Nautilus (Design by Tomoko Fuse)

It’s Spring time here or towards the end of it, rather, and this got me thinking about beaches and sunny days. So I got this idea into my head that I should be folding something from the sun kissed shores of home…

These are few sea shells, the designs of which I have picked up from one of Tomoko Fuse’s book – Spirals, Shells, Boxes, Snails - which has been published in the Japanese language (that I know of).

The ‘Nautilus’ shell and the common sea shells look really pretty when completed. Most of these use the technique of ‘pleating’ to form spirals (such as the Nautilus) or the technique used in Tomoko Fuse’s ‘Espiral’ Model.

Paper to use:

You can fold these pretty shells from wrapping paper or from common origami paper which you might have. I have used square sheets of foil paper which I bought from Michaels, not long ago. This gives the shells a nice gleam I also used single side colored common origami paper for some of the shells and these came out quite nicely, too. The size of the paper (in both cases – foil and common origami paper) are at 15 cms or 6 inches. I find that this particular size is really convenient to fold most models which are not too intricate by nature.

How to Fold these shells:

Barbabellaatje has posted a good instructional video on the making of these shells. I am sure you will find it easy to follow, too. You can also find the diagrams to these models in Tomoko Fuse’s book – Spirals, Shells, Boxes, Snails .

To fold Tomoko Fuse’s Nautilus, you can use the following video as a guide:

Sailing Ship (Design by Francesco Miglionico)

This is a model from the book – License to Fold, by Nicholas Terry. It is a fairly simple design and requires the use of duo colored paper, or simply – one-sided colored paper, if you would like to have the sails of the boat in white.

This model is to be folded in combination with the ‘ploughing waves’ to add to the sea effect, but as you can see, I have merrily skipped that part for my fold.

Paper to use:

This model requires that you use a square sheet of paper measuring at least 6 inches in size. This is because some of the folds are intricate, especially when it comes to folding the sails at the rear and therefore you wouldn’t want that your model turn out to be a crumpled bit of paper in the end due to sheer frustration!

I have used a 9-inch square sheet of one-sided origami paper colored purple. In this case, my sails would remain white with the sides, bow etc of the ship being purple in color. I have started with the white or blank side facing upwards; hence, if you are using duo-colored paper you need to start off with the color in which you want the sails to turn out to be in the end facing upwards i.e. towards you.

How to fold this model:

You can find the diagram to this model in the book – License to Fold, by Nicholas Terry – this is a compilation of diagrams of his, as well as those which were requested from various artists / origami creators by him. I got this bit of information from Gilad Aharoni’s Book review, which I think are very informative and helpful.

This book is not available on Amazon or any other bookstore around, except for “origami-Shop.com” where you can purchase it.

I guess there is room for improvement in my attempt of this model. I shall give it another try sometime later.

Shark (Design by Fernando Gilgado)

I had come across this particular design on the popular pajarita.org website sometime ago but never got around to attempting it. So this weekend, since I am on a roll folding things..I thought I’d give it a try.

This origami Shark has a total of 48 steps in the making of it and is of an intermediate level.

Paper I used:
I used a single side colored origami paper measuring 9 inches in size. This is square shaped and I found it pretty flexible to fold those intricate folds required for the fins. You are free to use either duo colored paper or single side colored paper for this model and you can even experiment with tissue foil or other types of paper.

How to fold this Shark:
Pajarita.org has the freely available diagram for this model. When folding this model, you will need to make sure that the creases are firm and crisp. This way, everything will get aligned properly when u fold the model in to half towards the end of the process. Most of the folds detailing the fins are rabbit ear based, whereas the rest of the steps are pretty much simple.

Doesn’t this model remind you of JAWS, now??

Sea Urchin 'Crumpling Technique'

Sea Urchin 'Crumpling Technique'

This is another design similar to Vincent Floderer’s ‘crumpling technique’. After trying out his mushroom design, I thought i’d give this one a try just out of curiosity. I am not sure who is the original creator of this design – either Vincent Floderer or Paul Jackson. So if any of you out there are aware, do let me know!

Crumpling this tissue paper into this design was pretty simple and easy to do, but however, it requires a bit of patience as the folds start ’sticking’ together pretty often.

Paper to use:

I used a rectangular sheet of tissue paper which I got from the gift shop. What I did was cut one sheet into half and then used one of the “halved” pieces.

How to ‘Crumple’ tissue paper into a sea urchin:

I came across a video on YouTube.com by Ionoialdo, in which the contributor was shown this particular technique by Paul Jackson at an Origami workshop. It is quite easy to follow and the paper used in the video is an ordinary table napkin. So you can choose any fine paper as such in order to crumple it into various forms.

Just make sure you don’t end up tearing the paper when the ‘creases’ get too ‘tight’

Manta Ray (Design by Quentin Trollip)

This weekend I chose a Manta Ray to fold, a design by Quentin Trollip, whose work I was trying for the first time. I am quite pleased with the way mine turned out even though I used single side paper, that too wrapping paper

I have been debating whether to fold Quentin Trollip’s Pig or the Manta Ray for quite sometime now, considering I have the diagrams for both. I finally settled with the manta ray.

Paper to use:
I used a 30 cm (or 12 inches) approx single side patterned wrapping paper which I cut down to size. This is a specialty wrapping paper which I found in my local stores which looked pretty and was of a decent thickness. However, I would recommend using duo colored paper for this model so that you won’t have to make a few modifications to cover up the white part. Both sides should be colored the same color for best results.

How to fold this model:
I was able to get the diagram for this model off the Internet, which was posted by Origami Weekly. It is quite easy to follow and the steps are explained pretty well.

You will have to spend sometime shaping the ‘wings’ and the tail of this ray. A bit of shaping will also be required for the ‘body’ of the ray.

Have fun trying out this one!