Origami-Paper with Icelandic Patterns

It's been a while since my last post. I've been very busy with my masters studies but now things are slowing down and I thought I might show you what I have been up-to.

This spring I fell in love with a book called the Icelandic Sjónabók which is a collection of traditional Icelandic patterns that are found in old Icelandic manuscripts. Because of the geometry and symmetry in the patterns I thought they might look good in origami. I did some experiments and the patterns came out nicely on models such as the traditional crane and the masu box. Then I selected six patterns I liked and were not too similar (in the Icelandic Sjónabók the same pattern often appears many times with slight changes) to work with. I wanted the colors to tone in with the old manuscripts and therefore chose tempered colors and had the paper offset-printed on mat paper.

The paper was printed at Guðjón Ó. ecofriendly printers and I must say their service is the best! They were really patient with me and my poor and heavy files that took hours to prepare for printing so I´m very grateful to them.

The final product is beautiful! Each sheet is 15 by 15 cm and the paper is 70 gr., a bit heavier than the commercial origami paper and very suitable for folding simpler models and modular origami models. In each pack there are 18 sheets, three sheets of each pattern, and a diagram for the traditional crane.

Below are images my friend Jóannes Pétur Héðinsson took of the paper and models made with it.
If you'd like to get your hands on the paper it's sold in Bóksala Stúdenta, Iða and Safnbúð Þjóðminjasafnsins or you could just drop me a line on idunnorigami@gmail.com

Traditional Icelandic Patterns 

Lastly, here is the diagram for the crane that is included in the packet. You can do all sorts of things with the cranes, such as to decorate gifts (and Christmas trees), make different types of mobiles, put them on sticks to use as cocktail pins, or even use them as book markers. Try it out, its great fun!

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A Versatile Star

In my last post I introduced a new origami tutorial on how to make a 16 point origami star. I have completely fallen in love with this star because it can be applied in so many different ways. Another reason for my affection is that it is both beautiful and easy to make. Soooo... I decided to fold quite a few of them and make candle rings and a mobile. The finished projects look very good (if I may say so myself :)) and make for great home made gifts or just to decorate once own home.

The mobile is made from three tree branches I got from my garden, needle point thread (perlugarn) and five stars. Each star comprises of 16 modules folded from 5.5 x 5.5 cm washi paper with traditional Japanese patterns. 

In all, the mobile is simple to make but perhaps the trickiest part is to get the balance right.

The candle rings are especially great because they can be made to fit every season only by changing the colors and patterns. I made two versions of candle rings. One is the same star are used in the mobile simply placed around a candle. The other is smaller and made from 3.6 x 3.6 cm bits of paper. For this candle ring I had to add two modules so the ring would fit around the candle (total of 18 modules). 

I did not use any glue to hold the modules together but I would recommend it though, because the stars fall apart quite easily. 

The star has the diameter of 11.5 cm and the diameter of the inner circle is 3 cm.
Each of the 16 modules is folded form a 5.5 x 5.5 cm piece of paper.

This star has the diameter of 8 cm and the diameter of the inner circle is 2.5 cm.
The star has 18 modules each folded from a 3.6 x 3.6 cm piece of paper.

For those of you interested in making the star I have re-posted the video on how to make the 16 point star here below. Enjoy!

Modular Star Tutorial

At last! A new post!

I have been extremely busy the last few weeks so I haven't had any time to write posts. And this will be a short one. 

I have made a new origami tutorial video and this time it's on how to make a 16 point modular star, also called a ninja star by some. 

This star is simple and easy to make but the final outcome is just beautiful. What I particularly like about this star is that it can easily be sized up or down for different purposes so I have made both large and small ornaments to hang from a string as well as candle rings. I will be posting images of more of my stars later but here are two:

Check out the video and try your hands on the star!

Until later...

Date delicasy with chocolate

Dates are great!
I want to share with you this amazingly easy yet so very tasty date delicacy recipe.

Date delicacy

Pitted dates 250 g. / 8,8 oz.
Unsalted butter  190 g. / 6,7 oz.
Brown sugar   90 g. / 3,2 oz.
Rice Krispies   2 1/2 - 3 cups
Dark chocolate    300 g / 10,6 oz.

