photo by cedison on flickr

As you have probably realized by now, I like origami. I like the fact that you can take something as humble as a piece of paper and make something really beautiful, functional, imaginative and expressive simply by folding it. Now, I say “simply” by folding it, but honestly, it is not always simple.

photo by etringita on flickr

Sometimes even when an origami designer has gone through all the trouble of coming up with an amazing design and has outlined each step carefully, people like me, who don’t seem to possess the origami kind of mind get confused, little pebbles of sweat appearing on our brow as we unconsciously stick our tongue out and to the side of our mouth while we wrestle with this humble little piece of paper that just WON’T submit to us.

Photo and design by polyscene

So my hat’s off to all those frontier breaking origami designers who continue to come up with new ways of using origami to make clothing, fabric, home decor, art, etc. etc. etc.

Amazing crane designed by Roman Diaz and Daniel Naranjo

check out the Octuple Helix Compass Rose Jar from the fitful flog origami designer Philip Chapman-Bell

Teach your kids, it will increase their patience and small motor skills while having fun at the same time. With this in mind, you can look forward to another card planned for the holiday season which will feature more paper folding arts with instructions on how to fold it yourself.

photo by Markybon on flickr

In the meantime, you can send the three cards I have already created about folding paper

Click on a thumbnail to preview the card.

You should also check out these fascinating blogs about origami which might even inspire you to get started folding away as well.

origami tessellations by amazing designer Eric Gjerde
fitful flog by origami designer Philip Chapman-Bell
polyscene works by Polly Verity
simonschubert

Some books to consider are Origami Art by Michael G. LaFosse and Richard L. Alexander, Advanced Origami: An Artist’s Guide to Performances in Paper by Michael G. LaFosse and Origami Design Secrets: Mathematical Methods for an Ancient Art by Robert J. Lang. There are of course many other basic books on origami, some of which will be more suitable for beginners and kids. It should be noted that the design of the butterfly in my first origami card was by Michael G. LaFosse and used with his permission.