last 3D origami sticks

3D origami sticks

http://jewellia7777.blogspot.co.nz/2012/03/buying-3d-origami-sticks.html

Sticks I have ALOT of left

Lime green

Melon green

Dark green

Grass/light green

Light/pastel yellow

Light peach

Light blue

Dark blue

Light pink

---

normal yellow

Purple

sky blue

"Its not origami if you cut/ use glue"

"Its not origami if you cut/ use glue"

I get this annoying comment on my youtube vids a lot. Overall, I dont really care about 'true' origami. I dont even really like normal origami (the flat kind from one piece of paper). People seem to assume my channel is an origami channel since it mainly has 3D origami stuff on it.

I'm more into handicrafts, handmade things, and mainly 3D/ sculptural things. I just find that they make for better displays and gifts.

In the pic above is 2 variations of the 3D origami mini rabbit. I think the one on the left obviously looks better than the one on the right. The right ones eyes are skinny and long, and the limbs are stiff and pointy. Its made from the same pieces that the rest of the rabbit is made from. While the left one has beads glued in for eyes, and the arms and ears are cut just a tiny bit to form rounded limbs.

A lot of people get all offended or something that they feel the need to bring up that its not origami because it was cut or glued. Honestly, I don't care about 'real' origami, as this is just 'handicrafts' to me. And as an artist/ or art student, you are taught to use the right materials to give off a specific 'look' you want to portray in your work. I use whatever material I think works best to make the thing look good. In this case, bead eyes has worked the best for me in giving it the 'kawaii' look, as well as cutting  a tiny bit off the edges of the ears and arms to make it rounded.

You dont NEED to cut or glue things to make this rabbit model though, as shown on the right. The right one is something people would make to utilise the materials they have, in this case, if they only have paper and nothing else, they can make it without doing extra cutting/ gluing (the limbs can stay in without glue). But if you have the other materials or want to make it look better, why not experiment and try other materials to improve the look? It's not like a lot of stuff is glued on, or that the extra stuff is necessary to make it.

Things added to 3D origami that look alright/ not too tacky:
-bead eyes
-glued on foam sheets for certain features (eyes, nose, mouth)
-bows
-model coated with varnish

So, if you want, do whatever you want on your creations. Theres no "rule" to doing these things ^_^

~Beginner models for 3D origami~ My friends first attempt~ Inspiration/ pics~

Haven't posted in ages. I wanted to show you guys my friends FIRST 3D origami model!! Its pretty good for the first attempt! Just wanted to show that it's not that hard, and to give some inspiration to beginners or those who are thinking of trying this. 

My friend is studying culinary arts with me, so its a bit of a different area to art/ crafts. Yet even she was able to make the rabbit in a day after I briefly showed her how to fold the pieces and connect them. After uni she went and bought a $4 pad of different coloured paper, went home and showed me the pic of what she made the next day!!

 I gave her a 3DO rabbit as a small birthday gift (pink one in the pic on the right) and she made the rabbit by copying the one I gave her (without watching any video tutorial). The limbs aren't exactly how I made them but its pretty close and she was able to guess how to do them. She also used playdoh for the eyes which is clever. See, you can use whatever materials you think would work for the features, dont have to follow and use 1 specific thing :-)

I always get asked for good models for beginners, so here are some newer models/ variations I've come up with which I think are quite basic/ quick to make. Here are some pics and links to tutorials:

Bunny ball TUTORIAL: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UhpybQ-LpAg

(The ears are a bit different to the tutorial. Just a stick of 3 pieces stuck in and cut on the edges to be rounded. Looks better/ cuter)

Mini rabbit TUTORIALhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pMt2mr3nabc

bunny ball

2 Variations of the mini rabbit

3D origami wedding swans

Another wedding, another 3D origami gift^_^  (diagram below)

 I like crafting new wedding gifts! I always start with a simple idea of 2 figures together (usually a bride & groom or swans) stuck on some platform, and end up adding little details as I go/ think of them, and they all add up to make the gift much nicer. Its the little details that count. I'll explain my process and maybe you guys can get some ideas on crafting your own wedding gifts :-) or any gift for any occasion.

So I just found out a week before about the wedding. Swans seemed to be the easiest so I went with that. The plan was to make 2 white swans with flared wings, which look more elegant (The older swans I made just had triangle shaped wings), and add some colour on the tips of the wings (blue and pink to make a 'guy & girl' swan). 

                                                                                Decided to add quilled flowers to the wings of the swan since they look intricate and delicate. Glued pearl beads on them too to add a 'jewellery' look. It gives it more pearly/ sparkly-ness (not that they're sparkly but the light reflects off them and it just looks more nice).

I wanted to add some gold pieces to make it look nicer/ formal, so added a piece on the beak of the swan. I didnt have time to fold much gold pieces, so I only added a little bit. Less is more ^_^ Made a big white loop  for the border of the platform (which kinda acts as a 'lake' for the swans). It was looking plain so I added some gold pieces spread evenly throughout the loop, I think theres only 8, with 20 white pieces between them. It looked empty between the gold so I filled it with a bit of the pastel colours used in the swan wings. 2 light pink, 2 light peach, 2 light blue. A few coloured pieces repeated in between something plain can make it look much more nicer. You dont need much coloured pieces.

