origami: santa claus

Christmas is almost here. I already have my Santa :) and you? This is a diagram by 小松英夫/ KOMATSU Hideo. It’s simple. So simple, in fact that my first Santa was folded from a CP! My first CP, too… The front totally resembled the original but the back… I couldn’t find an image of the back so I didn’t turn out so fine… Actually my folds were about 90% accurate what I consider very good for a first try :) Anyway, it’s a simple Santa, especially when you have the folding sequence to follow :)

This is for the ones who got the CP on the net and didn’t find enough photos to understand how was the Santa’s back. It’s my smallest Santa and utterly cute, too :) This was made from 7.5×7.5cm/ 3.9″ and is 5cm/ 2″ tall.

The bigger redish one came from a 15×15cm/ 5.9″ square sheet and the green from 10×10cm/ 3.9″ sheet. They end up with a height of 9.5cm/ 3.7″ and 6.5cm/ 2.6″ respectively. Use paper that’s white on one side and has colour on the other. The bigger Santa is made by paper that is red on the corners and white in the centre. I also made one green since it was Santa’s costume colour before Coca-cola decided to revamp Santa’s closet a little… ;) But a red Santa is definitively more appealing. This is diagrammed, step by step so don’t be afraid, on 折紙探偵団MAGAZINE 通巻100号/ Origami Tanteidan Magazine 100.

kusudama: butterfly

This kusudama is named “Butterfly Kusudama” in YAMAGUCHI Makoto’s book Kusudama Ball Origami and in FUSE Tomoko’s book, 最新 くす玉折り紙 教室/ latest kusudama origami classroom, it is refered to as 花のくす玉/ flower kusudama and is marked as a traditional kusudama.

No matter how this kusudama is known it still has 60 units. As most flower kusudamas it has 12 flowers of 5 petals each (the same as Morning Dew, for example). This kusudama shows it’s true colours when folded in a somehow stiffer/ heavier paper; for units of 7×7cm/ 2.8″ a paper or 60grams per square meter is not advised; in my opinion even a 80grams paper isn’t! I used a 100grams paper. I want to fold it again with 5×5cm/ 2″ and I’ll use regular paper to see how it works… Just a note about the paper: it’s a blueish white with “dots” and really small bits of other papers in it.

kusudama: morning dew (i)

This is my very first Morning Dew kusudama! The diagram is in a book by YAMAGUCHI Makoto/ 山口真 named Kusudama Ball Origami. I believe this is a traditional diagram.

This one is actually quite bad looking. I mean the paper is nice and all but I assembled hurriedly and it shows. The photo doesn’t help at all, too. I mean all three photos of this kusudama are somehow blurred! I would take another photo but the kusudama isn’t with me any more so this will do to show you this model… And to tell that things don’t always turns pretty/ ok!
I am already searching for the paper for the second version of this one, so stay tunned! There’s more origami on the way here, too… :D

kusudama: mosaic box (ii)

First of all: I’m sorry for the long delay. Actually after I got my net connection back I had such an overload of work and things to do that I’ve been quite absent from the blog :( but now I am back and fear not I did origami/ kusudamas! The red sakuradama has been finished, see the post before this one, these are also finished and I started four other kusudamas: two are finished and two are almost finished. I also have origami, other than kusudamas, in line for appearing here! Let’s see what shows up first :D
Most of the comments are now answered! Yay! Now, onto more kusudamas!
These are photos of my second version of Mosaic Box/ モザイクボックス! Go get it at The Kusudama! I’ve made a post about it before: here (in January).

Here are those same kusudamas on the look who’s still alive post but finished up with beads and tassel. I think I could have chosen better looking beads but I only had these with me. I have to buy a new stock of beads for my kusudamas and dye for the tassels… Oh, and my paper is almost gone too… I need to shop for a lot of things to make my kusudamas prettier :)

Some technical info: made with 6 square sheets of 15cm/ 5.9″ the kusudama has a 7.5cm/ 3″ diameter. The “new” thing about this kusudama is the paper I used, as I mentioned earlier, I used origami paper, double faced patterned origami paper. Isn’t cute? One is stamped/ printed with traditional geometrical patterns on one side and a somehow traditional “drawings” on the other; the other has flowers on both sides, one being colourful and the other face in a more “one-colour-version” print. I also added a tassel and two beads on one and one bead on another… If I hadn’t used beads the tassel wouldn’t stay in place…
If you’re new in the kusudama world you might try this one out! It’s very simple to fold and since it has only 6 units it’s also very simple and fast to join together :)
Yes, I tend to say that the kusudamas are simple and fun to do, but they are! And this one is one of the simplest! Really! Go try to do one ;)

kusudama: cherry blossom ball (ii)

My newest version of てまり桜 by 布施知子 (see this post for more info). I hope this calms the visitors down ;) I’m back on track with this red kusudama!

It isn’t quite totally to my liking yet but it’s quickly approaching :) This cute kusudama was made with 7×7cm/ 2.8″ red kraft paper and has a diameter of 8cm/ 3.1″; as I expected it’s so much cuter in red! The next one will be with some floral pattern… Or perhaps with a simple traditional pattern… What do you think will be the best?