead of the typical week. The auctions end on Friday, the day after Thanksgiving.

There are two other necklaces on auction, including this Yellow Naped Amazon necklace and a "Flights of Fancy" parrot necklace. The bird could be a lory, lorikeet, quaker parrot, grey cheeked parakeet, or other brotogeris, but the species is really up to your imagination!

I've received some great comments from those of you wanting to continue to see "Work in Progress" photos, so here are a few more! Pop over to my Facebook page to see more photos of this recent custom flock necklace as I was creating it.

You can also find many more new photos in my various Facebook photo albums: https://www.facebook.com/AliciasCreations

If you have a Facebook account, you can click the "Like" button at the top of my page to be informed of updates, and you are welcome to leave comments on my page. I love hearing from you!

The Bird of the Month this month is the majestic Hyacinth Macaw! There is a beautiful glass beaded necklace and earring set currently on auction, with a Buy It Now option on eBay.

There are also three African Grey pieces, a bracelet charm, a charm with a "leash", and a magnet, as well as an Umbrella Cockatoo choker. They are all on auction for the next week, with Buy it Now options, take a look!

On August 1st I began accepting VIP (Very Important Parrot) & Rush custom orders through my website. This option was put into place due to the demand that I was receiving from those of you willing to pay more to have a custom order worked in quickly, instead of waiting for a chance in my monthly "lottery drawing".

I've been surprised by the number of VIP orders I am receiving, and as a result, the number of monthly "lottery" requests that I take on the first day of each month is reducing as I give the VIP orders priority.

Because of this, I wanted to give you a bit of a "heads up" notice if you were thinking about placing a VIP order. The closer we get to the holidays, the tighter my schedule becomes with gift requests, and the less likely it will be that I will be able to accommodate all of the VIP Order requests.

If you planned to order a special custom gift in time for the holidays, please place your VIP Order as early as you can. More details about how the VIP/Rush Custom Orders work and the Order Form can be found here: VIP Orders.

If you would like to see some of the recent custom orders that I've completed, as well as an assortment of various pieces in stages of the sculpting progress, be sure to stop by my Facebook page, where I've been sharing a lot of new photos: http://www.facebook.com/AliciasCreations

It's not necessary to have a Facebook account to view the photos on my Facebook page. Under the photo on the left hand menu, look for "Photos" (or click here: http://www.facebook.com/media/albums/?id=137935228728 ) to see the selection of albums that you can browse through. If you do have a Facebook account, you can click the "Like" button at the top of my page to be informed of updates. I love hearing from you and reading your comments!