Latest Origami Unicorns and Frogs

multi colored tree frog

Can change color to match surroundings

Blue looks cleaner, white more artistic

So I decided to take a few pics of my latest origami.   Just thought I would put them up so I can remember them several years from now "back in the day.....  So,  here they are:  I'm rather impressed with the frog out of the multi colored tissue.   I wanted to make it out of one of those colors,  but the paper was this strange strip color instead of several whole colors and I first thought.


Crappy white tissue paper

 Also included are  the unicorn in the blue wrapping paper and the White one in Tissue.   I think the tissue looks better at a distance,  but up close you easily see how crappy the paper looks and the "sloppy" folding I did to mold the legs to shape.   The Blue is not much better,  but at least it looks a little cleaner and less torn up.
 


Finally!  Wet folding turning out as planned

Best looking Lafosse Frog

The Other forms are wet folded cardstock.   I am finding the methylcellulose to be rather pleasant to work with on the right paper and for the right diagrams.   I have not even touched the Hanchi paper from Korea or the Washi paper from Japan yet.   There is just Sooo much out there left to learn in both paper,  folding and the various techniques.

The crazy color paper actually is quite striking!

  Reminds you just how vast Origami is.   And that is just a small subset of everything in the world.   One lifetime is not enough to learn everything there is yet to know.    Hope everyone that happens upon this is having a great Monday/weeks so far.   If not..  CHEER UP!  Things can only get better, and tomorrow is a brand new day!

Lazy Sunday With the Cats

Rasha Relax

Secret Friends

It is a pleasant day here in Iowa where it is overcast and cool but not too cold.  Besides wrapping a few stockings up for tomorrow,  we have been chilling with the cats and some Origami.   I finished the Unicorn I was working on,  But I' m not sure I want to post pictures of it quite yet.

Hiding a cute smile

I voted for the Write In candidate
 

     Maybe tomorrow.   I was using some prototype paper I made and the results are a little mixed.  Anyway,  The cats have been enjoying our presents at home and enjoy taking a break on the leather sofa with Cheryl.  Cheryl got some of her Sanrio stuff the other day,  other than that,  not much else has been going on..   I hope everyone had a great weekend and , if you have a job,  are looking forward to going to it on Monday.  

My New Found Blog Time

Well!  I'm Back!   Or at least I would like to think so.   We have finished our English core project and are now preparing for Stocking season in full swing.   To help us prepare....we are now hooked up to the Internet,  we purchased two new computers, and are now set up for printing postage labels so we do not have to hold up the lines at the post office.   Now all we are waiting for is the sales to come pouring in!.....
   And now to fill in the blanks....  I guess first I should mention the new computers.   My ancient Gateway laptop picked a good time to bite the bullet.  by the way...Gateway sucks when they melt down because the drivers that they want you to download fail to work...leaving you pulling out your hair and standing on your head to make them fit!   Anyway,  I'm not sure how we got the thing to work before,  but I could not figure it out...and Cheryl has been wanting to buy new computers anyway...so  we decided now was the right time.   We purchased two identical 11" Sony laptop computers and they ROCK!   To be fair,  new/ latest technology is always a good thing.   but there guys can do so much more...   We still have Cheryl's old computer set up to print the labels. But once we get our new printer,  I imagine we will retire that one as well. 
   So the stockings are beginning to sell a little faster now,  and people are requesting names and special orders.   We are stuck in the "limbo" phase where we are not sure if we should hold off on making too many,  or work on selling the ones we sewed all summer first.   There is the remote possibility that we could sell out of key ones before the actual Christmas season officially kicks off.    as for now,  our official stance is to keep the levels set and up to our pre determined levels.  Whatever it takes to maximize profits!

  Other than that,   we have been trying to stay busy and learn our way around the new computers so we know how to use them to their maximum potential when we have to rely on them for stocking production/ re listing/ and printing.  New technology is always a little confusing at first...until you familiarize yourself with it's features.  The bright side is that I can now keep up with my blog postings once again....hopefully I will add a few more pictures and postings now that I have access at home.   Then again,  it took me a while to ween myself off the Internet and I'm not looking forward to becoming addicted again.    We shall see..

Flowers, Orcids, Rhino's, and The Crowning Achievement: Ancient Dragon!

So it has been a while since I have blogged and I have been folding things without posting them...so, as always, I have decided to cram them all into one post.    Probably not much to say, other than much has happened and I have probably forgotten most of it.    Oh!   Cheryl's parents came last weekend!  It was fun-ish. 

