Curious Charisma

Be Back Soon

2013-07-16T09:18:00.000-07:00

For the last four weeks I have been in Rome, Italy and enjoying the sites but will be back to regular blogging on Tuesdays and Thursdays on July 25th.

Feel free to check out the archives for my old posts or find and fold something new under the resources tab.

Hope you're having a good summer!

Yellow Makes Me Happy

2013-07-09T09:11:00.000-07:00

The yellow origami paper I have is such a cheery color, it always manages to brighten my day. Know what else brightens my day? Rubber duckies. And this one can even float in your bath! (though it might get kinda soggy)

This model is by Jeremy Schafer which I found on the Ultimate Origami Resource site under misc. It is rated three stars out of five and is definitely would be achievable for a low intermediate folder. There's not any sinking, just lots of petal folds.

Time for Tea

2013-07-02T08:50:00.000-07:00

It's always fun to discover new origami sites. Resources that are hidden in the recesses of the internet. This week I came across the website Zen of Origami with quite a nice collection of diagrams free for non-commercial use. The model on this site that caught my eye was the simple, yet elegant teapot by Ching-Yu.

I really liked the lines of the design. The spout and handle are just how I imagine them to be on a proper teapot used for high tea!

Or, if tea isn't up your alley, a similar fold is the magic lamp! Rub your cares away with some wishes from a genie who lives in your origami lamp.

The Animals Return!

2013-06-25T08:29:00.000-07:00

The problem with origami is once you get folding a certain theme, you can't fold just two models. I mean. come on! So here is week two of animal origami. This time we have an orange giraffe (without the spots) from the Montroll's Animal Origami for the Enthusiast, same as last week. Also when I was browsing around Happy Folding for inspiration, this adorable armadillo caught my eye. This one is a winner for sure and you can find the hand drawn diagrams here on the site.

This giraffe is an intermediate fold. It requires some sinking, but for the most part the instructions are clear.

This armadillo was quite enjoyable to make, from the large opened ears to the pleated body armour folds. I believe this is the first model I've folded by Anita Barbour and look forward to folding more in the future.

Ok, goal for next week: something besides animal models!

Animals in the Woods

2013-06-18T07:58:00.000-07:00

These next folds are from Animal Origami for the Enthusiast by John Montroll. Animal origami is my favorite category of models because of the creativity of portraying the limbs of each animal. There are also very standard 'base' forms for four-legged creatures and two legged creatures which makes creating your own species of animal much easier. All you need to do is design the details.

These models are both at the low intermediate level. The bear is especially good for a first try.

This orange fox is a fun fold because of the formation of the tail which is its most prominent feature.

This brown bear (possibly a native Californian like myself ?) turned out much cuter than I thought it would from looking at the book. The dimensions of the face are simple to form but create the cutest expression on the face.

Also it is unique in that the legs are not separate appendages folded down, but rather an extension of the body folded around.

He's definitely a keeper! What are your favorite origami animals?

Money folds part 2

2013-06-11T13:11:00.000-07:00

Sorry for the break, I'm on finals schedule here so time is at a premium! Besides that, on Monday I am off to Italy for 4 weeks so I have few posts set up in my absence. Other than that, I will be back to regular at the end of July. Hooray summer!

So back to business, today I'm showing you part two of the dollar bill folds from last Tuesday.

This shark is a fun fold, not too difficult. the sharp folds and creases for the fins are very visually pleasing.

Next is the double crane, twin cranes, or atomic crane as I have heard it called. I guess because if cranes were exposed to radiation their mutation would look like this? Who knows...but I do know this model is fun to fold if you love the traditional original.

Well, time to fly away...have a great start to summer and I'll be back in a month!

Dollar time!

2013-06-06T23:27:00.000-07:00

Though traditional, and preferred by many, origami creations are not always folded from a square piece of paper. Often they are made from a rectangle with a specific ratio or a different geometric shape altogether. One such rectangle that has been worked with a lot in origami is the dollar bill! Currency folding has become a very fun facet of origami. Dollar bills are fairly common and many playful folds, based off the currency's artwork, have been developed. I myself was not much of a fan for awhile, not wanting to destroy any money that I might have had hanging around as a young adult. However, after a gift from a friend one Christmas, I decided to give it a try.

This book by Won Park also came with some (lots!) of practice currency which makes the folding process a lot easier.

