The Kawasaki origami rose is something every origamist tries. I too did. But my first attempt, about 3 - 4 years back, was not much of a success and that put me off roses.

But recently, there was a post in one of the Facebook groups I belong to, with pictures of their origami roses. So I decided to give it another go. I started with a 6 inch square and ended up with a pretty good rose in pink. Then decided to see what would be the smallest rose I can fold. So worked with a 5-inch square next, then 4, then 3. After that, 2 inches looked quite small, so switched over to cms then! The next roses were with 6 cms, 5 cms and 4 cms squares. The 4 cms square resulted in a rose small enough to become an earring. And that would be my next project I hope. The pale pink rose (next to the smallest rose) is my favourite one, though it was quite difficult to fold.

After folding all of 8 roses, one thing I realised was that the creases were the most important part of folding these roses. I found that the softer my creases, the better looking my rose. So when I creased well, as I usually do, I ended up with an angular rose which isn't very appealing. And now I think I will get started on more teeny tiny roses and try to make them into earrings :)

Model Details:

Model: Rose 

Creator: Toshikazu Kawasaki

Book: Origami for the Connoisseur
 
Author: Kunihiko Kasahara, Toshie Takahama
 
Difficulty Level: High Intermediate

Paper Ratio: Square

Paper Size: varying from 6 inches to 4 cms

Model Size: varying from 1.5 inches to 1 cm

Tutorial: Youtube

Christmas is almost here!! I love this time of the year. And this year, to add to the usual joy of Christmas, I will also try and add as many posts on Christmas origami as possible :) And to kickstart this season of love, here is a Sunken Sonobe 3 unit assembly.

The usual 3 unit sonobe assembly is called Toshie's Jewel, folded by Toshie Takahama. The sunken sonobe is a variation from the sonobe units, one I like a lot! The units are not that easy to assemble, at least the 3-unit version of sunken sonobes, but they make lovely Christmas tree decorations.

Model Details:

Model: Toshie's Jewel and Sunken Sonobe

Creator: Toshie Takahama

Difficulty Level: Low Intermediate

Paper Ratio: Square

Paper Size: 3 inch squares

Modules: 3

Instructions: Sonobe Unit, Assembly