Newly Listed: Embroidery Dress

Embroidery Dress, Vintage Embroidery, Linen Dress, Purple and Yellow Floral Dress, Linen plus size by StarsWear
Happy bird photography print, fine art, yellow purple, nature wall photo decoration, cute bird by OPhotographyShop
Botanical photography print, purple plum mustard yellow, wildflower wall art Wild Honey by LupenGrainne
Eastern Tiger Swallowtail by mljart

Sea Urchin Facts Vol. 3

It has been a while since I shared sea urchin facts, you can see Vol. 1 and 2 here.

Sea urchins are sexually reproducing organisms.  First millions of eggs are released by the females and they unite and fuse with the sperms released by the males.  The unification of the jelly-coated egg and the tiny sperm usually occurs outside the female’s body; however in some rare cases the fertilization will take place within the female’s body.  Once the fertilization of the gametes occurs, a larva is formed.  This larva is also known as a pluteus.  The sex of the larva is impossible to distinguish until it itself begins to release either eggs or sperms during its adulthood. The time that adult sea urchins start reproducing is during the ages of 2-5 years. (source: tolweb.org)

The image above shows the growth and development of the sea urchin, Lytechinus pictus. These sea urchins are found off the coast of California. After a few days the embryo will gastrulate and form a primitive digestive system (early prism stage). At this stage ciliated bands are formed that allow the larva to form feeding currents by which to concentrate particles in the water for ingestion. As the larva develops the structure becomes more complicated and larval "arms" are generated to aid in locomotion and feeding (pluteus stage larvae). Eventually this feeding larva will grow and develop enough so that it can metamorphose into a juvenile sea urchin and begin to look like the sea urchin most people are familiar with (i.e., a pin cushion). (source of text and above image: Douglaspace)

We sometimes find tiny sea urchins, through natural selection of storms and strong currents, but also eaten by other sea animals only a small portions survive to adulthood, but that is how mother nature works.

Please enjoy this magical video below:

Newly Listed: Woodland Parrot Bird Bag

Woodland Parrot Bird Bag - Vintage Embroidery, Blue and Coral Patchwork and Leather Bag by StarBags
Wooden Dock Fine Art Photography, Wall Photo Print, Sunset Sky Cloud Blue Water Lake Water by ArtistWithTheCamera
Bird Lovers Artwork, Realistic Lilac Breasted Rollers, Pastel Drawing Nature, wall art by MuddpuppieDesigns
Book Photography, Still Life Photography, Library, Shabby Chic, Book Print, Book Lovers,Librarian by riotjane

Bliss and Blessings

When the weather allows we always go out for a nice Sunday Brunch on Sunday with a friend. It is kind of a ritual for quite some time.
The places we go to eat are a bit out of town, closer to nature.

With birds staring at us while we are eating :)

Lush greens and forests are the way to the beaches which are of course our destination.

We enjoy the sun, fresh air and calmness but always do some exercise by bending a whole bunch of times to collect treasures.

We had the beach to ourselves this Sunday.

Better yet we found an incredible amount of small green urchins, yaaay! We had our green sea urchin earrings not in stock for about 2,5 years as we did not have the right urchins and mother nature was not giving any. Now we can finally remake them, this is really rare to find so many and especially in this size :)

Newly Listed: Sterling Silver Urchin Necklace

Sterling Silver Urchin Necklace, Handwoven Fine Silver, Art Nouveau Style Sea Urchin Sterling Silver Necklace by StaroftheEast
Large photography print, sun photography, art print, peaceful sky photography, sunshine art, wall art by SpringBurst
Abstract Light Photography, black white sparkle bokeh print, photo wall art photograph, Evening Glow by CarolynCochrane
Arcadia Landscape Photography, Beach Photograph, Coastal Decor, Mountains in Fog, Pacific Ocean, Art Print by EyePoetryPhotography

Custom made Kilim Ottoman

At the end of last year we got a lovely convo through Etsy with the question if we could make a custom made ottoman according to a kilim the customer had. I replied that we could and after a few emails back and forth, receiving pictures of the kilim and their beautiful home and giving my mailing address I did not hear back again.

Thinking that she changed her mind it was a nice surprise to get a kilim in the mail a few weeks later. It was actually lucky she forgot to write me as I would have been looking for the perfect feet in the mean time at various places which I didn't, but we scored some beautiful vintage wooden feet just 2 days before the kilim arrived, it was just meant to be :)

I cleaned up the straight parts with a sanding machine and the remaining parts by hand.

And then we built a strong wooden skeleton exactly according to the size of the kilim, an impressive size of 38'' by 26 1/2'' (97 cm x 67 cm).

It was then time to decide on the paint.

We mailed between each step to be sure that we were on the right track and it was a fun project.

As the ottoman is so large I had to do the paintwork in the living room which has our biggest table.
After 7 layers of paint and varnish it was time for upholstering it :)

Strong webbing, on top of that fabric, then foam. Under some more fabric to cover the webbing and it was time to cut and sew the kilim.

Deciding on the little details, and then nailing the kilim in to place!

And a beautiful kilim ottoman as result :)

Normally we work the other way around, fixing furniture and finding stuff to cover it, it was nice to discover that we can do it another way too :)

This kilim is of course not for sale, but we have some pretty one of a kind furniture pieces in our StarHomeStudio shop.

And a little update: the ottoman in the customer's home :)

Newly Listed: Knitted Jacket Cardigan

Knitted Jacket Cardigan Knitwear Clothing Large or Extra Large Size, plus size fashion by StarsWear
Hot Air Balloons Photography Print Fine Art Whimsical Bokeh Sky Landscape Photography Print by WildWildernessPhotos
Surreal Carnival Photography Carousel, Black birds, Pale Pastel Pink Blue Yellow Wall Art by KalstekPhotography
Water Lilies Photo, Monet, Fine Art Photo, Wall Decor, Blue, Green, Pink by BrookeRyanPhoto

Newly Listed: Woodland Parakeet Bird Bag

Woodland Parakeet Bird Bag - Vintage Embroidery, Purple Patchwork and Leather Bag by StarBags
Rustic Purple Flower Art Print Wine Barrel Photography Winery Print Rustic Home Decor by jessicareisspix
Lavender Floral Photograph, Pastel, Purple, Romantic, Flower photograph, Lavender, Wall decor by hellotwiggs
Purples and Pinks, Twilight by mljart