May the peace and blessings of Christmas be yours. And may the coming year be filled with happiness.

Merry Christmas!
 
More newspaper weaving! This attempt was more successful I think. I decided to go with Christmas colours, since anyway, these decorations were for Christmas. 

For these bells, I rolled newspaper tubes (about 150 in total), split them into 2, used acrylic colours mixed with glue and water to paint the 2 sets and allowed the tubes to dry completely. 

Once the tubes were dry, as with my last attempt, I used a bell form and wove these ornaments. The woven bells were themselves quite robust, but to add a little shine and sturdiness, I coated them with polyurethene. Allowed to dry and lo and behold, 2 beautiful ornaments ready for Christmas! 

Model Details:

Model: Woven Christmas Bell

Origin: Traditional

Difficulty Level: Low Intermediate

Model Size: ~5 inches tall 

Tutorial (making newspaper tubes): Youtube

Newspaper Weaving is one art that fascinates me, though till date, I have not been very good at it. But for this year's Christmas, I decided to try some ornaments using weaving. And this Christmas bell is one of my first attempts. 

For this bell, I first rolled newspaper tubes, colored them using acrylic paints, wove the bell using a form and finally coated with polyurethane.
Lots of work, but I am loving it! 

Model Details:

Model: Woven Christmas Bell

Origin: Traditional

Difficulty Level: Low Intermediate

Model Size: ~5 inches tall
Every once in a while, I get obsessed with an origami design and keep making it again and again. My last one was Dasa Severova's Origami Woven Star, a modular star made from 16 units.

I tried the model with ombré shades of green, blue and pink and would have continued if I had managed to get my hands on more colours!!

The design is simple and works well with small squares - I had used 3 inch squares and this resulted in a star of about 5.5 inches diameter. The star is also very stable and the units lock well, so no glue required.


Model Details:

Model: Woven Star  

Creator: Dasa Severova

Difficulty Level: Low Intermediate

Paper Ratio: Square

Paper Size: 3 inches

Model Size: ~5.5 inches in diameter

Modules: 16

Tutorial: How to fold the units, How to join the units 


After completing my last 2 Tomoko Fuse designs made from 120 units each, I decided to try one of her simpler models - this simple open frame cube, made from 12 square units.

I have used 3 colours and 4 units of each colour. The squares had a side of 4 inches and the end result was a frame of about 3 inches.

Model Details:

Model: Open Frame - Cube

Creator: Tomoko Fuse

Book: Unit Origami

Difficulty Level: Low Intermediate

Paper Ratio: Square

Paper Size: 4 inches

Model Size: ~3 inches in diameter

Modules: 12

Tutorial: Youtube
Recently, I purchased the book 'Geometric Origami' by Faye G. Goldman. The book contains various models based on Heinz Strobl's Snapology method.

A few years back, I had tried my first snapology origami and made an icosahedron. And now with the purchase of this book, I decided to work on the model titled 'Egg'. It was interesting for me because it was the only asymmetrical model in the book. On completing the project, I think it will make a good Easter egg. Maybe one can add some chocolates inside the egg - though I have no clue how we can get them out!!

The principal for the Egg Snapology remains the same and requires a total of 2 squares, 8 pentagons and 16 flower-like units, assembled from 6 triangles. The 2 squares form the top and bottom of the egg. The flower units surround the 4 arms of the square and the 8 pentagons.

I had used 1-inch quilling strips for the whole project, so while theoretically the egg was an easy project, the size of the strips made it pretty challenging for me. On a side note, kudos to all the origamists who make tiny, micro origami!

Model Details:

Model: Snapology Egg

Creator: Heinz Strobl

Book: Geometric Origami

Author: Faye Goldman

Difficulty Level: High Intermediate

Paper Ratio: 1-inch quilling strips

Model Size: ~4 inches in diameter
Since in recent days, I have been trying out many modular origami. I wanted to try out the inverse of the previous model I had folded - the 120-unit rhombic icosahedron using Tomoko Fuse's double-sided convex hexagonal rings. This time, I had used concave modules. As before, this one is also made of 120 modules.

