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

The Origami Star Dodecahedron is one of the many models that can be folded using the SIP (Six Intersection Pentagrams) Unit. The SIP model was co-discovered independently by Francesco Mancini, Jared Needle and Leong Cheng Chit. The same unit can be used to fold the Star Icosidodecahedron (60 units), the Star Dodecahedron (30 units) and the Star Prism (15 units). And since I tend to fold a lot of 30-unit models, I tried out the star dodecahedron :)

The units are fairly easy to fold and assemble. I had used handmade marble paper and am quite pleased with the way it turned out. And I absolutely love the ethnic feel that the background adds to the picture! 😍

Model Details:

Model: Star Dodecahedron

Creator: Francesco Mancini

Difficulty Level: High Intermediate

Paper Ratio: Rectangle in ratio 1:2

Paper Size: 4 inches * 2 inches

Model Size: 7 inches in diameter

Modules: 30

Diagram: Creating Origami (The pdf provides the instructions for the Six Integrating Pentagram model, but the first page of the pdf has the diagrams for folding the unit)

Tutorial: Youtube 

The Poinsettia Floral Ball is a beautiful kusudama from Meenakshi Mukerji's book 'Marvelous Modular Origami'. I have been wanting to make this model for quite some time, but never got around to it! So when I got some pretty pink wrapping paper, I finally gave it a go. Well, red paper would have been the obvious choice for a poinsettia flower, I do realize, but I kinda liked this paper for the model.

The modules are pretty easy to fold. Assembly is also fairly simple. The lock is quite strong, but I did end up adding a little glue to a few corners. All these ball-like modulars tend to get thrown about a bit, so always makes sense to add some glue at the joints. The floral ball is fairly large - mine was about 5.5 inches in diameter (I had used rectangle that were 4 inches by 2 inches).

The book provides quite a few variations in the floral balls and hopefully, I will soon get around to folding those as well :)

Model Details:

Model: Poinsettia Floral Ball

Creator: Meenakshi Mukerji

Book: Marvelous Modular Origami

Author: Meenakshi Mukerji

Difficulty Level: Low Intermediate

Paper Ratio: Rectangle in ratio 1:2

Paper Size: 4 inches * 2 inches

Model Size: ~5.5 inches in diameter

Modules: 30

I have not been the most active blogger these days, mainly because I am experimenting with paper jewelry and well, that is pretty time-consuming. Though I enjoy making paper jewelry, there is nothing like folding a good solid modular origami to get one back in the blogging game! This modular icosahedron is a fairly easy model to complete and is folded from half a square. So 15 squares, cut into half gives the 30 rectangles required for the icosahedron. The base unit is Lewis Simon's Triangle Edge Module.

Some points to note:

* I worked with coloured copy paper (80 gsm), which resulted in a good, sturdy model.

* If you are working with single sided paper, be sure to start with the coloured paper facing down (as given in the diagram).

* If your model is going to be tossed around (and believe me, this icosahedron very quickly becomes a football!), then be sure to add a dab of glue at the joints.

Model Details:

Model: Icosahedron from Triangle Edge Modules

Creator: Lewis Simon

Book: 3D Geometric Origami

Authors: Lewis Simon, Bennett Arnstein and Rona Gurkewitz

Difficulty Level: Low Intermediate

Paper Ratio: Rectangle

Paper Size: 3.5 inches * 1.75 inches

Model Size: ~3 inches

Modules: 30

Tutorial: Youtube 

While folding the origami Mina from my previous post, I realised that it resembled Mio Tsugawa's Arabesque. Except of course, that for the arabesque the flaps are curled to give that rounded, softer look and we do not do that for the mina.

That does not mean we cannot add those curls :) So that is what I did. And it turned out to be exactly like the arabesque. In fact, comparatively speaking, I found the mina easier to assemble than the arabesque.

For this model, I worked with shades of orange and I am quite delighted with the outcome. Since I had orange yarn, I ended up making a tassle and converted my kusudama into an ornament. The problem is, I am so in love with the ornament that I have no intention of hanging it anywhere and allowing it to get dull or dirty! So it is already packed and kept safe, to be taken out only for special occasions and exhibitions :)

Model Details:

Model: Mina 

Creator: Enrica Dray

Difficulty Level: High Intermediate

Paper Ratio: Square

Paper Size: 3 inch squares

Model Size: ~4 inches in diameter

Modules: 30

Diagram: Origami Modulari

The origami Mina is a modular origami designed by Enrica Dray. The model is a dodecahedron, assembled from 30 squares of paper.

