Every once in a while, I get obsessed with an origami design and keep making it again and again. My last one was Dasa Severova's Origami Woven Star, a modular star made from 16 units.

I tried the model with ombré shades of green, blue and pink and would have continued if I had managed to get my hands on more colours!!

The design is simple and works well with small squares - I had used 3 inch squares and this resulted in a star of about 5.5 inches diameter. The star is also very stable and the units lock well, so no glue required.

Model Details:

Model: Woven Star  

Creator: Dasa Severova

Difficulty Level: Low Intermediate

Paper Ratio: Square

Paper Size: 3 inches

Model Size: ~5.5 inches in diameter

Modules: 16

Tutorial: How to fold the units, How to join the units 

After completing my last 2 Tomoko Fuse designs made from 120 units each, I decided to try one of her simpler models - this simple open frame cube, made from 12 square units.

I have used 3 colours and 4 units of each colour. The squares had a side of 4 inches and the end result was a frame of about 3 inches.

Model Details:

Model: Open Frame - Cube

Creator: Tomoko Fuse

Book: Unit Origami

Difficulty Level: Low Intermediate

Paper Ratio: Square

Paper Size: 4 inches

Model Size: ~3 inches in diameter

Modules: 12

Tutorial: Youtube

Maria Vakhrusheva's Fiesta Kusudama origami is a model that I discovered recently. It is a fairly simple and elegant model and I love the way mine has turned out. I had used origami paper that was dark blue on one side and light blue on the other.

There are 2 ways of assembly - the 3-unit cones look more traditional, so I opted for the 5-unit cone.

Model Details:

Model: Fiesta Kusudama

Creator: Maria Vakhrusheva

Diagram: The Fold Magazine (for registered members only)

Difficulty Level: Low Intermediate

Paper Ratio: Square

Paper Size: 3 inches

Model Size: 5 inches diameter

Number of Modules: 30

Tutorial: Youtube

The next model that I tried from my recently bought copy of Ekaterina Lukasheva’s new book ‘Modern Kusudama Origami' is the Centaurea Flower. It is a very pleasant looking model which requires duo-coloured paper. I used paper that was solid pink on one side and had little flowers on the other.

The model was of intermediate difficulty. I liked the way the petals shaped up. While the suggested paper size was 7 cms, I used 7.5 cm squares. The end result was a kusudama ball, about 5 inches in diameter.

Model Details:

Model: Centaurea Cyanus

Model: Ekaterina Lukasheva

Book: Modern Kusudama Origami

Author: Ekaterina Lukasheva

Difficulty Level: Low Intermediate

Paper Ratio: Square

Paper Size: 3 inches

Model Size: 5 inches diameter

Number of Modules: 30

After a long gap, I am back to folding and updating my blog! Recently I bought Ekaterina Lukasheva's new book 'Modern Kusudama Origami'. And now I am enjoying folding the models. I decided I will start folding from the beginning and start with the models that needed square sheets of paper. There are quite a few models folded from rectangles too.

The first few models are stars and flowerets which I haven't tried out as yet. I was more keen on trying the actual kusudamas and started with the model named 'Rio'. It reminds me of Mio Tsugawa's 'Arabesque'.

The kusudama is made from 30 square modules. The book recommends paper of size 7 cm * 7 cm. I used 7.5 cm by 7.5 cm, orange/yellow paper. For some reason, initially I found connecting the modules very difficult. I think my origami brain has rusted! Finally I did figure out how the flap goes into the pocket. After that, the process was quite easy.

Model Details:

Model: Rio

Creator: Ekaterina Lukasheva

Book: Modern Kusudama Origami

Author: Ekaterina Lukasheva

Difficulty Level: Low Intermediate

Paper Ratio: Square

Paper Size: 3 inches

Model Size: 6 inches diameter

Number of Modules: 30

A very cute mouse folded from a square. It is not very difficult to fold and works well with origami paper, 6 inch square.

