I am sure most of us have watched the animated movie "Finding Nemo". I have watched this movie, repeatedly, because Little Miss loves it! So naturally, when I came across this youtube tutorial to fold a two-dimensional clown fish, I couldn't resist folding it!

The fish is not a pure origami model, since it involves gluing of the pieces but I guess we could say that it is a modular one, made from 4 modules - a tail, a body, the head and the fins and is created by Mariko Miyamoto of Oriart.

While each module is folded from a square, the size of the square varies.  So the tail is made from a 5 cm square, the body from a 10 cm square, the fins from 7 cm square and the head from 5 cm square. Obviously the model works best with a rich orange single-sided paper ie., paper that is orange on one side and white on the other. The different modules are held together by glue or tape.

The sizes I have mentioned, give a clown fish that is the bigger of the two in the picture. I named this one Marlin 😀 And naturally, Little Miss wanted a smaller version, for Nemo. So I halved all the values from the previous model to end up with a mini clown fish - Nemo. Though the squares were small, since the model was fairly easy, I was able to make the smaller fish without any trouble.

So, have a go at it. It is a fun model and is sure to attract a young audience! And the lovely alternating colours adds a whole lot of beauty to the characters.

Model Details:

Model: Clown Fish 

Creator: Mariko Miyamoto

Difficulty Level: Low Intermediate

Paper Ratio: Square

Paper Size: 2 squares of 5 cm (2 inches), 1 square each of 10 cm (4 inches) and 7 cm (2.7 inches) for the bigger fish
2 squares of 2.5 cm (1 inch), 1 square each of 5 cm (2 inches) and 3.5 cm (1.3 inches) for the smaller fish

Model Size: ~3 inches across (bigger fish) and ~2.5 inches across (smaller fish)

Tutorial: Youtube

These little Easter baskets were made from some left-over tubes that were lying around. They were pretty easy to make and quick work too..

Of course, they don't serve any purpose given their size 😄 But are super cute to look at, so may be I will end up making more of these!!

Model Details:

Model: Easter Basket

Difficulty Level: High Intermediate

Tutorial (making newspaper tubes): Youtube

Tutorial (making the basket): Youtube

After folding the Jaciara from the book 'Modern Kusudama Origami' by Ekaterina Lukasheva, I decided to give it another go. Only this time I tried out one of the variations of the model. And I used a smaller square, since I wasn't too happy with how big my previous model turned out to be!

This variation is the second variation for the model. The author states that the variation seems pointless till you open up the petals. And while this might be true, I must say I adored this model even in the closed-petal state! I quite liked the elegance of the closed kusudama.

But of course, when you open up the petals, it really looks like a blossomed flower. Be sure to use double-sided paper, so that the print on the other side becomes visible when it is opened.

The Jaciara is the last model in the book. There are 2 variations and another couple of Jaciara variables. Hopefully I will get a chance to try some more of these models in the future.

Model Details:

Model: Jaciara - Variation 2

Creator: Ekaterina Lukasheva

Book: Modern Kusudama Origami

Author: Ekaterina Lukasheva

Difficulty Level: High Intermediate

Paper Ratio: Square

Paper Size: 2 inch squares

Model Size: ~2.5 inches in diameter

Modules: 30

Shades of Blue is my current version of the bowl that I had initially tried out a few days back. I am very pleased with the way this bowl has turned out. The base of smoother than my previous efforts and the weaving is much improved, even if it is not where I want it to be!

As in my previous attempt, I went ahead with a gradation in colour. The paper I have used is without any print, so the lighter colours have turned out clear and without any marking. For the darker blue, of course, the tubes with print works just as well as the tubes without print, since the print is barely visible.

To achieve a more graded colour change, I weaved a couple of rows with a mix of dark and light blue, before switching to the lighter colour. I like the effect this produces.

The side view gives a good view of the rim of the bowl. The weaving pattern is the same as the base (tutorial link at the end of the post). The rim is harder to weave than the base, because it is narrower than the base. But that gives a fuller and smoother appearance I thought. What do you think?

The bottom of the bowl is by far, my favourite part of this project! I love the evenness of the base and I think I have much improved in this one area. Of course, this is the part that is lease visible! 😆😆 But that doesn't stop me from admiring my improved attempts!! 😂😂

So what do you think? Do you like it? Should I try other colours? Do drop a comment 😀

Model Details:

Model: Woven Bowl - Shades of Blue

Difficulty Level: High Intermediate

Tutorial (making newspaper tubes): Youtube

Picture Tutorial for the thick rimmed bottom: Stranamasterov

Recently, I had the pleasure of being a part of a farewell party for outgoing students of a class. This was the culmination of a 2-year intense study for a masters degree. Naturally both the outgoing students and the students who were giving the farewell were very excited and at the same time emotional.

For me, it was a chance to be around young minds, marvel at their creativity and guide them when I could. Given that origami is one of my keen interests, the students wanted me to incorporate a little bit of origami in their celebrations. So when I came across this idea of making invitation boxes using origami, I went ahead and did exactly that!

Since black and white were the event colours and personalised invitations were the need of the hour, I chose a variety of black and white single sided paper to make the invites. The paper is fairly thick, 120 gsm, which means the folding is not very complex 😀

The photo above is the invitation in the closed position. The 2 halves of the heart serve as handles to open up the invite. See below for the open one.

Model Details:

Model: Invitation Box

Origin: Traditional 

Difficulty Level: Simple

Paper Ratio: Square or Rectangle

Paper Size: 12 inches * 7 inches (While the tutorial calls for a square sheet of paper, since I wanted a different size invitation (4*3 inches), I worked with a rectangle sheet of paper.

Model Size: ~4 * 3 inches

Tutorial: Youtube

'Modern Kusudama Origami' by Ekaterina Lukasheva is an excellent book on modular origami. To date I have already tried out 3 models and here is the fourth one - the Jaciara.

For the first attempt, I went ahead with the recommended paper size - 4 inches square. The finished model was about 5 inches in diameter - a tad too big for my liking. The next time I try, I will attempt a much smaller size, probably 2 inches or so.

The individual modules are not too difficult to fold, though it looks kinda scary at first! I liked the way the modules locked together.

There are a couple of variations mentioned. Hopefully I will get a chance to fold those as well.

Model Details:

Model: Jaciara 

Creator: Ekaterina Lukasheva

Book: Modern Kusudama Origami

Author: Ekaterina Lukasheva

Difficulty Level: High Intermediate

Paper Ratio: Square

Paper Size: 4 inch squares

Model Size: ~5 inches in diameter

Modules: 30

Tutorial: Youtube

My second attempt at making a bowl was a better success I think! I have been repeatedly told that the tubes in which the print is visible, are much more unique in appearance. So I went ahead with printed tubes which were coloured in shades of blue.

The base started off with a deep blue, which forms the rim of the bowl. As in my previous post, the base is formed using the same method. One thing I noticed is that, the deeper the colour, the lesser the print is visible.

I had used 3 shades of blue. Deep blue at the base, a lighter version in the middle and finally, a light blue to finish it off. The finish needs some work and hopefully this will become better in the subsequent attempts!

Once the bowl was complete, since I had some more tubes, I decided to go ahead and make a pen stand. This turned out quite sturdy and useful.

Finally, a coating of varnish to strengthen and protect the pieces and I am all set!