Lets Make Origami

I finally buckled down and finished a magic origami star for my middle son.  With this one, I was able to try out another variation of the the 'walk-around' pattern; this time with two colors.  The green and red colors both walk around the model.  Even the two spots of green walk around for a lot of the model; although there is a point when the green actually breaks.

This is the Origami Magic Star that I made for my middle son. He's not real picky when it comes to his favorite colors, so my wife just picked some basic colors.

Here is a clip of the red and blue walking around the model:



Here is a video of the extra large star:



Here is one more video showing the comparison of the extra large Origami Star & one of the 'regular' stars:


Here are the patterns for making the two different models that walk around the model. This is the pattern to use if only one color walks around the model:

If this pattern is used the orange would continuously walk around the model. The models are composed of 6 different rings that assembled together. This is the same pattern presentation that the authors use in the E-book.

Here is the pattern if you want two colors to walk around the model:

In this pattern both the orange and blue walk around the model.

Here is the link to purchase the E-book for the Oriland Origami Magic Star.  Oriland has done some amazing work. I have a few of their CD's and am looking forward to folding more and posting the pictures.

It's been a very long time since I've taken the time to post anything - I've missed it.  A lot has changed: we've moved states, I'm employed again (Yay!), and I'm still working on going to school online.  I wish I had more time to do origami and post about it.  Sadly, until I'm out of school (not going to happen soon enough) I'll just have to do it whenever possible.

The latest origami model that I've been folding (a little obsessively) is the Origami Magic Star that was created by the amazing creators of Oriland.  A link to the YouTube video of their model in action is here.  You can buy the e-book on how to fold the model here.  The creators have a Flickr page with pictures of fan-folded models here.

The model can be folded in several different ways; from as many as 48 squares of paper to 12 strips of paper to 6 strips of paper all the way to the extremely impressive single sheet of paper (here is a picture of someone that tackled this daunting task).  My favorite way to fold the model is the one that is the most modular: by using 48 squares of paper.

No matter what initial folding method is used to create the units, the final assembly method is pretty much the same.  The model is essentially created through 6 rings that are interlocked (unless the single sheet of paper method is being used).  For myself, the hands-down most difficult point is the assembling of the final ring to the first one.  The creators show a technique that interlocks everything nicely, but I have yet to be able to assemble is without tearing the paper.  Thankfully, the points where the paper tears aren't seen and don't seem to affect the model.

So, without further rambling here are the pictures and videos of the models that I have folded.  Normally pictures are completely sufficient to show off origami, but the reason this model is so fantastic is that its an action model.  I've got a picture of each of the models followed by a short video clip of them.

This is my first Oriland Magic Star. I already had almost all of the squares cut out that were left over from a different project. When I purchased the e-book and was looking through the various color patterns that were shown I instantly liked the checkerboard  pattern and wanted to try it first.

The next pattern that I attempted was the basic 'ring' style.  My wife picked out the colors and as a result they go very well together :-)

After seeing the first 2 models that I had made my Mom of course requested one.  To make things easier on me she requested the basic rainbow colors.  In the video you can see that several of the colors 'walk' around the model as it is rotated (the red is probably one of the easiest to see).

My oldest son's favorite colors are black and blue. After I made the first magic star he was begging for me to make one for him.  So for the pattern here I used the Yin-Yang design that the authors describe. The blue and black colors seemed to chase each other as they rotate around.  I will say that I was a little disappointed in the recommended pattern as it rotates one way and then back again instead of continuing to rotate in the same direction.

My next model was made for my oldest sister who happened to be visiting in the area for Christmas ( I usually only get to see her once or twice a year and so don't get much opportunity to share my folding with her).  After making the Yin-Yang model I decided to change the pattern a little to see if I could get the desired effect I was hoping for.  Here it is close; not exactly what I was hoping for, but much closer and gave me the direction I needed to continue to try.