  That is to say, it rained,  we spent most of the time in the car, and it ended too quickly to do or say much.   Sometimes I forget just how far from civilization we are!

Other than that,  the Ancient Dragon has to be the most difficult pattern I have ever completed up to this date.  

 It was fun and I think it turned out pretty well.   I can't wait to try it again,  however, it took me almost 4 days to complete!  I had to glue the horns and toes together because the paper wanted to come unwrapped.  

Anyway,   I also have been working on my Origami Banzai trying to get the flowers to look real and cute.   Enjoy the pics....I can't say much as the time is limited on this post and I have to hurry...Cheryl is in a rush to get out of here.   Hope everyone has a great weekend!

Say Goodbye To the MCAT

That is right!   It is over!  Fini!  Kaput!   The Last paper for Mcat was officially graded a couple of weeks ago, but now we are on an English thing where we do this range finding stuff.   I know,  great lingo there,  but these high school papers bring out the worst in writing skills. 

  Anyway, I have not posted anything in a while and until I get a few more pics,  I thought I would refresh the blog a bit just to push it along.  In other news,  Stockings are beginning to pic up a bit, and Cheryl's parents are coming in a week or two.   So  big events are coming down the alley!   For all those MCAT-ers,   I'm not sure what they have planned for you in the future,  but, for now at least,  all those books are worthless for the written essay part now.   At least that is what I'm guessing....I really don't know because I try to stay an uninformed as possible.   Hope everyone is having a great week so far! 

Adventures in Baking..MACARONS! With the Great Ethan Allen

So this weekend Cheryl and I attempted to make some Macarons.   Not to be confused with macaroons,   (Even the BOOK spelled it wrong!) 

Macarons are a delicate French concoction that costs a fortune in the store,  provided you have a store in your STATE that sells them.  ( Iowa lacks these little gems, BTW)

So,  the recipe is quite simple, calling for crushed almonds and meringue with sugar.   Then add the flavor of your choice.   The first few did not turn out as well as we had liked.  The paper curled up and messed up the tops.  Also,  It took me two attempts to get the meringue to turn out correctly.   There is additionally this little trick to allow the domes to form by leaving them out for almost an hour before baking them.  

In the end,  they looked bad, but tasted great!   Our second attempt was much more successful, but we forgot to take pictures of those. 

Anyway,  we also made some BLT's with fish bread.   Similar to a pita bread,  the goldfish bread was quite yummy!  Even the cats thought so!

 

 I'm not sure what our plans are for this weekend,  as sales have begun to trickle in, but Cheryl wants to bring Macaron happiness to the people at ACT on the last day of the MCAT.  I'm sure we will be perfecting out baking skills on Sunday...and perhaps we will post better pics of them then.   We shall see.

Origami Phoenix, Pegasus, and Another Dragon.

What can I say,  I'm having fun with the paper.   I received a request from one of my benefactors for an origami Phoenix,  so I wanted to change things up a bit.   Since I could not make up my mind,  I made two.   It's unfortunate that I didn't have more time to take better photos,  but I was on my way out the door when I snapped the pics.  

Anyway,  this blog is pretty much for my own recall,  so I will remember it long after this computer dies with all the pictures on it.   Not to mention I will most likely fold a better one later on.   In other news,   I have found a new way of making paper, and a new art store that carries  some very interesting papers.

  I can't wait to try them out,  but for now, I'll  continue making my own.   Hope everyone is having a great week so far.   This day has been very nice to us.   it's one of those days where things just go "right".   Which is a pleasant change as of late,  and ultimately bound to happen eventually.   so...for now...We will sit back and enjoy it as it continues.  

New Paper, More Dragons.

As our time at ACT winds down,   I have been working on a few new designs with some different paper.   I'm pleased with the gold dragon,  but the red paper has issues that need to be solved yet.   Although I think the scorpion turned out ok,  it still managed to strain the paper to the tear point.   Even after dampening it,  it lost even more integrity.   Ah well,  the design was not that complicated,  but it will require a little more experimentation. 

we have several days off this weekend,  so I'm looking forward to making some more paper and folding something a little more complex...we shall see.....Cheryl and I have been back to sewing stockings once again, and we have made a few more sales so hopefully,  things will start picking up on the business end...Hope everyone is having a great week so far,   and now the weekend begins!