The Christmas Cloak

I always dreamed of having a red velvet cloak, so when Sophia was 3 I made her just that.

I made it a few sizes big so it would last. She looked so elegant as it brushed the snow as she walked. Well, the funny thing is that here is that same cloak. At 8 it still fits her, that's the great thing about cloaks, no sleeves to grow out of.

I hope you all had a warm and happy Thanksgiving! We are decorating the tree today, it's like magic, once the tree goes up everyone is a little sweeter, a little quieter, and the number of hugs and kisses being distributed has greatly increased!

I think I should keep it up all year!

Here's a couple hugs and a kiss for all of you... Smoosh....Smoochy..Squish..!

Sweet little doll for a sweet little girl!

I am finally posting pics of the custom doll I made for my recent giveaway winner. This cute little girl is Amberlyn, and I had fun making a little friend for her in her likeness.

Thank you Jenice,
and a thank you to everyone who entered and donated to the Nielson family!

Kid Costumes 2008

Here they are!Tiny Princess Leia,And the cutest Garden Gnome ever!

This is what you get when your children are raised on old movies.

All Sophia wanted to be was Shirley Temple from "Captain January", what mom could refuse that request? We had many nights of wrapping her hair in rags to create the perfect ringlets. I designed her costume to be a cozy jacket style sailor top, with separating zipper and grosgrain ribbon trim. It is made of soft cotton flannel, and she loves it so much she's worn it many times since.I was trying to think of something warm and snuggly to make for the other kids since we frequently have snow on Halloween. Both the Gnome and Princess Leia costumes are made of polar fleece, with a faux for beard and metallic pleather belt. The Leia hat is my favorite, I think I will size up my pattern and make one for myself to wear snowboarding this season. Yes, I am that strange. All three were a smashing success with all who saw them, and it made me happy that they were all cozy and comfortable. I hope everyone had a Happy Halloween!

It's that time again!

Those of you that know me, know that I love any excuse to make a costume. I feel that we need a few more opportunities throughout the year to wear them, but I suppose I will settle for Halloween. I made the goal in Jr. High to go Trick-or-Treating every year of my life, and so far I have never missed a year. Silly goal I know, but I was always taught that setting goals and working to achieve them is a good thing! Here are pics of some of the costumes I have made over the years, I would love to hear which one is your favorite!

I just thought I'd post something for you to look at while I busily sew.
Check back for photos of this year's costume madness!

Blissful Living

As Part of the annual Blissfest in Mesa, there will be carnival and auction for the Nielson family. The Nie Recovery Carnival is a fundraising event for the whole family.
It is hosted by the Blissful Living Studio and proceeds are going to the Nie Recovery Fund. For those of us living outside of the Mesa Arizona area, there are many wonderful items being auctioned off online at the Blissfest Auction. There are 3 of my Nie Prints available online, and another 7 at the actual auction which will be held this Saturday.

It is so wonderful to see so many are still working together to help this wonderful family. I can't even fathom what kind of medical bills they will be faced with. I just know that it took us forever to pay off my last cesarean, and that was only a 3 day hospital stay with no complications,

no comparison. We are still thinking of you Nie.

A Gift for my Girl

For my daughter's 8th birthday, and as a baptism gift, I painted her this picture. She loves it, bless her heart, and has it hanging by her bed. She noticed the hands on the clock straight off and asked if it was also a reminder to get to bed on time. That girl doesn't miss a thing! She says the sweetest prayers, and always remembers what is important.

Happy Birthday sweet girl, I am so proud of you!

Sweet Hour of Prayer - Mixed Media - 8x10

I used watercolor, ink and colored pencils on smooth bristol board.

There is a story behind the shell sitting on the clock shelf.

Prints will be available in my shop soon.

Thank you Everyone!

Thank you for your bids and links and support! What a lovely bunch you are.

Here are the auction winners: Jenny won the Nie doll, and Jenny's sister who is in China won the "Sweet Nie" painting.

Make your payment to the Nie Fund, email me your paypal receipt with shipping info, and I will send your Nie creations on their way!

The random winner of the custom doll (taken from all those who linked back to this auction) is: The Smith Family!

To all of those who bid on these auction items, I will be emailing you for your mailing addresses so I can send off your free "Sweet Nie" pin as a little thank you.

Hugs and Kisses, from Star

Update! Nie Nie Auction and GIVEAWAY!

Okay Sparky, here's the deal...

