Stars on my Mind!

So I was stamping that beautiful image from the Come to Bethlehem stamp set.  Of course, lately, stars have been on my mind and I immediately noticed the star that the Wise Men are following.  And suddenly I realized that this lovely star has eight points.  Yes, I said eight!  Naturally my next thought was: I wonder if I could make a 3-D eight-pointed star?  You saw that coming, didn't you?

Back to my protractor and a quick calculation that gave me the angles necessary to wind up with an eight-pointed star.  It turns out that each angle will have to be 45 degrees.  Of course it would be awesome in Glimmer paper, right?  Can't you just imagine the stamped silhouette image of the Wise Men and then this gorgeous, glittery 8-point star?  Thinking about it made me want to do it even more.

Back to the square of cardstock with the intersecting diagonal lines, but this time let's use a five inch square instead.  Use the centre created by the intersection and measure 45 degrees.  Do that eight times and draw the lines as you go, of course, and you have the basis for the star.  Doesn't that seem like a lot of lines?  The Glimmer paper is going to be put through its paces on this one!

Once you have all eight lines, there is still the problem of finding the inside point---without which there cannot be an outside point, after all.  So each one of those lines is going to have to be measure for 22 1/2 degrees, or one half of 45 degrees.  I'm drawing those lines in red to make sure that what I have done is clear.

So, clear as mud?  Measure the red lines to 3/4 inch from the centre.

Measure alternating black lines to 1 1/2 inches from the centre.

Measure the remaining black lines to 2 inches from the centre.

Now connect the black lines to the red lines as shown in the picture below.

This, once you've cut it out, is going to be your template.

And if you think those angles look skinny and the "arms" of the star look skinny, I would agree with you.  For that reason, I've decided that for this star I am going to be using the Brushed Silver cardstock.  It will still be amazing with some of the Silver Sparkle Dazzling Details on it and will be so much more easily folded along those skinny "arms".

Well, it really was quite a challenge scoring those skinny arms.  But where there is a will, there is always (or usually) a way.

Just remember to fold the short score lines into valleys and the long skinny arms into mountains.  It looks really nice when it is folded.

And then, to top it off, I simply smeared it with some of the Silver Sparkle Dazzling Details.  Once dry, this will look wonderful!

And this is what I was aiming for:  a 3-D star coupled with that silhouette stamp of the wise men riding towards Bethlehem.

It took a while to get to this card, but I love the results!

Am I planning to attempt 3-D stars with even more arms?  No!  Emphatically, no!  I think eight is my limit.