More in the post :)

Another cute, soft star arrived in the post from iheartrosie This will be another great star that can be attatched with velcro :) Rosie also has an Etsy shop here Thank you Rosie!

I have been working on some new stars too, on the same principal as the leaves...this one with shells, a bit like limestone....

And this one with toy dinosaurs pressed into it :)

In print :)

The project is now in print in Popular Crafts magazine. I don't yet have a copy, but here is a link to the article on their website. Thanks Katharine!

Delia Stevens found a lovely handmade star in a shop....so in true Etsy style, I'm going to add some little bells for another sensory aspect.

 It's a little hard to see, but Delia also made this delicate wire star which I'll back with card :)

 Whilst at a craft shop today I bought this little paper mache star box....not sure what I'll do with it yet, but I have plenty of craft materials lying around to make two different wall stars.

Bright Star

A beautiful bright yellow crochet star arrived in the post from Ana. I'm hoping that this one, and other's like it can be attatched to the wall with velcro, so they can be taken to less mobile children in the hospice,so thanks Ana...it's perfect! See Ana's Etsy shop here.

I also have some more stars from my Mother-in-law, Delia, I'll try to get some photos tomorrow :)

In the post :)

The lovely Ruthie sent her stars from the USA :) A couple of the paper circles have broken off, but nothing a dab of glue won't sort! So thank you! :D

And here are some of the star pendants and brooches that have come out of the kiln... I'll send one to Ruthie as a thank you, and the next nine people to send in stars will also receive one. I would also like to sell these to raise money for the smashsma campaign. I'm going to make some thicker ones with smashsma round the edge, like the writing on the edge of a coin. Then hopefully they can be sold to raise money like the smashsma bracelets.

Simple Ideas

Nothing new about this method, but I thought I'd share it anyway, maybe it will inspire you to make your own star, maybe in clay or polymer clay?

I picked some leaves on my way back from dropping my son off at school. My daughter picked some too....but she didn't get many whole ones :) I had a juicy new bag of porcelain I bought the day before, so I rolled a small slab and laid on the leaves. You get the best impressions from the back of the leaves. I found the best impressions were from brambles, cotoneaster and hazel. I then pressed the leaves in by going over lightly with the rolling pin. You can press them in with your fingers for a more undulating look. I picked out the leaves and cut the star with a cookie cutter.

I'm not sure if I will glaze the piece or maybe I will paint on underglaze and then wipe away the excess to accentuate the texture. This method works well with polymer clay and acrylic paint. Choose contrasting colours for the most striking effect.

Let me know if you're making one for Estella's Wall...it will be lovely to see your results!

Inspiration

I have some new star cutters :) I love that when I buy a new tool, it fires off a load of new ideas in my head! So.....definitely some new stars on the way from this end...how's everyone else going? I've had some more interest and promises via twitter, but I still don't have any stars....if anyone had any photos of pieces they are working on, I'd love to see them and post them on the blog :)

Let's get this going!

I hadn't realised I was quite this bad at updating my blog....I thought I had told you about my finished stars, but it appears not! I am a bad blogger *hangs head in shame*

Apologies over....so what's going on from my end?

I have two completed ceramic stars:

Moss....

 Synasthesia

I am still working on more pieces.

In other news, a small article about the project will be coming out in Popular Crafts magazine in May! Here is my article, of course it is possible it may have been edited by the time it is printed.

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Whilst browsing twitter, I became aware of @EstellaStar1 The story of two parents who lost their baby aged only 8months old from a genetic condition, SMA or Spinal Muscular Atrophy. SMA takes away the baby’s movement, and eventually their ability to breathe on their own and Estella spent the last few months of her life in Bluebell Wood Children’s Hospice. I don’t know why this particular story touched me so much, maybe because the her parents were trying so hard to raise the public awareness of the disease, but I thought maybe I could help. Not only would I like to help raise the awareness of the condition, but also it would be lovely to give something to Bluebell Wood Children’s Hospice in memory of Estella and also as a sensory wall for all the other children who spend their time there.

I would love you to join me in making stars for the reception area of Bluebell Wood in whatever media you choose. Variety is the spice of life so they say and a riot of texture and colour in many different media would certainly enhance the lives of the children, parents and staff at the hospice.

Stars should be between 5cm and 15cm across and suitable to be displayed on a wall. Obviously stars will need to be child friendly, both visually and safe for small fingers...non toxic, no sharp edges, beads and buttons securely sewn or glued. As some children are not mobile, some of the stars will be attached to the wall with Velcro. Embroidery, ceramic, crochet, printing, painting, collage, knitting, weaving, woodwork, stained glass, polymer clay....anything you do, we would love to see on Estella’s Wall. Any stars I receive will be shown on my blog with links to your blog/shop/etc.

The deadline for the project is July 31^st. Please take a look at my blog http://www.estellaswall.blogspot.com/ to see what others have created and for more information. You can contact me for an address via my blog or @lisaseaurchin on Twitter

Further online reading:

https://twitter.com/#!/EstellaStar1

http://estellasweetman.blogspot.com/

http://smashsma.blogspot.com/

http://www.jtsma.org.uk/

http://www.bluebellwood.org/estella.php

Search #smashsma on twitter

Sign the petition for free SMA screening here: http://epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/25997

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I hope we'll have some more stars to show them then. Although the deadline is still a way off, it would be great to have some stars to show people. That will encourage others to join the project.

I do have a small insentive....the first ten people to send me their finished stars will recieve a porcelain star brooch or pendant. I'm making these (they will be coloured when they are finished) and hope to find somewhere where I can sell them to raise money for SMA research.

So...I promise to be a bit more pro-active, and get this project on the right track....who's with me?!