The silent auction for my original painting"Sweet Nie", and the Nie softie/doll will be held rain or shine (tee hee) Thursday, October 9th. Bidding starts at 8 AM PT or 9 AM here in Utah. Last bid taken at 10pm PT.

On that date, place your bids in the comments of this post. Each item is being auctioned off separately, so here is an example bid:

"Hi Star, I love you, and I want to bid $65 on the Nie Softie"

or even simpler... "Nie Painting - $75"

Please include your email address with your bid, or some way for me to contact you at the auctions close!

Everyone who bids will receive a "Sweet Nie" pin.

A little about these pieces:

The painting is acrylic and ink on canvas, and measures 8"x10"x1". The sides are painted, so it can be hung with or without a frame. I have been deeply touched by the Nielson's story, and inspired by Nie and her fun and loving ways. She is so real, and I love that she takes time to enjoy all the little moments of life. The words listed on this painting were taken from this post on her blog, and her darling outfit was taken from here and here. I imagined this painting hanging where it could be seen often, as a gentle reminder of how we can be better moms, wives, daughters, and friends, how we can be more like Nie! Prints of this painting will be sold to help raise more money for the Nielson family, but you have the chance to own the original!

The Handmade Nie Softie/Doll, is made of cotton fabric and wool blend felt. Her hat necklace and dress are removable, but please keep our little Nie Nie modest. Her face is hand-painted, and the rose necklace is made of wool felt. She is about 19 inches tall, and I just love her sweet freckles!

All proceeds, I repeat, all proceeds go to the Nielson Family. If you don't know the Nielson's story, go here. Payments will be made directly to the Nie Nie Fund by the high bidders.

Spread the word folks, and you could win a custom made softie/doll similar to the one of Nie (but I won't make another Nie), which will be handmade by me in the likeness of your child, yourself, your pet monkey or whoever you choose!

Here's how to enter: Click the title of this post, then scroll down to "Create a Link", make a link to this post on your blog, and you are entered to win. If you don't use blogger, make a link to this post as you normally would, and in the comments of this post place your blog address. I will make sure that everyone who links back to this post is entered to win a custom made softie/doll (please allow 2 weeks for it to be completed and shipped)! The winner will be chosen at random

Please share your blog address, and please link to this auction/giveaway.
Thank you everyone for helping spread the word!

"Sweet Nie" Painting up for Auction

I am offering this original painting called "Sweet Nie" up for silent auction.

For all the details go HERE.

The bidding will begin the morning of Friday October 3rd Thursday, October 9th, and will end that night at around 10:00 pm PST. This little painting measures 8x10, and is acrylic and ink on canvas. The edges are painted so it can be hung with or without a frame. It was inspired by the sweet Nie Nie aka Stephanie Nielson and words of inspiration taken from her blog. 100% of the proceeds will be donated to the Nielson Family. The highest bidder will make the payment directly to the Nie Nie fund, and email me a copy of the receipt.

I also have a matching Nie Softie that I am almost finished making. It will be auctioned off that day as well, check back for pictures.

For more information on how to donate, visit Nie Recovery,

or to get updates on the Nielson's recovery go to Nie's sister's blog cjane.

Also thank you Morgan for all your hard work with the Nie Nie Benefit on Etsy!

A Jungle of a Baby Nursery

Here it is! The reason I haven't been doing much else lately.

This was made for a custom order, and it is a safari/jungle themed nursery set with appliqued animals, matching stuffed creatures,

and coordinating wall art of course.

Okay, I got a bit carried away, but I love how it all turned out.

The blanket is all quilted by hand, and the stuffed giraffe, monkey and elephant are made from my own patterns and were sewn with coordinating fabrics. The bumper has appliqued animals parading all around the crib, and I had to paint some happy little watercolor illustrations for a finishing touch. The fabrics I used are all various Amy Butler prints with a little Heather Bailey as well. All the animals were taken from my sketch book, and frankly I think they are so happy to finally be free range! One lucky baby gets to sleep in this fun and colorful set.

Now I plan to spend a few days catching up on my housework, then back to creating more messes and fun things!

Fabric on the brain!

I have been working on a big project the past month, and it is just a few seams away from being finished. Whew! Pictures of this fabulous creation will be posted very soon.

I am so excited to announce that I've been invited to join Spoonflower. Spoonflower is a site that offers designers the chance to get their own designs printed on fabric. I have so many ideas, I just don't know what to do first. I promise you will be the first to see what I come up with. Well, I have to get back to those seams, I just thought I'd drop a note to say I'm still living.

