Star’s solace: Moses Lake mother, nursing student finds comfort in crafty business

For many people, finding a creative or artistic hobby this past year offered a getaway from the stress and troubles of daily life. For Star Arntson, of Moses Lake, having that escape meant everything.

Arntson, 34, recently completed her prerequisites for the nursing program at Big Bend Community College and has been accepted to the nursing program at Big Bend in the fall. Arntson also recently started selling her own custom epoxy-coated crafts with a friend, Annie Martinez, around March as a way to help cover tuition costs.

Picking up a new side business on top of a loaded school schedule in recent months was just another adjustment Arntson needed to make, something she’s done on more than one occasion in life.

Arntson was born and raised in Royal City and has lived in Moses Lake for about the past six years. She married her husband, Kevin Arntson, in 2006, and has three children, Mia, Evelynn and Kevin. She also studied pre-law out of high school and worked as a paralegal for a number of years.

It was around 2016 when her husband was diagnosed with ankylosing spondylitis, an autoimmune disease that affects the spine. Kevin Arntson’s body didn’t respond well to the drugs typically administered as a solution, leaving the best option chemotherapy in hopes his body could stop attacking itself, she said.

If his situation didn’t improve by 2019, she said doctors told them it would be something he’d deal with for the rest of his life. Arnston said she struggled to understand and process all of the different medical terminology and information she was hearing at the time. So her primary medical physician suggested Arntson look into a career in the medical field. Her doctor told her she was confident this was something Arntson could excel at.

“I thought it was a really good idea,” Arnston said. “I was just going to get my CNA (Certified Nursing Assistant) so I could take care of him at home. He was bedridden for a couple months and he’s 6-foot-3 and I’m 4-foot-10. So that was my solution.”

Arntson received her CNA certification in 2017 and started her prerequisites for the Big Bend nursing program last fall, excelling in her biology and chemistry courses along the way. She was accepted into the nursing program in mid-May, in addition to being accepted into the medical program at Washington State University.

She said she had to turn down the WSU offer because she wasn’t sure it would be feasible to make the trips to and from Spokane on top of her husband’s doctor appointments. Arntson said her school schedule was loaded, trying to finish up as quickly as possible, taking at times 18 credit hours a quarter.

Time is something she said she doesn’t have a lot of to spare.

“My husband may only be able to work for another two years, if that, and I will have to take over the reins of all of this on top of working full time,” Arntson said. “And I will do it. But these past few months have taught me that I have to maintain a schedule, but I’m grateful. I’m grateful for the support I have.”

Arntson said she couldn’t hold on to her own job during the past few years, due to taking a pay cut to be eligible for insurance that could cover her husband’s chemotherapy treatments. She added the family has had to sell their home and it’s been a tough few years.

“But, we’re making it,” Arntson said.

Starting up S and A Creations with her friend, Annie Martinez, around March was really born out of a “healthy obsession” for decorated tumbler cups and water bottles over the years. Arntson said she was looking for more “flower-covered” water bottles, after getting upset at how quickly her own would wear down on hiking trips and other outings.

Her passion for science and her curiosity led her to looking into the process of epoxy coating while in a biochemistry class this past year. She talked to one of her professors about the safety measures involved in the process and started playing around with it herself.

Arntson said the safety precautions with the epoxy coating process involve pretty much dressing up like someone heading to a COVID-19 testing site, with rubber gloves and protective face coverings. She said epoxy is very heat-sensitive and won’t set properly if the temperature isn’t just right. Between 72 and 75 degrees seems to be the magic number for our dry climate, she said.

After finding how the “diamond hardness” the epoxy can solidify, she bought a turning machine, some stainless steel cups in need of repair and let her “obsession with glitter and cups” come to life. The business has quickly moved from cup repairs to a wide variety of items, including countertop repair.

“We did coasters, picture frames, photograph preserving,” Arntson said. “A few places in Mexico with the old-style funeral areas with the little rooms because of the heat, they put pictures in there and they want them preserved from the heat and epoxy is really resistant to the heat.”

She said the list goes on and she’s up to try anything people bring her. Tumbler cups and badge reels, for doctor’s offices and dental employees, have been her most popular items. Martinez handles most of the social media, packaging, orders and other leg work to help out her friend while Arntson handles the crafting process.

Arntson said she’s sold a lot of items to other nursing students and staff around Big Bend who have shown her a ton of support for her situation. She said the business brought in about $1,500 last month, which doesn’t sound like much for a side business, but is a big help.

“It pays for almost a whole 15 credits at the college and anything else,” Arnston said. “We’ve done donations, we’ve done all sorts of fun stuff. If we all help each other, we all get through it together.”

She said she handles the crafting process in her kitchen at home, her “happy place.” Having an escape into the creative process the past few months has been a blessing, she said.

“My life is chaotic and busy, as you can imagine, but for me to be able to actually get into that creative mindset and not think about this appointment or what am I gonna do if he gets sick this week, it was my getaway,” Arntson said. “It was my mental getaway.”

She said she definitely sees her new craft business continuing in the future, even after she starts the nursing program.

“It’s kind of become a family business, too, because my daughter is coming in there and making epoxy hair clips and my son wants Lego molds and I have no idea what else,” Arntson said. “But, we’re gonna keep doing it.”

Arntson will have her first break in as long as she can remember this summer, while taking time off from school, for a trip to Ireland for a week with her best friend.

And while it might not always look easy, Arntson said she’s remained confident that God has a plan for her and that everything will be OK at the end of the day.

Casey McCarthy can be reached via email at cmccarthy@columbiabasinherald.com.