Be Inspired - What's Keeping Me Warm This Winter, part II

As with part I (see below) these are my favourite old and new things to keep me warm this winter. Above - scary close up of me in my fave beanie, I got this when I shaved my head for charity in the middle of winter (not the best timing, but one of the best things I've ever done).

I bought this glittery beanie just this week in Target, for $14.99 but actually at the checkout it cost $11.99 thanks to the storewide sale.

This is a vintage knit hat that used to belong to my mum, she added all the ski resort tags to it, and I get a lot of great compliments when I wear this, I am currently looking for a pattern to make more of them in different colours etc.

This is my natual hot water bottle and the only fur I wear, my cat Roman. He loves to lie in the sun and is a good boy, bravely sitting outside on the grey days fluffed up hoping for some warmth, or else gives in and sleeps in the bed between the quilt and blanket.

Check out Part I below for shawls, coats, and boots, and don't forget to check out my Mother's Day carnival of posts between now and the big day!

Be Inspired - What's Keeping Me Warm This Winter

It was 6 degrees this morning, which has prompted me to dig out all my warm clothes and tuck the summer things away. I thought I'd give you a run down of all the favourite things old and new that are going to keep me warm this autumn and winter.



Above are my two shawls, or I should say, shawl and wrap. The top item is triangular shawl with tassels on the three points, it was knitted for me by my Mum from a pattern book I own. The bottom item is a wrap that was made from a free in store project sheet at Big W from the wool supplier Sean Sheep. Both projects were easy.

My trio of scarves. The green is ultra long, you double it and loop the whole thing around your neck, it is so soft and sparkly, and brings out the green in my eyes. The pinky one, is also fuzzy and glittery and I knitted it and then made a fringe for it, another very easy task. The middle scarf is polar fleece. An easy mother's day project would be to purchase a metre of polar fleece from a fabric store and cut it into the width and length of scarves you desire, your children can do this - you do not need to sew anything. That is right, polar fleece does not need to be hemmed, it maintains the integrity of its edges. You can cut a fringe just as easily.

My new boots, $50 from Kmart, bought in March, they are felt (fake psuede) and wool, with the wrap around straps and buckles with zips for easy fitting. I love them, they make my feet look small (a miracle as I have long thin feet) and they are so cosy and warm, I feel protected and snug inside them, and yes I have worn them twice already!

My new jacket from Sussans, this was pricey ($109) but it is so thick, and warm. The body of the jacket is quilted and reminds me of a bomber style jacket, but hugs the body without adding the appearance of too much weight. The sleeves are wool, and will go very well with my new boots.

This jacket is very heavy, you will have to be quite strong to wear it! It is a long trench coat but not full length, in charcoal and silvery white plaid. It is very warm, and I bought it this year from Kmart though I can't remember the price, sorry.

My Etsy Promotional Contest

During my first month of business on Etsy, I am holding a promotional contest.

For every item (not every order, every single item) sold during my first month of business, that is until May 15th 2009 (to be precise, items purchased before 11.59 pm Australian Western Time on May 14th 2009) gives the purchaser one entry into the draw for a set of handmade cards.

The cards can be seen in the photographs above, and the set is made up of 11 cards sized 9.5cm by 14.5cm and one large pink card with a fairy motif.

The cards are very bright and cheery and cover a range of occasions from birthday, congratulations, thanks, hello, thinking of you, and unmarked occasion.

They are a celebration of stripes, flowers, butterflies, flourishes, buttons, and ribbon, and I made them especially for this contest.

If you want a chance to win this set, you need to go to my etsy store Starry Girl via my link on the right of my blog, or by entering www.etsy.com and searching the search engine for my sellername Starzyia, or try googling starzyia.etsy.com

I hope you all enjoy browsing my store, and I wish you the very best of luck, I would be delighted if this contest was won by one of my readers.

Etsy and Tokens of Appreciation News

Here I am sitting down at the end of a long day with a sigh of happiness. Can't be luckier than that.