 I had some 'scrap' crafts like tiny cranes and quilled flowers and glued them onto the platform. The tiny gold cranes gives it a nice touch since they match the gold pieces in the 3D origami and they just look so tiny and peaceful^_^ The quilled flowers in the 'lake' kinda look like lily pads too. 

Had some scrap pink paper lying around, so used a heart shaped hole puncher on it to get some pink hearts, and glued them onto the platform. They're like leaves/petals to add to the love/ wedding theme. Also found a small origami heart in my craft scraps so glued that on too

 

So there you have it, plain white swans with hints of soft pastel colours and a few gold pieces here and there that make it sparkle. This simple, soft and elegant look makes a good wedding, anniversary or valentines gift, or even just a fancy table centrepiece ^_^ 

DIAGRAM- click to enlarge

3D origami teddy bear variations

Here are some pics of different variations of 1 model to give you ideas on how you can alter it for different people and occasions. Eg. you can use the persons favourite colour and add different patterned paper on the inner ears and foot pads to change the look.

Suggestions

-For a baby gift, use pastel colours

-For a valentines/ anniversary gift for a girlfriend, use pink and add red on the inner ears/foot pads or patterned paper to make it more feminine

-For christmas, use red and green, and maybe use wrapping paper for the inner ears/foot pads

I like the teddy bear model a lot (Tutorial here) and think I'll try heaps more  colour combinations and different variations of it. Got  heaps more ideas for this one. Heres the different bears I've made so far. They'd be good for birthdays, valentines and baby gifts^_^

I'll post more pics of any new variations I make :-)

The light peach bear was the 1st one I made for a 21st birthday gift. I think this one turned out the best so far out of the 3. Heres what the gift looked like (I made some other stuff with it)      http://jewellia7777.blogspot.co.nz/2012/04/gift-idea-for-21st-birthday-present.html

link to the teddy bear DIAGRAM is HERE

The light green one was the 2nd one I made. I forgot to make the ears from HALF sized triangles. No wonder why I had to use more pieces than usual. It took more normal sized pieces for it to curve, and was harder to fit into the head. I was also wondering why they looked like mouse ears. It looked too big for the head and I had to heep squeezing/bending to try make them smaller. Ears made from SMALLER pieces (half the size of the pieces you use to make the rest) are just easier to handle, fit into the head, and look more in proportion.

 My most recent bears are the quilted ones. I wanted to make it look mix-matched and use cute, fun colours. Maybe cos all the clothes I see in shops these days use colour blocking and have asymetric/ mix matched patterns. I added polkadotted paper to the inner ears and foot pads and now the style kind of looks babiesh. I think it would suit as a baby gift? (They were Christmas gifts though lol) DIAGRAM for the quilted bear is HERE

3D origami patchwork teddy bear

Hey guys! Sorry I havent posted any vids in ages. I havent done much 3D origami in a while, and havent felt like making vids. Just had other things to do. I did make 2 3D origami models for Christmas gifts and thought I'd share it with you guys with a diagram as well. I was gonna put up a vid displaying them but finished them off last minute before the christmas function, so only had time to take a rushed/bad photo on my phone (with the bright light in the middle)

Its a variation from the teddy bear. Scroll down for the diagram and number of pieces.

I wanted to mix and match pastel colours to make a fun, patchwork inspired teddy. I also wanted to make use of the pieces I had a lot of that were  ready-made and were just sitting there, and these were the colours I had a lot of. It kinda relates to patchwork how left over material is patched together^_^

Also used some scrap decorated paper (polkadot) for the foot pads and inner ears. I think adding patterned paper to fill in certain parts gives it a nice touch. You see it happening in fashion in the lining of coats, bags and shoes.

Overall it looks a bit odd because of the split face and stuff lol, but I like the colours. The yellows more light/pastel in real life than in the photo. Lighter colours look nicer for this (the patchwork) since the split face will look softer and less zombie-like. Could be a good baby gift? (just as an ornament on a shelf/room decoration etc.. too hard and pointy for a toy lol)

It might look better with different colours. I'm thinking light blue and cream. I'll try experiment more with this design

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

DIAGRAM

click to enlarge and see it clearer

PIECES

I wont do total of colours since you may want to change them. I've separated them into the parts of the head and body where it's split into different colours. I've put the colours I used in brackets so you can look at the photo/diagram and know what I'm talking about.

