This art is in response to 
I am one of Hive's resident fractal artists, and making everyday shapes and things is among the lines of art I pursue through fractal geometry -- 3D ball shapes are something I enjoy but are a rare challenge for me, so I was glad to see this contest come along!
This ball is dedicated to
About how this was made ...
Then we add this, made in Apophysis 2.09 ...
Without getting overly technical, what Apophysis 2.09 did was to fractally wrap the light in the fractal flame figure around in a circle to the point that it moved into the trump l'oeil 3D-ish sphere. Here we have the light and color of a star, wrapped into a ball -- two Christmas figures, met in one! Had to change the hook and the background to make it come out, but here it is!
This was a challenge, however, because it is RARE for a fractal shape to take a perfect circle AND WRAP into 3D-ish in Apophysis 2.09. But see, I LIKE a new art challenge ... so I will be back with more Hive Balls!