On the Tokens of Appreciation Make the World Go Round front, I am happy to report that many people have received their sets of tokens and have responded most enthusiastically.

I have received my first token of appreciation from my lovely cousin Betty.

And tokens are circulating in Australia and are on their way to the US, Germany, and the UK.


and now for my big announcement: I Am On Etsy, Yes I Have Opened on Etsy

www.etsy.com is an international online market for handmade goods and craft supplies, my store there is called Starry Girl, and can be accessed by my username Starzyia; through my link on the right of my blog page; or by my URL starzyia.etsy.com

I hope you will come and visit me and give me any feedback, I am yet to upload my stock of cards but my jewellery, chiefly earrings, can be viewed there as we speak. And from time to time other crafted items as my inspiration leads me will also be available.

Thanks to everyone who has been supportive of my quest to spread Tokens of Appreciation, and my adventure into Etsy... you are all so wonderful and deserve my love,

xxx Starry

Reflections on Easter

Hi everyone, sorry I have been away unwell, now back just to share something I wrote on Good Friday last year in my gratitude journal. If you aren't religious you might not enjoy it, I just wanted to share with my friends....

It is Good Friday and I have just been reading Matthew 26, Jesus in Gethsemane. It is one of the most poignant and haunting accounts. It strikes me that on that night, in that garden, Jesus was the loneliest soul on Earth. He knew what was to come, a sacrifice and a suffering beyond our imagination, to be endured for the sake of man and evern as He knew His companions could not comprehend it, He simply asked for their company.

Matthew 26:38 "My soul is exceedingly sorrowful, even unto death: tarry ye here, and watch with me".

To think of Jesus coming willingly to Earth, to live out the Plan of Redemption, only to find as the time ran down, drawing closer to His crucifixion, that He was increasingly troubled by the immense pain and torment of its prospect, enough to ask for release from it, but still willing to do His Holy Father's will, is one of the most beautiful examples of loving service and obedience.

I give thanks even knowing that I am grateful for something I will never fully realize or understand. For who could truly understand the weight of every sin that ever was or ever will be committed and the pain and suffering to result from them, to be inflicted at once physically and emotionally without relief until death came.

And simple, good hearted Peter, who three times fell in his vigil that night, to be found sleeping by his Lord Jesus. And three times to deny Him and be reminded of it by the cock's crow, how it must have hurt him. What a difficult thing to be so close to Jesus and to try and love and serve Him so well, we are all so imperfect there is none who could do it without fault....

I am grateful to Jesus, with my faith I witness His sacrifice and suffering, and I give my respect to Peter, an example of man's imperfection and also how we are still loved by our saviour and God.

My Favourite Easter Buys

Its not too late to find some great cute gifts for Easter. The tin above was purchased at Target for $7.99 and contains 6 milk eggs. I bought it because I have never had any Easter decorations so I will keep this tin, it is already sitting on the mantle.

This tin was also purchased at Target, for $6.99 and contains 6 milk eggs as well.

This Jessica Walker Easter Bunny was purchased at Big W for $3.95, as my mum is watching her weight she does not want a lot of chocolate for Easter, so I bought this 50g as a lovely token gesture.

Chocolate is very expensive this year, it is so hard to select gifts because nothing seems to be very good value, my tip is to look for something that gives you something to keep, gifts with a tin, basket, mug, soft toy etc.

Easy Easter Project

Well this year I thought to myself, why put decorated eggs in a basket, when they could go in an egg carton?

So for the first time since kindergarten, I have actually made something out of a used egg carton.

I painted the outside of the bottom lavender, and the inside lid lavender, with cream for the egg recesses.

The top is covered with felt, and embellished with buttons, gems, and egg cut outs, with a pink fluffy chick stuck on top.

Easy, so easy, the kids could make it! The only thing I paid for was the chick, in a set of 9 (2 different colours) for $2.99 and the felt, one sheet for $1. The paint is left over from painting my wardrobe door knobs.