Introducing...Twinkle Star Art

Store name/label: Twinkle Star Art

Where to buy: www.twinklestarart.etsy.com

Where are you located? Brisbane, Australia

How long have you been drawing and designing? I have been drawing since a small child and a professional graphic designer for 15 years after graduating from the Queensland College of Art.

What inspired you to get started? My Father inspired me to draw when I was little, he is a very talented artist. He was a screen printer and sign writer by trade and also illustrated comic strips for The Australian.

What do you do when you’re not creating? I'm a mother of three small children which keeps me very busy during daylight hours. I love spending time with my family and friends. (I probably should pay more attention to the dreaded housework.)

Do you remember the first item you sold? Yes - my Woolly Mammoth Dream limited edition art print. I sold it to a lady in the United States.


What is your favourite item you have created? My Paris Collection. It's hanging on my daughter's bedroom wall. I think it's really playful, featuring a little girl wearing her mother's oversized shoes which just happen to match her pet poodle.


The item that has most meaning to me is my Kissing Frogs illustration as this was the very first artwork I completed for my Twinkle Star Art shop.


Thank you Amanda! (I've had Amanda's artwork bookmarked for ages, I simply can't decide which I like the best, they are just gorgeous!)

Introducing Bubba Chenille

Name: Miriam

Store name/label: bubbachenille

What do you create? A funky range of Childrens/Babies Clothing & Accessories made from preloved chenille bedspreads.

Where to buy: etsy, madeit.com.au, The Handmade Expo, other markets local to me eg Cabarlah

Where are you located? Toowoomba

How long have you been designing & making your range? Since March 2008


What inspired you to get started? I saw some at a market interstate and my creative juices started to flow as to how I could customise and make things my own, its the chenille I was attracted to and have added all sorts of things to my range, what I tought would sell , hasn't and the things I introduced as one offs have become my biggests sellers. Go figure!



What do you do when you’re not creating? Help co-ordinate The Handmade Expo

Do you remember the first item you sold? Yes, it was one of everything to a friend



What is your favorite item you have created? Each of my one "offs" until I make the next one!

Thanks for participating Miriam - I adore the little shorts you make, they are so cute!

My Top Five

Sugar'n'spice - a few finds for the little girls today. Oh, how I love pretty dresses!

Orange flower cross over dress from Squirt Baby



Chelsea' Dress in Blue Flutterby by Ivy Designs


Pink Octopus Garden Dress from Hot Fudge



Floral broderie anglaise blouse with lace trim from Hooligan



OOAK wearable art featuring oilily kimono blossom fabric from JaEmArt

My Top Five

I recently joined a new group, BrisStyle, so today I have decided to do a spotlight on Handmade in Brisbane! All the fabulous items below are made by Brisbane locals. Make sure you also check out the BrisStyle Blog - and if you're a local, they're holding a market this Saturday, at Hamilton Town Hall.


Twinkle Star Art - Personalised portrait



Wicked Child Designs - Dame Edna



Pedrosprout - Neon Blue Dotty Baby Booties



Sharlzndollz - Babushka Doll




Knitwish - Montague Mouse


If you'd like to submit a spotlight on local sellers in your home town, I would LOVE to hear from you!

A few Christmas delights

It's the first day of December and Christmas is in the air! My little one and I spent the morning shopping for a few gifts, and bought a couple of cheap Christmas CDs to get us in the festive spirit, so I have been looking for beautiful Christmas goodies!

Look at these adorable birds! They are from Edward and Lilly. The best part? She's giving one away to celebrate her 150th blog post. See her blog HERE. All you need to do is leave a comment telling her which colour you like the most and she will pick a winner.



If you're after a Christmas Stocking with a twist, Oh My Goodness, checkout the Jingle Sox by Jen at Deekie Belle. She has them in traditional Christmasy colours or some utterly delightful pink for all those girly-girls out there.



How adorable are these little Christmas bags by Identität?! They measure 12cm by 12cm and are hand screen printed so no two are exactly alike.



If you find any other gorgeous handmade Christmas delights for children, make sure you let me know!
Stay tuned for another awesome interview tomorrow!

My Top Five

A few cute little things I have found today...enjoy.

Blue Retro Dachshund Stuffed Toy - Sausage Dog Softie From Badskirt



Dinner with Friends print from Tummy Mountain

Gypsy Pants by Charli Rose for Oopsidaisi



Scrabble Tile Pendant from The Pendant Factory



Pram Tissue Cozy from PramPurse

Guest Blogger - Michelle

I have been looking for great linen and bedroom accessories as we are currently starting the process of decorating our daughter Charlotte’s big girl room.

SO many of the kids sheet and quilt sets out there are just... Well they are licensed... Or they have so much pink they make even me want to turn down the “pink-o-meter”.

So I began searching for something handmade and pretty... I didn’t have an awful lot of luck to begin with, but did find this...

A gorgeous Play rug from mimoo on etsy. One of our favourite gifts we received when Charlotte was born was a unique handmade play rug. It got used every day, every where when she was little. And it has been my quest ever since to find something similar and just as nice to give someone else as a baby shower present – as very few people would remember a play mat is needed.

I love the colours and stripes on this one, for a boy or girl. I also love her apple play rugs too.

Next my search found this gorgeous set at Crab Apple Bedding


I love her retro vintage prints, and that you can get matching cushions and even buntings. Corinne’s quilt covers are custom made and can even include your child’s name.

And if there is a boy in my belly at the moment, I will have trouble not buying this one


Lastly (before I had to drag myself away from the computer at 11:30pm)

I found this gorgeous site Rachael Zelensky

A team of two sisters who together can create a gorgeous Children’s room in gorgeous Themed quilt sets and paintings to match.

