Origami Bonzai Maple.

I can't believe how much energy ACT scoring takes out of you!  I feel drained, Drained!  Both mentally and physically.  I mention this because it has taken all week to finish my maple leaf bonnzai tree.

 It's cute, and not bad for a first attempt.  I think there are things that I can improve on, however,  I'm a little short on the red cardstock now.   No worries,  I have other colors in mind that might turn out pretty contemporary cool!  (Is that worth a "6" in Language skill?)  An inside joke using ACT jargon. 

 Anyway,  the project at ACT s winding down and frankly, My brain is welcoming the break.   I still will have things to do...just not things that will make me any money.   I guess there is always "filling in the gaps in our stocking supply. "

 Not to mention Cheryl has been deeply involved with the writing of her book.  I'm very excited for her because it has taken 15 years for her to come up with something to write about.  And now that she has found her muse, she has become this tidal wave of determination that can't be stopped!  I'm her biggest cheerleader.   I know what it is like when you finally have the tiger by the tail and you just don't want to let go until you are finished. 
 Perhaps I'll finish that dragon this weekend.  My paper turned out pretty good from last week, however, some of the color ran,  producing interesting color patterns.  I'm not sure what I will be able to fold with them,  but we shall see...Hopefully I will have more pics for tomorrow!

Eden Of The East, The Ultimate Example of Kirigami Entertainment

Eden of the East is a very COOL anime with one of the coolest Ending themes. Cheryl and I purchased this last year and have started watching it again. It is a short series, but has a great hook. Basically a guy wakes up with a gun, a cell phone and 10 billion yen but not clothes and no memories. He has to save Japan with the 10 Billion yen to win a game that he is playing with 11 others. The winner lives, the losers all are "eliminated" Since the series ends on a cliff hanger, there has been two movies that are supposed to wrap things up. We have one but are missing the last instalment. Anyway, the real reason for the post is the ending. If you ever wondered what a career in paper cutting looked like, here is an example of it's final form. The Music is performed by the band "School Food Punishment" ( Cool Name, Eh!?) Enjoy the video!

The Calm before the Storm....with Another Kirigami Dragon.

So this last week has been a little slow, which was expected, but still unsettling. Cheryl and I know that mid month, things begin to get a little busy and by the end of November, things get crazy! So, to prepare for this year, we have been slowly building a small inventory of stockings that we can just pack up and mail. It's not too bad, but there is still much left to do! I wanted each of those shelves filled! But money is tight and choices have to be made on what is more important. I still have to tell myself that we are WAY ahead of where we were last year. So things are not as bad as they might seem at the moment. In fact, they are looking pretty good. But as with collecting dust in your workshop, you can get some, or even most...but never all. In the mean time, I have been working on another kirigamiu Dragon to keep my other ones company. It's coming along nicely, but I doubt I will make any more. It is not taking the twists I wanted to put in it. There is much to learn in the art of paper engineering. Hope your Fall is going well. Ours is almost over.

Kirigami Dragons and Fish that can FLY!

I picked up a book the other day about Kirigami. ( art of paper cutting) I looked it over and thought," I can do that..." Well, granted, I did not have any patterns to go off of, but I think the dragons turned out pretty cool! Of coarse, white paper against a white background ( i.e. the ceiling) did not make the pictures turn out the best. So I had a little fun with Fixfoto and gave them a nice blue tone as well as helping the shadows show the definition. I may make more! I'm already formulating an idea to make some improvements on the design. I'd like to get the bodies more cylindrical without looking so much like a crumpled paper in spots. We shall see how it goes. As for the Poison water in Wellman.....ALL WEEKEND LONG! NO showers, no dish washing, no drinking.......what the HECK!?! I'm sure the water is not as TOXIC as they would want us to believe ( Americans DEMAND clean water!) so we have been taking showers ( well, YEAH! DUH!) And washing the dishes and the cloths. THe water never tasted very good even when it was CLEAN, so we never really drink it. We even buy bottled water for the cats. Mostly, It's that the Casies can't serve us up fountain drinks that really cuts into our lifestyle. ( Americans DEMAND Fountain Drinks at their local convenience stores!) Hopefully the "city workers" will get off their butts and work for their tax money. Instead of leaving a job half done on Friday and coming back on Monday to finish it! Sorry for the rant.....I WANT MY BEVERAGE!