1. Cut the dates into 2 - 3 pieces each (not necessary). 
2. Combine dates, butter and brown sugar in a casserole and cook over medium or high heat stirring the mixture carefully now and then. 
3. When the dates are soft and falling apart, take the mixture of the heat and stir well until it holds together like a dough.
4. Now stir in the Rice Crispies. 
5. When all is well blended transfer the mixture into a large and shallow tin pan and flatten it out using the back of a tablespoon. Make sure to press well down on the mixture to condense and flatten it.
6. Cover the pan and freeze.
7. Melt the chocolate in a metal bowl over boiling water. Spread the chocolate over the frozen mixture and freeze again.
8. Before serving cut the date delicacy in small square pieces or use small cake cutters to make shaped pieces. 

This is a very simple recipe and its easy to change it to your liking so try using white or milk chocolate as topping or change the cereal to cornflakes. 

Enjoy

Tessellation boxes: Square twist

It's fascinating about origami how just a simple change of a fold or a crease can give a completely new and unexpected result. I have been working with the very basic design of the traditional Masu box and by applying a single tessellation technique to the sheet folded into the lid I got an incredible number or different designs. In my last post I showed you some of the box-lids I designed from the 90-degree pleat intersection tessellation technique. In this post are images of some of the boxes I designed and folded with another tessellation technique called the Square Twist.
The square twist is very common in origami tessellations and quite easy to do after you have wrapped your head around it once. For the boxes below I both apply the technique in rows (the pink box) and in in layers (the other three boxes). 

Organic box: three layers of square twist on a grid of 32 x 32.

Propeller box: two layers of square twist on a grid of 16 x 16.

Pyramid box: three layers of square twist on a grid of 32 x 32.

Diamond box: three square twists on a grid of 26 x 32.

After last months box folding adventures I have loads of different gift boxes to use for all occasions. If you are interested in making boxes yourself here below is a video tutorial I made of one of my designs from my last blog post. Like all the other boxes the sheet for the lid is pre-creased and folded to make the cross and then folded the same way as the traditional Masu box. The box isn't difficult to make, the first try might take some time but after that the folding will run smoothly.

Until next time. Happy folding!

Masu boxes with tesselation lids

Through the years I have regularly been looking for paper boxes or gift boxes for all kinds of different occasions but always had trouble finding the box I need. And then when and if I find one it costs more than what I´m about to put in it. So you can imagine how thrilled I was when I discovered the vast world of origami box folding. You can make boxes from one sheet or multiple sheets, without or with lids, in many different shapes such as triangles, squares and hexagons and with endless different decorative effects. 

For a beginner in the box world there is no better box to begin with than the Masu box. This traditional design is both fast and easy to fold and it's size can be changed with just a simple adjustment of creases. And no surprise my newest video here below is a tutorial on how to fold that same box.

I have been looking into another branch of the origami world called tessellations. Origami tessellations are the art of folding geometrical shapes and repetitive patterns from a single sheet of paper. The paper is folded into pleats or twisted by the use of various techniques as to form the wanted pattern. I have taken the simplest of these techniques called by Eric Gjerde in his book Origami Tessellations: Awe-Inspiring Geometric Designs the 90-degree pleat intersection and applied it to the Masu box. The result are some nice variations of that traditional box. Here below are images of three of the variations I have designed and folded. 

Box with a cross

Folded from origami paper.
Cross pattern folded from a grid of 16 x 16 squares.

Mountain peaks box

Folded from wrapping paper.
Pattern folded from a grid of 32 x 32 squares.

Folded from wrapping paper.
Pattern folded from a grid of 32 x 32 squares.

Box with a cross and side flaps

Folded from heavy wrapping paper.
Pattern folded from a grid of 32 x 32 squares.

Folded from thin see-through paper used for pattern making.
Pattern folded from a grid of 32 x 32 squares.

These boxes are a bit more complicated than the original box yet they are not that difficult to make. But they are time consuming. Before I could begin folding the 90-degree pleat intersection I had to pre-crease the paper into a grid of squares. The first box, and the easiest to make, requires a grid of 16 x 16 while the other two versions need a grid of 32 x 32. As for the Masu box these boxes are folded from two square sheets of paper but instead of two sheets of equal size the lid requires a much bigger sheet than the box because of all the pleats for the pattern. 

