Origami Design - Red Packet for Chinese New Year of the Monkey

Finally created my first ori-design for 2016 and it is for the biggest celebration in the Chinese community - Chinese Lunar New Year!  

And for the year of the Red Monkey, here is a unique, fun and simple red packet envelope which you can use to put in your lucky money to give to family and friends.

Simple & No gluing required

This is my design gift to the Origami and the Chinese community!  

Fortunately, I have the support and kind assistance of Ms. Jenny Chan of Origami Tree to make a video tutorial.  She has also included this model in her blog.

Here's wishing one and all an advance Happy Chinese New Year!!! 

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International Origami Winter Gift Exchange 2015

I participated again in the last Origami Winter Gift Exchange and I am very proud to display what I have received from Mr. Lawrence Zhang from the US.

Modular in different sizes and colors

Wonderful modulars including my favourite simple Greek Soccer Ball .  It's quite easy to make but brings a classic and elegant vibe.  I made lots of these units for decoration and did a short video too for family and friends.

For my part, I sent out my package to New York and was fortunately received on Christmas Day.  The pack includes an Adult Coloring Book, special Origami Paper, Christmas Flower by David Martinez, Santa Star by Katsuhisa Yamada and my Christmas is a Time for Love design and diagram.

Things I sent out.

I enjoy surprises so surely I will be signing up again for this years Christmas gift exchange.  You should too!

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Origami Creations - Boxing Animals

Just seen a rough fight among ... kangaroos.  Yes, the "roos" and they are awesome and gruesome fighters - eye gouging and kicking below the belt included.  Yikes!

Folding a kangaroo is quite interesting and among the best designers, I choose the japanese origamist Gen Hagiwara who has just had an origami book published titled "Spirits of Origami".  Check out his flickr account too so you will be amazed by his talent.

Perfect proportions <3

Also, not to be outdone, here is Jo Nakashima's rendition of the kangaroo.

Enjoy and have a great weekend!

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Origami Creations - Antelopes the Best Tasting Game Meat

As I was looking at a lot of videos on Big Game Hunting, I came upon the antelope.  I know that it is a fabulous and strong animal but it is only now that I know that its one of the best tasting :-)

Well, other than that, I also realized it is also one of the most difficult to fold.

Baby Buck Antelope

There are more elaborate designs for this animal but I choose to fold an easier one.  I found a complex video in youtube which could be interesting to try.

Enjoy and have a great week!

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Origami Creations - The Wonderful Story of Wolf Changing Rivers

I was inspired by the video titled "Wolf Changes Rivers".  A story of how the Yellowstone Park was devastated when the ecological balance was disrupted by the elimination of wolves.  

Here is the eye-opening story of their reintroduction and how it gave life and eco-balance in the Park.

Now, here is my way of giving life to this wonderful creature.  

First one is the simple fox design by Hungarian origamist Jozsef Zsebe (flickr account.)

Simple curves and color change effect

Next is the "Howling Coyote" by the famous origamist Roman Diaz (flickr account.)

Expressive model

Finally, here is the smooth and flowing fox design by the japanese origamist Hideo Komatsu (website account).

Cool and Sleek

I personally have learned a lot from this Yellowstone Park story and how we need to co-exist with all the living things around us.  

Life is so much more worth living when we find great meaning and understanding of our existence.

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Origami Creations - Origami Finger Puppetry

I found a whimsical origami model by Hojyo Takashi called "Finger Puppet with a moustache" from the Tanteidan Convention Book no 21.

Looking familiar, huh?

Quite a unique and playful idea for an origami piece.  The color change design for the face is spot on accurate and inspires a great start for the day!

Hope I am able to spread the smile and good cheer to one and all!

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Origami Creations - Have you heard of Cecil the Beloved Lion?

I made a Lion fold dedicated to Cecil a few months ago.  He was a major attraction in a national park in Africa and was killed by an American recreational big game hunter.  The incident made international media attention and sparked outrage among animal conservationists, politicians and celebrities.

It is a sad story ... below is a video news report of the incident.

I was able to make a complex Lion fold before and blogged here.   I opted to revisit this great beast again and found a cool John Montroll model.

