If you are wondering if I have abandoned the blog, well, that isn't happening any time soon! But I haven't been making a lot of origami per se. More of origami jewelry and experimenting with paper - what paper to use for what, size - what size is good for adults/children, design - what design is easy to work on and so on and on.

And the result of those experiments are the earrings and the bracelet. The butterfly earrings, I have found, are liked by children, but are much too large for them. So now I need to figure out a good size for kids. And folding such small sizes isn't a lot of fun either. And requires practise. The wreath earrings are also adult sized and I absolutely love them!  I have made them in a variety of colours and these are my favourites.

Coming to the bracelet, this was a complete experiment. And I am quite pleased with the result :) I have wanted to make these bracelets for a long time, but never did find the toggle clasps, till recently. Unfortunately my length measurements were off target, and the bracelet is a little small for adults but will fit a child perfectly - much to my daughter's delight! More bracelets on the way..

And I also ended  up making a rose ring - a tiny little kawasaki rose, fit on a ring base with a little pearl at the centre. I admit it does require a little tweaking though. Folding a kawasaki rose from such a tiny square requires more practise than I have had.

I put the ring through a stress test by mistake - washed my hands while wearing the ring, but thankfully I had glazed it before. The ring got completely drenched, so I set it aside to dry fully. And wonder of wonders, once dry, absolutely nothing happened to the ring! So if you are worried about buying paper jewelry, do remember that they are pretty water-resistant once glazed and if you do get them wet, just allow them to dry completely before using them again.

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

The origami buckyball is the representation of the Buckminster Fullerene molecule - a stable form of carbon. The other 2 are, of course, diamond and graphite.

Some interesting facts about the buckyball:

• The buckyball family is an allotrope (different forms of an element - here, carbon) of carbon, very different from diamond and graphite.
• The buckyball is made from 60 atoms of carbon
• The shape resembles a football - 20 hexagons and 12 pentagons
• Each atom has 2 kinds of bonds - double bonds between 2 hexagons and single bonds between a hexagon and a pentagon

That is enough Chemistry I think!

As for the origami buckyballs, one version of these buckyballs can be made using PHiZZ Units. These buckyballs are very commonly done as they are made from squares and are relatively easier to complete. 

The other version of the buckyball, what I have done here, is folded from units created by Rona Gurkewitz and Bennett Arnstein. The units are folded from equilateral triangles. Cutting the triangles, 60 of them, is 50% of the  job! Folding those 60 triangles into the buckyball units completely another 30%. Assembling the units is what I found easiest and I believe that amounts to only 20% of the entire process :) And behold, a buckyball!

It is usually suggested that you use paper coloured on both sides. That ensures that the buckyball has the same colour throughout. But when I assembled with single-sided paper, I realised that the contrasting colours meant that I can clearly see those stars in the hexagon/pentagon faces. I like that. And maybe, one day, when I give it another go, I will try using copy paper and see how that compares to this one.

Model Details:

Model: Buckyball

Creator: Rona Gurkewitz and Bennett Arnstein

Book: Multi Origami Polyhedra

Authors: Rona Gurkewitz and Bennett Arnstein

Difficulty Level: High Intermediate

Paper Ratio: Triangle

Paper Size: 4 inches

Model Size: ~ 5 inch in diameter

Modules: 60

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 

Well, after a long time I worked on some modular origami - the origami football (soccerball). Absence really does make the heart grow fonder, cos I absolutely loved making the football. It helped that it very closely resembles a real football, so much so that my daughter wanted to kick it around! And everyone in my house is in love with it 😊

Unlike most modular origami, the individual modules are made from equilateral triangles. For my football, I had used A5 sheets (If you have A4 ie., the regular copy paper, cut it in half horizontally to give 2 A5 sheet). Each A5 sheet gives 2 white triangles and 3 black triangles. A total of 20 white pieces and 12 black pieces are needed. So that makes it 10 white A5 sheets and 4 black A5 sheets (In A4 terms, it is 5 white and 2 black A4 sheets).

The white and black pieces are folded differently, as we need white hexagons and black pentagons. While assembling the ball, each black pentagon will be surrounded by 6 white hexagons. You should be aware that of these 6 white hexagons, one side will have a pocket which will be empty. That is because of the combination of hexagons and pentagons and nothing to worry about :)

So give it a go and have fun with the football. It is pretty robust, so you can even throw it around a bit!

Unfortunately I am no longer able to find the diagram for this model. It used to be hosted on Mark Leonard's site but it is no longer available. But all is not lost! I have linked below a youtube tutorial for making said football.

Model Details:

Model: Football

Creator: Mark Leonard

Difficulty Level: High Intermediate

Paper Ratio: Triangle

Paper Size: A4 and A5 paper

Model Size: ~4 inches in diameter

Modules: 32

Tutorial: Youtube