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blah blah blah, about nothing in marticular – may contain traces of aaaarrrggghh

Book Ordered

| wonko

So I have a birthday looming, have always admired Satoshi’s work, plan on attempting the ancient dragon later in the year and wanted to try some tissue foil (chose white) so thought why not.

The Origami-shop.com is well regarded in the origami community so I have signed up and it is all good. They have a huge range of things I would love to own.

I had long admired a volume entitled “Works of Satoshi Kamiya” and found it at 56.83 euro – excellent value – very happy, just awaiting international post and it will be mine.

Library Display

| wonko

So I have this big plastic box of models – 4 months worth of them, and I enquired if the School Library (I am a teacher btw) would like to use them for a display sometime:

The day after I suggested it, the display case was empty and we began laying them out

It is terrifying, and wonderful, to see so much paper torture in such a concentrated dose – some lovely models amongst that 4 months worth.

They can look after them until the end of the term I guess – we shall see how they fare being on display (they do look pretty under lights) – at least I can lock the cabinet to stop inquisitive fingers touching them. I hope the dust from the adjacent building site is over and done with – we shall see.

138: Flu Jab

| wonko

This afternoon I went to get my annual Flu Jab:

I am told it is “just a little prick with a needle” but I am sure the bloke who injected me does not like to be referred to that way 😛

I thought I should go original design also, not thinking I needed a pattern, so did a little free-form shaping, some simple pleating and crimping. I am fairly happy with it – it looks syringe-y and a little 3d too which is nice – not very tidy on the reverse side and the needle looks not very sharp.

132: Pyramid

| wonko

In the late 70’s (1979 to be exact), my musical world changed forever. I bought a record (remember them kids – black plastic circular things you put on a turntable) by a then teenage Gary Numan – it was “The Pleasure Principle”:

The music was electronic and I knew I had found my passion, the cover was baffling – a dapper teen in a suit, glancing casually at a glowing pyramid:

A simple re-working of the Waterbomb, some nice symmetry, it is delightfully complete on all sides

Made to celebrate the 30th Anniversary of that album, and the fact that I am going to see him and his band in concert tonight (WOOO!) supported by Severed Heads. Very excited by both, just quietly, as I had long given up home of ever seeing either live and resigned myself to collecting all their recorded works.

129: Making a Spectacle

| wonko

Now I had this idea that with box pleating it should be possible to make life-size spectacles:

So I set about experimenting, discovered that I could form 6×6 lenses, a nose bridge and some reasonable length arms with a 4×1 rectangle cut from an A3 sheet:

Quite cool – an original invention, chuffed with the result. hope you like them also – the ultimate in UV protection (and all light for that matter)

Don’t pretend like you do not want to look this cool 😛

And for those faithful following this nonsense, here is my crease pattern/plan so you can have a go yourself:

128: Mother’s Day Brooch

| wonko

Mother’s Day is a chance to do something nice for Mum, because…. When your Mum is going to be overseas, it takes planning for that to happen:

This first fold was completed a couple of weeks ago – snail mail to the UK is slow, so I needed to make the coloured ones for cards in time for them to arrive today:

I made a card for each (Mum and Mum-in-law), hope they like them. The coloured roses are rather special – made from imported Yuzen Washi, mounted on to blank cardstock I think they look lovely.

This is a variation of a camelia fold I have yet to try. With 2 colour paper the leaves would be one colour and the rose another, neat:

Designed by Sy Chen, YOU should have a go at this yourself – it is simple and the result is lovely. I am sure your mum would love it – go here for a video demonstration

April, Done and Dusted

| wonko

PHEW!

Looking at this collection of models, I get a little wobbly to be honest. Laying them out on the floor to photograph them I realised how much time I am sinking in to this project – not sure if that is sustainable. Maybe more “rock” origami is required 😛

There were some seriously snarly models this month, many personal milestones, it has been an interesting ride so far – hope my patience, abilities and selection of as yet un-tried models lasts the distance. I gotta do some simpler ones I think, too many Joisel’s or Lang’s in a month is a recipe for fatal paper cuts.

