Shoot for The STARS! Design Challenge Reveal & Blog Hop

Let's shoot for the Stars!! November's Art Elements Design Challenge was Stars, chosen by Laney Mead. This theme has given LOTS of inspiration, 22 artists decided to participate. At the end of the post are links to all the fab entries get settled in with your fave beverage and feast on some eye candy. I usually take a couple of days to get through ALL the blogs. And yes, I really read each one, hope you do to. Awhile back, I read that most people nowadays only read 200 characters at the most!! Scorn, scorn, scorn ...
I had a definite idea of what kind of star I wanted to make YAY! and even the medium I was going to use. I got started a little late, but knew I'd be able to get it done, no problem. Guess what? Problem! More about that catastrophe in a few lines ... but first, my Faery Star (or Fairy, Faerie, Elven) with an Evil Eye smack in the middle.

A small excerpt about what faery stars are: Seven Pointed Stars, called "Faerie or Elven Stars" represent a gift from Faerie to humans to bridge the understanding between the Mortal human realm and that of Faerieland. The 7 pointed star is known as a gateway symbol, a Gate or entrance between our world and that of Faery, the Otherworld. Each point on the star represents a gateway or path of the Higher Self to prepare one for entrance into Faery. It is also known as a septagram.
And this link is a claim to the originator.

Now, about my original idea and why I couldn't continue in my excited frenzy to actually saw the whole thing with my jeweler's saw. Since I started late, I decided to skip sawing the outside of the star and use my heavy duty sheet cutters since this is 18 gauge copper. And that, my lovelies, was my downfall!
I think the 2nd picture below tells the story. In case it doesn't, if I sawed out all the white spaces, some points would have come out also since they're cut into the section I would saw out ...  I pondered more than a few different ways I could maybe get around this 'uh oh', but they all came down to "No, ^**&^%, You Really Botched This One Up" ..

Notice the un-strategically placed cuts?!?

Outline that was cut with metal shears

I tried doing one of these Faery Stars several months ago, using some smaller gauge, plated wire. I now always try out a new idea with cheaper wire to see how it turns out. Yes, an Auld Cat can be taught new ways .. eventually! It just ended up too messy and I left it hanging on my worktable to be reminded that I wanted to try try again. Yes, I'm stubborn and an eternal optimist.
Speaking of optimist, here's a motivating quote I found about Stars:

For my Star I used some 18 gauge square copper wire and marked it every 3" which makes a 3" finished star. A Faery Star has 7 points so I just bent at each mark, crossed the working wire either above or below the previous wire and voilà! a Star was Born! 😀
I made a second one as a tree ornament, and instead of meeting the two ends where they are now(in the back lower mid section, I'll transform them into the bail.

I then chose a 10mm Lapis Lazuli 2-color stone and tried out a Herringbone wire wrap. Since I need to always add a little more, the last round is some coiled wire with copper beads. I was thinking of adding some extras to the star, but decided not to.
I didn't really have the time to devote to that ... I've been working on some Outlander-inspired items that I wanted to finish and list in our shop before the end of the month.

A little info about the Faery Star Shape

A couple of years ago I made a wire starfish (seastar?).

So, if you've made it this far, thanks for being a trooper who reads more than 200 characters!! Please join me in discovering the Reveals below.
Here's the list of this month's inspired artists, Art Elements members & guest artists (like me).

Guest Artists 

Jill  -  Divya  - Alysen (you're here) -  Kathy  - Tammy  - Cat  - Samantha - Anita - Karin - Sarajo - Rosantia -Kimberly

 

 Art Elements Team

 Jen  - Jenny  -  Niky  - Laney  - Claire  - Cathy  - Marsha  - Caroline - Susan - Lesley