I love the Ballerina and Cupcakes set



And this gorgeous Fairy Garden painting – takes me back to my childhood and spending hours searching for Fairies in the bottom of my Grandmother’s garden...


I think I am going to have more trouble deciding on her big girl room... Especially because I haven’t even started searching mermaids yet!

Nellbe from Nellbe's Scribblings

Our guest blogger this week is Nellbe from Nellbe's Scribblings - which she says is "Stuff and nonsense from me including stuff about being a mum and wife, all my crafty stuff and being a coeliac...nonsense about anything...".

I am such an admirer of those of you that can sew, as I cannot for the life of me, but it doesn't stop me wanting such cool little pieces for my 3 year old Little Man.

bugandpop on etsy has the cutest things and I love these caterpillar pants.


I found these adorable shoes from McArt, goodness they are so cute. My little man is a little big for them now, but I still think they are gorgeous. She has such a huge range, it really is worth visiting her etsy shop.



SillyGilly has these art smocks that are such a delight, she has the best fabric designs. (I like the dino days one)



Continuing the dinosaur theme... check out misspopsi on etsy.... gorgeous!! She has a range for boys and girls and a wide variety too!!


If you would like to be a guest blogger, please contact me!

Introducing...Deekie Belle Design Studio

Name: Jenny
Store: Deekie Belle Design Studio
Where to buy: In Perth: direct from my studio, I also do afternoon tea showings which go down a treat (not my idea, but they do work nicely and you get to meet all your clients!); Madeit.com and of course now Etsy (woo-hoo!)

Where are you located?
I have a decked out studio in my home in Perth in Western Australia! My hubby did it all for me and everyone who comes here says it looks like a fabric shop LOL!!

How long have you been sewing/designing?
Mum first started teaching me (and my sisters) to sew 35 years ago - Mum is a seamstress (retired years ago!), but I only seriously got into the designing of childrens clothes when my kids were little for a bit, more recently about 3 years ago I turned my hand to it full time.

What inspired you to get started?
I was inspired by some dresses that I had seen on photobucket. I had never seen such gorgeous dresses with ruffles and layers and coloured fabric that took my breath away - I had no way of finding out who the designer was as I just came upn an open the pics in her photo albums (this was back when you didn't need a password to see into someones photobucket album. I was in awe... I had been looking for something to fill my time, I had just come out of a long term illness (8 years of treatment) and was finally well and needed something to help me get back into the world - these dresses were it for me - I felt like they were calling me... It took me a while but eventually I discovered that they were designed by the amazing Jennifer from Bella Tessa Designs - ( found her blog and through that I found lots of other inspiration too!
but yeah, Jennifer from Bella Tessa was my starting inspiration (not that she even knows that!)

What do you do when you're not sewing?
When I am not sewing I do lots of things, look after my family, (cleaning etc) but cooking is a big part of it, I have done lots of cooking and catering and there are always recipes to be tried and mouths to be fed (big ones and lots of extra ones!!) in our house! I also love to read, I would read all day long and just sew..... If I could, that would be my life, sewing and reading and cooking. then bed, then more sewing, more cooking, more reading then bed, you see what I am getting at here LOL!!! Although I am very often found cuddling one of my great big kids or my lovely hubby who is my rock!

Do you remember the first item you sold?
The first item I sold was a size 8 Betty Boop Dress in black and white (I actually still have some of that fabric - it's gorgeous!). I sold it about 5 yrs ago and the lady who bought it from me came back to me and bought another one exactly the same in a larger size about a year later because her granddaughtter had grown out of it..... That is when I started trying to mulit-size dresses - elastic backs etc....And it works!

What is your favorite item you have created?
My favorite item, that changes all the time. It was the big ruffled patchwork Christmas dress I am about to put in my etsy shop, but now I think it is the one I designed yesterday for the opening of my etsy shop, my Petit Rose Set - I love it!! Made the patern from scratch, designed it in the middle of the night, Never done a box pleate before let alone one without a pattern. I love it though - it is just so pretty and feminine.

Favourite fabric designer?
My favorite Fabric Designer would have to be Sandi Henderson, her stuff is unreal! I love it and I have a big stack of it that I am having really bad trouble not wanting to cut it!! Don't want to wreck it! Although Heather Bailey's new Pop Bijoux is yummy! I bought some and it arrived the other day and I just reordered a big pile more!! She rocks Heather Bailey! And Anna Maria Horner's new stuff, didn't like the chocolate lollipops but her commercial weight stuff is to die for!


That was our first Aussie Boutique Kids interview, thank you so much for participating Jenny! We wish you the best of luck with your new ventures into the online world!

Korina from Joliv - our first guest blogger

Welcome to our new feature, Guest Bloggers! Our first guest post is from Korina of Joliv, an Australian company providing a wide range of pure & natural, plant and flower based skincare products.

I have been looking for something gorgeous for my daughter for her birthday which is coming up and have found some lovely things that are handmade in Australia which of course owning Joliv I have to love - problem is I can’t get them all so now I have to decide! aghhhh.

I just love this retro dress from etsy seller inretrospect and can just picture her in it during summer. I’m sure I had something like it when I was little!

And these beautiful bloomers from Wild Things of Noosa on MadeIt will be perfect for my friends little girl - who is gorgeous enough but in these she will just look even more adorable! See how hard these things are for me - I get distracted so very easily by pretty things! I’m starting to see where my daughter gets it from - lol

Olivia loves to help out in the kitchen and loves to look the part of whatever she is doing so a pinafore from Millie Bean on MadeIt would also go down a treat.

Or should I go sensible and get this lovely top from another MadeIt seller, Kowinkidink...it is practical and so very cute….

Oh decisions decisions - I don’t think this has helped! lol

Oh well back to the party planning instead, invitations to finish, food to organise etc etc - a mothers work is never done - well I hope not anyway.