The individual modules are pretty easy to fold. Assembling is done without any glue. Once you slide a flap into a pocket, it holds very well and taking it apart gives trouble. So the model is very stable and does not require any glue at all.

There are 2 ways to assemble the model - when joining the modules, we align the creases between the modules. Folding this crease down ie., making it into a valley fold, gives the first assembly. Folding it up and turning it into a mountain fold gives the second assembly. I have done the second version.

Model Details:

Model: Mina 

Creator: Enrica Dray

Difficulty Level: High Intermediate

Paper Ratio: Square

Paper Size: 3 inch squares

Model Size: ~4 inches in diameter

Modules: 30

Diagram: Origami Modulari 

One of my favourite modular origami is Tomoko Fuse's Little Turtle Kusudama. I had made them a couple of years back, using beautiful, vibrant paper.

I had a workshop coming up and wanted to remake this model, since my previous kusudamas have been distributed long back! While previously, I had using paper that had colourful flowers on a white background, this time I wanted to go with a softer tone. And I quite like the paper I have used - cream coloured paper with a gold pattern on it. I had bought this paper more than a year back and found it while going through my huge stack of paper. 

What say you? Does it look good? Or is it too dull?

PS: While entering the model details, I realised that I had previously marked the difficulty as high intermediate. Well, it was quite difficult for me then. But now, I think it is a low intermediate model. So what do I do? For now, I am going to continue marking it as high intermediate, because my blog is mostly used by beginner origamists. And I believe I need to re-look at my past posts to ensure that the difficulty level is labelled correctly ie., for beginner origamists :)

Model Details:

Model: Little Turtle Kusudama 

Creator: Tomoko Fuse

Book: Multidimensional Transformations Unit Origami
 
Author: Tomoko Fuse
 
Difficulty Level: High Intermediate

Paper Ratio: Square

Paper Size: 3 inch squares

Model Size: ~4 inches in diameter

Modules: 30

Tutorial: Youtube 

Hacky Sack is a football game played by 2 players. The origami hacky sack is an angled modular made from 30 units. The design is by Winson Chan. The modules are not too difficult to fold. The assembly is slightly more complicated and the end result is a very solid sphere that does not require any glue.

The sphere is assembled in modules of 3 and then joined together into pentagons. And joining 30 units results in the dodecahedron, with little triangular corners and a whole lot of open spaces.

I found it an interesting and artistic model to fold. And I must say I love the combination that I have chosen as well. The combination of green-yellow-orange is always a pleasure to look at. Makes one think of bright, sunny days!

Model Details:

Model: Hacky Sack 

Creator: Winson Chan

Difficulty Level: High Intermediate

Paper Ratio: Square

Paper Size: 4 inch squares

Model Size: ~6.5 inches in diameter

Modules: 30

Diagram: Origamidiagram.com 

The Dodecaedro Traforato or Perforated Dodecahedron is a modular origami by Silvana Betti Mamino. Like most modular origami, the modules are pretty easy to fold. They are folded from a A4 sheet. Well, the A4 is actually cut into 4 rectangles horizontally. I felt A4 strips would be too big, so worked with A5 sheet cut into 4 rectangles. Worked perfectly well :) I used printer paper - 5 colours and 6 strips in each colour.

Folding printer paper wasn't that easy - 80 gsm paper requires more effort to fold than 60 gsm, doesn't it? Assembling for me, was the most challenging part. The reason was because of the colours. I wanted to ensure that there was some kind of uniformity in the assembly and after 3 attempts, I finally managed it I think.

The modules hold together without glue once fully assembled. But I didn't find it terribly stable, so if you will be moving it about, then a little glue helps. If you are assembling without glue, ensure you have a whole bunch of paper clips to hold the modules in place.

Model Details:

Model: Dodecaedro Traforato

Creator: Silvana Betti Mamino

Difficulty Level: High Intermediate

Paper Ratio: Rectangles from A5

Paper Size: 2.1 inches by 5.8 inches

Model Size: 4.5 inches diameter

Number of Modules: 30

Instruction: Modulandia.it

I recently ordered a lot of origami paper from Kim's Crane and am now thrilled with my supply of beautiful origami paper :) And since I had so much of variety, I decided to start off making Christmas decorations from them. And, I think the most common origami decoration for Christmas must be the Sonobe!