I like these little guys, they are about 3 inches in size, excluding the tail.

This is the second model I am folding from the book 'Origami - 30 Fold-by-Fold Projects'. The other one I have folded was Francis Ow's Double Hearts. So far I have found the models fairly easy to fold. Hopefully I will try out a few more in the days to come. Specifically the elephant!

Model Details:

Model: Mouse

Creator: Eduardo Clemente

Book: Origami - 30 Fold-by-fold Projects

Author: Paulo Mulatinho

Difficulty Level: Low Intermediate

Paper Ratio: Square

Paper Size: 6 inches

Tutorial: Youtube 

What is Valentine's Day without one of Francis Ow's hearts? So here you go, Ow's Double Hearts.

The 2 hearts are made from half a square and each heart displays one side of the paper. So naturally, double sided paper with contrasting colours work best.

I used a double-sided 120 gsm 8-inch paper cut into 2. This was the only double-sided paper I had, so had to make do. But regardless, I was able to make the origami. So yay!!

Model Details:

Model: Double Hearts

Creator: Francis Ow

Book: Origami - 30 Fold-by-fold Projects

Author: Paulo Mulatinho

Difficulty Level: Low Intermediate

Paper Ratio: Rectangle in ration 1:2

Paper Size: 4 * 8 inches

Tutorial: Youtube  

 This Christmas has been a very busy time for me. I had participated in a couple of Christmas sales and have been busy making paper jewelry! And paper jewelry is time-consuming work! So I didn't get a lot of time to make anything special for Christmas 2014.

One thing that I did try was this modular star. The star is actually made from Bascetta Star modules. The star requires a total of 24 modules. The modules are folded as usual. For assembly, instead of using 3 modules for the pyramids, here we use 4. From then on, it is pretty straight forward. Keep adding modules in a circle. I found it easier to assemble the circle first and then worry about fixing the centre. I used glue to hold the joints well, since I had planned on adding it to my Christmas tree.

The first star that I did was in rainbow colours. I think a better choice of paper would have been paper coloured on both sides, like copy paper. So I did another star with Christmas colours. Very happy with the result this time :)

So that is my Christmas decoration for this year. Hope you have fun with this model :)

A very merry and joyous Christmas to my readers. Have a wonderful day :)

Model Details:

Model: Modular Star

Creator: Paolo Bascetta

Difficulty Level: Low Intermediate

Paper Ratio: Square

Paper Size: 3 inches

Model Size: ~ 6 inches diameter

Number of Modules: 24

Tutorial Link (for making the modules): Youtube

Fumiaki Kawahata's most well-known origami is probably the Origami Yoda. But, I doubt I will ever make it - for one, I am not very clear on who exactly Yoda is (Star Wars and I are galaxies apart!!) and two, I am not really good at folding people/animals/birds from paper. Somehow my models don't come out with a smooth finish and end up looking very unrealistic!

The modular ball, on the other hand, is one of only 3 modular origami designed by Fumiaki Kawahata. I have always been put off by how complex it looks, until I finally gave it a try today. Surprisingly, it is pretty easy to make. There are 6 modules that are basically pleated. Each corner is folded perpendicularly to the initial pleat, to form 2 perpendicular arms.

Now the way the model is put together is something I have not seen before! There is none of the usual tabs and pockets to assemble the model. Instead, 2 modules are placed facing each other, so that their perpendicular arms meet in the centre. Now, these 2 arms hold in place a third module. It is a little tricky initially, but pretty simple once you get the hang of it. Only thing to remember is that, if one module is taken out, the whole model will come undone.

Model Details:

Model: Modular Ball

Creator: Fumiaki Kawahata

Difficulty Level: Low Intermediate

Paper Ratio: Square

Paper Size: 3.5 inches

Model Size: ~ 3 inches

Tutorial - Modules: Youtube

Tutorial - Assembly: Youtube

With Tomoko Fuse's lecture and workshop coming up this weekend, I decided to try out another of her popular designs - the Petals Kusudama (Type II). The kusudama is made from 30 units. Each unit has a base and an inset, which is folded into the base. The units are assembled like a sonobe. The kusudama holds well even without any glue, though, since I wanted to make it into a hanging ornament, I ended up gluing the joins.

