Mini-Doll Sprite Bases
I initially sprited these to make character art on, and so far they've been my favorites to work with - they're small enough to finish very quickly, but large enough to put a fair amount of detail on. There are even sprites for a complete walking animation, in the event you need to make one. :P
Also, some basic skin, eye, and hair palettes to play around with. (The sprite sheet uses the middle skin tone.)
For more colors, you can also play around with this general color palette as a starting point. Note that for most things, you're not going to need more than four shades to a color, and on some occasions three is perfectly sufficient. Five shades are needed only rarely, either to show that an object is supposed to be particularly shiny (with the lightest shade being used sparingly) or to indicate an area of extreme shadow.
And here are the bases for the fairy wings, along with a palette of recommended color options. The line between the wings is a guide for positioning the body sprites - the topmost pixels of the head (the dark outline) should just rest over those lines.
You might also be interested in:
Outfit, Costume, Clothing, & Wardrobe Generators
Basic Character Appearance Generator
Basic Character Appearance Generator - Anime Edition
Tips 'N Stuff For Better Character Design