So here are a whole lot of origami sonobes made in a variety of colours and patterns, all set for Christmas. I am yet to add satin ribbons for hanging them from and I will be all set. I also ended up making a few Christmas stars, which you can see scattered around.

I worked on both 30-unit and 12-unit models. All using 3-inch squares, so all of them ended up pretty much the same size.

Model Details:

Model: Sonobe

Creator: Mitsunobu Sonobe

Difficulty Level: Low Intermediate

Paper Ratio: Square

Paper Size: 3 inch squares

Model Size: 3-inch in diameter

Modules: 12 or 30

Tutorial: Youtube 

The Ari Jigoku or Ant Lion’s Nest is a modular origami, designed by Silvana Betti Mamino. The units are made from rectangles in the ratio 1:2. A total of 30 units are required. The curls should be completed before the assembly. The completed kusudam is very sturdy and does not require any glue.

The origami looks best in solid duo coloured paper. I also tried one with wrapper paper but unfortunately, the curls do not show up very well, so it wasn’t much of a success.

Model Details:

Model: Ari Jigoku

Creator: Silvana Betti Mamino

Book: Unit Origami Fantasy

Author: Tomoko Fuse

Difficulty Level: High Intermediate

Paper Ratio: Rectangular in ratio 1:2

Paper Size: 3 inches * 1.5 inches

Number of Modules: 30

Tutorial: Stranamasterov.ru

A few months back, I had done Tomoko Fuse's Little Turtle and this time I tried a variation of that. Instead of using 3 modules, the variation uses 5 units. Other than that, everything else remains the same.

The design doesn't really need origami paper. It looks very good when done with heavy, wrapper paper that is brightly coloured. The first little turtle I had made was also from the same paper as the one I have used here :)

Model Details:

Model: Little Turtle Variation 

Creator: Tomoko Fuse

Book: Multidimensional Transformations Unit Origami
 
Author: Tomoko Fuse
 
Difficulty Level: High Intermediate

Paper Ratio: Square

Paper Size: 4 inch squares

Modules: 30

Tutorial: Youtube

The Icosahedral Star is a modular origami from Miyuki Kawamura's book 'Polyhedron Origami'. The star is made from 30 Star Modules. The modules are quite simple to make and can be used to form quite a few other stars as well such as Cube Star, Octahedral Star, Cuboctahedral Star.

Each of the pointed ends in the Icosahedral Star is made from 3 modules. 19 such points are required for the star.

The model isn't very stable though, and does require some glue. It looks good in almost any paper.

Model Details:

Model: Icosahedron Star

Creator: Miyuki Kawamura

Book: Polyhedron Origami

Author: Miyuki Kawamura

Difficulty Level: Low Intermediate

Paper Ratio: Square

Paper Size: 4 inches

Number of Modules: 30

The Stellated Dodecahedron, commonly called the Bascetta Star is a very popular modular origami and was designed by Paolo Bascetta. This spiky star becomes especially famous during the Christmas season. Though there is still some time for Christmas, I decided to give this a go.

It is a very simple design to work on and will be a good one for beginner origamist who wish to do some modular origami. As with most modular origami, folding the individual modules is an easy job and creating the star from the modules is slightly more complicated.

The design works best with dual coloured paper.

Model Details:

Model: Stellated Dodecahedron (Bascetta Star)

Creator: Paolo Bascetta

Difficulty Level: Low Intermediate

Paper Ratio: Square

Paper Size: 4 inches

Number of Modules: 30 Units

Tutorial Link: Youtube

We are already into the 7th month of the year! Amazing how time flies..

And to kickstart the second half of the year, here is Tomoko Fuse's Little Turtle kusudama. This is another favourite of kusudama folders since it is not very difficult to make but looks stunningly beautiful when made in wrapper paper. The name comes from the shape of the modules which kinda resembles a turtle :)

This kusudama is made from 30 units but can also be made from 4, 6, 12 and 24 units and there are also a lot of various possible as well.

