I finally present the very famous Cherry Blossom Kusudama, designed by none other than Tomoko Fuse. Cherry blossoms are usually white or pink in colour but I decided that my kusudama need a bit more colour, so here is a vivid red(orange??)-with-flecks-of-white kusudama :)

The kusudama is made from 30 squares of paper; folding the individual units is the easy part, though it is more complex that most other kusudama units. The fun starts when you assemble the units. Assembly is in groups of 3. Inserting the third unit was a challenge at the beginning. Imagine doing that for all the groups! Phew! The 3-unit groups are put together in 5s and as soon as you assemble your first five, you can see the cherry blossoms emerging. You just need to round off the petals so that it looks more like a petal and less like a diamond..

And.. Tada!! Your very own cherry blossom kusudama! Ok, it does take time and effort and patience and the will to complete it, but it is soon done..It is recommended to use squares that are 5 inches or more, else it gets even more difficult to assemble it. I have used 4.5 inches square here.

The design first appeared in the Origami Tanteidan Magazine (Vol 12, Issue 72). It also includes a section on making little petals that can be folded and inserted into the flower, but I felt that the cherry blossom ball looks better without that. So I left that out.

Model Details:

Model: Cherry Blossom Kusudama 

Creator: Tomoko Fuse

Book: Origami Tanteidan (Vol 12, Issue 72)
  
Difficulty Level: High Intermediate

Paper Ratio: Square

Paper Size: 4.5 inches

Model Size: ~5 inches in diameter

Modules: 30

Tutorial: Youtube 

The Just Twist Twirls are these beautiful modular flowers created by Krystyna Burczyk. These twirly creations, when curled correctly and tightly, hold together very well and form quite sturdy structures.

This flower is made from 10 triangles cut out of a square on the diagonal. And there is absolutely no folding involved; only twirling :) The twirls come out much better when the paper is coated with a dab of water. The water helps the paper to bend much better and once it is dry, the shape is also held better.

Thick paper is recommended, since regular origami paper will not be sufficiently strong to hold the shape. I have used 120 gsm paper in 2 different colours and am very happy with the way these flowers turned out.

Model Details:

Model: Just Twist Flower 

Creator: Krystyna Burczyk

Difficulty Level: Low Intermediate

Paper Ratio: Triangle cut along the diagonal of a square

Paper Size: 3.5 inch squares

Modules: 10

Tutorial: Youtube 

The Blütenkreisel or the Floral Top, is designed by Carmen Sprung, the creator of the Kantenmodul. The origami starts from an octagon rather than a square. The flower is actually very realistic to look at (my photo does not do justice to the origami) and I enjoyed folding it.

The paper that I had used for this model was actually banana paper that I had bought during my last origami-paper-buying-spree. I loved the feel of the paper; it has a very crisp touch and folds beautifully and I just had to use it today. So there you have, a green coloured flower! :)

Model Details:

Model: Floral Top / Blütenkreisel 

Creator: Carmen Sprung

Difficulty Level: Low Intermediate

Paper Ratio: Octagon

Paper Size: 8 inches side

Instructions: Carmen's Origami Site 

Did you know that the Platonic Solids were named after the Greek philosopher Plato? He believed that these were the fundamental components of nature and associated fire to the tetrahedron, earth to the cube, air to the octahedron, water to the icosahedron and the element cosmos to the dodecahedron.

As the name suggests, the Octahedron has got 8 sides, each of them equilateral triangles. I had thought that folding it would be more difficult than the Cube, but surprisingly, I found it easier to fold this! It is completely folded as a 2-dimensional model, till the last step where it is inflated to form the 3-dimensional Octahedron. The dual of the Octahedron is the Cube.

Model Details:

Model: Octahedron 

Creator: John Montroll

Book: A Plethora of Polyhedra in Origami
 
Author: John Montroll
 
Difficulty Level: Low Intermediate

Paper Ratio: Square

Paper Size: 5 inch squares

The Rose Brooch designed by Sy Chen, is a modification of Toshie Takahama's Rose Brooch. It looks best when folded in a dual coloured paper, one side green and the other, possibly red.

The rose isn't very difficult to fold as there are clear instructions available for download, both from Sy Chen's website and from other sites. There is also a video on how to make the brooch.

Model Details:

Model: Rose Brooch 

Creator: Sy Chen

Difficulty Level: Low Intermediate

Paper Ratio: Square

Paper Size: 7 inches

Diagram: Sy's Paper Folding Page

Tutorial: Youtube

I have been trying out one of Tomoko Fuse's designs from her book, 'Floral Origami Globes'. And it has taken me quite some time to complete it, five days to be precise! Not something that should be attempted if you wish to complete your origami quickly.

The model is made from 60 rectangles, 30 for making the pyramid units and 30 for the bows that are seen in between those little pyramids. After making these, the bows are placed inside the pyramid units so that only the bows are seen. Then they are assembled as one unit. It looks best when the pyramid units and the bows are in different colours, so that the bows are more clearly seen.

The model isn't really difficult to make. Making the units is quite easy though it takes some time. Assemling has to be done carefully. Care should be taken that there are 5 pyramids at each meeting point.

6 of these units can also be assembled into a model, which is what I plan on doing next. I intend to convert this into a hanging ornament; you can see the thread that I had added before completing the assembly. So I will be combing this with the 6 unit model and making it into an ornament.

Model Details:

Model: Floral Origami Kusudama with Covered Bows 

Creator: Tomoko Fuse

Book: Floral Origami Globes

Author: Tomoko Fuse

Difficulty Level: High Intermediate

Paper Ratio: Square and Rectangle in ratio 1:2

Paper Size: 5 inches by 2.5 inches and 5 inch squares

Model Size: ~4 inches in diameter

Modules: 60

The WXYZ, created by Tung Ken Lam, had set in motion the creation a series of planar models by various origamists including Francis Ow, David Petty, Satoshi Kamiya and Meenakshi Mukerji. The WXYZ is among the simplest of the planar models and is made up of 4 intersecting triangles.

It is quite simple to fold though the assembly will take up some time. I am glad I finally managed to do a planar model though the colour combination isn't the greatest! The red and orange together don't stand out quite that well.

These models have a unique naming convention, which is based on geometric principles. The number of letters used is the same as the number of planes in the model. Thus WXYZ would mean it has 4 planes.

Model Details:

Model: WXYZ Planar Model 

Creator: Tung Ken Lam

Book: Origami A-B-C

Author: David Petty

Difficulty Level: Low Intermediate

Paper Ratio: Square

Paper Size: 4 inch squares

Model Size: ~5 inches from tip to tip

Modules: 12

Diagram: British Origami