This model turned out to be one of my most challenging. Mainly because this was like assembling the model upside down! And initially quite a few times, I started assembling the pieces as I would a regular icosahedron, with the cones pointing out. Then I had to undo and reassemble correctly. A lot of painful rework! Also, as the assembly progressed, I found that there were a few instances when I just couldn't get that little tab (the one that inserts into the adjourning section?) in place. Finally, I just gave up, but the model is so tight that there is no way the pieces will slip out. I can even use it as a football I think :)

Model Details:

Model: Double-sided Concave Hexagonal Ring 120 unit Rhombic Icosahedron 

Creator: Tomoko Fuse

Book: Unit Polyhedron Origami
 
Author: Tomoko Fuse
 
Difficulty Level: Complex

Paper Ratio: Rectangle in ratio 1:2

Paper Size: 3.4 inches by 1.7 inches

Model Size: ~4 inches in diameter

Modules: 120

The Rhombic Icosahedron from Tomoko Fuse's book 'Unit Polyhedron Origami' is folded from 120 rectangular units. The assembly of this model is a serious test of patience! Folding the units took me a couple of days - it is no joke folding 60 yellow and 60 blue units! Assembly took me nearly half a day, a whole lot of patience and the aid of a couple of toothpicks. I was so tempted to tear the whole thing when I was assembling the last few pieces. Only the thought of folding another 120 pieces kept from doing it :)

The model is very sturdy. Well, I had used 80 gsm paper, so that was a very good decision in my view. Before assembling the model, I completed the 12 5-unit yellow centers first. Then I proceeded to add the blue units in the 3 and 4-unit assembly. In fact, I think if I had assembled the 3-unit blue sets as well, that would have made it even easier.

Altogether, a good, challenging model for me. There is another 120-unit model made from concave units, which would be the inverse of this model. I hope to do it. Some time, hopefully in the near future!

Model Details:

Model: Double-sided Convex Hexagonal Ring 120 unit Rhombic Icosahedron 

Creator: Tomoko Fuse

Book: Unit Polyhedron Origami
 
Author: Tomoko Fuse
 
Difficulty Level: Complex

Paper Ratio: Rectangle in ratio 1:2

Paper Size: 3.4 inches by 1.7 inches

Model Size: ~6 inches in diameter

Modules: 120

Tutorial: Youtube
Maria Vakhrusheva's Fiesta Kusudama origami is a model that I discovered recently. It is a fairly simple and elegant model and I love the way mine has turned out. I had used origami paper that was dark blue on one side and light blue on the other.

There are 2 ways of assembly - the 3-unit cones look more traditional, so I opted for the 5-unit cone.

Model Details:

Model: Fiesta Kusudama

Creator: Maria Vakhrusheva

Diagram: The Fold Magazine (for registered members only)

Difficulty Level: Low Intermediate

Paper Ratio: Square

Paper Size: 3 inches

Model Size: 5 inches diameter

Number of Modules: 30

Tutorial: Youtube
The next model that I tried from my recently bought copy of Ekaterina Lukasheva’s new book ‘Modern Kusudama Origami' is the Centaurea Flower. It is a very pleasant looking model which requires duo-coloured paper. I used paper that was solid pink on one side and had little flowers on the other.

The model was of intermediate difficulty. I liked the way the petals shaped up. While the suggested paper size was 7 cms, I used 7.5 cm squares. The end result was a kusudama ball, about 5 inches in diameter.

Model Details:

Model: Centaurea Cyanus

Model: Ekaterina Lukasheva

Book: Modern Kusudama Origami

Author: Ekaterina Lukasheva

Difficulty Level: Low Intermediate

Paper Ratio: Square

Paper Size: 3 inches

Model Size: 5 inches diameter

Number of Modules: 30

After a long gap, I am back to folding and updating my blog! Recently I bought Ekaterina Lukasheva's new book 'Modern Kusudama Origami'. And now I am enjoying folding the models. I decided I will start folding from the beginning and start with the models that needed square sheets of paper. There are quite a few models folded from rectangles too.

The first few models are stars and flowerets which I haven't tried out as yet. I was more keen on trying the actual kusudamas and started with the model named 'Rio'. It reminds me of Mio Tsugawa's 'Arabesque'.

The kusudama is made from 30 square modules. The book recommends paper of size 7 cm * 7 cm. I used 7.5 cm by 7.5 cm, orange/yellow paper. For some reason, initially I found connecting the modules very difficult. I think my origami brain has rusted! Finally I did figure out how the flap goes into the pocket. After that, the process was quite easy.

Model Details:

Model: Rio

 Creator: Ekaterina Lukasheva

Book: Modern Kusudama Origami

Author: Ekaterina Lukasheva

Difficulty Level: Low Intermediate

Paper Ratio: Square

Paper Size: 3 inches

Model Size: 6 inches diameter

Number of Modules: 30