Lion in the green wilderness

A much more simpler design is by the famous origamist Nick Robinson.  The diagram for this is available here.

Pureland style origam lion

Noticed how magnificent and beautiful this creature is?  Try folding one and surely you can feel some appreciation for this glorious animal.

Hope change is coming soon ... for a more loving and caring world!

Wishing one and all a great week ahead!

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Origami Creations - Simple Flying Mythical Horse

The Pegasus (winged divine stallion) is a very famous subject being created by many origamist.  

Here is a simple one but quite an impressive piece of work by Mr. Katsuhisa Yamada.

My favourite mythical creature

Fortunately for everyone, Mr. Yamada made a tutorial for this wonderful model.  I highly recommend you to try this.

Have a great weekend!

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Origami Creations - Cute Slow Moving Sea Snails

Slow moving sea snails ... wonder why I feel so relax watching them.  Try checking out this video:

The ultimate in simple living!  It seems that they are really savouring every movement and living experience. 

Also, the glorious sound of the waves brings back so much fond memories of my childhood growing up in a tropical island - Cebu.

Cute

This is another model designed by Fuchimoto Muneji from his Origami Pet Island book.  It is a simple model but with strikingly accurate portrayal of the slow moving yet lovable snail.

Hope all of you are having a great time!

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Origami Creations - The Beautfiul Butterfly Fish

In my search for another fish ori-adventure, I came upon this video of the Butterfly fish.

It's a beautiful tropical marine fish and I was immediately attracted by its shape and pointed mouth. 

Here is my ori-fold of the butterfly fish designed by Seo Won Seon aka Redpaper.

Adorable 

You may find the diagram for this model in his book "Creative Origami". 

Wishing everyone a great week!

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Origami Creations - Save the Dolphins

Another challenging and a beautiful model of fishes or rather sea creatures is the dolphin.  

In my search for a great design, I found this awesome color change model by the famous korean origamist Seo Won Seon aka redpaper.  He is a very creative origamist who has a wide range of designs together with his wife - whitepaper.  Cool names, huh?  

You may check his Flickr account here and be amazed.  Below are my leaping dolphins.

Leaping dolphins under the moon

Here is another cool dolphin fold by the japanese origamist Fuchimoto Muneji.

Unmistakably cool folding technique 

As I was making them, it reminded me of the plight of the japanese dolphins during the annual hunt in Taiji.  Below is my artistic intepretation. 

Heartbreaking :-(

If you want to know more about this, I have added a video below (this may be disturbing to some viewers, discretion is advised).

Wish everyone a great weekend!

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Origami Creations - Whales Unlimited

I have set my sights on bigger fishes for bigger blessings.  Yes, I am doing whales and more whales this time :-).

First up is the Gray (instead of Blue) Whale (opus 258) by the origami master Robert J. Lang.  The diagram can be found in his book - Origami Animals.

Great yet simple looking design

Next is the color change Whale by Fuchimoto Muneji. The diagram for this model can be found in his book Origami Pet Island.

And the cutest of them all and my most favourite is the Box Whale by Saku Saku.

Here is the tutorial to make this model.

Enjoy!

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Origami Creations - The Perfect Yellowtail Fish

After my post on the Goldfish, I finally decided to proceed and channel my energies to making more folds on fishes.  This is for abundance of blessings for the New Year!

This awesome model which I have chosen is by another japanese origamist named Katsuta Kyohei.  

Color change at its Best!

It's a very interesting and expressive piece with complete fins, eyes and gills.  The diagram for this model can be found in the Origami Tanteidan Magazine No. 116.

Have a great week!

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Origami Creations - Gold fish for Good Luck

The word for Fish in chinese is a homophone for "abundance" and "affluence".  Quite fitting for my first post for the year 2016!  

An even more appropriate fish to fold is the GOLD fish which is a symbol for wealth and good luck!

Perfect shaping

This beautiful model is designed by the japanese origamist Fuchimoto Muneji.  Despite not having any color changes, it shaping strikingly resembles the goldfish.  You may find the diagram in his book below:

Here's wishing and praying for heaps of happiness, prosperity, good health and success for everyone in the New Year!

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