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

Comments

  1. I really enjoyed reading, didn't know about the 7 pointed star. You weren't alone in having things go pear shaped. Love that star fish pendant

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Jill, thx. I think I made the same Murphy's law reflection over on your post! Never heard the expression 'pear shaped' ....

      Delete
  2. I didn't know about the 7 pointed star, either, very interesting (yes, I always read all of the posts all the way down, too)!
    A similar wire star would have been my plan, but now I'm glad I didn't even try, yours is so much better than mine would have been! :-D

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Cat, thx for the kind words. Yay, another trooper!! Oh, your wire Star would have come out great, I've seen your jewelry on your blogposts, and they're always well made and fab.

      Delete
  3. OOOO I love it!! the seven pointed star AND an evil eye, one of my favourite symbols. Thank you so much for taking part in the challenge :D

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank You Laney! I just thought the two go together ... and thanks for choosing a great theme.

      Delete
  4. Awesome! And thank you for explaining the way you made the star, at first I thought it was masterfully soldered :) Absolutely love the wire wrapping on the starfish, too!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you! Masterfully soldered? Hah, I've been having some trouble with copper and soldering. This was my first, and I've made a couple more these past few days, so have refined their intersections a little, not much, but a little!
      BTW, I can never post on your blog, I always get sent back to an error page ...

      Delete
    2. Thanks for trying to post on my blog, Alysen, you finally did it! Thank you for visiting and the nice comment. I have no idea what could be the reason for that, I have no restrictions for comments and keep my settings simple.

      Delete
  5. I have hopped through many blog in this challenge now but I feel that your simple clean wire star is the best piece of Star themed jewellery that I have seen today. It looks so complete and balanced and really enchanting

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. What a superb compliment Divya, completely unexpected. I decided a simple star would set off the more intricately woven eye, and I guess I was right! I always fight against my natural 'more embellishment' thoughts .. :))

      Delete
  6. I love your wire septagram with that lapis stone! Your wire wrapping is perfect. I have a love/hate relationship with heavy duty cutters. I can never make them stop where I want them to. Always overcutting the metal lines I have drawn. So I can definitely relate. But that would've been a beautiful piece. Maybe you can try it again using your saw to cut it out this time;-) I absolutley adore that starfish pendant you created. I would wear it all the time!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Well, Cathy, this is one accident with the shears that I won't try to outsmart again!! I will certainly attempt another with my saw, which will be a feat of patience and skill, I'm sure!! The starfish was my first try at something 3D. I had it in our Etsy boutique, but let it expire until Spring 2019.

      Delete
  7. In spite of the rough start, you had a plan that came together perfectly! I love it! The starfish at the end is really amazing too. Thanks for participating again this month!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you Jen! I plan on participating every month, can't wait to go see what December's theme is. I'm just getting started today on my blog hop.

      Delete
  8. I really enjoyed reading about the seven pointed star thats my "learn something new for the day"! Both your stars are lovely and I do hope that you go back and work on your original design (I too am an eternal optimist, I find it helps in all situations)!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I didn't know about the 7-point stars either until I started looking for some info. I think I'll start doing one with my saw and just do it in between other projects. You know, like when I'm bored .. lol, THAT never happens.

      Delete
  9. Your star with the evil eye is just lovely! I'm sorry your other star didn't work the way you'd hoped... I think you could still do something cool with it, just not the something you were planning. ;)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Oh, Sarajo, it's still there on my table, taunting me. Actually, one of my first thoughts was to turn it into an etched star. I may try some solder or I'm sure that looking at it enough and pondering will make a lightbulb go off one day :))

      Delete
  10. I too love your evil eye, and your starfish! I think that you do something as well, I'm sure you'll come up with something, you are creative that way!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Oh yes, Sue, aren't we all creative and resourceful? I'm sure my decision will come in the middle of the night and I'll have to get up and start working on it.

      Delete
  11. I've never heard of fairy stars before, but so glad I read all your characters to learn about them. Thank you for that. What a shame that your first attempt went awry. But, I think your wire version is pretty dang awesome. Way to come back after the disappointment!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks for being a 200 word+ person :). Optimism is one of my middle names.

      Delete
  12. Love it. Now you have me wanting to make these as faerie wishing stars and hang them all over the house. With crystals dangling in the center. SO cool!

    Metal shears. They are Tricksters. They never do exactly what you want....

    Thanks for joining us!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Have at it Jenny! Great idea with crystals hanging ... now you've got me going!

      Delete
  13. Your star has a lovely symmetry to it, and the evil eye is just brilliant, I love it! :) I was aiming for something roughly like this at first (and use the star as a bezel) - I'm elated I got to see a much better version here from you!
    And I too am sure you'll find some creative use for the other star. :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you Anita for the nice compliment. I'm just getting started on my blog hop (Fri. afternoon), so I'll see your little work of art :) . I'm never at a loss for finding creative uses for botched pieces! All in the interest of recycling of course.

      Delete
  14. I am delighted to see your work - your wire work is SO freaking beautiful! Thanks for posting the working through photos. I think we all learn more and get to appreciate how much work goes into making handmade work by seeing this... :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. 2/1/19!! Sorry for this late reply Marsha, I don't go over to the biz email much!! I did just add my personal email over there to get notifications! Thank you for the excellent comment :).

      Delete
  15. Your wire work is so spectacular. If I sawed metal, I'm sure I would not have figured out that the ends would fall off of that piece before they actually did.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. 2/1/19!! Sorry for the late reply Tammy, see reply to Marsha above too :0 ...Thank you! It took me a few minutes/hours/days to ruminate and realize it!! Can't even remember now if I had already prepared the saw or not ... Sometimes (with MomCare, interruptions & limited time), I don't go back to a project until the next day or two.

      Delete
  16. Alysen, I am new to your blog, but I'm blown away! I knew we were similar, I just head no clue how closely!!! I too, love Cooper wire working. I'm no where near as accomplished, it's more a hobby for me, because my mother Laurena's nicname was Penny, hense the love of all things Copper. Anyway, BEAUTIFUL!��

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Sandra, thank you for your compliments and becoming a follower to our blog. Yes, kindred spirit, amazing where an internet search may lead us, heh? How did 'Penny' come from Laurena ???

      Delete
  17. Mom had flaming Auburn hair- I suspect that is the reason😎

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Sandra, long time no talkie :) .. 2.5 of my sister's are/were readheads!!

      Delete
    2. Read that 'two point five of my sisters' ... because 1 of the twins was strawberry blonde and another sister turned darker strawberry blonde in her adulthood ...

      Delete

Post a Comment