For you who are interested in learning how to fold these boxes I will make a tutorial video soon for the box with the cross and post it here.

I hope you enjoy the video and the images,

until later.

Origami Crown made from one sheet of paper

My latest video is a tutorial on how to fold an eight pointed crown from one square sheet of paper. This crown takes some time to fold and all the creases are made before the crown is assembled. Because of that it's fun and easy to decorate the crown before you assemble it. 

Another great thing about this crown is that it can be made to wear. How great is that! You can make it fit over your head or so it stands on top. I personally prefer the crown smaller so it stands on top of your head tied with a ribbon or fastened to a head band.

Update:

Unfortunately I have had to take the video tutorial of the crown down because of a very unfortunate misunderstanding :( between me and Hyo Ahn, who as I mention below and  in the video, is the designer of the original crown. I thought she had given me permission to do the tutorial on my version of the crown and she thought she had given me permission to do a video of the finished crown. Well that's how communicating through e-mails sometimes goes. Worst is that I put very much time and effort into the tutorial and all in good faith. So dear readers you will have to make do with the images for now and check out Hyo Ahn's website for the original crown (the link is below)

This crown is based on another crown that was designed by Hyo Ahn and I only did some minor changes to get the look of this crown. Hyo Ahn holds out a website called origami-make.com where she gives instructions on how to fold various traditional models as well as her own designs. Here is a direct link to her Eight Pointed Origami Crown.

Here below are variations I have made of the crown.

38 cm x 38 cm / 15 x 15 inches sheet of paper.
Circumference is 34 cm / 13,4 inches
Height is 9 cm / 3,5 inches

33 x 33 cm / 13 x 13 inches square sheet.
Circumference is 29 cm / 11,4 inches.
Height is 8 cm / 3 inches.

23 x 23 cm / 9 x 9 inches sheet of paper.
Circumference of crown is 20 cm /7,9 inches
Height is 6 cm / 2,4 inches

21,5 x 21,5 cm / 8,5 x 8,5 inches.
Circumference is 18,5 cm / 7,3 inches.
Height is 5,5 cm / 2 inches

The pattern on the last two crowns is drawn according to folds that are already on the paper. When assembled, the crown's top is the backside of the paper and the crown's points are the front side of the paper. Therefore the pattern or decoration needs to be made on both sides of the sheet.

The crown decorated both front and back and ready to be folded.

A family photo

And lastly here is a baby with the crown. I made holes on both sides of the crown with a needle and threaded a ribbon through and secured it. You could also use elastic band or simply attach the crown to a hair band.

The crown is not difficult to make but it takes some time so for those brave enough out there... 

Happy folding!

Paper Crown

Finally I have made a new video!

 I have been struggling with technical issues but most are resolved now. I have managed to get better sound (that one was a major headache!!) and higher frame rate so now I can make better quality videos. However, the silly awkward pronunciation is still there hehe, and is probably not going anywhere so if it annoys you just hit the mute button ;). I must say that making tutorial videos has proven to be more complicated than I thought but I will get the hang of it gradually.

My new video is a tutorial on how to fold a modular crown. Modular simply means that it's made from a number of units that are usually all alike (but not always) that are assembled in a certain way to form the final model. This crown is very easy to make and doesn't take much time to do. The bigger and fewer modules the quicker to make. You might have seen a simpler version of this crown but I added a simple detail to the modules to make it more interesting. Check out the video here below and please give me some feedback by commenting or liking/disliking the video.

As this is a super simple crown its also incredibly easy to make variations of it. For each module you need a square sheet of paper of what ever size you choose and the number of sheets depends on how big you want your crown to be. So if you want to make a crown that is 56 cm in circumference with 8 modules you will need sheets that are 14 x 14 cm (half of each module counts in the circumference the other half slides into the next one). Here below are some variations I made.