And so the next one I made was for my Dad.  He has an office job and displays a few of the origami things I've made for him.  Of course when most people see something intriguing on someones' desk at work they have to pick it up to examine it.  As a result I don't give anything to my Dad to take to work unless it is solid and durable - as these models are.  Here I finally achieved the pattern I wanted.  The red color simply 'walks' all the way around the model as it is rotated; endlessly :-)

Finally, this is the model that I made for my  youngest son, who isn't quite 2 yet.  My wife tells me that anytime someone has their magic star out he wants to put it on his head like a crown.  So, she asked me to make one for him to walk around with.  That made me wonder just how large I would be able to make it.  The model on the left is my oldest son's and is about 6 or 7 inches in diameter.  The other one is considerably larger :-) Sadly, I don't have a video of it in action yet.  But as soon as I do, I will post it.

This last video is for entertainment purposes.  When the models are assembled, there is a certain spot in the rotation that can hold a particular amount of tension (likely due to the faults of my assembly).  So, if you're not careful they can kind of jump out of your hands :-D

There have actually been a few other models that I have folded and am in the process of folding.  I either need pictures/videos of them or I need to finish them.  Either way, my school work is currently having to come before anything (dang school is always getting in the way of fun).

I totally recommend purchasing this e-book from Oriland.  The instructions are fantastic and all in color.  The directions are very clear and easy to understand.  Be warned, though, that the final assembly does get a little tricky and may take a couple of attempts.  But the end result is totally worth it!

We're in the process of moving states in the very near future; hence the reason why I haven't posted anything new lately.  Today was our last Sunday here.  While here I team-taught the 11-year-old Sunday School class at my church.  I loved it.  The kids are amazing.  Anytime that I could I would bring origami to give them.  In the midst of packing everything my wife and I went through all of the origami that I've folded and accumulated while here (and even things we moved here).  So, I decided that I would take everything that I was planning on getting rid of and take it to the kids in my class to see if they wanted any of it. Before church I decided to count everything and take a picture.  Here's what I gave away:

The collection of origami that I gave to the kids in my Sunday School class.

I decided that I'd let them take turns at picking out what they wanted. In order to decide what order they got to pick things I took a large jar of origami stars that I had been collecting since I was about 18 and had them guess how many there were.  I wasn't sure if they'd want all of what I brought.  I had 122 separate things for them to pick from; I didn't come home with a single thing.  I'm definitely sad to move away, but the opportunities will be good.  I've been unemployed for over a year now and the move will allow for much better job opportunities.  Until we find work and get more settled it may be a little difficult to post here.  Until next time, Enjoy!

I love every chance I get to fold Tomoko Fuse's work.  Recently my wife suggested that I fold an origami quilt for both of our mothers.  Both of our moms are avid quilters (amazing ones too).  Something fairly unique to their quilting style is that they are part of a dying breed that still hand quilts the final products (the more common option is to have a quilt machine quilted).  I love that they hand quilt; it gives it a decidedly personal touch.  I see origami as something similar - something hand-made and personally made.  So, of course I jumped at the chance to do more of Tomoko's work and at the same time honor in a small way the incredible work that our mother's have done for us.  Tomoko Fuse's book is Origami Quilts.  Here are some of my recent origami quilts with the mothers' quilts last:

My little sister-in-law just graduated from high school (with honors).  As a graduation present we help put together a freshman "survival" kit; we included this quilt made in her high school's colors (as a way to take a small part of her high school pride with her).  This quilt is titled "Windmills + Joints of 180 degrees".  I used regular origami paper.

With any model that I try the first time (most especially the ones that I will being giving away as gifts), I like to practice the model (so I can see the size, try a color pattern, and simply to practice the actual folding so that the final product will look better).  In this case, I found that using colored copy paper made the final model larger than I wanted.  Each of the lighter blue are individual pieces of paper, with each of the dark yellow windmills and dark blue windmills being individual pieces as well.

