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Story by
objecked,
wildpen
Published on August 13, 2009 in This Handmade Life |
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(music by Eric Beug, animation by JuliaPott)
I have met a few cockatoos in my day, but on this day, in early June, I met Sunny and FlaxMan, two Umbrella Cockatoos who help run wildpen, an Etsy shop where they sell handmade (er... beak- and talon-made) gifts. Unfortunately, Hope, a Moluccan Cockatoo was out during the shoot, but she's the third of three cockatoos that make up wildpen.
Sunny likes green sea glass. With her expert vision, and ability to see a 4th color channel, she can spot tiny pieces of glass darting about in the surf from a ways down the beach.
FlaxMan is mostly into a rock and roll lifestyle, but he takes breaks to work on wildpen. It helps to have a little Ani Difranco, Howling Wolf or PJ Harvey on the stereo to jumpstart his creative genius.
Hope is really into the mud masks. She loves mixing and testing personal batches on her feet. Since she couldn't be in the video, we'll indulge in one of her favorites:
Reviving Dead Sea Mud Mask Therapy
By wildpen, $11.95.
Okay, so there is a fair share of (2) human hands involved, but if you buy from this shop, you can bet that a couple of rare birds had something to do with it.
I say rare, but Kate Haley, the birds' human assistant, informed me during the shoot that thousands of domestic parrots or varieties thereof find themselves without homes each year. Sunny, FlaxMan and Hope were all fortunate enough to by rescued by Kate and her husband who brought the birds into their home — a home that allows them to freely express themselves artistically. At the time this video was shot, the birds were donating a percentage of their earnings to charity and spending the rest on personal pleasures. Since the shooting of this video, Kate, Sunny, FlaxMan, and Hope have decided to donate 100% of the proceeds from wildpen to the shopper's choice of one of two bird sanctuaries and rehabilitation centers, to help ensure that more birds like those of wildpen have a safe and fulfilling life.
I suspect that some lucky shopper will walk (or flap) away with the collectible piece that Sunny found and FlaxMan chose for a wrap in this Process Video Feature:
Flaxman's Pendant from the Etsy Video
By wildpen, $22.
Check out some of the other treasures that wildpen has to offer.
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Copper, quartz bead and seaglass pendant
By wildpen, $17. |
Citrine and Sea Glass Pendant in Copper By wildpen, $20. |
Some enthused cockatoos!
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Umbrella Cockatoo A Scrabble Tile Pendant By thegildedlily, $6.95.
By wistfulfancy, $25. |
ACEO Cockatoo Painting Watercolor By carlascreatures, $12.
By ellenmorrowarts, $5. |
Even if you don't live near the water, you can still gaze into the mist of the foggy, rust-covered, mossy piers, like the one just outside of wildpen's beachfront studio.
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By schugirl, $20.
Foggy Morning Pier 8x10 photo print By kwmagnets, $10. |
By tnoble8238, $4.
By WestCoastEchoes, $2.95. |
If you're looking for something a little more tangible, but still can't make it to the beach, there are plenty of shops on Etsy where you can find raw beach glass. Sunny likes the green. It's hard to determine FlaxMan's favorite; he's a wild card with an ever-changing artistic temperament.
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Sea Beach Glass Flawless RARE Cobalt Blue From westcoastseaglass, $26.
Pure Natural Sea Glass Victorian Antique Glass From TidelineDesigns, $18. |
From SeaSideSupply, $15.
GLASS BEACH, CA, ROOT BEER Beachglass From artbycandice, $9. |
Check out our other videos from the Process Series and see how things get done around here!
You might also like this seaglass post & the Etsy Pets series
82 comments Login to add your own!
LittleWrenPottery
Cool items I love the feeling of glass thats been rounded off by the sea!
madebysam
MilkGlassVintage
Whoa! Too cool!!! If only my poodles could pack & ship for me :P
BabbidgePatch
beautiful pieces, exceptional photos and cute cockatoo assistant! It's fun hunting for sea glass especially after a storm has passed through the area ~
Cathy from the coast of Maine
KnitStorm
seacucumbermama
Big E, This is a wonderful video, great music and super story. How cool, how timely! I will be looking for beach glass next week.