A 3-colour combination works well for the kusudama. And for that, it is best to ensure that the paper used for the insets is single-sided - coloured on one side and white on the other. If it is double sided, then it works best if the paper has a different colour on both sides.

I used copy paper for the base and 60 gsm origami paper for the insets. So the model turned out pretty strong and sturdy. I also ended up making a tassel (this is pretty tedious work!) and string it along with a few beads and the kusudama to get myself a very pretty ornament :)

Model Details:

Model: Petals – Type II – Kusudama

Creator: Tomoko Fuse

Book: Floral Origami Globes

Author: Tomoko Fuse

Difficulty Level: Low Intermediate

Paper Ratio: Rectangle in ratio 1:2

Paper Size: 3.5 inches by 1.7 inches

Model Size: ~ 4 inches

Number of Modules: 15 rectangles of 1 colour and 15 rectangles of a second colour

Tutorial: Youtube

The Poinsettia Floral Ball is a beautiful kusudama from Meenakshi Mukerji's book 'Marvelous Modular Origami'. I have been wanting to make this model for quite some time, but never got around to it! So when I got some pretty pink wrapping paper, I finally gave it a go. Well, red paper would have been the obvious choice for a poinsettia flower, I do realize, but I kinda liked this paper for the model.

The modules are pretty easy to fold. Assembly is also fairly simple. The lock is quite strong, but I did end up adding a little glue to a few corners. All these ball-like modulars tend to get thrown about a bit, so always makes sense to add some glue at the joints. The floral ball is fairly large - mine was about 5.5 inches in diameter (I had used rectangle that were 4 inches by 2 inches).

The book provides quite a few variations in the floral balls and hopefully, I will soon get around to folding those as well :)

Model Details:

Model: Poinsettia Floral Ball

Creator: Meenakshi Mukerji

Book: Marvelous Modular Origami

Author: Meenakshi Mukerji

Difficulty Level: Low Intermediate

Paper Ratio: Rectangle in ratio 1:2

Paper Size: 4 inches * 2 inches

Model Size: ~5.5 inches in diameter

Modules: 30

I have not been the most active blogger these days, mainly because I am experimenting with paper jewelry and well, that is pretty time-consuming. Though I enjoy making paper jewelry, there is nothing like folding a good solid modular origami to get one back in the blogging game! This modular icosahedron is a fairly easy model to complete and is folded from half a square. So 15 squares, cut into half gives the 30 rectangles required for the icosahedron. The base unit is Lewis Simon's Triangle Edge Module.

Some points to note:

* I worked with coloured copy paper (80 gsm), which resulted in a good, sturdy model.

* If you are working with single sided paper, be sure to start with the coloured paper facing down (as given in the diagram).

* If your model is going to be tossed around (and believe me, this icosahedron very quickly becomes a football!), then be sure to add a dab of glue at the joints.

Model Details:

Model: Icosahedron from Triangle Edge Modules

Creator: Lewis Simon

Book: 3D Geometric Origami

Authors: Lewis Simon, Bennett Arnstein and Rona Gurkewitz

Difficulty Level: Low Intermediate

Paper Ratio: Rectangle

Paper Size: 3.5 inches * 1.75 inches

Model Size: ~3 inches

Modules: 30

Tutorial: Youtube 

My daughter, Little Miss, has recently become very keen on recycling and reusing whatever she can. So when I was recently asked to make a few origami lotuses, she came up with the idea of making literary lotuses! And we are both delighted with the way the lotuses turned out. We initially tried a complete literary lotus - that is, the flower and the leaves were an old book paper. But our second attempt - book paper lotus with green copy paper leaves were more to our liking.

