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.

What a surprise, I am still giggling over this! My "Bird Poop Jewelry" was chosen to be featured in a slideshow on the Fox Small Business website, with the topic of Bizarre Business Ideas. You can take a look at the slideshow through the following link: http://smallbusiness.foxbusiness.com/slideshow/entrepreneurs/2011/08/09/eight-bizarre-business-ideas

To celebrate, I've made a new batch of "bird poop jewelry", and have put them for sale on eBay this week! Buy It Now options are available on each piece, so you don't have to wait until the auctions are over to snap one up. There is a bracelet charm (not shown), a pin, a pendant, a pendant on cord and a magnet. The auctions end next Saturday, take a look and have a laugh! :)

Also, I had some colorful scrap clay this month, so I've whipped up a few pretty pendants! Each one-of-a-kind bird has a glossy finish. The first bird is a smaller parrot with a charm that says "Laugh", and the second is a macaw type of parrot, with the species up to your imagination, holding a charm that says "Follow your dreams"! Both necklaces have a Buy It Now option, and are on auction until next Saturday, unless the Buy It Now option is used!

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!

Summer greetings, I hope you and your flocks are staying cool in the heatwaves! I've got a lot of news to tell you about! It's been a few months since I've updated my blog, and it's great to be back in touch with you all! Due to some health challenges, I had to take a break from creating the monthly newsletter and Bird of the Month collections, which you can read more about below.

BIRD OF THE MONTH COLLECTIONS

As you probably know, for quite a few years I have offered a collection of new jewelry in a different species, for auction on eBay at sale prices, every month. It's become a bit too much for me to continue doing this each month, while still keeping up with custom orders through my website. So, at least for now, the Bird of the Month will change from being a collection of items to just a single item auctioned on eBay.

"VIP" CUSTOM ORDERS STARTING AUGUST 1!

As mentioned a few months ago, I had planned to have the "VIP Custom Order" option going by now, for those of you who wanted to be able to place rush/confirmed orders for a higher fee. There were some delays, but I have good news for you! On August 1st, I will be putting the form up, and will begin accepting a couple of VIP orders each month. To read more about it, please go to the new VIP Custom Order page.

For those of you wanting a "regular" custom order, I'm continuing to do monthly drawings from the custom order requests that I receive, on the first day of each month. If you haven't had your order drawn yet, please keep trying and know that I appreciate your interest. When I have cancellations, I generally pick a replacement from those of you that have been entering the longest.

WHITE BELLIED CAIQUE & BARE EYED COCKATOO ON AUCTION

The Bird of the Month is the White Bellied Caique and this Glass Beaded Necklace and Earring set shown above is currently on auction. I have also listed a Bare Eyed Cockatoo Charm Choker necklace, shown below. They are on auction on eBay until July 27th.

Since I have so little inventory left, I will be closing my eBay Store within the next few days. I will be using my Etsy shop to stock new inventory in the future: http://www.aliciascreations.etsy.com

The remaining inventory of jewelry from my eBay Store is currently being auctioned off at low starting bid prices (with Buy It Now options) ending on July 27th, so pop over and take a look!

Please note that although I am closing my eBay Store (for non-auction items) I will continue to list pieces on auction on eBay once in a while. You can always find my listings by searching for my eBay seller name (parrotjewelry) or looking at the bottom of this page: http://myworld.ebay.com/parrotjewelry/

Besides parrot jewelry, I have a few other things listed on eBay this week!

Did you know that I used to sculpt humans before parrot jewelry took over? :) Here is one of my pieces, which I originally sculpted in clay, and then had cast in resin. I hand painted the features, and each one is unique in the limited edition.

This striking Phantom of the Opera face is on auction on eBay, and will be made into the winning bidder's choice of a pin or a decorative magnet!

In case you missed them the first time around, I've re-listed these gorgeous green jasper and feather earrings, with dragonfly charms, on auction until July 27! Killian donated the feathers, and these earrings have a very eye-catching look!