Senbazuru - Thousand origami crane

I haven't been giving my blog much love lately, partially due to laziness, but for the most part it was because I've been making not one, but TWO Senbazuru for two different customers. If you never heard of a Senbazuru, it is according to Wikipedia: "a group of one thousand origami paper cranes held together by strings. An ancient Japanese legend promises that anyone who folds a thousand origami cranes will be granted a wish by a crane, such as long life or recovery from illness or injury."

"The Thousand Origami Cranes has become a symbol of world peace through the story of Sadako Sasaki, a Japanese girl who contracted leukemia as a result of radiation from the atomic bombing of Hiroshima during World War II."

So the past two months I've pretty much been folding paper cranes like crazy, I ate, drank, breathe, and dreamt paper cranes. Whenever I had a spare moment of time I was folding cranes. It was A LOT of work, but the end result is simply amazing! It looked so pretty that I wished I could've kept it for myself.

It's amazing what beautiful things can be made from paper, isn't it? Well, that's pretty much it, just wanted to share some pictures with you all. And if you'll excuse me, I got to stop typing and give my two hands a nice warm relaxing soak before they decide to fall off. :P

Sneak Peek - Two heads are better than one

I feel like taking a break from writing about New York today and will let you guys in on a sneak peek of what I'm working on craft wise which will soon to be in my store.

I think many of us have seen or heard of the Japanese origami crane (if we have not already folded them ourselves). For those that are not familiar with the origami crane, an ancient Japanese legend says each paper crane can live a thousand years, and promises that anyone who folds a thousand origami cranes will be granted a wish by the gods.

I really like folding paper cranes, they are fun to fold and the end product is very elegant, but I want to do something different, hence, two heads are better than one: twin sister cranes. Siamese style! :P

These two cranes are connected by the wing and no.... they are not glued together. They were folded from one single sheet of paper using the technique: Renzuru, which is an origami technique whereby one folds multiple cranes from a single sheet of paper.

I folded the purple one using a double sided origami paper, it seems to turned out pretty well.

Ok, break time is over for me, got to get folding if I want to get some cranes in my store next week. Hope you all are having a great relaxing weekend!

Bouquet of Lilies origami ornament

It took a few days longer than I like, but I finally finished my lilies kusudama ornament! Yay!

Lilies are one of my favorite flowers, they are so beautiful and elegant. Here are a few lilies items on Etsy that caught my eye. I especially like the Tiger Lily lamp work ring, and yes yes... I know there's a doll in the mix and she's not a flower, but her name is Lily and she's just so adorable that I had to include her here.

Preview - Kusudama ornament

Before I start making my origami items, I always make a test model using some scrap paper I find in the house; and this week I am going to make my new kusudama ball with lily flowers. Here's a preview of what it will look like, and hopefully it will be even better when I use color papers. Stay tuned to see my final product, or it should be in my shop in a few days time after I work out the kinks.