This quilt is titled "Star 3" (so as to differentiate it from Star 1 or Star 2 :-).  I folded this as a thank you to one of the sets of grandparents of my wife's.  They spend their winter months in the desert, so we figured these colors would work nicely (origami paper).

Here is the practice version of the quilt I folded for my mother-in-law.  One of the other advantages to folding practice versions of models is to try out color combinations.  I try to find combinations that I think will look fairly good (for the instances that the practice version is good enough to hold on to or give away), but don't always succeed.  This combination is fine, but seems a little busy to the eye.  This is probably the main reason that I enlist my wonderful wife's help in picking out colors; she has a great talent for it.  Another point I learned with this model is that by using colored copy paper there are points in the model that become very thick and difficult assembly (specifically the final step of adding the orange units).  The CD is there for a size reference; the final quilt is right at 12 inches square.  Once again, the CD is from Oriland (Yuri and Katrin Shumakov) and is fantastic; I highly recommend their work.

This is the final quilt folded for my mother-in-law (prior to framing it); again with a CD for size reference.  My wife chose the colors for this and succeeded where I think I fell short.  The colors were chosen to coordinate with the quilt/craft room my mother-in-law has.  By using origami paper instead of colored copy paper (my favorite choice) I was able to make it a size that was easier to frame; this is 9 inches square as opposed to the 12 inches squared in the last one.  However, by going with smaller paper it did make some of the units fairly small and a little more difficult for my large hands to work with.

The final framed version of my mother-in-law's quilt.  This design is titled "Double Crosses + Joints".  Something that I've found that I love about these most recent quilts that I've folded is that they can be framed and hung either on the diagonal (as the quilt is pictured here) or on the horizontal (as in the previous picture).  (If you look closely, you can see the reflection of me holding the camera as I take the picture :-)

This is the quilt that I folded for my mom.  Its titled "Flower Crosses + Crosses".  Again, my wife chose the colors (with the knowledge of my mom's favorite colors).  Sadly, I don't have a picture of this quilt arranged on the diagonal; I think it looks even better that way personally.  This was folded out of origami paper and is framed in a 12 inch x 12 inch frame.

Another shot of the quilt for size reference.

This is the "back" side of the quilt.  One of the biggest problems that I have at times with folding origami quilts is that the reverse side often looks every bit as amazing as the front.  In this case there is a pointedly designated front and back.  Since origami paper was used all of the green and blue units have the same white back, so the coloring isn't nearly as impressive.  However, if you look at the actual design of the unit there is a fantastic twisted pinwheel design that I love.  I'll definitely need to fold this one again with colored copy paper with the intent of having this side be the predominant one.

Folding origami quilts is something particularly special to me.  These were folded as gifts for Mother's Day (although they were belated in their reception).  My mom is amazing.  She has and continues to teach me more than I'll ever be able to express.  She is the best mom that myself and 3 sisters could have ever had.  She continues to be amazing as an awesome grandmother to my children (she knows just how to "spoil" them :-).  My mother-in-law is also fantastic.  She raised an amazing daughter to be an incredible wife (along with 4 other great children).  She is a wonderful second mom to me and is also an awesome grandmother.  Quilting is one of the largest (if not the largest) hobbies for these great women.  Origami is mine.  The ability to combine the two is a great treat for me.  I look forward to continuing to fold all of the quilts I can.  Until next time, Enjoy!

One of the things that I absolutely love about the Internet is the vast array of free origami diagrams.  I am always willing and desirous to purchase good origami books; not only to have a wonderful library available, but also to support the incredible work of the great origami masters.  However, some of my favorite models have come from free diagrams found online.  Probably the best resource that I've used is Flickr; it allows for posting fantastic pictures of the models along with a place to share the instructions on how to fold them.  One of the newest contacts that I've found goes by the name credo_vsegda, whose name is Maria Sinayskaya.  She's designed a great variety of origami kusudama models and has diagrammed and shared several of them.  The one that caught my eye to try the first is titled Lotus Crown.  Here was my first attempt:

My first attempt at the Lotus Crown (24-unit assembly) designed my Maria Sinayskaya.  I love the color combination here, but sadly since it was my first try it doesn't look quite as nice as it could.  Some of the individual units are fairly loose and sloppy.  Also, after several attempts of trying to get the color pattern correct (where no 2 units of the same color connect directly to one another), I finally gave in to "good enough" and decided I'd try again at a later date.

