mini-modular series #002 Spiky Cuboctahedron aka Spike Ball

This is the second model I decided to make for my mini series; the spiky ball. It’s a simply modular because there are only 12 units to it and each unit is just a simple variation of the pinwheel fold.

I placed a wine bottle cork next to it to give you an idea of how small it turned out to be!

12 sheets 5cm x 5cm.

After I put the model together I noticed I had one unit left. I though to myself  ” only 11 units? that can’t be right!?” but then again I was having a little bit of wine (that explains the cork) when I counted the sheets out to make them… I must have made 13 units. I blame the wine for clouding my ability to count properly lol.

The 13th unit!

As a variation of the pinwheel, it wasn’t very difficult to make each unit, easy and fast! However, each one ended being a lot smaller that I expected so I had to use tools.

Again, I used tweezers and a toothpick also.

The one I made only had 12 units but you can make bigger ones if you use 24 or 54 units. you can find the diagram and more pictures on this other awesome website:

http://www.spikeballheaven.net/.

 

 

mini-modular series #001: Hollow Sonobe Variation

I finally have a little bit of time to dedicate a little time to my foldings. I’ve broken into the stash of 5cmx5cm I’ve been saving since I left Argentina!

As a rule of thumb,the smaller the size of paper you use to make kusudamas or any origami for that matter, the more difficult it can be. I use tweezers because my fingers are too big!

I decided to start with a simple Sonobe variation.

30 sheets x 5cm x 5cm

I placed a pen cap next to the model as a reference, it’s about a couple of inches tall. I used the little Korean paper common found in stationery stores. As you can see I used all the sheets that had any tome of red.

In the picture above you see that is comes with a little crane folding guide. I purchased this back in Buenos Aires for around a dollar.  The paper may be a little to small to deal with for beginners but if you keep the models simple it shouldn’t be a problem.

Happy Foldings!

 

Home Improvement

this blog has been neglected for far to long … time to shed a little ‘light’!

Rafaelita

After a long time I am finally able  to sit back down and update this blog.  I was pretty busy with family, visa application, travel and just general mental preparation that needs to be done to enter a new phase of my life. However, I did not neglect my folding too much (just the blog) so here’s one of my latest scupltures

This model is done in 10 x 10 fabriano (craft) paper. I used bright colors, orange,and yellow. You may not be able to tell from the picture, I used two different tones of orange.  This model has 45 degree angles folded in different ways.  No glue was used, the model is pretty sturdy when completed.

The sculpture has 30 identical units.  Moderately difficult to fold but you have to do 30 so you’ll get the hang if it.  The construction is simple, the units fold in nicely, using different colors helps see what goes where but a solid color gives a more uniform look.

This model was designed by Lukasheva Ekaterina and both the video and diagram can be found on her website: Kusudama Me!.

Happy Foldings!

Mini Origami Bunnies

I found this model on Facebook. I follow Leyla Torres from www.origamispirit.com and she made a post about these bunnies.

These are Jackie Chan’s rabbit lamps.

You can find a video on how to make them here. they’re very easy to fold. I folded these two from  5×5 papers with a flower pattern on one side and blank on the other.  I want to try to make them from larger pieces of paper and make them into an actual lamp. As you can see in the picture I stuffed these with pink cotton balls!

Cherry Blosson Model (Tomoko Fuse)

black-pink-lavender cherry blossom ball

This model can be found in Tomoko Fuse‘s book- Unit Origami: Multidimentional Transformations. I don’t have the book yet so I just looked for diagrams on YouTube like these:

• Cherry Blossom Kusudama
• How to make an Origami Cherry Blossom Ball

Both DreamRosebud and Barbabellaatje have a bunch of tutorials that are very easy to follow as well as guided step-by-step instruction for the assembly. I like the angle that Barbabellaatje uses for her video tutorials, they’re a little easier to see.

For this particular model I used ordinary duo paper in three colors.  It doesn’t matter really if  you use duo paper or fabriano (aka craft) because only one side shows.  Most of the models you see on the internet are all unicolored so that the petals stand out more when you put in petals (of a contrasting color).

However since this was the first time making this model I decided to use the old paper I had and managed to find 10 sheets of each color. I used 10×10 cm paper for the kusudama ball and then 2.5×2.5 cm for the filler petals.

This video will help you with the fillers.

Twinboat Isocahedron

I started working on this one a few days ago.  The isocohedron consists of only 30 individual units,  all a variation of the windmill base. The colors I used were red (10), orange (10), green (5), and white (5).  I used solid colored fabriano (craft) paper 15cm x 15 cm.

The units were very quick and easy to fold but the assemble was a little challenging. I had to use tweezers.  5 units together in a ’5 petal’ assembly, then each one of the unit petals were linked together by another unit, forming a 3 unit ring.

Here’s a very good video of the unit folding and assembly