Holidays Origami - Japanese Brocade and Pop up Flower

This holiday season, the weather has been lousy - stormy, cold and gray - so my children and I holed up inside the house; the kids play computer games, read or draw their comics, surf the net and watch movies. I, on the other hand, watch some old movies and learned how to fold a Japanese brocade and a pop-up flower.





This book, Practical Origami, by Rick Beech, was a gift from one of the North branch's patrons, and this is the first time I tried the Japanese brocade from the book. The instructions are easy to follow, when you glue each separate piece together (there are six pieces) you'll get a cube, and the final product looks like an intricate button. The above picture shows all the brocades/earrings that I made in two days.



The pop-up flower is another fold that I tried from the same book. For this fold, I used the 2006 calendar pages that my friend, Kathy S. from BPL's Technical Services, sent me (Thanks Kathy). I also used the Oxbow Art School accordion-brochure that my son, Bao, brought home from school for my pop up flowers.





These are viewed from the bird's-eye view - the accordion card is on its spines, front and back with my pop-up flowers in the middle.





Please click on any image to enlarge.


These are viewed when the accordion is right side up also from front and back. I would like to dedicate this fold and the accordion-book to a faraway friend, Bonnie M., an artist who likes books, travel and pho. Please check out her blog www.bonniemclaughlin.com to view some of her beautiful artwork and travel pictures. I would love to send you a pair of brocade earrings if I know where you are Bonnie. Happy holidays to you, kiddo, wherever you are!



I still have your picture, Bonnie, on your last day with BPL's Technical Services Department. I said that I will miss your quiet and gentle manner, and I really meant it.

Origami Holidays Workshop at Central BPL, Dec. 14, 09

The weather on this Sunday afternoon, December 14, 08 was in the forties and rainy, and I was glad to see that fourteen people showed up for my Origami Holidays Workshop at Central BPL to learn how to fold: A leaf note card, a crane note card, a simple envelope and a double star.





This is Central's beautiful Meeting or Community Room where I held my workshop. Thanks to Michelle M. in Art & Music for all the arrangement and set up, and thanks also to the Friends of the Berkeley Public Library for sponsoring it.



Some samples of what participants can do with the folds that they will learn and books that I use for this workshop.





We started with the simple envelope fold.











My business card with a tiny Fortune Teller Fold that the only young lady in the workshop (picture below) folded for me.



She is a very good and enthusiastic folder and learner. She's holding two of the folds that she learned that day - the crane and the leaf note cards.



I show participants an extra step from the double star fold that was a basic base for most of the animal folds like penguin, duck, bird and so on. It would be very difficult to pick it up from just looking at this step in the book. I hope that they will recognize this fold when they encounter it again.





Anh-Vu, my son, took all the pictures (thanks Anh-Vu), and this is an interesting low shot to show the concentration of participants in the fold.



























It was a surprise to see the mother of Anh-Vu's friend from high school (the lady on the left) dropping in. We had never met before even though I have met her daughter several times.





This group of participants was very attentive and eager to learn origami. I hope to see you all again in my future workshops and wish you all a Happy Holidays.

Tranh Cua Nga Tren You Tube