'Mohalia' (Folded by Steve Bondy, Design by Ancella Simoes)

I thought of sharing this picture with all of you – its a rendition of my ‘Mohalia’ design and is folded by Steve Bondy of Steve’s Paper. The ‘Mohalia’ is one of my first designs last year and it was published in Reference fold #2 which is available on Origami-shop.com.

This design of mine embraces a floral concept and is of the modular kind. Steve generously shared this image of his rendition with me, with permission for using it in my blog post if i wished to do so.

I think the paper he selected to fold this model is fantastic and lends a very delicate and an oriental look to the design. He says the paper he used was Kimono patterned origami paper which he purchased in a local store. Do check out his blog post about folding my design here.

Originally I used 16 – 3 inch – sheets to fold my model, but this i guess, depends on the size of the paper you use to fold this model. Steve’s modular version took just 15 sheets to form the petals and the flower.

Personally, I love the outcome of this rendition and the paper choice is great – which adds to the elegance of the completed model.

Thank you, Steve, for folding my design, sharing the images of your completed model and for allowing me to blog about it!

8 Pointed Star (Design by Mélisande)

Being the Holiday Season, I have been busy with decorating and lighting up the place for Christmas. One of the designs I leep a look out for is variations of stars to decorate the walls or windows with. This is one pretty design which is not very difficult to fold, too. Designed by Melisande, it requires 8 sheets of origami paper of any kind or color you would like to use.

There are quite a few variations proposed by Melisande, herself, to this design. I am sure that once you get used to the folding sequence, you can come up with a few more variations, too.

Paper to use:
For my rendition, I have used regular Kami paper which is single side colored. The paper I used has a design of splashes of color which gives the completed model a nice look, I think. I used 8 sheets of paper measuring 5 7/8 inches in size, square shaped.

How to fold this 8 pointed star:
Melisande has generously created photo diagrams and shared them with us on her Flickr album. Further, she has also posted pics of variations she has come up with, using a similar folding sequence.

I have folded a couple of these as decorations for this year – in red and green – along with other designs and I have them hanging from my ceiling in a little area in my hall room.

Christmas Lantern (Design by Ancella Simoes)

The countdown to Christmas has already started and I have been busy deciding on the Christmas decorations and getting started on the decorating, too. I always make it a point to fold a few Origami ornaments or hangings for Christmas so I have been quite excited about what to fold and where to put it.

Tinkering around with a model – Tripoli – which I had come up with a few months ago, I came up with a great design which is apt for the Holiday Season!

Paper to use:
The units in this lantern design requires shaping, hence it is recommended that foil paper be used for folding. My version of the model is folded with single-side colored foil paper which I have purchased from Michaels – they have a lot of plain colored, printed, and foil origami paper in their paper aisle.

You could also use duo-colored paper (instead of just single side colored paper) – this would avoid the ‘white areas’ from appearing in between the assembled model. Another idea would be to make use of christmas themed wrapping paper to fold this lantern. These days, you can get foil like wrapping paper (not the flimsy type) in the local stores, too.

How to fold this design:
I am in the process of diagramming this design so the folding sequence will be available to you shortly. The only complicated step in the folding process is a sink which I have incorporated – so this model is pretty much simple to fold.

Update: The Diagrams to this model are available in the annual Christmas Origami Book 2011 which was released on 27th of December 2011.

These would make a great hanging for your home or on the Christmas tree itself. I will be folding a few of these to deck up my place, at least!

Tripoli (Design by Ancella Simoes)

I came up with this design spending a lazy afternoon at home this weekend. It’s been really hot and incredibly sunny these days, so it’s quite impossible to go out during the daytime.

Coming back to this new deign of mine, this is a 6 unit model resembling a ring. I have folded this model using regular origami paper or Kami paper measuring 3 inches in size, square shaped. Post-Its are also a good option for folding these models. These sheets of paper I used were single side colored. I started folding with the colored side down to get the patterns on the top side of the finished units.

Tripoli (Design by Ancella Simoes)

In the picture above, you can see my test model (yellow/orange colored paper) as well as the ‘properly folded’ model (pink/purple cherry blossom paper) of my design. The design is based on a waterbomb base and contains an open sink in the folding sequence. Other than this sink, the rest of the folds are all regular mountain and valley folds which are pretty easy.

The other picture in this post shows the side view of the design – the sinks which are flattened to form a design. Each of the units are interlocked and the ‘sun rays’ like projections in the center firm keep the units in place. These projections are only on one side of the model; the rear of the model does not have these – see the yellow colored model in the image above.

I have named this new design of mine ‘Tripoli’ in honor of the new found freedom of the Libyan people.

I hope you like this new design of mine!

'Twirl' Ring (Design by Krystyna Burczyk)

This is my first attempt at folding Krystyna Burczyk’s origami models and I found that her designs are simple and fun to fold. She has many designs based on Twirls which are modular by nature and she has released around 3 books with their diagrams. I think her books also include variations on the folding.

This particular model – Twirl Ring – is from her latest book – Twirls – which can be bought from Nicolas Terry’s Origami shop. All of the models in this book are simple and use the same curling or twirling technique.

Paper to use:
For folding these models, you might want to use tant paper or a kind similar. I tried to fold this model with foil paper because I thought that the ‘flexibility’ of the foil paper would allow me to make pretty curls. But boy, was I wrong. The foil paper was ‘slippery’ and it made curling difficult. In fact, curling these units takes a bit of practice, especially if you would like wavy pretty curls like Krystyna’s.

I folded this model using 10 sheets of foil paper, two of a color, single side colored. You have to fold each of the sheets into a ‘Waterbomb’ base and then curl each end towards the left.

Interlocking the units is easy too – all you have to do is curl the edge of one with the other on either side of the unit. This way you will have the same design, curling on both sides of the ring.