Continuing from my previous post on handmade envelopes, here are more of these envelopes. I made a couple of sets of these envelopes with little origami decorations. The paper used, both for the envelopes and the decorations, is thick, handmade paper in antique gold and copper gold. Thick paper = simple origami! So I had to discard quite a few ideas I had. I am sure I will try more of these envelopes with slightly more complex origami decorations soon :)

The first of them have a little cherry blossom in one corner of the cover. The toughest part of folding these little flowers, turned out to be snipping off the corners, since I had to cut with multiple folds, without distorting the shape. Quite a task!

The last set of envelopes had a little origami hearts in them. The hearts were pretty simple to fold. And while the cherry blossom envelopes look lovely, I love the sentimentality of a little heart on the cover 💓

In case you are wondering what I have been doing with that bunch of cherry blossoms I had done previously, here you go..

All those cherry blossoms were made specifically for some special invites. My brother and sister-in-law had recently constructed their office (till now they have been renting out a place) and were planning a small ceremony for dedicating the office to our Lord Jesus Christ. So these invites were sent out to some relatives, some of their clients and other well-wishers.

Both of them had wanted a handmade card which would imply a personal touch. So, being creative people, they made these beautifully personal, hand crafted invites. The paper used was handmade paper in lavender and white. As you can see, the invite was made of 2 layers, the one on top was slightly shorter than the layer below. We had used brown twigs for the cherry blossoms, to give it a more authentic feel. The company logo and name (Capstone) were visible in the left corner, along with the words 'You are cordially invited'. The inside of the card has the actual invite and a list of services provided by Capstone.

I grew quite fond of this card - my sister-in-law and my brother at their creative best, and I quite enjoyed helping out with the card. And lot of those who received the invite were also very appreciative of it :)

I hadn't come across any 5-sided modular boxes until recently. Modular pentagonal boxes are not very common and one of the first pentagonal box I came across was Dennis Walker's Cherry Blossom Box.

A very pretty box to fold, it ends up with a star shape in the top and 5 petals on top of the star. It folds best with 80 gsm paper. I had this beautiful gift wrapper paper which worked out very well.

Model Details:

Model: Cherry Blossom Box

Creator: Dennis Walker

Difficulty Level: High Intermediate

Paper Ratio: Square

Paper Size: 4 inches

Instructions: Lid, Base

Number of Modules: 10 (5 for lid and 5 for base)

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 

This Cherry Blossom dish is made from 5 squares and includes glueing. It is quick to make and comes out looking really good. I didn't really like the choice of paper I had used but I did manage to make it.

There is a kusudama, made from these units as well. It is a dodecahedron (a 12 pentagon ball) and is made up of 12 flowers, each with 10 petals. So it is made of 120 modules! A bit too much for me right now :)

Model Details:

Model: Cherry Blossom Dish 

Origin: Traditional

Difficulty Level: Low Intermediate

Paper Ratio: Square

Paper Size: 4 inches

Modules: 5

Instructions: Origami-Instructions

Tutorial (for making the Cherry Blossom Kusudama): Youtube