My first attempt was with the penguin. Here is a halfway folded view...

...and the final product.

Next up is a bit more challenging model. The camera model folds up into a box like a rectangular masu box, but has a few tweaks on the outside to make it look like a camera. One large tweak where the extra length of a dollar bill comes in handy is the lens. The circular shape comes from tucking two flaps into one another and then rounding out the connecting without the flaps coming undone (that's the tricky part!).

As the diagrams demand a bit more precision and sharply creased folds I wasn't sure how well I would be able to recreate the model, but I was pleasantly surprised with the end result.

I was fairly impressed with the detail of this model, while retaining a very fresh simplicity. It has two buttons and a flash that add just the right amount of character.

Even though the practice currency isn't a perfect replica in terms of size ratio (which is very difficult to achieve I have found), the crispness and convenience well outweigh that flaw.

So if you're looking for a new direction in origami, or a fun distraction, I highly suggest dollar bill origami. There are many simple, as well as complex, folds available with a cursory search online, or wherever you finds your diagrams. Have fun!

Origami Viking Ship

2013-05-30T23:57:00.000-07:00

I've decided the take what I will call the "Jenna Marbles" approach to posting: as long as it's up sometime on Thursday, its still counts as my scheduled Thursday post ;) Or I hear it also goes by the procrastination method as well.

Well, back to the origami. Today is an example of all the wonderful traits that develop from folding origami. In my experience the benefits of origami are increased patience, devotion to a project for hours, sharpened sensitivity to the fragile paper and an increased outlet for creativity. All of these traits can be seen in the viking ship modeled today--or as I like to call it, the "dragon boat"! This model was diagrammed and designed by Robert Lang and can be found in his book, pictured above.

I first folded this design over a month ago on my usual experimental paper: an 8.5in square made from standard printer paper. By the end it had turned out quite small (which made it very cute), but still the folds were not near as precise as I wished them to be.

Just over a week ago it was my birthday, and as I was clearing out the wrapping paper and cards I decided to save a particularly large unwrinkled and barely creased piece of wrapping paper. I thought maybe down the road I would have a clever origami use for it. And also it was a shame to throw such a nice piece of paper away :)

Then it occurred to me that the large rectangular size would be great for this model because of the irregular starting shape-- 1:4.6667. or 4 and 2/3 if you prefer the more accurate version (which I do). The only problem with such a large piece of paper was it was a little stiff and ripped easily on the crease lines, which is probably a general fault of nice, sturdy wrapping paper.

Anyhow, I persevered to create this masterpiece, which while still not perfect, was an improvement and a good experiment. Even the colors turned out well! And then I couldn't help taking a photo or two of the dragon boat family. The little one looks so cute in comparison. And it makes for a good story of perseverance in origami. If it doesn't go well the first time, take break and come back to it with fresh eyes, you'll be amazed at the difference a lil' breather can make!

Recently...

2013-05-28T20:10:00.000-07:00

Some things I have been folding recently:

a regal lion by Nicolás G Henríquez,

the card players by Eugeny Fridrikh, (pdf can be found on this website)

and a biplane from Robert Lang's The Complete Book of Origami.

The biplane is a truly great model. I folded my model from a square made from an 8.5 x 11 in piece of printer paper. I wasn't sure how my first attempt would turn out, but I was really impressed with the end result.

Just like one the Wright bros would fly!

Hope you're having a good tuesday and a somewhat easy return to the working world.

Let's do some spelling

2013-05-23T11:45:00.000-07:00

...with origami letters, that is! The letters you've seen in my previous posts have been folded thanks to the designs of Jo Nakashima. this playlist of almost all the alphabet letters (in caps and lowercase) is a really great go-to resource whenever I want some simple folded paper letters to illustrate a post.

These letters aren't too hard and mostly rely on good management of pleating folds, all clearly demonstrated in the videos. The thing I like best about Jo Nakashima's videos is the little diagram in the corner for each step that illustrates what he is about to do. This makes it very easy to get the placement of the folds correct.

If you're looking for a simple, fun origami project to do, look no further! You can spell out your name like I did...or a caption of a new origami model you've made...or anything really! have fun :)

Geometric Fun with Flowers

2013-05-21T13:29:00.002-07:00

This next set of flowers was inspired by a page I saw in a book at the library. A traditional iris was next to irises with three, five and six petals that had been folded from an equilateral triangle, a pentagon and a hexagon. This alteration is so simple, really. all you have to do is fold the equivalent of a square, or preliminary, base from these other geometric shapes and proceed normally from there with a few additional petal flaps (or one less).