Smooches, Star

Nie Nie Donations from ALL print sales!

Here I am babbling about rice candy, and there is a family in real need.

Stephanie and Christian Nielson were in a plane crash a few weeks ago and they remain in critical condition at Maricopa Burn Center in Arizona. Christian has sustained burns on over 30% of his body. Stephanie’s body was burned over 80%. They have 4 small children yearning for their mom and dad. Family and friends have started a donation fund to aid in their medical bills (which they estimate will be in the millions) as well as the household expenses while they recover. Read more about them here.

I'm a bit late in joining in the effort, but better late than never I say.

For the next 2 weeks 9/8/08 - 9/22/08 the proceeds of all my print sales will be donated to the nienie fund. That means the full purchase price of each print (excluding shipping) will be given to the Neilson family. A special gift will also be given with each print purchases. If you are not wanting a mytinystar print at this time, there are many other items being sold for this cause at design mom check for listings marked live. Or you can make your donations directly through the link on my left sidebar.

It's not much, but every little bit helps!

One of my favorite posts from Stephanie's blog can be found here.

It really puts things into perspective, what great people!

(Thanks Tiff for the suggestion)

Mmmm, childhood memories.

I have been trying to cut back on my sugar intake. Instead of having it make up 80% of my diet, I 'm working toward 40-50%. So as I am sitting here feeling deprived, I thought of my favorite treat on earth so far. Japanese Rice Candy. If you have never had rice candy, you must get some right now! They have just the perfect amount of sweetness and chewiness, and I'm not sure what flavor they are supposed to be, but I think it's called "perfect". My parents grew up in Hawaii and Hong Kong, and appanently these types of treats are plentiful there.

You can find them locally at Asian Markets, or online at:

Crack Seed Center

Enjoy!

http://rpc.technorati.com/rpc/ping

New Prints Available in the Shop

It took me long enough,

but now the prints of these acrylic paintings are available in the shop!Also, if you get a chance, I have a little poll on the right sidebar. I'd love your input!

I hope everyone is having a great week!

Star in a box

This was my shirt when I was a baby, and of course I still have it. Hooray for the girl who never throws anything away! Who knew I would have my own little Star baby to wear it too? It's a little faded and now it's quite slobbery, but still a great shirt for a great little Star!

New Paintings - More Feathered Friends

I started on these paintings over a month ago, and finally finished them.

I have been needing a new painting of my sweet little fuzzheads. Here are Lucy and Jack floating along in the sweetheart swan.

Sweetheart Swan 8'x10"x1" Acrylic on Canvas

And as you might know, I have been a bit obsessed with owls lately,

and I finished these colorful twins

Owl Friends 9"x11 3/4" Acrylic on Masonite

And I just love this tree filled with the little wise guys. I can almost hear all the thoughtful hooting going on.

Wise Guys 9"x11 3/4" Acrylic on Masonite

I am working on some coordinating softies which I will post when finished, then off to the shop they will go!

My first Treasury on etsy, Hooray!

See it here.

A big smooch!

Thank you everyone who entered to win my lip gloss!

The blog winners are mindylou and kate.

Woo Hoo!

So many smooches are in your near future!

(sorry, I am helplessly nerdy)

My Giveaway is Lip Smackin' Good!

Hi my friends!

I love lip gloss, who doesn't? But it has to be fabulous lip gloss or I don't use it.

Well, after many attempts to make the perfect lip smackin, yummy smelling, kissable lip gloss,

I have finally done it! At least I think so.

I call it "Lucy Lips" after my lovable Lucy character. The flavor is "Coco-Mint".

The Ingredients are: Organic Coconut Oil, Beeswax,

Peppermint Essential Oil, Vitamin E, Honey and Natural Coloring.

It has a very subtle color to it, so if a little rubs off on your significant other,

it won't leave a mark, so kiss away!

For this weekend's giveaway, I am gifting 4 tins of lip gloss to 4 lucky lip owners.

2 tins will be given on this blog, and the other 2 in the etsy forums. In order to enter on the blog, leave a comment on this post and on the night of Monday, August 25th, the random number generator will choose the 2 blog winners.

To enter in the etsy forums, just leave a post on my thread here, and the random number generator will once again choose 2 winners also on Monday night. I will contact the winners, so you don't have to be present to win.

Post as many times as you want, the more the merrier.
I am in love with this lip gloss! And it does make you more kissable, well it made me more kissable, ask my husband!

Thank you for visiting.