The head and body are split into 3 parts to create a patchwork/ mix-match look

I'll call them:

main colour (half of the body/head- uses most pieces)

2nd colour  (2nd colour - uses 2nd most pieces)

3rd colour  (3rd colour - uses the least pieces)

~~~~PIECES~~~~

~ BODY ~ 

156- main colour (yellow)

96- 2nd colour (white)

120- 3rd colour (light pink)

~ HEAD ~

244 1st colour (yellow)

147 2nd colour / eyepatch (light pink)

86-3rd colour (white)

24 muzzle (light peach)

3 black (1-nose, 2-mouth)

~ (each) LEG ~

30 (10 pieces x 3 rows) (TOTAl 60)

10 inverted pieces (white) (TOTAL 20)

~ (each) ARM ~

34 (TOTAL 68)

~ (each) EAR ~

20 MINI pieces (total 40)

fold triangle piece from HALF the size of the rectangle you used for the rest of the body.This makes it look more proportioned/fit well. You can use normal sized pieces too (I did it once by mistake) thought it may look a bit big for the head. It may take more pieces to curve the ear and you may have to push/squeeze harder to made it fit into the head

*NOTE- If you're buying pieces from me to make this, I can only provide the normal sized pieces. You'll have to make the half sized pieces yourself (for the ears) using a similar colour of my paper, or even a different colour since having different coloured limbs looks ok as well.

3D origami crocodile/ a little story

(3D origami crocodile. Diagram below.) 

Also some little meaningful words below. It would be nice if you read it all :-) Thanks^_^

  ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

One of my subscribers emailed and requested a 3D origami crocodile (Just to look at which she'll figure out how to make on her own). I was gonna say I didnt have time as I had uni assignments to do, but she mentioned it was for a nephew. 

"This alligator or crocodile is for my nephew,6, who is a huge reptile lover, but is fighting for his life battling lung cancer. I just thought it would be nice to give him something to brighten his day."

Since I haven't done many 3D origami tutorials for ages and have been saying "I'm busy with uni" to a lot of people's requests, I thought I should do this one and make a difference to someone's day, and I did have time at that moment to make a quick small model during my 1 week holiday. 

She's 13 and I thought it was mature and nice of her to think of making something for her nephew to brighten his day. I recently read a book called "The healing power of water by  Masaru Emoto" and when I got this email, it felt like they linked? (You know, when you read a book and it mentions a word you don't know, or a situation, and then later that word comes up or a similar situation happens.) 

In the book it mentions how positive words were stuck onto, and facing inside a bottle of water, and negative words on another (same type of water). He froze them and took a photo of the water crystals as you never get the same crystals. The one that "saw" positive words, formed pretty crystals, and the ones with negative words had half formed crystals and looked broken and ugly. Its about positive and negative vibrations and their effects. Apparently thoughts have vibrations, and when we hear positive/negative words, it gives a different effect/feeling.

What's also interesting is that humans are made up of  around 60%? water and they say if words can do that to a bottle of water, imagine what it can do to us? Which explains how positive thinking works and how hurtful words/ negative self-talk can affect people. Anyway, they also tried the experiment with homemade food and takeout. The homemade food had high levels of 'hado' ( vibrations I think? yeah I think they had something to measure hado) compared to fastfood which is made in a rush/ with no care. When the person made the same homemade food but with bad thoughts (like "ugh why should I make this, I don't have time!!!"), it also had lower levels of hado. Recently my mum's friend came over and saw my mum making us lunch. She said (in diojiu) "Making food for your kids is good. They'll eat your love" which is mainly like putting effort/care into making something for someone, and they'll receive your love/ thoughtfulness.

This made me think about handmade gifts. They're special because the person made it especially for you, you can't get it anywhere else as they made it. It's one of a kind and made with love. Especially when its your favourite colour, favourite animal etc.. when someone makes you a specific thing cos they know you like it, you know they thought of you when they made it. 

So I thought this person wanting to make a crocodile for her reptile-lover nephew was sweet and thoughtful. And since he's sick, a handmade gift would be the perfect thing for sending positive energy to him.

So those are some photos above, and a diagram below. I know it doesn't look that great, it's just the same structure as most of my small models, but showing the technique of how to make a mouth stick out (2 mouth pieces made separately and pushed in the head & glued). It might look more crocodile-ish with a dark green, and maybe a brighter yellow if you like. It might look good with google eyes, I dunno. And some small yellow triangles could be inserted in the middle back for the spine/spikes thing (use half the size of the normal triangles)

-The eyes are made like the ears of the 'green pig' tutorial ( at 2.14 in this video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MMb7DwJyBsA) (sorry you have to see my thumbnails close up which were shit at the time. Was pressing too hard with my thumbs on something and they got thick & gross. Had to just wait to grow them out)

and the arms/legs are made like most of the other small models.

Diagram:

I'm into reading about "the secret/law of attraction", positive thinking, energy and all that stuff,  and I read about how telling people your goals and stuff helps it happen. Since they're thinking about it too, then its like a combination of thoughts put out there which attracts more of the same thing ("throw something out there and it comes back to you"). If more people are thinking about it, the thought/vibration is more stronger. So I thought I'd mention the nephew in this post to add more meaning to it, rather than just uploading the pics/ diagram, so that maybe when you guys read about, it would help send positive energy to him :-) 

I know I'm into all these weird theories and stuff which people are sceptic about, and I know they're exaggerated for movies and books, but I've had my experiences with positive thinking, so I know they work in little ways. All the best to that nephew and anyone else out  there who's sick, or feeling down. Get well soon!^_^

Make a handmade gift for someone to brighten their day!!^_^