Kusudama - Black and White

While cruising the internet for paper crafts, I often came across kusudamas and although they did look pretty, I never really felt inclined to try and make one. That changed while I was flipping through Pinterest one day and came across this black and white design. Using two papers of different sizes for each petal takes a little longer to assemble but the effect is well worth it. I adore the little crystal stickers in the centre of each flower – they add a touch of sparkle to the project.

I initially had trouble designing the tassel. I was not sure what type of thread to use. I thought about embroidery thread, wool, or Chinese knotting cord but in the end, I settled on using plain cotton thread. I took twelve threads and braided them together (Which took about an hour. I am not doing that again.). I finished off the end with four plastic black beads and six strings of twenty clear seed beads each. Black and white elegance.

I was trying to get creative with the background but it didn't quite work out. My sister was laughing when she saw this one - said that it looked like the orchids were photo-bombing the picture. 

A Touch of Nostalgia

As part of the “Week of Warmth” at my work place which I mentioned in my Airforce R post, the Wellness Committee bought a bunch of craft supplies and put them in the common room for us to use to make the cards and encouraging notes we were supposed to share. (I work at a children’s hospital – glitter glue and crayons are our business.)  Looking at the bag of pipe cleaners that was there brought back memories. I could not resist twisting a few colourful pipe cleaner letters.   

This is is a cursive letter 'T' despite everyone saying that it is a 'J'.

A nice summer watermelon combination.

Pink and purple - so girly.

Allison thought this was a little corny for a craft to be posted but it certainly counts as a diversion - I was diverted while eating my lunch. :)

I also made a paper ninja star which I haven’t done since elementary school. 

Stealthy ninjas always carry bright yellow shuriken - it makes the job less gloomy.

 Nothing like a few kiddy crafts to brighten your day.

Heart Punch

While cleaning the other day, I found my old heart punch which I had forgotten that I owned. The punch is small but very versatile – perfect for cardmaking and scrapbooking. Aren’t these sweet?

These cards are perfect for gift tags or short notes. I used one for the pot of flowers my siblings and I gave to our mom for Mother's Day.

Black and White Elegance

The colour palette for wedding cards is pretty standard – black and white. Some people may think it looks stark but I love the simple elegance of it. I cannot take full credit for this design, nice as it is, because a quick look on Pinterest will show dozens of very similar looking cards. My original contribution to the design is the veil. All the other cards I saw had the bride’s heart embossed with some sort of design to suggest a textured dress. I, however, do not have embossing tools so I chose two bits of lace instead to jazz up the bride’s heart.

I am getting faster at this – it only took me about 1 hour to make.  This card was for a church friend who had just gotten married this past Saturday. Congratulations to him and his bride! 

Mario is Timeless

The problem with making cards is that regardless of when I make them, I can only post them on my blog after I have given them away or else, my intended recipients might stumble across my posting and the surprise would be ruined.

This one was made way back in January on a card-making date with one of my crafting friends. One of my young cousins just turned sixteen this month. SIXTEEN! It boggles the mind. I was stumped at first with what to put on his card. I thought about the popular moustache theme which has been cropping up on a lot of projects online lately but I must admit, I was not all that into the idea. I knew he liked video games but it had been so long since I had seriously played that I was not sure what was popular nowadays.

That is why I decided to fall back on the classics. Mario is timeless and a child at any age knows what a super mushroom is and does. (And if he/she does not then there is something clearly lacking in his/her education.)

Originally, I was going to write 'Grow up!' on the front.

I thought about stamping the words on the inside but handwriting it made it more personal. 

Note: I have no idea why each picture has gotten successively darker and I don't know how to fix it. The pictures were not that dark prior to uploading.

Dimensions: 19 x 14 cm

Materials: White cardstock, red cardstock, beige cardstock, black cardstock, printer paper

Tools: Scissors, utility knife, gluestick, Sharpies, thin point black marker, stamps

Time to Make: 2-3 hours [Clearly, I will never make a living out of making cards because I work too slowly! : ) ]

Of Cousins and Crafting

Yesterday was Good Friday and so the family gathered together for dinner like we usually do for most long weekends. My cousins and I were happily raiding my aunt’s craft supplies and were all fired up to make kusudama flowers (because we figured that we actually stood a chance of finishing this craft in an evening) but to our dismay, we discovered that there wasn’t any glue. We were undaunted in our resolve to make paper crafts so we settled on doing origami.

Sadly, my efforts turned out terrible (I attempted a Kawasaki rose and a Lotus flower. Both ended up ripping) and are not worth posting. My cousins, however, came away with far more successful creations. I tried to get them to say something about their work and this was all I got:

"I like it! I would make a bouquet..." (Note: She didn't sound very convincing.)