MinceCo
I love birds, especially parrots.. at first I thought it was an Australian Cockatoo coz i see them all the time as I live in oz. But no, it's a Moluccan, wow I've never heard of them but I googled and found that in their natural environment, these are listed as vulnerable.
And for the glass, it is beautiful and too hard to resist picking it up off the beach..never thought of selling it though!
***I'm having a cracker of a sale starting this weekend***details to be on site soon***
http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=...
okaysee
satellitedaisy
neither my dogs or my cats are much help...maybe
i will get some birds instead...lovely story, beautiful
pics....the pier photos are gorgeous!
Fairyfolk
That's too funny... those birds! Very amusing look into the artistic process! Love it!
Blessings and magic.
TheCottageCheese
This post is great! I used to work in a pet store, and worked to hand-tame big birds. They are really so intelligent. They are so much fun (and sometimes quite mischevious)!
Tidepools
TuscaloosaRoad
your U2s are so lucky! Sunny looks just like my 'baby' U2 Cukor (he's 8).
OMG I just saw you live in HMB. I love it there. When my sis and I were little we used to play on the breakers at Princeton by the Sea while our dad would fish from the rocks.
SewCupcake
beautifulbridget
GemmaBeads
I love this! Beach glass is so fun to hunt for and so wonderful in jewelry. It has such an awesome feel and sound.
girltuesdayjewelry
paramountvintage
and all i have is my boyfriend for a partner. maybe we should invest in some birds :)
SomewhatHip
lizroca
SeaFindDesigns
CloudCatDesigns
Lucky birds to have someone who obviously cares very much about them. That was fun to watch!
cadreams
katiearms
BagsOfaFeather
I love this post and this shop! As a caretaker of 5 birds, and someone who is involved in avian welfare, I donate part of my shop profits to avian sanctuaries and rescues. It is wonderful to see this. And it is absolutely correct that parrots are happier when they have a "job" to do!
birdie1
FlanneryCrane
stonz
DesertRainJewelry
What a great video and beautiful helpers! I've had parrots all my life and they are wonderful and amusing companions. My Amazon is not as helpful as your Cockatoos though.:)
Slowshirts
holycrap.
kate is my new favorite handmade-clip-tale-celebrity.
nice work eric!
wildpen
I just wanted to say thanks to everyone. The cockatoos are DELIGHTED and you're all so sweet!
SnapdragonWorkshop
spacejam
steinschmuckdesign
HeyChica
evihan
krize
mvegan5
So fun and wonderful! Beautiful, adorable birdy assistants and love the recycled creations!
sandali
AWESOME video -- very informative & I love your selected items -- great article !!! I LOVE it -- trigger happy days ;)
Iammie
PixelPanic
This is rad :D The cockatoos are extremely fun ^^ And thumbs up for donating a large percentage to charity!
WindandHoney
ArtisticDetour
asundrynotion
Humble beach glass: imbued with beauty and mystery. I'd love to hear the stories Great Lakes beach glass could tell of when wooden ships plied their waters!
nanouke
This was amazing to watch!! Thank you so much for sharing and good luck to all the wildpen creators :)
shiphrah99
twigsandheather
I love sea glass and making jewelry out of the pieces I find. It's really hard to part with some of the awesome colors I find. (purple, aqua and sometimes yellow and pink!)
littletank
TheDancersSpirit
i love sea glass, it is mysertious and holds the energy of the wonders of the sea. beautiful wildpen!
daniellexo
VixVintage
DirtySanchez
bahaa this is rad. it cracks me up to see her having these long, one-sided conversations with the birds; i do the same thing with mine... and probably crack up casual observers too.
SeeSueStitch
i absolutely loved watching this videos, the cockatoos, the process, and the fact that the proceeds are donated to rescue sanctuaries for this beautiful birds is so inspiring, thanks for posting this!!
wewillrockyou
riorita
I love cockatoos. Wish I had one, my cat wished I had one too!!(lol) I also love beach glass and some of my beach glass jewelry items can be found here on Etsy!
