pecking chicken

elephant in pj's

urban bird

so neglected-attempts pt 1

You are completely right.. I don't update this as nearly enough as I should.. but I'm also going to show you why... The following (after I get these pics uploaded and finished are examples of why I don't have too many models on here... for every good one I get done, there are about 5 that didn't make the cut.. they looked horrible, they just were dumb (I mean u can only see how many boxes and crap before they just look a little mundane) or I just got stuck on a step so I threw it in the box for later.
That's the thing about origami really.. more have nots than haves. So, here is a bit of a window into my little box of goods... the good and the bad... here they come (even if I don't remember what I was attempting in the first place.
Take a peek ...

my box o origami... yes, getting full

paper cranes... kissing cranes



Inflateable Goldfish... notice how it's not inflated

Lotus flower attempts




Allllmost a crane there.. but not quite


Some dumb bird.. noticing a pattern here yet?
I have no clue here.. probably a bird and i got frustrated so I crushed it a bit..

Summation.. birds suck. Yes. Yes. Yes they do. Most of my failed attempts have really been birds or flowers.. I didn't even bother to take pictures of the "boulders" in the bottom of the box.. models that may or may not have been done nice and/or crushed by the kids. Now, to make some more posts with actually decent stuff from in there.. even if it is boring crap. Hope you enjoyed though.

Pac men codes

Kimono

Ok, so taking the shots of this one was a bit frustrating. This is why I hate digital. In any regard, this model was taken from Origami Extravaganza. This has to be my favorite of the many folds that I have done so far. I have not taken pictures of the other models that I've made before today. It was a simple model for me to make. I just like the simplicity of it. Not shown in these pictures, but this one stands up by itself as well. I plan on making more of these to hang with the lanterns for my desk.. a little string of them. Perhaps some garland for Christmas. In any event, there you are.

Sinking ship

folded using the model in the book: The Joy of Origami by Margaret Van Sicklen
This model is one of my favorites. That's how it looks sitting on the top of my desk. The paper came with the book. Best yet, it was simple to do.

Lantern

Jumping frogs

This model is an extremely common one. It's an easy one that is widely published. In fact, it is so easy, I even made one of these when I was at a bar. Now, of course, it was launched into a glass of booze later. It is actually pretty fun to do while drinking. Since obviously origami is all about hand eye coordination.
But, nontheless, it really is that simple. Just push down on the back, and away it will go.

Whale

Origami Extravaganza

Summer Baskets

folded using the model in the book: The Joy of Origami by Margaret Van Sicklen

Ladybugs

folded using the model in the book: The Joy of Origami by Margaret Van Sicklen

Good Luck fish

folded using the model in the book: The Joy of Origami by Margaret Van Sicklen

simple swan

folded using the model in the book: The Joy of Origami by Margaret Van Sicklen

Flamingo

Folded from the model in: "Origami Extravaganza" by Tuttle publishing

Round and round.

Man do I hate trying to do inflatable origami. Not sure if it's the diagram or what it is, but sheesh.
Everytime I seem to come back to doing this, I seem to have a problem with a specific fold. I used to loathe the squash. Now, amazingly, it seems much easier.
The level of difficulty is something I've come to distrust more and more.. at least with this book. I was able to do a 4 diamond (out of 5 being the most difficult pieces) with ease, but struggled with some 2 diamond ones. Perhaps part of it is the paper... as this isn't the standard origami paper that I would normally use- it's more like magazine paper.

Well, off to fold some more.

bombarded with work...

whew.. and I haven't even yet begun to really customize this yet- geez.
I bought the domain, and now I am finally going to post my portfolio online through there. Andre and I went to the bookstore today so that I could get some help. I haven't touched the book yet, but I have 2 pages complete so far.

------^0-0^------

I got some origami books and am actually pretty excited about some of the projects in there... I bought "The Joy of Origami" by Margaret Van Sicklen and a bargain book about papercraft that I found over at Borders. I've missed books so much. I really was looking at some other really good books by Dover- one of Sea Animals, and one of Mythological creatures and the Chinese Zodiak. I honestly almost picked up the myth. creatures one just for the chinese dragons and such.. but they are bit more difficult of folds. The sea animals one was equally impressive- and it had an octopus, seahorse and squid that were just calling my name. Again though.. too difficult of folds for the time being. I'll check the local library first... perhaps I will get lucky and one of them will have it- so I can borrow it indefinately as I try to create them. hehe

They have some really nice paper in the back of this book- The Joy of Origami one. I was trying to find just the paper without the book- but a)they didn't have any at the bookstore, b)I'd forgotten to pick some up the day before when we'd gone to the Asian market /doh, and c)it's actually somewhat of a deal to get it with a decent book apparently.

The paper has some nice designs and patterns on it though.. which will only help to add to the flavor of the pieces.. so I've decided to scan them just for personal use. I'm really not looking forward to doing 200+ scans for when we get the color lazer printer... oye my brain hurts.. it's time to get some sleep finally.

a new direction

This blog will be branching out into my new domain shortly- as I explore more about origami and washi as a visual artform beyond just doing the crafts themselves. I will explain in further at a later time... my apologies for not having this as up to date as I would have liked in the past. The kids have been tying me down- and the paper disappears just as fast as the time.
Ah the joy of children.
Thankfully, it is a mixed blessing that my son is getting to that wonderful age where I need even more patience. That, and I will be having my first daughter next month. I need as much patience as I can get. So I'm back in the saddle again. Let's see if I can stick with it a bit more since it will also be applied towards my major in a way.

Any tips and things for discussion will be more than welcome- when the site is up and running, I will make a discussion board for papercraft. I am looking forward to hearing some great information from all of you.

Kindest Regards,
Cherry Na

homemade paper instructions

I read in a book today a way to make some homemade origami paper- here is the little bit of instructions on it:

need:
tissue paper
glue/adhesive
aluminum/tin foil
ruler or other flat straight edge


Take the tissue paper and coat it with adhesive on both sides. It could be spray adhesive or what not. Sandwich it in between two pieces of tin foil and flatten to stick. Allow time to dry and viola.

I also read that having a set of tweezers is a good thing to have around when you are doing origami for negotiating folds. As well as a popsicle stick for flattening and such.

Accomplishment at last!

Whew! I just finished my first Origami flower... a begonia from Origami Flowers by Hiromi Hayashi.
I was thinking that it would be kinda neat to specialize in some of these flower folds; but they are incredibly difficult for me. In fact, upon looking through this originally after I got home from the library, I pretty much shelved it. I am no where NEAR the point where I could do that.
In high school, I remember that I was discouraged from taking Horticulture because my parents said "It's just a science class." (Even though I did very well in science class) But then, I saw these people that were just making flowers out of floral stuff; and THAT was their so-called assignments for class. I'm kinda bummed I missed out on that, but o well it's too late now.
O no I think I'm rambling again.. less talking, more folding then. I told you I must be going nuts to be doing so much origami.

I didn't forget

I know, I've neglected my duties here a bit, but I promise, there will be more postings soon. Origami can be very frustrateing sometimes. So, I retired it for about a week. Anj is frustrateing... he either seems to get it very easily or not at all. I try and get him to work with me on folds, but we both have been very busy lately.
This past week, I got the paperwork that I have to bring Eric to court for contempt charges in November. So, I have been doing a lot of legal research on him, plus some for Anj. It's amazeing how much work is involved in the court process. It's going to be a long road to Law school.. geez