The traditional iris in purple,

an iris from an equilateral triangle in pink,

a six-petal iris from a hexagon in sky blue,

and a cornflower blue iris folded from a pentagon.

These were really fun to fold and they make me want to experiment with other traditional folds using other shapes. I think the iris folded from the pentagon is my favorite. The asymmetry a flower with an odd number of petals has is beautiful and looks especially natural.

It's really warming up around here in California, and I'm getting into the flower mood with these last few posts.

Happy Springtime!

Flower power

2013-05-16T10:59:00.000-07:00

Flowers are one of my favorite origami models to fold. There are so many variations--just in roses alone!

Of course the Kawasaki rose is a classic, but the variations on that theme are just as fun.

For the variations on a classics, I folded a QT rose from this old faithful origami website,

a jewelry rose on the bottom left,

a swirl rose in orange,

and my favorite--a full bloom Kawasaki rose (bottom).

This site has other flowers as well, one of the most unique of these being the cosmo flower. This model perfectly captures the persona of the big, colorful easy to grow flowers that I love to have in my garden.

Oh, and if you're curious, the folded letters design is from Jo Nakashima's youtube channel. I'll be doing a segment on them next week.

Go to your library!

2013-05-13T22:04:00.003-07:00

...they have great books there! And you might make a new discovery. I like to see if they have any cool origami books that I might not buy on my own but look fun to try!

This week I found this gem: Practical Origami by Rick Beech

Inspired by the arrangement on the cover, I decided to bring a little springtime to my shelf with this tulip/vase combo.

a vision of springtime

oh hello there...

Next up: a cute lil' peacock out of white (boring) paper. It was just a practice model I did on a whim.

After that I experimented in modular origami. It's not always my favorite, but I'm not afraid to try, once in awhile.

Not too bad?

There quite a few fun/action folds in this collection too. So, next time you're at your local library, check out the craft/hobby section for a new adventure in paperfolding.

Back and better than ever!

2013-05-11T20:47:00.000-07:00

I'm ready to enter the blogging world for real this time! These pictures are a preview of what's to come.

see you soon!

Christmas is coming

2012-11-30T04:00:00.000-08:00

A preview of what's to come...

Christmas is coming, yay! So much seasonal origami is coming. I have so much planned: the twelve days of Christmas in origami, the manger scene en papier and an origami-themed advent calendar!

I haven't decided on the advent calendar yet. Any suggestions or advent calendar inspiration out there? What Christmas origami models do you love the most?

Recently...

2012-11-28T04:00:00.000-08:00

Hello, here are some recent things I've been folding: a cute 3-D elephant, a sea star from a new book, and a cool star box.

Sea star is from The complete book of origami by Robert Lang, and the star box is from GoOrigami.
Hope you're having a wonderful day!

An experiment in Tesselations

2012-11-26T04:00:00.000-08:00

So... I'm not the biggest fan of tessellations or modular origami, for that matter. I like the image/nature-orientated origami and am not as much into the geometric parts/repetition side. However recently I decided to give it a try with a design I really like. Hydrangea by Shuzo Fujimoto is fairly simple for 3 layers and after several practice rounds I decided to add multiple layers. Here's my model progression.

-traditional 3 layers

-four layers out of a square made from letter paper, hence the binder hole

-5 layers!

-a tiny one with 3 layers

-the whole family, with a pretty pink original

-another 'family portrait'; monochromatic this time

It turned out to be a pretty enjoyable experience. I realized more layers required more paper to work with-- aka larger paper. Although I didn't get up to as many levels in the video, it still was very rewarding :)

Woodland creatures

2012-11-22T15:19:00.000-08:00

Well, I was all ready to devote my time to some Thanksgiving decor when I hit a wall. There are very few origami designs out there for Turkey day. Yes, a few turkeys, but nothing too advanced or elegant. So I decided to make a bunch of other fall creatures to join my lone turkey.

turkey. instructions: 'thanksgiving turkey' on Origami Resource Center.

frog on a lily-pad. instructions: by Collin Weber.

fox. instructions: YouTube.

squirrel (and apple). forgot to take pics of this one before i gave it to my friend to fuel her squirrel obsession. instructions: YouTube

I really like how the frog on a lily pad design turned out. Using double sided paper definitely helps complete the look. Otherwise half the pad is white and half is the frog's color. A lot of the themed origami designs come from happypuppytruffles on YouTube. Check out her designs here. Most of them are great for beginners/intermediates.

