Western Pond Turtle (Design by Robert J. Lang)

This is yet another model from the book – Origami Design Secrets: Mathematical Methods for an Ancient Art, by Robert J. Lang – which I have chosen to fold. It uses the technique of pleating to make the “shell” design on the shell of the turtle. It is advisable that a large paper be chosen to fold this model, as the pre-creasing requires a lot of folds and patience.

I started out with a duo-colored tant sheet of paper measuring 35×35 cms which I had purchased on Origami-Shop.com. The first 20 steps of the diagram constitute the pre-creasing and has a lot of small folds to be done. This pre-creasing turned out to be the most irritating part of folding this model.

The Shell - Western Pond Turtle

It took me absolutely ages to fold the pleats! Robert Lang in his book, lists out 2 options for creating the creases:

Option 1 – Folding the complete set of folds in order to pleat the shell. this would mean your paper will have numerous creases which will not be used in the end.

Option 2 – Folding a portion of the set of creases and marking out the rest using a pencil or pen.

Front View - Western Pond Turtle

I went in for option # 2 as I didn’t think I wanted to deal with ‘extra’ creases. I am quite happy with my first attempt at folding Robert Lang’s Western Pond Turtle, even though I can still improve on the limbs of the turtle.

Back View - Western Pond Turtle

I chose this model as I was pretty intrigued with the ‘pleating’ technique used by Robert Lang in folding this model, and I wanted to see if I could fold one which looked half as good as his exquisite version. Hence, I am pretty pleased with the way it turned out in the end and am looking forward to folding more from his book.

Mizuhiki is a colored or dyed paper cords made for the purpose of gift wrapping or tying packages and this art can be traced back to the sixth century AD when ambassadors to China returned home with gifts that were tied with red and white twine as a charm against evil. In Japan, Mizuhiki cords are symbolic in preventing impurities from entering the secured packages. Today, the design and type of Mizuhiki used differs as per their intended usage. It is a significant element of a gift in Japan.

Mizuhiki come in many thicknesses – five-strand, seven-strand, eleven-strand among others, with the five-strand being the most commonly used one. The length usually varies from 18 inches to 6 feet.

Photo courtesy lo tejo

There are 8 color types for Mizuhiki which are most commonly used –

1. Crimson and white for very formal occasions;
2. Red and white for general use and auspicious occasions;
3. Gold and silver for general use, though this combination is mainly used for weddings and other auspicious occasions;
4. Red and gold which is used in the same way as red and white;
5. Multicolored for informal usage; and finally
6. Black and white,
7. Blue and white, and
8. All white for funerals and condolences.

Types of knots:

• For weddings and tragedies such as funerals, which come once and are never to be repeated, a flat knot (musubikiri) is used. The significance of this knot is that once tied it cannot be untied which symbolizes the fact that what has happened will not happen again.
• At auspicious occasions other than weddings, katawana-musubi or morowana-musubi (based on bows) are the types of mizuhiki knots used.
• For informal occasions the abalone knot or the detached awabi-musubi knot is used.
• For happy occasions, the mizuhiki is wrapped around and around the package, which signifies waves breaking on the shore.
• The reverse (gyaku method) awabi-musubi is used only for Buddhist memorial services and solemn events.

Tying the knots:

• Always start tying with the lighter or paler cords on the left hand side. Cross them over the darker color on the right hand side.
• Since mizuhiki is delicate, it is advisable to gently work the area where the knot will be tied prior to tying the knot, to soften the strands slightly.
• Once tied the mizuhiki cannot be retied, so practicing before tying the final knot is advisable.

- Based on the Books – Gift wrapping: creative ideas from Japan, By Kunio Ekiguchi and The simple art of Japanese paper crafts, By Mari Ono.

Mizuhiki Knot Instructions:

• Abalone knot: Gift wrapping using the abalone knot
• Heart Knot: Tying a ‘Heart’ Knot

I came across this video on Vimeo.com today and thought of sharing it with you all. It is from Chris Palmer’s video channel on Vimeo.com and in this video recording, he shows the collapsing and twisting of the layers to form the 12-fold Flower Tower. I hope you enjoy watching it as much as I did.

12-Fold Flower Tower from Chris K. Palmer on Vimeo.

Diagrams & Crease Patterns for the Flower Tower:
You will find the crease pattern for this model in Origami Tanteidan 8th convention book, Chris Palmer’s Flowers Collection 1 CD as well as OUSA Convention book 1996. The CD Flowers Collection 1 can be bought through his website and contains CPs / video tutorials to simple tato (purse), more complex Progression Flower, Male and Female Flowers and 11 Flower Tower patterns.

Bird Wall Hanging (Design by various)

This weekend, I thought of decorating the hall room up a bit with my Origami. All of the models I had folded till date were getting stacked on a shelf at home or at my desk at work and I thought I’d do something about it. I made a simple ‘bird hanging’ with some of the bird models I had folded. This was a simple one, with no fancy beading or other trinkets.

I used the Owl by Hideo Komatsu, the Cranes by Eric Joisel as well as Robert J. Lang’s Songbird I to make this. In addition to this, I also attached the Icosahedral Model Sonobe by Paolo Bascetta.

Wall Hanging Icosahedron (Design by Paolo Bascetta)

For the second hanging, I used a single model, which is the Icosahedron designed by Richard Sweeney. This I had made using regular printing / copier paper which I then spray painted a variety of colors in order to make it look better. I opted to use natural beads for this hanging, which I purchased from Michaels (The Craft Shop). I also picked up ribbons which I used for this hanging.

All of the origami models in the two hangings are ‘threaded’ through using common sewing/stitching thread. If you follow the links in this post, it will take you to the individual posts for each of the models mentioned here. You will then be able to follow the folding instructions / source of diagrams.

Songbird I (Design by Robert J. Lang)

This is a model from the book – Origami Design Secrets: Mathematical Methods for an Ancient Art, by Robert J. Lang – which I had purchased recently. I found this model quite complicated where the feet of the bird are concerned but managed to fold that part out to near satisfaction.

Songbird I

This model has 56 steps with some of these repeating for the feet. I have used kraft paper measuring approximately 10 inches in size to fold this model. It took me a bit of time to fold this as I used to spend a little time each day on this. But I guess, this model can be folded well within 2 hours of time.

How to fold the model:
Jonakashima has recorded a very good instructional video on folding Songbird I, with the permission of Robert J. Lang. I hope you find it easy to follow.

I am not very pleased with the way the model I have folded has turned out, I think its the kraft paper I used which made the folding of the feet a bit of a problem.