Anything and everything crafty that I can think of, is of paper. I am pretty good with my sewing machine but I really couldn’t find something that I could do easily. I finally chanced upon this beach-themed wreath that seemed do-able. So I went about collecting shells, pearls and more shells! And managed to complete my wreath today.. finally!!

I started off with a wreath base. After completing 2 wreaths, the base is turning out to be pretty quick to make. And very eco-friendly, to boot! And this time, instead of adding my shells directly to the base, I wound it in cream-coloured satin ribbon first. This gave me a three-fold advantage – the back of the wreath (see next pic) had a very smooth and neat finish, the gaps between the shells and pearls wasn’t obviously seen and the sheen in the ribbon added a nice touch to the wreath. To wind the ribbon and to add the shells, I used my latest craft purchase – a glue gun Ah, the joy of getting things to stick well and quickly, without messing up your fingers! After the ribbon was done, I started adding the bigger shells, followed by the smaller ones and finally the pearls.

One thing I hadn’t anticipated was the weight  of the wreath. So now I need to get some good thick ribbon to ensure that the whole thing doesn’t fall down when I hang it! And that is my beach-themed project for this summer

The day of the event started off bright and sunny as most days do in this part of the world! The event was mainly for little people, so we had a number of them participating in some of the games and events planned for them. And once their events were completed, a number of them visited the stalls that sold handmade things.

The PaperNPearlz stall was near the entrance, so we had a lot of visitors. I had asked my sister-in-law to help out, so she had worked on some very pretty handmade cards. She had a variety of punches which she had put to good use And our recent purchase of card stock paper was a true blessing! A surprising number of children were quite delighted with the cards and picked up quite a few! So did their moms.. and me.. and my parents.. I must say, it is lovely to know that people still give greeting cards in this age of e-cards and online greetings.

My earrings turned out to be quite a draw too and I am ecstatic! A lot of people had difficulty believing that it was paper until I assured them that it really was Kids loved star earrings and I regretted not making more of them. Almost all my star earrings were sold by the end of the day. Butterfly earrings were another hit. They were small enough for even kindergarten children to wear, so they also sold quite quickly. The geometric earrings and heart earrings were the next popular ones. Leaf earrings and wreath earrings weren’t as popular as I would have liked. Smaller sizes would have been more appealing I think.

And finally, I had made a few hundred little stars and sold them in packs of 15, to be used as confetti, table decor, on gift tags or as I had done – to teach children to count! These star packs were also very popular among the little people. They loved the colours and that they could choose the colours they wanted I had a girl pick out only red, yellow and orange stars – amazing how children know exactly what they want!

Well, we all had a lovely time. It turned out to be all that we had wanted it to be. I am delighted that people liked the earrings. I made a lot of new crafty friends and I had a dozen or so people ask me if I would please conduct origami classes. A big thank you to the organizers of the Little People’s Festival, for the invite, for their encouragement and their support

And of course, all this would not have been possible without a lot of support from my family – My husband, patient with me, even though he never understood why I spent so many hours making tiny little stuff with paper, my Dad, always a support and my constant admirer, my Mom, full of ideas and themes and our cashier, my brother, a source of inspiration who gave me a lot of tips on how to market better, my sister-in-law, a very creative person who helped out with the lovely cards, also my biggest critic encouraging me to go a step further, a fellow paper-buyer and paper enthusiast and my daughter, my biggest fan, my model who patiently helped with my trials to get my earrings to the right size. And finally, I cannot complete the post without thanking God, for the talent, for the opportunity and for all the support and encouragement that I have received.

And with that, I come to end of my first public event! Yay!

But once again, I am quite delighted with the outcome. The glue-water mix I had used for this dish was thicker than my previous mix. So the dish turned out sturdier and shinier! This was also on display in the last event I had participated in and fetched me a lot of compliments

If you want to try it out, check out my previous post which details the way to go about it.

These heart earrings are a favourite of mine. And I have been making quite a number of them. Most of them have a little dangle and are about 5-6 cms in height. My daughter insisted that I make a few smaller ones too – she is very sure that kids will want to buy them and the ones with the dangle might be too big for them!

These stars set in spirals are decided difficult to make! I wish there were some instrument that would make this easier, but for now, I make these spirals by hand. And those spirals add so much of beauty to these earrings. I have also made star earrings with a single crystal and a few with a coil as a dangler but these, I hope, will be the highlight of my star earrings. In addition to black, I am also making these earrings in rainbow colours.