Halloween time!

2012-10-31T14:48:00.000-07:00

As always there's no better time for folding origami than the holidays, the first of which is Halloween! Origami spiders, bats and jack-o-lanterns make the perfect spooky decor. For my Halloween collection this year I even added a bit of kirigami (paper cutting) with some easy spider webs!
Enjoy!

skeleton hand. instructions on YouTube.

bat. instructions: Mantler's Bat.

jack-o-lantern. instructions on YouTube.

spider. instructions on origami-instructions.com.

spider web. instructions: YouTube.

All in all I'm fairly pleased with this spooky Halloween group. The skeleton hand is an elegant design as it looks complex but in reality is quite simple. The spider involves some cutting, which means it's not true origami, but even I bend my rules for seasonal decor. This was my first time doing the jack-o-lantern which I really like and made me wish I had letter size orange paper. oh well, live and learn...

Brand new 'buds

2012-09-27T05:00:00.000-07:00

I've got some brand new 'buds! Well, earbuds that is... my old Apple freebies have been worn to pieces by my overuse and torn to pieces thanks to my puppy dog, Rosie. When I saw this tutorial on Crochet Clouds I thought I most certainly could give it a go. I have plenty of embroidery floss hanging around -- in my favorite colors too!

So here's my take on Gina's tutorial you can find here.

What do you think? I didn’t change much up from the original, but I would say you probably don't need four full skeins of embroidery floss. I barely used two skeins of 2.75 meters each. I really like the finished product, which hopefully won't tangle as badly as the original. Practical and pretty, what a deal :)

New Season, New Plan

2012-09-26T21:37:00.000-07:00

Summer is over, fall is upon us and school has started up again. All the turnovers and new beginnings have given me an opportunity to renew this blog. New look, new purpose.

This blog will be home to all my origami shenanigans and the occasional DIY project. I've got some big plans for the future including flower week/month, the Twelve days of Christmas and a Nativity scene of folded paper alone! Hopefully, in the not-too-distant future, I'll be able to get a successful origami jewelry store going on Etsy.

So here's to a great fall season and a productive school year!

Dollar bill diva

2011-11-04T17:17:00.000-07:00

Being able to create amazing objects, animals, decorations, and more out of a single piece of paper is great because all you need is a scrap of used paper and some willing hands. And what is more easily accessible than a dollar bill? Granted cash is more scarce these days with the advent of all those plastic credit cards, but still the art exists.

The art of folding money origami.

The proportions are different than those we are used to dealing with in traditional origami but that doesn't make it any less fun. This article is enough to inspire me to fold some money creations!

wall decor

2011-10-21T20:03:00.000-07:00

As promised, here is a look at the wall decor I created from my favorite quotes and cutesy origami designs.

--- holistic views ---

>>>

--- up close and personal ---

~ ~ ~

. . .

I'm loving the seahorse next to Margaret Mitchell. good combo, yes?

All in all I'm quite pleased with the way this turned out. i ended up with a good ratio of quotes to pics to origami. (I was worried I had too many at first--what a surprise ;)

the latest creations

2011-10-14T14:27:00.000-07:00

For the last few days I have been finishing up my origami and quote designs to go upon my wall which will appear on next week's Friday feature. So until then I'll leave you with some of my more recent designs folded just for fun and to please my nerdy, star wars loving friends :)

seahorse

swallowtail butterfly

Crane box

(I love all the cool designs incorporating crane motifs)

head of C3PO, droid from Star Wars

X-wing, type of starcraft from Star Wars

I hope you'll be inspired like I am when looking at the engaging folds of others and will return for next week's Friday feature!

fold some love

2011-10-07T17:14:00.000-07:00

Every wall decoration needs a little love...so even though the color pink and I aren't good friends I made some pink polka doted hearts to put with the rest of my decor. Hearts are so simple yet there are so many variations.

One of my favorite origami sites is Origami Club. They have a great selection of cute adaptations of hearts for any season, not just Valentine's Day. Here are my editions to add to my wall.

Have a good weekend and I'll see you on Monday for some mantra!