Yet another of Tomoko Fuse's models - this one from her book 'Floral Origami Globes', called Parallelogram Floral Globe.

The thing I love about this book is that each module is made of 2 parts - a basic unit (which looks like a sonobe module) called the 'Base',  and an insert, called the 'Face'. Each unit is assembled by joining the base and the face. So this basically means that I can use the single-sided paper, that I have plenty of, and still manage to get some colours in my model.

The other point about this book is that, in each section, there are only subtle differences in folding one model and the next. But these difference still result in new, really cool variations. And of course, the fact that you use only half a square for the base unit and a quarter for a face unit means the whole model is very economical!!

Model Details:

Model: Parallelogram Floral Globe 

Creator: Tomoko Fuse

Book: Floral Origami Globes
 
Author: Tomoko Fuse
 
Difficulty Level: Complex

Paper Ratio: Rectangles in ratio 1:2 for base and Squares cut into 4 quarters for face

Paper Size: 4 inch squares

Model Size: ~4 inches in diameter

Modules: 30 rectangles + 30 quarters

In recent days, I have been experimenting with newspaper weaving. So what exactly is newspaper weaving? In this art, we roll up newspaper strips into tubes, paint the tubes using acrylic colours and then weave the tubes into various shapes.

Easy to write, very difficult to do - at least for me! I have been trying out various methods of rolling, painting and weaving the tubes. Have been fairly successful, but if I browse the net for what others have done, I can see exactly how amateurish my attempts look!

But in recent attempts, the output has been pretty good, if I do say so myself! My latest attempt at weaving is this cup and saucer combination, made from lavender and brown tubes. Tutorials abound on the net, both written and video tutes and I have used them as much as possible to finally complete this product. And I must confess, I am quite proud of how it has turned out :)

The saucer measures about 7 inches in diameter, the cup (which is attached to the saucer) has a 5-inch base and measures about 6 inches in height. The toughest part was making the handle, I just couldn't figure out how people got such close loops!! Finally, practise paid off and I managed to shape the handle well.

At the end, I coated the entire thing in a mix of fevicol and water and allowed it to dry overnight. And now I have a good, very sturdy (you would be surprised to see how sturdy newspaper tubes turn out to be!) and pretty cup and saucer set, made entirely from newspaper!

An excellent way to recycle, I think :) 

After my Christmas bells made from newspaper tubes, I have been working with a fair amount of enthusiasm, on a rather large project! Making a trash can!!

It has been a fairly large project for me, because everything about this is new! I am new to newspaper weaving, so rolling the tubes itself is a challenge. The shape I have chosen is also new - till date, I have only attempted round structures, so a square is another challenge. Then there is the painting - as you can see, I have used lavender, green and white tubes. The white tubes were tricky because they weren't as bright white as I wanted them to be; hopefully I will get there in my next few attempts. Finally, I am not sure how clear it is, but I have used lavender/white paper beads around the middle of the basket. For some time I had the feeling that I had bitten off more than I could chew, but finally, I managed to complete the basket 😀 And really really proud of what I have done. I do realise there are a lot of faults, but at least I completed it!! So yay me!!

Model Details:

Model: Woven waste basket

Difficulty Level: High Intermediate

Model Size: ~15 inches tall 

Tutorial (making newspaper tubes): Youtube 

May the peace and blessings of Christmas be yours. And may the coming year be filled with happiness.

Merry Christmas!

 

More newspaper weaving! This attempt was more successful I think. I decided to go with Christmas colours, since anyway, these decorations were for Christmas. 

For these bells, I rolled newspaper tubes (about 150 in total), split them into 2, used acrylic colours mixed with glue and water to paint the 2 sets and allowed the tubes to dry completely. 

Once the tubes were dry, as with my last attempt, I used a bell form and wove these ornaments. The woven bells were themselves quite robust, but to add a little shine and sturdiness, I coated them with polyurethene. Allowed to dry and lo and behold, 2 beautiful ornaments ready for Christmas! 

Model Details:

Model: Woven Christmas Bell

Origin: Traditional

Difficulty Level: Low Intermediate

Model Size: ~5 inches tall 

Tutorial (making newspaper tubes): Youtube

Newspaper Weaving is one art that fascinates me, though till date, I have not been very good at it. But for this year's Christmas, I decided to try some ornaments using weaving. And this Christmas bell is one of my first attempts. 

For this bell, I first rolled newspaper tubes, colored them using acrylic paints, wove the bell using a form and finally coated with polyurethane.
Lots of work, but I am loving it! 

Model Details:

Model: Woven Christmas Bell

Origin: Traditional

Difficulty Level: Low Intermediate

Model Size: ~5 inches tall

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