Uniya Filonova's Cassiopeia Kusudama has been on my to-do list for quite some time. Finally, this Mother's Day seemed to be the right occasion to try out this eye-catching design.

Did you know that Cassiopeia is actually the name of a constellation? Yep! And in the kusudama, the stars do stand out, but this modular reminds me more of a flower than a constellation. What do you think?

Getting back to the kusudama, it is made from 30 modules, with each module folded from a rectangle in the ratio 1:3. So one square will yield you 3 modules. I had used 3 inches (7.5 cms) squares that I cut into 3 rectangles. So each rectangle measured 1 inch (2.5 cms)  by 3 inches (7.5 cms). The end result was a ball about 3 inches (7.5 cms) in diameter.

While I did find both the instructions and the tutorial (links below) a little confusing initially, once you get the hang of it, the modules are very easy to fold. And even with the size I had chosen, it was not difficult to fold the individual modules.

Double sided paper works best to bring out the star. I had used some very precious paper that I absolutely love - red with white dots on one side and yellow on the other. Very happy with the selection and with the result.

The assembly is interesting - you have to try it out to appreciate it. It does not involve the usual pocket and flap assembly that you usually see in modulars, rather, one petal is folded into the adjoining petal. Very interesting and very robust. Assembly is without any glue.

Finally, a happy Mother's Day to all the moms out there! Little Miss has decided that this modular is going to be her gift for me!! 😆😆

Model Details:

Model: Cassiopeia Kusudama 

Creator: Uniya Filonova

Difficulty Level: High Intermediate

Paper Ratio: 1:3

Paper Size: 1 inch by 3 inches

Model Size: ~3 inches in diameter

Modules: 30

Instructions: Stranamasterov.ru

Tutorial: Youtube

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

After trying Yuri Shumakov's vase yesterday, I decided to try out the next vase - or rather, box - by Katrin Shumakov.

The Bonsai Box is a popular origami box, designed by Katrin Shumakov. As boxes go, this is a complex origami, one that I have always been scared of trying, thinking that it will be too complex for me.

Now that I finally tried it out, I realised that it wasn't as complex as I feared! The best part of the box is that, unlike the other boxes/vases from Oriland, this has a good, wide mouth, that makes it a very convenient box to hold little things that are always scattered around my house.

Model Details:

Model: Bonsai Box 

Creator: Katrin Shumakov

Difficulty Level: High Intermediate

Paper Ratio: Square

Paper Size: 8 inches

Tutorial: Youtube