Leaf earrings always, always catch the eye. Any time I have worn my leaf earrings, I always receive compliments on my earrings. And people find it so hard to believe that it is paper! I am making these earrings in 2 sizes – 3 cms and 4 cms. Most of them are made from pearlescent momigami paper which adds a beautiful sheen to the earrings. Once again, I am making them in a variety of colours. The little pearl on the top goes well with the pearlized paper

And finally, wreath earrings are something that I always make. Made from 16 little bits of paper, they are pretty difficult to handle but look great when worn! I am making these earrings in a variety of washi and chiyogami paper. The gold accents in the chiyogami paper adds definite appeal to the earrings. I am also trying to turn them into studs (earrings on posts instead of fish hooks), though I might not be able to work it out in time for the event. But even on fish hooks, these earrings aren’t all that dangly or large.

I have more earrings that I am working on and will post them soon. In the meanwhile, if you are a Chennaite, do take the time to come for the Little People’s Festival and be sure to visit my stall

The event will feature …

A POTTERY WORKSHOP and an ARTS & CRAFTS CORNER offering a fun range of hands-on art & craft projects by some super fun & talented folks.

The Little People’s Festival will also feature a MARKETPLACE of great picks & easy buys for kids & their family and a series of INTERACTIVE DEMOS and COMPETITIONS for children. And for the very first time, Paper N Pearlz will be a part of this marketplace!

If you are in Chennai, then do visit The Little People’s Festival with your loved ones for a fun day out. And please visit Paper N Pearlz’s stall too!

For more details, check out http://www.facebook.com/events/142209119284229/

Origami Details:

Model: Bear Bookmark

Creator: Klaus-DieterEnnen

Website: The Origamist – Klaus-Dieters Origami Site

Classification: Origami | Animals | | Bookmarks

Difficulty Level: Low Intermediate

Paper Ratio: Square

Paper size: 5 inches

Model size: 3.5 inches tall and 2.75 inches across

Instructions: The Origamist – Klaus-Dieters Origami Site

Tutorial: Youtube

Well, I have been wondering what to fold this Easter and decided to redo Jared Needle’s origami cross. It is a beautiful origami to fold and the more I have folded this cross, the more I enjoy it! There are quite a few sinks, both open and closed sinks. Initially the closed sink was a challenge but now I find it pretty easy. And I do like the way the cross is completed. All unnecessary folds are beautifully concealed, both in the front and at the back.

I am sure you are wondering why I have folded so many of crosses. Our BSF classes, for this year, are coming to a close. We are nearly at the end of Genesis (We have been studying Genesis this year) and should be done in a couple more classes I think. I understand that when we return for the next year (when we will be studying Matthew), we might not be in the same group as this year. So I thought it would be a nice idea to fold this cross, so we can remember our group And it makes a handy bookmark, to it might turn out to be a useful addition to the Bible too! I am still not done folding crosses. I need at least 15 and have about 3 more to go.

Origami Details:

Model: Cross

Creator: Jared Needle

Website: Origami Weekly

Classification: Origami | Crosses

Difficulty Level: High Intermediate

Paper Ratio: Square

Paper size: 6 inches

Model size: 4.5 inches tall and 4 inches across

Instructions: Origami Weekly

During this year’s festival, the Origami Society of Madras was invited and as I am a recent member of the society, I too got an opportunity to exhibit what I have folded. I have been quite thrilled with the opportunity I had displayed about 40 models. I wanted to go with as many Japanese artists as possible, so I included models by Tomoko Fuse, Jun Maekawa, Yoshihide Momotani and Miyuki Kawamura. John Montroll, Michael LaFosse, Lewis Simon, Meenakshi Mukerji and Robin Glynn were a few of the other artists’ works I had included. I had also displayed my origami earrings, which were a big hit! The modular boxes, the larger modular origami, the simple origami stars also garnered a lot of interest.

The other members of the Origami Society of Madras had exhibited a whole lot of models. The modular 3D pieces were a major hit! They were quite colourful and though simple, they look very complex, don’t they? As for me, I especially liked the collection of origami dogs. I liked the way they were folded and how sturdy they were! A couple of tessellations were also folded. Stephan Weber’s bull was another model I liked.

Among the other arts that were displayed, the most eye-catching was the Japanese clay art. Beautiful flowers are hand-crafted from clay and are assembled into bouquets, flower arrangements, ornaments and accessories. They look incredibly life-like and in fact, were often thought to be Ikebana (Japanese flower arrangement) by the visitors! The festival also included a demonstration, with an artist explaining how the petals are individually formed using moulds and how these petals are then assembled into flowers and air-dried.