One thing I did find was that, the book paper is much thinner than the copy paper - which meant pulling out the petals had to be done with more care, else we risk tearing the paper. And since the paper was thinner, the literary lotus turned out a little smaller than the one made entirely from copy paper.

Model Details:

Model: Lotus

Origin: Traditional

Difficulty Level: Low Intermediate

Paper Ratio: Rectangle

Paper Size: 3 inches * 5.2 inches

Model Size: ~4 inches

Modules: 12

Tutorial: Youtube 

This month's theme at the Origami Society of Madras is a little different from usual. This month, we are working on a theme author instead of a theme object. And the author we have voted for is the grand-master of origami - Akira Yoshizawa.

The beauty of Akira Yoshizawa's models lie in the simple, elegant lines of his fold. His genius is evident in the way he captures an animal or an insect with the fewest folds possible! Ofcourse, there are a number of complex models to his name but his simple ones are the ones that capture the attention of even a beginner origamist.

His most popular model is the butterfly. I love this butterfly. When I first started teaching my Little Miss some basic origami, this was among the first models I taught her. And she became quite famous in her class, because she could fold a butterfly while most of her classmates folded only boats :) And inspite of the butterfly being an easy model to fold, it still looks amazingly like a butterfly! No wonder Akira Yoshizawa is credited as an origami grand master!

So today, what I folded was the origami shrimp from his book "Origami Museum Animals". Though the model is called a lobster, I think it resembles the shrimp more than it resembles the lobster. Again, with the fewest of folds, the grand-master has beautifully helped me fold a couple of cute little shrimps! Each shrimp is folded from a triangle formed by cutting along the diagonal of a square. In the notes, he has said that if the paper is thin enough, we can fold the square along its diagonal and then proceed with the shrimp, but I preferred folding it from a triangle. It helps that we can fold 2 shrimps from a single square which is what I did.

Model Details:

Model: Shrimp / Lobster

Creator: Akira Yoshizawa

Book: Origami Museum Animals
 
Author: Akira Yoshizawa
 
Difficulty Level: Low Intermediate

Paper Ratio: Triangle

Paper Size: 9.5 inch square cut along the diagonal

Model Size: The body measures ~ 3.5 inches and the antennae measure ~ 3.25 inches

I am not sure of the creator of these origami pleated boxes. My guess would of course, be Tomoko Fuse. But I am not able to find any reference to the box in any of her books. Unfortunately I do not remember where I learnt to fold this either. And I do not remember the name of the box either. Since it has got a whole bunch of pleats, I just call it the pleated box. So, not knowing any of these details, I have had little success in finding out the creator. But for now, I am tagging it as Tomoko Fuse.

The box can be made from a variety of paper. I have tried mine with wrapper paper, hand made paper, origami paper, printer paper and it turned out well in all of them. The one made from origami paper (the variations-in-blue one) is my favourite. I tried it out in a variety of sizes too. From 5 inch squares to 2 inch squares. All look fantastic I think :)

Model Details:

Model: Pleated Box 

Creator: Tomoko Fuse

Difficulty Level: Low Intermediate

Paper Ratio: Square

Modules: 4 for the base and 4 for the lid

The truncated icosahedron is another of Tomoko Fuse's modular creations. This is from her book Unit Polyhedron Origami. The model is fairly easy to do. It rather reminds me the origami football I had folded nearly a year back!

The model is made of a combination of hexagonal flat units and connecting units that connect the hexagonal units. Usually modular units have a pocket and a tab - each tab fits into its adjacent unit. But in these models, the hexagonal shapes have 3 pockets and no tabs. So the connecting units fit into the pockets of adjacent hexagons and hold the model together.

