QuillnAros~I Have a Swan Story!

Last Spring a friend of my husband's, who knows that I hand marble parrot feathers, gave me a dozen swan feathers (of course naturally molted). OMG, a treasure for sure. I marbled six of my twelve, and they were absolutely gorgeous. I sold all, but I kept one to experiment with, mainly I wanted to see if I could arc it with a low heat curling iron. Success! and the marbling paint was not affected nor was the feather damaged. The same thing for the African Grey and Cockatoo feathers. I could manipulate them as long as I used low heat.


12" swan feather, gently curved with low heat curling iron

 Anyway, back to my swan story. I always wondered how swans picked out their own ponds and stayed there the entire summer, had a partner swan and then disappeared in the fall. I always wondered how they got there and where they went. Well this morning I learned the answer!

Wayne's friend called me this morning and said, "I have a feather connection for you!" He told me that a friend of his has a big number of swans, a swan farm so to speak, and he has a ton of naturally molted feathers~In the spring, he puts one swan on the bus, and then that swan calls to the other swans and he drives around the farm and they all get on the bus! (actually the bus is something like a horse trailor with plenty of room for comfort, and every spring the swans know the ropes and every fall they get picked up and go back to the farm. I would imagine that they are frequently checked upon and taken care of during the season. I have seen these beautiful animals at ponds, peacefully swimming around looking swan-like. I have never even seen a swan fly. But I didn't realize that these swans are domesticated.

Wayne's friend says that it looks like people conversing on a bus when all the swans are being delivered to their summer homes. I never realized that this is where domesticated swans came from.
Anyway, it would be very exciting to have access to a large number of swan feathers. Not just the fact that there is something spiritual about swans, but I believe there is spirituality in all creatures that fly, and that almost anyone who works with feathers respect and feel that spirituality.

each swan feather 12",  colorfast, large and gorgeous

Lots of Beautiful Scarlet Macaw Parrot Feathers and Blue and Gold Macaw Feathers Now Listed!!

The beautiful scarlet macaw feathers are naturally molted from my part time employee, Rio.
Rio is a big beautiful Scarlet~I babysit her when my girlfriend is out of town. When I stick my hand, or head in her cage, I am always holding my breath. So far, I am still faster!

New selection of feathers at https://www.etsy.com/shop/QuillnAros, coordinate with my hand marbled cockatoo and African Grey feathers. I have also listed 19"~22" tail feathers, bright red..

Check out the beautiful scarlet red tail feathers also

Blue and Gold Feathers~all different sizes~if you don't see it, ask

lovely pairs

Sylvie, employee #3, tomatoe red tush feathers

Unique Gifts for Bird Lovers from QuillnAros

In my shop I have 11 different notecards for bird and feather lovers~as a matter of fact let's just say, nature lovers. I have used my hand marbled feathers as the image on the front of the cards and have added quotes that are appealing to nature lovers. The inside of the notecards are blank so that you can express whatever you want.

I have hand embossed matching envelopes for each card. These are truely unique gifts. Each card is $3.00. I have a special price of 13.00 for a five card set. You can mix and match or go with the cards I have pictured in my listing for the five card set. https://www.etsy.com/shop/QuillnAros

The Week from Hell~Let's Fly!

Artistic Renderings on Etsy~Fab Feather Earrings with My Hand Marbled Feathers!

Diana has been buying feathers from me since the beginning (of time, or of my time). She created these beautiful feather earrings using both the Cockatoo and African Grey Feathers. She has a wonderful shop on Etsy called Artistic Renderings and she is so supportive of other artists and of what they are doing.

QuillnAros~Japanese and Western Handmade Paper~Two Philosophies, One Epiphany

You are looking at a collaboration between two very different personalities, me and my hubby.
I love this piece because of what I learned by having him participate in a craft I had been doing for years. By making paper with him, I realized that everyone has a different perception about beauty and the end result. I remember chiding my husband that his sheet of paper was a piece of crap (of course I didn't use those words exactly) and he needed to practice. In the end~even though he was a beginner at making paper~the piece of Japanese paper he connected to my piece of Western paper was a reflection of his idea of beauty~different than mine obviously. I learned an important lesson. There are many ways to create~but an important element to my originality is experimentation, acceptance of someone elses' perceptions and keeping an open mind when what you are doing travels to left field. I learned that left field can be a fascinating alternative to a well traveled route.

The yellow ochre sheet is the Western paper, there are two sheets of  Japanese
paper couched on top of the Western paper. Not only the melding of very different personalities, but
also the melding of different perceptions of beauty  

QuillnAros~New Listings ~ Vintage Metal Buttons and Hand Marbled Feathers

I have been listing my vintage metal buttons in my QuillnAros shop. I have always enjoyed sorting them and just looking at them, but I haven't used them for anything. Years ago, it was possible to buy a cigar box of these wonderful buttons without breaking the bank! Check out my shop at http://www.QuillnAros.etsy.com , and I have been listing, from employees #1, #2, and #3, natural parrot feathers along with my hand marbled feathers.