The next art that caught my eye was the Japanese art of flower arrangement, called Ikebana. Rather than just putting flowers in a vase, Ikebana involves arranging flowers, leaves and stalks artistically, drawing emphasis to the form and shape of the arrangment. Ikebana is minimalist in style, using the simplest and fewest number of blooms, along with stalks and leaves for a maximum effect. In addition to the arrangement, I must say I fell in love with the beautiful vases that they had used!

Japanese dolls were of course, a prominent part of the exhibition. Wooden Kokeshi dolls, Hina dolls from the Hinamatsuri (Doll Festival), a Kabuto warrior, Ichimatsu dolls of perfectly proportioned, elaborately dressed people, were displayed. Dioramas are 3D miniature models enclosed in glass containers. The exhibition featured a number of dioramas of prominent places in Japan, famous palaces with unique architecture, temples such as the World Heritage Site, Kinkaku-ji. Bonsai is the Japanese art of growing miniature trees in containers. A whole lot of bonsai plants/trees were part of the display.

The festival also included a number of demonstrations and workshops. The one that I was most interested in, was of course, the Origami workshop. This went on for more than half a day and the participants folded quite a few models, including a butterfly, a bird, talking lips. The participants included a number of children and they had a lovely time folding all these models. Martial arts, clay art, bonsai were also demonstrated.

The festival was fun and I enjoyed myself immensely. I got to know quite a few fellow origamists, found that children enjoyed learning and folding origami, got to know some of the lesser-known Japanese arts. And now I think I need to fold kusudamas and be ready for the next exhibit – there was not one kusudama in the entire origami collection!

1. Ride on, ride on in majesty
as all the crowds “Hosanna!” cry;
through waving branches slowly ride,
O Savior, to be crucified.

2. Ride on, ride on in majesty,
in lowly pomp ride on to die;
O Christ, your triumph now begin
o’er captive death and conquered sin!

3. Ride on, ride on in majesty,
the last and fiercest foe defy;
the Father on his sapphire throne
awaits his own anointed Son.

4. Ride on, ride on in majesty,
in lowly pomp ride on to die;
bow your meek head to mortal pain,
then take, O God, your power and reign!

Let’s start. All we need is half a palm leaf, removed from the central vein and a pair of scissors. The tutorial will result in a cross that is about 6 inches in height.

1. Measure and cut the palm leaf to 20 inches. It helps if the size of the leaf is more or less the same throughout. So cut off the top bit, where the leaf narrows down and the bottom bit where it is quite thick, and cut out 20 inches from the remaining leaf.

2. Holding the leaf straight up, fold down the top half of the leaf at 10 inches from the bottom. Fold the leaf forward and ensure that it is perpendicular to the straight  bit.

3. Fold the bit from Step 2 around and behind the straight part of the leaf. The fold will now be in the opposite direction to the previous step.

3A. This is a close up of the folded corner.  You should be able to see the little right-angled triangle, formed from Steps 2 and 3.

4. Fold the arm in the right, again to the left, so that the right-angled triangle (Step 3A) is now hidden. Ensure that this fold is in the front and not behind the previous folds.

5. Now, make a small look (about 2 inches) and again fold to the right. This forms the first arm of the cross.

6. Repeat on the left, to get the second arm of the cross. But ensure that this fold is inbetween 2 layers. You should be near the end of the leaf now. So the last bit will go behind the fold in Step 5 and before the crease of Step 4.

6A. This gives the side view of the layers where the 2 arms of the cross meet. You can see the last bit of the leaf tucked inbetween 2 layers.

7. Almost there! Next, fold down all the layers (the 2 arms of the cross), so that the back of the cross is now seen. You should now be able to see a little square where the arms meet. Ensure that you do not let go of any of the layers here.

8. Now take the other end of the leaf and insert it into the square of the junction of the 2 arms. This might be tricky the first time. If you look into the little square, you will be able to see a little triangle (folded in Step 3). Now the leaf should be inserted above the triangle and below the square. This is the most crucial step that holds the cross together.

9. Slowly pull the end upwards completely. When it is fully through, it will lock the two arms in place. Now the difficult bits are over

10. Reinsert the long arm (now at the top), back into the square, as in the previous step. Pull it down slowly and stop when you have about 2 inches between the top and the square junction. This forms the 3 arm of the cross. The bottom bit is the fourth arm.

Your cross is now complete

The two side arms can be adjusted, in case you feel they are not proportionate. And once you have completed the cross a couple of times, you can just eye-ball the length and finish off the cross in a jiffy..

Hope you have a blessed Palm Sunday.