Chinstrap Penguins on Aitcho Island (Photo: Bethany Mitchell)

Calling all penguin lovers! The British Antarctic Survey posts a new penguin photo every day in its “Penguin of the Day” image gallery. The penguins are adorable and the photos are fantastic.

See one or two you love? You can purchase the images as well!

The Antarctic penguins await you here>>

On the left, I’ve included one of the lovely penguin photos I took on my trip to the Antarctic Peninsula in 2001.

With a Minecraft fantatic in the house it’s a no brainer to appreciate the talent it took to create these Minecraft penguin models. Doesn’t look like they are part of an actual mod yet but I’m sure someone will do the programming and these little guys can wander around our Minecraft lands!

There is so much to love about this wonderful winter cake: the igloo, the diving penguins, the snowballs…it’s all fantastic!

With a family full of Star Wars enthusiasts and a personal appreciation of the Penguins of Madagascar…I so love this fan art!

Darren’s Zen Samurai

Bethany’s “Ahhh…decaf” Penguin

Allyson’s Woodland Fairy

Exciting news: We’re branching out our product line in our Darcy Place Studio Etsy store to include 1-inch pinback buttons.

So far we have about 24 different designs including funny sayings, my cute animals in different poses, billiard and dart designs, and unique art by my brother Darren and my niece Allyson.

It’s not easy designing for such a small space and I must admit that the designs appear to be quite small when printed on my printer at home. But the final buttons look amazing and the designs actually look great even from a few feet away. We’re currently working on more designs and really enjoying the collaborative creative process.

Clay Penguin

This little penguin is one of my favorite creations. He’s a little raw and unfinished but it was one of my first clay projects so I’m always a little surprised that he looks as cute as he does.

I crafted him during a visit to the children’s museum with my niece and nephew. I’m not exactly sure about the type of clay but it had a mud-like consistency (and color) and hardened as it dried. I mostly used my hands and some simple shaping tools (kid-friendly, I guess).

Sadly, his right flipper broke off in an incident with little curious fingers but it reattached just fine with my trusty glue gun.

New Design: P is for Penguin

I’ve been thinking lately of new designs for my little penguin and here is the first of many: “P is for Penguin”.

In the sample, I appliqued the letter P and the little penguin in soft flannel in baby colors. Then embroidered some details with seed stitch and outline stitch. This will become part of the quilt I’m designing/making for my new nephew or niece.

I envision developing animals for each letter of the alphabet…it will be a fun challenge!

I’m also working on other animal friends including a cat, zebra, rabbit, cow, bear, panda, and others as the inspiration strikes. As always, my designs are available as PDF patterns in my etsy store.

New Design: Peeking Penguin

I’m busy working on new patterns featuring my little penguin friend. In this design, the little penguin is peeking in to say “hello”!

The sample pictured is a burping cloth for a new baby. I stitched this design using outline stitch, seed stitch, and stem stitch in only two colors: black and gold. The fabric is a cloth diaper; this presented some challenges as the fabric’s fibers had a tendency to separate as I stitched.

The PDF pattern for this design is available in my etsy store.

New embroidery pattern: Hug Me Penguin

I recently finished a new embroidery pattern design: “Hug Me Penguin”.

This design is part of a series of animal patterns I’m developing.

My niece, Allyson, stitched this cute purple version as a gift for a friend. She used outline stitch and satin stitch on the pink background. The overall design she used is approximately 4 inches tall.

The pattern is available for sale as a black and white downloadable printable pdf in my etsy store (darcyplace.etsy.com). It also includes a reversed version for iron-on transfers.

I think the pattern would be perfect for appliqué on a baby’s quilt or painted on a child’s tee.

Look for more penguin and other animal designs coming soon. I’m working on some holiday designs now.

Browsing around on DeviantArt.com, I came across this great piece featuring a rebellious penguin! Created with Primsa markers. If you like it, you can support the artist by buying a print here>>

I love penguins. And I love penguins in art. This little guy is quite cute…his eyes and eyebrows are fabulous! Like this little guy? You can buy a print of him over at DeviantArt>> Be sure to check out this artist’s other work while you’re there…all are wonderful but I particularly like the tree playing the violin, the hedgehog and the little squirrel.