Another view of my first attempt at the Lotus Crown (24-unit assembly).  From this angle it is a little easier to see how the the units aren't as crisp, clean, and neat as they could be (definitely not as good as the one folded by the designer).  In particular the little flaps inside the center square wouldn't tuck back nicely like they're supposed to (due to my own additions in the folding process).

Here is my second attempt at the 24-unit assembly of the Lotus Crown designed by Maria Sinayskaya.  I like the color combination of this one less than the first, but the final model is much tighter and looks much crisper and clean.

Another angle of the second attempt at the Lotus Crown (24-unit assembly).  With this model, I not only held to the author's directions when it came to folding the individual units, but I was also able to assemble the model with the proper color pattern (none of the units of the same color connect to another unit of the same color).  The assembly of this model was infinitely easier by using office binder clips to hold the units together until I was done.  This was one of the main reasons the final model was so tight when done.

I think one of my all time favorite origami books (if not THE favorite) is Tomoko Fuse's Unit Origami.  Personally I kind of consider it to be the "bible" of modular origami.  It was the first modular book I purchased and has a vast diversity of models.  I love it.  Modular origami is great because it's like playing with building blocks, except you get to have the fun of making the blocks yourself.  Recently there was one of the kids in the Sunday School class that I teach that had a birthday.  Just about every week I fold things for the kids and give them to the kids that are particularly well-behaved.  For their birthdays I wanted to do something a little different.  So for the first birthday of the year I decided to fold something from Unit Origami.  Here it is:

Here is the model that I folded for one of the students in the Sunday School class I teach at the church I attend.  In the book it is titled 'Dual Triangles' and can be folded into 3-unit or 4-unit assemblies.  Here is the 4-unit assembly, which creates an octahedron (8-sided).  In this model there are 8 octahedrons connected together in a type of cube fashion.

Another angle of the 'Dual Triangle' model given as a birthday present.  This particular assembled pattern is very sturdy and can be stood at several different points for display.  There are a total of 64 individual pieces of paper folded and assembled here.

Another gem that I found through Flickr is that from Daniel Kwan and displaying origami tessellations.  He had the brilliant idea of putting origami tesselltions between two sheets of acrylic panels and clipping them together; the picture is here.  Here is a few pictures of my application of the idea:

Here is a display of some of my favorite origami tessellations that I've folded (all from the book by Eric Gjerde Origami Tessellations: Awe-Inspiring Geometric Designs).  The picture isn't a particularly good one to show the tessellations themselves, but to instead show the idea behind displaying them.

There are several sizes that the acrylic panels can be purchased in.  Here is a smaller size that can be used to display a single tessellation.  This picture is a little better at showing the actual tessellation; a little difficult to fold, but looks fantastic when done.  The tessellation is titled  Chateau-Chinon.

Another view of the smaller panels to give a better show of the size.  This is the front of the tessellation.

A final view of the smaller panels with a show of the back of the tessellation.

 I've been unable to post for quite some time due to the demands of my school work.  Hopefully, I'll be able to start posting a little more frequently!  Until next time:  Enjoy!



Origami Christmas Wreath using open frame II units from Tomoko Fuse's book, Unit Origami: Multidimensional Transformations.

One of the first origami Christmas decorations that I made (and one of the first things I had thought up on my own) was this Christmas wreath.  The concept to chain the boxes together is one that I saw elsewhere, but I don't remember seeing the idea used to connect them together in a continuous ring. 