I like the little windows in the model as well :) Also, though the backs of the hexagons can be seen through the windows, the reverse side of the paper is not seen in the completed unit. So single-sided paper works perfectly well. I had used 80 gsm paper which turned out to be great for this model. The completed truncated icosahedron is sturdy - so sturdy, in fact, that my brother suggested we use it as a football! 😮

Model Details:

Model: Truncated Icosahedron

Creator: Tomoko Fuse

Book: Unit Polyhedron Origami
 
Author: Tomoko Fuse
 
Difficulty Level: Low Intermediate

Paper Ratio: Square

Paper Size: 3.5 inches for the hexagons; 1.75 inches for the connectors

Model Size: ~5 inches in diameter

Modules: 50

The rabbit by Stephen O'Hanlon is another easy rabbit to do. And I found it a lot more realistic than the traditional rabbit. Love the super-long ears of these rabbits!

It takes very little time to complete - about 10 minutes or so. So I think it will also make a great kids project.

Model Details:

Model: Rabbit 

Creator: Stephen O'Hanlon

Difficulty Level: Low Intermediate

Paper Ratio: Square

Paper Size: 6 inches

Model Size: 3.25 inches in height and 2.5 inches across

Diagram: Fishgoth.com

Tutorial: Youtube 

I love reading and, consequently, love collecting bookmarks. But since it was Valentine's Day a couple of days back, I wanted to make heart shaped bookmarks. So off I went, making a whole bunch of these heart bookmarks for everyone I know! Wonderful V-Day gift for a book lover, huh?

The bookmarks are pretty easy to make, thanks to the tutorial by Jo Nakashima, who is also the creator of this model. They are made from a rectangle in the ratio 1:2 but from the tutorial, I understand any rectangle will work just fine.

Model Details:

Model: Heart Bookmarks 

Creator: Jo Nakashima

Difficulty Level: Low Intermediate

Paper Ratio: Rectangle

Paper Size: 6 * 3 inches

Model Size: ~4.5 inches long by 1 inch heart

Tutorial: Youtube

The Origami Society of Madras has started a recent project - to fold as many models as possible, based on a particular theme and post it on the group's Facebook page. The theme is selected via voting and this month's theme has been Dragons.

If you go through my posts, you will quickly realize that I have a general aversion towards folding life forms - I have about 50 posts on lifeforms as opposed to 120 posts on modular origami! But I did want to take part in this initiative, so finally, on the very last day of this month's theme, I tried out Robert Neale's origami dragon.

The dragon is fairly easy to fold, easier to fold when using thin paper (60 gsm or lesser). I had used 80 gsm paper, so the feet of my little guy don't look too good, in spite of putting my bone-folder to good use!

I started with a 4.5 inch square and the final dragon measured about 1.5 inches tall and 2.25 inches across.

Model Details:

Model: Dragon 

Creator: Robert Neale

Book: Origami Monsters and Mythical Beings
 
Author: Jay Ansill
 
Difficulty Level: Low Intermediate

Paper Ratio: Square

Paper Size: 4.5 inches

Model Size: ~1.5 inches tall and 2.25 inches across

Tutorial: Youtube 

Tomoko Fuse's book 'Unit Origami Fantasy' is in Japanese, so I am not able to find the name of this model! Hence the generic title for the post :) Do leave a comment if you are aware of the name of the model. Though the book is in Japanese, the detailed step-by-step instructions are more than enough to complete the models.

As far as the model goes, this is a simple model, made from a windmill base. I used printer paper (80 gsm) for the units, which turned out pretty good for this model. I think if I had used regular 60 gsm origami paper, the model might not have been as sturdy. For a sturdier model, thicker paper such as scrapbooking paper should work well, given the simplicity of the folds and the assembly.

In general, for modular origami, I tend to go for the icosahedron assembly (30 unit assembly). But for a change, I tried the cube assembly (12 unit assembly). Each face is made from 4 modules and there are a total of 6 faces to the cube.

Model Details:

Model: Cube Modular 

Creator: Tomoko Fuse

Book: Unit Origami Fantasy
 
Author: Tomoko Fuse

Language: Japanese
 
Difficulty Level: Low Intermediate

Paper Ratio: Square

Paper Size: 3 inches

Model Size: ~3 inches

Modules: 6