Model Details:

Model: Little Turtle Kusudama 

Creator: Tomoko Fuse

Book: Multidimensional Transformations Unit Origami
 
Author: Tomoko Fuse
 
Difficulty Level: High Intermediate

Paper Ratio: Square

Paper Size: 4 inch squares

Modules: 30

Tutorial: Youtube

The Sham, designed by Mio Tsugawa, is a ball-like modular origami made from 30 units. The modules aren't very complicated to make and the assembly is also fairly easy. The model does not require glue to hold it together, but I did add some, so that it does not fall apart easily.

My model was supposed to be done entirely in purple but then I decided to add a band of modules in another colour. I love this combination of purple and pink. I had used a rectangle of size 6 inches by 3 inches and the resulting ball measured about 12 inches in diameter, a bit too big for my liking.

A note on the paper: I have used handmade paper for this model. This is not the best paper to use, since it does not crease well or hold shapes accurately. Hence the use of glue! But origami paper in the size 4:2 inches should result in an excellent Sham.

Model Details:

Model: Sham 

Creator: Mio Tsugawa

Difficulty Level: Low Intermediate

Paper Ratio: Rectangle in ratio 1:2

Paper Size: 6 inches * 3 inches

Model Size: ~12 inches in diameter

Modules: 30

Tutorial: Youtube

Instructions: Origamio.com

The electra icosidodecahedron, created by David Mitchell, is made up of 30 electra modules, a relatively easy module to make.

I made them with green and yellow squares of 5 inches each. The band of yellow running between the green is something that I saw in one of the videos on origaminut and I have been thinking of implementing it in one of my ornaments ever since. So here I finally got the chance to do it.

Model Details:

Model: Electra 

Creator: David Mitchell

Book: Paper Crystals

Author: David Mitchell

Difficulty Level: Low Intermediate

Paper Ratio: Square

Paper Size: 5 inches

Modules: 30

Tutorial: Youtube
SaveSave

The curler units by Herman Van Goubergen are deceptively easy to make. In fact the basic units are easy to make since they involve creating a water bomb base and curling the 4 arms towards the centre. But putting them together into a ball takes time.

The curler units can be assembled into different spherical structures. A cuboctahedron (12 units), a rhombiccuboctahedron (24 units), an icosidodecahedron (30 units) are various structures that can be made from the curler units.

What I have tried out is the Icosidodecahedron, made of 30 units i.e., 12 pentagons and 20 triangles. Each pentagon is surrounded by 5 triangles and each triangle by 3 pentagons.

The curler unit assembly looks good whether it is done in a single colour or in an abundance of colours. I did mine with a mix of colours. I got bits of all possible colours that I have with me and made my curler units. And I really liked the colourful end result :)

Model Details:

Model: Curler Icosidodecahedron 

Creator: Herman Van Goubergen

Difficulty Level: High Intermediate

Paper Ratio: Square

Paper Size: 5 inches

Model Size: ~4 inches in diameter

Modules: 30

Instructions: British Origami

Tutorial: Youtube

Well, to tell you the truth, haven't had time to try any new origami today. So thought I would share this origami Twister that I had done as part of our Christmas celebrations.

The twister or an Origami Medial Rhombic Triacontahedron is a mouthful to pronounce! The design is by Miyuki Kawamura and is made from 30 rectangles of paper, in the ration of 2.5:1. The design was published in Origami Tanteidan Volume 5. This is one of my most time-consuming origami to date. It can be held together without any glue, but I preferred gluing it in a few places so that it didn't come undone easily.

Model Details:

Model: Origami Medial Rhombic Triacontahedron / Twister

Creator: Miyuki Kawamura

Book: Origami Tantedian 5th Volume

Language: Japanese

Difficulty Level: High Intermediate

Paper Ratio: 2.5:1

Paper size: 7.5 by 3 inches (Ratio 2.5:1)

Number of modules: 30

Tutorial Link: Youtube

An arabesque is an ornament that is made of intertwined floral and vine figures in an intricate design. And the origami arabesque does look very intricate and delicate. It was designed by Mio Tsugawa and is made from 30 modules. It looks best when folded from a variety of solid colours, though I made mine from wrapping paper. There are quite a few variations to the arabesque and all of them are quite popular.

Model Details:

Model: Arabesque 

Creator: Mio Tsugawa

Difficulty Level: High Intermediate

Paper Ratio: Square

Paper Size: 4 inch squares

Model Size: ~4 inches in diameter

Modules: 30

Tutorial: Youtube