"It all started with the box...I didn't understand it...it was very hard to make. After I got help from my cousin, then I started to get it."

"After I finished the box, I made a button hole flower like my other cousin did."

 Clearly, I need to work on my interviewing skills - these were very reluctantly made statements.

The mini-grand piano at my aunt's house served as a refreshingly different background for my photos. I am starting to get a little tired of my desk being the setting of my photos. I am going to have to get more creative.

Speaking of crafts and cousins, I am reminded of the half-finished, enormous 3D origami chicken that is languishing in my basement. It looks more like a strange yellow bowl at the moment but I think we need to gather the troops in the future and finish that chicken off. Coming…well, I want to say ‘soon’ but it would probably be safer to say ‘eventually’… J

Teeny Tiny Turtle Take Two

I had a hard time deciding, but I have settled on this being his best side. 

This is the second-in-command of my turtle army with which I have been planning to take over the world ;). (Amassing this army is a little slow going these days.) I like the colour of his shell better than his brother’s but I must admit, I do not find his face as cute. Side by side though, the two are thumb-sized figures of adorable sparkly-ness!

Turtle Butt :P

Somehow, he just looks more menacing than his brother. 

Airforce R

Ready for take off, Commander!

The R is for Recycled. I was helping my brother clean out his mess of a room and ended up unearthening stacks of slightly crumpled memo paper. I was not sure what to do with them at first (I prefer using stickies for my memos or writing them in my agenda) but their square shape made me think of origami. I stuffed a few in my pocket and spent a car ride folding a dozen or so paper cranes.

This is my preferred style of paper crane. It even flaps!

A more formal, dignified style. I find it a little stiff though.

My work place was doing a “Week of Warmth” where they were encouraging us to leave little uplifting notes for our co-workers on a bulletin board. I just tacked one of these beside everyone’s name. I hope they enjoyed them. J

Origami Puffy Hearts

In February, I was hunting around for some Valentine-related crafts. I have out grown the age of giving cards to all my classmates (which are now my co-workers), and I was not throwing a party so my choice of crafts outside of those categories was limited. I had seen these cute puffy hearts being sold on Etsy before and so I finally decided to look up how to make them.

They are very easy – I would say, even easier to make than origami stars. However, their disadvantage is that they require scissors to give them their final shape. Origami stars still take the prize for being my preferred go-to craft for when I am watching a movie or sitting during long car rides.

However, if you want to make puffy hearts too, here is how to do it:

I started off with a strip of regular printer paper measuring 2 x 10 cm.

Fold up one corner to the edge of the paper to create a triangle on one end of the strip.

Fold the triangle over along the strip. Keep your folds crisp and tight.

Fold that paper triangle down towards the edge.

Continue folding the paper triangle along the strip until you reach the end.

If you keep the paper tight as it is folded around this paper triangle then the final step will be easier. 

Continue folding.

Stop when you have about 1.5 cm of the paper strip left. 

If you have been folding the strip as it is oriented in the picture, then take the top right hand corner of the free hanging strip and fold it down.

Tuck the end of the strip into the paper triangle.

A completely folded triangle with the end tucked in looks like this.

Round off the two corners along the longest edge of the triangle with a pair of scissors. 

Apply pressure to the centre of the long edge of the triangle and voila! It will puff into a heart. It may take a few tries to get a heart to puffy up properly but don't give up!

And that is my very basic, first tutorial on anything. Because the hearts have holes where the corners are cut off, it would be very easy to string them into a garland and hang them. 

Happy folding!

Lily-of-the-Grunge

My father was the one who initially taught me how to fold origami. I can still remember waiting impatiently while he folded me yet another paper basket so I could pretend to go on a picnic. I gradually learned to make paper fox puppets, mail boxes, whales and swans out of scrap paper. As I grew older, I started attempting more complicated patterns like scorpions and dinosaurs but in recent years, I have mainly been interested in making origami flowers.

Paper flowers are versatile as decorations and crafting embellishments. I have been wowed by elaborate Oribana flower arrangements and have been tempted to make my own. Lately, time has been my enemy for this ambition but because I had a few minutes to spare today, I thought I would make a start.

I was surprised by this lily-of-the-grunge-look that I managed to achieve by gluing the flowers on the ends of some straightened paper clips and putting the whole ensemble in a can. I plan on wrapping the wire in floral tape later on, cutting out leaves and creating a full bouquet. For now, I will enjoy this blooms-in-a-concrete-jungle feel.

A close up so you can see all that lovely detail in standard printer paper. : )

There is almost a light-from-heaven-upon-Easter-lilies effect in this shot. I thought it looked interesting.