Bijoutiful
What a great video! I especially loved seeing Flagstaff & Sunny rockin' out at the end. Now, I wonder if my dove might ever be interested in the jewelry-making process. She sure loves playing with Steve's ring! ;)
LisaFerinDesigns
What a great post/video as summer winds down. Cockatoos are wonderful birds!
dragonhouseofyuen
what a very touching video to watch. I congratulate the birds Sunny, Flaxman and Hope on their shop and charitible giving!
One of the nicest Storque articles I have seen!
nightowlcraftworks
They need to hang out with Matt for one of his labs so they can join the dance parties!!! Great vid!
EndlessSunner
goodchunk
ha! they're even cuter than I pictured them to be! I have bought some wildpen creations in the past. The quality is amazing, and the extra touches, divine. And it's sooooo good to hear that all the bucks are going to charity. Go WildPen!!!
coloryeah
RetroLane
Sammis2shoes
I loved this video!
I am originally from Australia, so seeing those beautiful cockatoos made me smile. Be careful when you take them out though, the eagles might swoop wildpen! I did see a you tube video the other day where a hawk or eagle I believe, swooped on a zoo handler who was holding a cockatoo.
Love the video though ! :O)
pinkbuffalo
What a great article! Cute cockatoos :)
My mom is obsessed with beach glass, I can't wait to share this article with her.
SpiritedWoodland
Couldn't help but smile while watching the video! Very cool.
TheArtOfJoy
babook
A little bit romantic of the Beach Glass Jewelry and picture !! There`re bit quiet It different with another post : )But also feeling nice here of the all item ,REALLY .
My place Also hoping let you feel nice http://www.babook.etsy.com/
Thanks for your joying : )
Beadz2Pleaz
Such a lovely personal spin on being creative. Thanks for sharing that. I loved the video :)
2littlewings
darling! I watched it with my 3 parrots (2 conures and a red belly)
MeghanT
I loved this video! The woman in this clip seems like a kindred spirit. I used to foster kittens from the humane society so I know all about the special bond you form with rescues.
I adore animals and I have two Ragdoll cats that are my constant companions. Unfortunately don't don't help in my studio. They're good at hindering and that's about it. They are mesmerized by wire and I can not physically wire wrap anything without their interference. They now have to stay outside my studio, but I bought them their own wire which they love to drag around the house.
These birds look amazing and are so happy. I think it's adorable that they are "helping" her. Hehehe. I laughed when she asked the bird to please give her the seaglass to wrap and he's like "Why?" Hehehe. So cute!
DoodleVintagePlus
bogARTstudiogallery
What a wonderful story. i have to admit your birds stole the camera... what a nice friend you are... I am glad the birds are so happy... your story made my day!
your glass is also really cool!
Claudia.
atelierpompadour
Wow! faboulous and helpful birds! wonderful story, wonderful place to live and work! that girl is so lucky!!.... today I try to teach something to my cat...but, no...she is too lazy!!
BizzieLizzie
WOW - amazing video! For anyone that has ever hunted sea glass - you know how lost you can get in the hunt! I don't seem to find a lot, but the hunt takes me away to never-never land. Vacation starts in a week - you'd better believe I'll be hunting again for little treasures! Enjoyed this article!
GreenTease
NewelryJewelry
Beautiful scenery. Lovely birds. Very peaceful and happy.
bissylissy12
I have never laughed so loud at cockertos. Great video and keep up the great work.
MonniebeanFolkart
I need to get my geese on the payroll!
Loved this video!
konkokto
EklektikosByStar
Alas, I will not have bird friends on my arms and shoulders the next time I hit the beach; but, most certainly I will recall this inspirational video! NIcely done, and thanks so much!
SperanzaJewelry
So glad I came across this video! Not only is it entertaining, but it's a testimony to the kind of joy we can create for ourselves with a "handmade life." Bravo!
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