buvnite

Before the end of the year, I made a quick inventory of my owl collection. The result came out 89.

• One sketches notebook
• Three identical owls (Kev, Roxana and Raluca)
• Two piggy banks (one pink, one from my sister)
• One USB
• Three from my mom
• Two plush owls (one from my sister, one from Alex)
• Four magnets (Kev, Misa no 1 and no 2, Ioana)
• One lampshade - handmade
• One candle holder (coolest one, from my sister)
• Two families of five (Etsy's Matrioshka family and Alex's five)
• Two key-pendants (Etsy and Georgi)
• Socks and underwear, one each, from Georgi
• Two trays, Japanese chopsticks, a cup from Kame
• Four pieces of jewelry from my sister and her friends, Ioana's friend, Silvia and Etsy
• Two bags (Etsy 1 and Etsy 2)
• One crochet (Anamaria and Marion)
• One origami, handmade
• One handmade pillow from Kristina
• Eight postcards (five from postcrossing, two from friends, one from my colleague contributor)
• Two books (story and comics)
• One photography from Kev
• One poster from Grig
• One sticky notes set from Ioana
• Seven badges, Etsy and Bucharest
• Four fabric pieces with owl pattern, Kame and Etsy
• One garden owl from my sister
• Many smaller or bigger statues of all sorts, disco owl and stone owl from Cosmin and Corina; one from Adi; floating owl, saltshaker and small statue and murano glass owl from Ioana, one from Greece and one round from Misa, one from Etsy, one from a Magheru shop
• Five small owls (three spring tokens, one Etsy stamp, a bottle cork from Misa)
• A luggage tag and a small wallet from Ioana
• One singing toy from Etsy

After my birthday, the collection got significantly bigger, adding 31 owls, in different shapes and colors:

• Three pairs of socks (Costin, Misa&Co, Patrix&Co)
• A big bag, from Kristina
• A small bag from Patrix&Co
• A wallet, from Costin
• Four magnets from Kev
• Three statues from Doru
• One forest owl from Seba
• One Swarovski owl from Alex&Co
• One puzzle from Alex&Co
• A notebook and six pegs from Andrada
• Stickers and four paper clips from Patrix&Co
• A key pendand from Kristina
• Two pairs of gloves, from Andrei and Patrix&Co

This is how my collection comprises now 120 owls. I am very proud of it. Thank you to all my softhearted friends who contributed to my owl frenzy.

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William Shakespeare first used the phrase “tu-whit, tu-who” in his song “Winter” from Love’s Labour’s Lost:

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It was complicated, I had no idea I had so many... Almost 8 hours of photo shooting, photo editing and posting to bring the collection up to date.

Some statistics [grin]

- 7 postcards (out of which, 2 are scheduled for scanning and posting later today, latest tomorrow) and 1 photo
- 4 fridge magnets
- 2 families, each of five owls and two couples
- 15 owls/sets I bought myself (9 from Etsy, 1 book, 1 origami - handmade, 1 IT owl, 2 others)
- 3 pieces of jewelry (1 ring, two broaches)
- 16 people gave me owls (2 are family (mom and sister), 1 is someone I don't know in person, the rest are friends and really nice ones, I might add, to give into my little obsession)
- 46 collection items (for a total of 67 owls of all kinds)

And here is my owl corner. I should think of a new shelving system soon...

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Bought from SavageArtworks on Etsy, these five owls are the Wizards' Couriers.

These nesting doll owls are based on the description of some of the owls in the Harry Potter books.

The tallest one is Errol, the Weasleys' owl, a very clumsy Great Grey Owl.
Hedwig is Harry's owl. it is a large, beautiful female Snowy Owl. In the movie, they have actually used a male owl, which has less dark markings.
The third one is Malfoy's owl, a large Eurasian Eagle Owl, very serious and little intimidating.
The forth one is Percy's screech owl, mentioned briefly in The prisoner of Azkaban.
The smallest owl is Ron's Pigwidgeon. Described only as a tiny, twittering bird, yet very hyperactive and expressive, guesses are that it is either a Scoops owl (the one in the set) or a Little owl.

They have all been hand painted in acrylics and then coated with a protective finish.

   

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And then, one day, in a slow owl period, I though I might use the Internet to refresh my collection. And I typed handmade owls in a google page. This was the beginning of the end, because of Etsy. For those who don't know about it, it's the place to sell and buy all things handmade. Almost 7000 pages with handmade owls were revealed and for one whole day I browsed and browsed and browsed. Finally, I picked up 5 items for my collection and I used Kev's post box for their landing.

Things would never be the same for my owl collection from that point on. I browse the owl stuff every other day and I sometimes order some new owls. The possibilities are endless.

First shipment: a ring, a stamp, a music baby, a bag and a stone-carved pendant (used for my keys)

         

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The collection was not a collection until late April 2009, when I discovered 101 in 1001 and, lacking life-changing objectives, I decided that I should have a collection of, what else, owls. 101 of them. As I write these lines, 5 months later, I have around 40 collection items (almost 60 owls, families or couples count as one item). I need some more shelves and their online presence needed a space of its own.

Sometimes, the whole gathering of owls is a little bit strange even for me and people raise an eyebrow, looking confused or amused. But owls in all shapes and colors are cute to have around. And no, I don't want a live one, a stuffed one or an owl costume for me.

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A close friend told me I looked like an owl, looking gloomy from behind the computer screen. Another close friend gave me an owl for Christmas. And it didn't take long for this to turn into a little obsession. A bigger one, actually. I started buying owls, drawing them, looking for them in books, on the internet. I am even thinking about a tattoo. My friends see owls everywhere. The good thing is that they don't have to think too much about what to get me for my birthday :)

Anyway, this will be their virtual home. I will post here pictures of my owl collection, my drawings, cute little owl found on the internet. All you owl lovers out there, if you want to contribute, you can send an e-mail to post@buvnite.posterous.com.

Hope you will enjoy your visit.

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