The first unit/modular origami book that I got was by Tomoko Fuse titled Unit Origami: Multidimensional Transformations.  I love this book.  In my mind, I see this book as the "Bible" of unit origami or as the standard for unit and modular origami (probably because its my first and favorite of unit origami books).  It has a few more complex models to fold and create, but the vast majority are so simple in the folding and even in the assembling of the models that its easy to pick up and learn. 

A little closer look at the origami Christmas wreath.

One of the reasons that I love unit origami is that its a lot like playing with building blocks as a kid.  All you have to do is learn how to fold the base units, practice a few models to learn how they interlock, maybe try a few variations and then the sky is the limit.  I've found a lot of times that if you can think up the shape or structure in your mind, you can build it with unit origami.  This book offers so many different type of models and the angles in which they connect that the options are huge.  (I plan on posting a great deal of my older pictures that are models from this book.) 

The first wreath that I folded with a Christmas theme was a little different, I simply alternated the green and red cubes all the way around.  My next idea was to see if I could make one that looked more like a traditional Christmas wreath by using mostly green with a few red to make it look like the typical red bow.  I think it worked out quite nicely.  The above pictured wreath is actually the third wreath I've folded (including the very first I just mentioned). 



These are the first two traditional wreaths that I folded.  The one on the left is the first attempt and was too large.  I used squares that were 4 inches which made for easy folding and assembly, but made the wreath too large and heavy for the strength of the paper.  What's more is that I originally had 2 additional cubes in it which added to the problem.  As a result, with so many cubes it made hanging the wreath difficult due to the fact that the wreath wouldn't hold a circular shape and the connections tended to pull apart.  The one on the right is the one I folded for this season and both my wife and I like it a lot more; much more compact and easier to hang.

 One of the main reasons for creating another wreath was due to the fact that the old one had seen a few Christmases and had been moved more than once, so it was a little worn out.  Not to mention before we put it away last year I think one of my kids got a hold of it :)  Having to make another one is always fine by me because I love the process as much if not more than the finished product.  This last wreath took me about 5 hours to fold and assemble (I can't remember how long it took to cut the paper).  It includes 144 sheets of 3 inch square paper (each cube has 12 sheets and there's 12 cubes).  There is no glue or any adhesive holding it together, the unit lock together very nicely.

Once again, I love Tomoko's book.  I highly recommend it, probably my favorite origami book to date.  In the next little while I plan on showing some of the other origami Christmas decorations that we use around the house.  Until then, enjoy!

Unit Origami: Multidimensional Transformations:

As much as I've enjoyed folding Snapology models by Heinz Strobl, I had planned to move onto something else to keep up a little variety.  However, I had the idea of making the small Icosahedron models to give as a reward/incentive to a class of 11-year olds that I team-teach in church.  We had a program in which all of the primary-aged children had speaking and singing parts.  All of the children did a fantastic job, but I was particularly proud of my class.  I had a blast making the models and loved the reaction from each of the kids when they got them.  I had contacted each of their moms to find out their favorite color and used that as the main color for each of them.  Something that I found especially amusing was that of the nine kids (there was five boys and four girls) eight of them said their favorite color was either blue or green (or a variation of one of those colors, like turquoise).  I thought for sure one of the girls would have said purple.  Despite that, I like the several color variations that were created.  By the time I had finished all of them I only had time and light to take one group picture of them.  I was very pleased with all of them, but my favorite color combination is the dark blue and yellow that is second from the left in the bottom corner.

The group picture of Heinz Strobl's Snapology Icosahedron models I made for my Primary class I lead at church.

The link to find the instructions on how to make this particular model are found here.  Enjoy.

Here are the rest of the Snapology models that I folded.  In my last post about the largest model (the Truncated Icosidodecahedron) I stated that I didn't use any glue (which I didn't), however some of the smaller models required it.  I used glue dots (which my wife so graciously offered to let me try and which I depleted rather quickly :) to hold the tabs down on some of the models for aesthetics sake.  My favorite models are the larger ones that required no glue.

The whole collection.

Another shot of the entire collection smallest to largest.

