Something Russian - animals made from wood shavings

Spent some time with a friend today, 

in the conversation he mentioned his former teacher, 

who makes animals from wood shavings.

The owls beak and claws are made up of hundreds of layers of shavings. 

He studies wildlife to make his models as accurate as possible. He even has a patent on his technique

He was offered 60, 000 pound ($100,000) for the owl, but refused to sell.

If you can handle Russian find out more here:

http://crabo.ru/news/podelki_iz_struzhki/2011-09-12-837

Book Club for three year olds.

Once Luda had the idea to get some friends together with their kids to discuss a favorite book the kids had read. This has now become a regular event - a book club for kids.

This time they discussed a book by the author Vladimir Suteyev. He was an animator who became a children's author, illustrating his own stories. He was also ambidextrous and could even write and draw at the same time!

One of his most

Something Russian - Wood Carving

I don't even know what to call this apart from a wood carving! This is carved by a friend using a part of the tree where there is an aberration, a kind of "tree tumor".

Here is a still of the face.