The Sweet Spring Kusudama is a very simple but very elegant looking origami kusudama, designed by Natalia Romanenko. Each unit is a combination of 2 or 3 smaller modules. Why do I say 2 or 3? Because, while the instructions I found online require 3 modules, you can make do with just 2 of them. 

The basic module is an origami pig base. This is formed from a square. To this module, we add 2 modules folded from a rectangle. This forms the star and a wavy loop on the star. Well, I didn't want the wavy bit, so I stopped with just the star. Hence had ended up with 2 instead of 3 modules. 

So once these units are assembled, the kusudama is formed by inserted 1 unit into the next. The assembly is very simple and the model holds well together. 

I have been meaning to use indigo coloured paper for a long time now, so I clubbed it with orange paper to give me a very bright sweet spring kusudama! 

Have you tried out this kusudama? Do give it a go, if you haven't. 

 

Model Details:

Model: Sweet Spring Kusudama

Creator: Natalia Romanenko

Difficulty Level: Low Intermediate

Paper Ratio: Square + Rectangle in ratio 1:2

Paper Size: 3 inches square / 3 inches by 1.5 inches rectangle

Model Size: ~4 inches in diameter

Modules: 60

Instructions: Paper Finger Cuts

Tutorial: Youtube

 

 

How about that?? I ended up making a very cute little duckling which also served a purpose! This is a little container that I made for my daughter Little Missy. She uses this to store little trinkets and is delighted with how tiny and "kawai" it is! 

I actually had a few sticks left over, after completing a recent project, so wanted to use those remaining sticks. And well, this was the size I could make without having to roll and paint new ones! So a duckling instead of a duck! I should addceyes, I guess, but I thought it looked good even now, no? 

Another first for me is that I have woven this as a free form, that is, I usually have a base form over which I weave. But I wanted to see how it went without a form and I think it has come out fairly well.

Model Details:

Model: Duckling shaped container

Difficulty Level: Complex

Tutorial (making newspaper tubes): Youtube

Roman Diaz's origami owl was a delight to fold, so this year, I wanted to try more of the origami from the book "Origami Essence". The origami Wren (Ratonera) is the third origami from the book and a little more complex than either the panda or the owl.

The suggested paper size is 5-6 inches but since I had some foil-backed origami paper of 4.5 inches size, I decided to go ahead with that. A colour change is seen near the neck of the wren and at the legs.

I enjoyed folding this little bird and am delighted that I started the year with this origami, even though origami life-forms are not generally my cup of tea. I loved the colour change, the shaping of the beak and the tail. A very lovely model to fold.

I hope I get the chance to fold more models from the book.. Hopefully the cardinal, provided I get red/black kami paper!

Model Details:

Model: Wren (Ratonera) 

Creator: Roman Diaz 

Book: Origami Essence

Author: Roman Diaz

Difficulty Level: Low Intermediate

Paper Ratio: Square

Paper Size: 4.5 inches

Model Size: ~3 inches in height

So, after the last post on all the popular origami from last year, I realised that newspaper weaving was lagging behind. So I decided to try and complete at least 12 projects of newspaper weaving this year.

With that goal in mind, this is my first attempt - a newspaper woven little jewellery box with a lid. This is the first time I am attempting a proper lid, which will fit the box. My last attempt was rather rudimentary and I was not at all happy with that. While this is a definite improvement, I have ways to go before I can be really happy with this.

As is evident, this was also woven using the coiling technique. I guess I will attempt a few more projects using the same method. These tubes were coloured dark brown, using wood stain.

 Model Details:

Model: Coiled Box with lid

Difficulty Level: Complex

Tutorial (making newspaper tubes): Youtube

Tutorial (coiling or root-weaving technique): Youtube

Happy New Year 2020!

The old year has passed and as we step into a new year, here's to a wonderful, peaceful and blessed new year to everyone out there!

PaperNPearlz has been doing pretty well this year! Posts have been fairly regular, with many posts on the wonderfully challenging technique of newspaper weaving.

We have started off for the first time on Instagram, became more active on Facebook and Pinterest. And a dormant account on Flickr! came to life finally!

The most liked posts on the various social media sites is what is posted here. As expected, Tomoko Fuse's modulars featured widely.

In this new year, hopefully we will see more origami modulars and other challenging projects. And I also hope to see some woven products. And maybe some tutorials too!

Once again, a happy New Year 2020!

Here is the list of models with links to more detailed posts:
1. Tornado designed by Aldo Marcell
2. Cassiopeia Kusudama by Uniya Filonova
3. Butterfly Kusudama by Tomoko Fuse
4. Little Turtle Kusudama by Tomoko Fuse
5. Octagonal Box by Tomoko Fuse
6. Petals Type II Kusudama by Tomoko Fuse
7. Hacky Sack by Winson Chan
8. Little Turtle Kusudama Variation by Tomoko Fuse
9. Patterned Icosahedron by Meenakshi Mukerji

Merry Christmas 2019, dear blog readers! 

It feels like the year had just begun and we are already at the end and looking forward to a new decade! Time does fly, doesn't it? 

Anyway, in the Christmas tradition, I decided to do something in the traditional colours of green and red. I had rolled a number of newspaper tubes some time back and had been wondering on the project to work on. So I decided to go ahead with the new style of weaving that I have been trying out these days. In case you, dear reader, haven't had an opportunity to see what I have been up to, do check out this blue leaf tray that I had done a few months back. Also check out the previous box and lid, done using the same red/green tubes. 

This style of newspaper weaving, called coiling or root-weaving, is tedious but results in really cool newspaper products that are absolutely eye-catching! The weave is without any form, so it is with some trial and error that I manage to do this style of free-form weaving. 

This bowl or rather, tray is about 7.5 inches in diameter and made entirely from newspaper tubes, coloured red and green. As with my previous blue tray attempt, here too, I attempted to paint both plain tubes and tubes with print still visible. Since the colours were both dark ones, I was able to obliterate most of the print after painting the tubes twice. With a single coat of paint, the colour is not very rich and the print is clearly visible. But with a second coat, the colour also becomes richer and most of the font are pretty much invisible! And what little is visible, is hardly seen in this style of weaving anyway! So that was a good discovery for me.

In total, to make this bowl, I have used a total of 50 plain green tubes, 25 green tubes with print visible, 100 plain red tubes and 30 red tubes with print visible. And as expected, with this style of dense weaving, the end product is very robust and strong. A coat of polyurethene and I have an absolutely amazing product!

So what do you think?

Model Details:

Model: Coiled Christmas Bowl

Difficulty Level: Complex

Tutorial (making newspaper tubes): Youtube

Tutorial (coiling or root-weaving technique): Youtube

After trying out this modular wreath by Lidiane Siqueira, I attempted another of her wreaths, the Marieta Madala, a Christmas themed wreath, folded from 8 modules.  

It would, of course, look best with paper coloured red on one side and green on the other. Since I didn't this paper, I decided to go for red and green single sided origami paper. I like the way this has turned out and I think it would make a great addition to my Christmas tree. 

Model Details:

Model: Marieta Mandala 

Creator: Lidiane Siqueira

Difficulty Level: Simple 

Paper Ratio: Square

Paper Size: 3 inches (7.5 cms) 

Model Size: ~4 inches across

Modules: 8

Diagram: Criativa'rte