The 3 smallest units.  The yellow and blue model on the left is a Tetrahedron (4-sided), the yellow and red model on the right is a cube (6-sided), and the blue and yellow model in the middle is an octahedron (8-sided).  I had to use glue on all of the sides of each of these models to hold them together.

A close-up shot of the Dodecahedron (12-sided) model; I had to use glue on some the sides of this model.

My second favorite model, the Icosahedron (20-sided) model.

The Truncated Cube model.  This is one of the models that I had to use glue to hold together.

This  is the Truncated Cuboctahedron model.

This is actually the first Snapology model I tried.  I followed the instructions from the Web site which has you take a normal sheet of copier paper and make the strips; this produces a larger model than the rest of the ones I folded.

Another shot of the first Icosahedron.  I love the size.

Here's a shot giving a comparison of the different models.

Last, but not least, is my favorite model, the Icosidodecahedron.  Before making this model my favorite was the Icosahedron.  I love the five-pointed stars that are created all the way around this model.

Once again, the link for learning Snapology is here.  Enjoy :)

Something I love about origami is being able to watch paper start at such a plain and basic form that we use everyday and become something so much more incredible and beautiful.  I recently decided to try my hand at something that I'd found on the Internet a while ago, Snapology.  I was surprised at how simple the technique is and how the results look.  The models don't take much time to actually fold, so before I knew it I had tried nearly a dozen of them; each one of them a little larger than the one before.  I decided to try a very large model and document each of the steps.  Here they are:

It starts with plain copier paper that you can find at any store that carries office supplies.

The paper is then cut into strips of a predetermined width (these are 1/2 an inch).

The strips are then pleated together; they look like little springs.  I remember when I was little my dad would bring home the discarded strips of paper from the old dot-matrix printers they used at work; the printers that feed the paper through them by means of holes along the sides.  You could then tear off and discard the strips with holes.  My dad would bring these home sometimes for my sisters and I to play with.  I remember constantly making these same type of "springs" with that paper.

After taking the painstaking time to make sure that all of the strips are pleated accurately (it's very important to make sure they are kept as perpendicular to one another as possible), you turn around and take them apart.  The strips now look like they've been sent through a paper crimper.

The strips of paper are then cut to specific lengths for the model that has been chosen.  At this point there are about 180 of the small strips of blue paper.

And now for my favorite part of any modular or unit origami model: the assembly.  I started with a decagon (10-sided) and attached squares and hexagons alternately to it.

From there I added 5 more decagons with the necessary squares and hexagons in between.

After that an additional 5 decagons are added for the next layer of assembly.

Finally the last (and 12th) decagon is added to complete the model.

Another shot of the final model to give a little perspective.  It's roughly the size of a softball.

The model I used is known as a Truncated Icosidodecahedron for anyone as geeky as myself that wants to know.  It's comprised of 12 decagons (10-sided), 20 hexagons (6-sided), and 30 squares.  I didn't actually clock how long it took me to cut, fold and assemble, but I estimate it was a solid couple of days total.  Obviously this is the one that took the longest because its the largest.  Something to note here is that there is no glue holding it together.  The only cutting that was done was to get the strips, after that it was just folding and assembling. 

The link to where I found instructions are here.  The site is in both English and Polish.  The instructions aren't the most clear (it's obvious that English is not the author's first language) but still sufficiently detailed and has good pictures as a guide.  The rest of the site is very impressive, with fantastic pictures of models that they've folded and lots of diagrams for other models.

Another site that has instructions about origami strip paper folding is here.  I've done another model from here that I love, the Sphere 94.  The original creator of Snapology is Heinz Strobl.  If you get curious about some of the other things that he has created simply type his name into a search engine for images and you'll find some very impressive pictures.  I absolutely love that origami can be found so plentifully on the Internet at no charge; this hobby can truly be an inexpensive one.  Having said that I still absolutely love my small collection of origami books that have taught me so much.  Enjoy the pictures.  I will post again soon the rest of the Snapology models that I folded.