7 modules folded from 15 x 15 cm sheets of paper
Circumference 52,7 cm 

8 modules folded from 14 x 14 cm sheets of paper.
Circumference 56 cm

14 modules folded from 7,5 x 7,5 cm sheets of paper
Circumference 52,5 cm

14 modules folded from thirteen 7,5 x 7,5 cm sheets of paper
and one 7,5 x 15 cm sheet of paper
Circumference 52,5 cm

This last crown has a center module that is taller than the rest and has to be folded in a different way than the other modules. I haven't yet made instructions on how to fold it but will hopefully have time soon.

One final tip: If you make the crown and want to wear it I recommend that you glue the modules together. Origami enthusiasts usually frown upon using glue for origami models but if you don't want the crown falling apart while you take some seriously royal moves on the dance floor it might be better to use glue!

I hope you enjoy the video.

Until later!

Origami Tutorials

I always have to have enough to do, preferable too much to do, otherwise I get restless and bored. This blog was and is a way to keep me occupied and thinking. But now I have found a new additional platform in which to channel my energy. My always increasing interest and passion for origami has led me down a new path. Now I'm on YouTube!

My channel is called Idunn Origami and YES I KNOW there are endless origami and DIY channels on YouTube but I don't mind that. I like doing these videos. My goal is to do good and clear tutorial videos and the following three are my first try. They are not flawless but I'm pretty pleased with the outcome.

For future videos my intention is to improve the video quality which makes my next mission to get a better video camera so I can increase the frame rate. And I might need to work on my accent! hehe.
If you are interested in origami I hope you find these videos helpful. For those of you who watch the videos I would really appreciate if you left a comment below the video as to let me know what you think. That way I know what I do well and where there is room for improvement.
Enjoy!

Coloring books

Few years back I gave my nephew and nieces coloring books featuring them selves for Christmas. I gathered photos of them that I thought might look nice in outlines and then I traced the lines in Illustrator. This took WAY longer than I had imagined and was a challenging practice in patience. Luckily I was happy with the outcome!

 I wouldn't recommend doing this to anyone unless you have whole lot of time and patience. But if you want to give it a try the only thing you need to do is to import the image you want to use into illustrator and start tracing. If I remember correctly I only used the pen tool and had two layers, one for the original image and one for tracing. Every now and then I hid the layer with the original image to see if the lines I had traced looked good and then I just kept on going until I was satisfied with the complete image. For you who have no experience with Illustrator here is a nice video that teaches how to use the pen tool. And here is a video with more general instructions for Illustrator. Good luck to all you brave ones out there!

Until later... 

My birthday cake history

After I had my first daughter I found myself in a new world of children's birthday parties and having to adopt the role of a hostess for these kind of celebrations. At first this role was difficult and at times nerve wrecking but with every new birthday party it has become easier. I try to make every birthday party special and in some way different from the ones before. One way to do that is to make memorable birthday cakes.
My first cake was baked in a teddy bear tin with Betty Crocker chocolate cake mix. It did't turn out the way I had hoped. The cake was dry and partly burned. I had trouble getting it out of the tin so it broke (which I know now does not matter because you just glue it back together with the butter cream), so I got all upset and irritated. Needless to say most of the kids only just tasted the dry thing and one even complained of it having to much butter cream (I thought you could never have too much butter cream)! But it looked pretty cute.
After that fiasco I begun to make my own cakes from scratch and in stead of using formed tins I formed the cakes myself. I tried my hands on fondant but now I prefer to use only butter cream. Following is the cake history in chronological order. Keep in mind that these aren't the best of images because they were never intended to be published. :)

Betty Crocker dry and burnt teddy bear.

Barbapapa and Barbalib fondant cake.

Lotso (from Toy Story 3) fondant cake.

Little My (from the Moomins) fondant cake.

Princess with a butterfly in her hair (a special request from my daughter).

Butter cream chocolate cake with candy.

Butter cream chocolate cake with candy and home made chocolate sea animals.

Butter cream chocolate cake with candy, origami crane and sparkles.

As you can see I have discarded the fondant and begun to work only with butter cream. And abandoned the cartoon figures for geometrical shapes and patterns. The main reason is that it takes longer and its more difficult to prepare the fondant cakes but also because I just lovE loVE LOVE to make PATTERNS and it's incredibly easy with butter cream.
The recipe for this cake, that is the latest (and the best) version, can be found in my earlier blog post.

Chao for now!