Hope you, the blog reader, are also enjoying the journey.

112: Bunny Box

| wonko

Now all responsible adults are prepping the the imminent visit of the Easter Bunny. This little box is perfect for collecting the spoils of an easter egg hunt (so should be made in advance to avoid disappointment):

Clever use of paper, pockets, easy to fold and actually very bunny-like. A square cut from an A4 page makes a box big enough for the largest haul of mini eggs – an A3 square would make slipper-sized boxes (an idea for “fluffy bunny slippers”?).

Designed by Jacky Chan (do not think it is the kung fu chappie tho it would be cool if it was) as my “white rabbits” for this month (given the “rock” displaced it in it’s rightful place.

You should totally fold some of these for kids you know – easy and quick: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V9zwCP7dg5o

100 Last Waltz (Revisited)

| wonko

…so I made a second fold of Elias’ “Last Waltz” figure on the day of Lindy and Randy’s wedding, and visited Australia Post …

packaged ever so carefully, bubble wrap and box, sent to the other side of the world

…dancing all the way to Silverdale US, to the happy couple themselves.

So glad it arrived in one piece, so glad they like it. Fitting wedding present. What a handsome couple, the people are not a bad match either 😛

Now the couple live in a lovely glass pavillion:

Storage and Display

| wonko

The most common question I get asked (apart from how do I find the time to do this in the first place – try not to think about that one too much) is what do I do with the models when I have made them:

Monthly storage in a shoebox on top of our china cabinet (no, not the most elegant of things, but practical until something else comes along). I like to display a couple of days back, particularly if there are some nice models amongst the month.

After a monthly picture is taken, the month’s folds are then archived in a plastic box (must look to source some silica gel sachets to keep them dry – humidity causes some to unfold). It looks like the archive box is about the right size – it is nearly 1/3 full and I am nearly 1/3 of the way through this adventure.

The aim will be to get these all out again and photograph them together in a 365 image.

… well, you did ask.

99: A DNA Double Helix

| wonko

Talk about “life, the universe and everything”, this model is an intriguing exercise in pre-folding:

Organised ridges, counter folds of diagonals and the model seemed to curl in on itself in a magical sort of way. Interestingly it is composed of 42 base pairs – I wonder if that is a coincidence?

Folded from an A4 page, strangely, the resultant model is huge (as the reference stage suggests, but is has an inherent strength and rigidity that I found surprising.

You can try this one for yourself: http://erikdemaine.org/thok/dna41.html

March Done and Dusted

| wonko

Wow, this month seems to have gone on forever:Looking back there have been sone awesome models in the month of March (which sadly raises the bar for subsequent months I guess) – hedgehog, jack-in-the-box and more.

Models put away in the archive box, a new month begins…

February, Done and Dusted

| wonko

Month 2 done and dusted – looking back some notable models, lots of complicated ones too (hope I have not peaked too early):

Quite happy with progress so far, but with 306 still to do there is no time to relax just yet.

Tidy

| wonko

Now storage is getting to be an issue – the shoebox is full and I am not through my second month, so I decided to buy a tidytub:57 litres, hope it is enough (the next size up seemed big enough to hide a body, and the size smaller was not much bigger than the shoebox) – did not think paper was measured such but there you go.

I think it will be really cool if/when I get to 365 to have them ALL in a photo, so they need to be stored, think this is a solution.

After the 366 ritual BONFIRE I can re-use the tub for papers and stuff storage under the house,

January, Done and Dusted

| wonko

Wow, January is over and here am I with 31 models down, on the road to 365 all up … hope I have the stamina: When you see them all together they are … amazing – some tricksey stuff there that is throwing down the gauntlet to me for the coming months.

I will try to remember to do a monthly post with a summary – not sure I have the oomph to do it cumulative – will pack these away in a shoebox for now and start tomorrow afresh.