Step Seventeen: Kusudama - Paper Flowers

Dearest Sylwi


This week, I began a project that I have wanted to try for years! It's times like this that I realise how valuable this 52 Steps is to me! Without it, these ideas would sit in my head forever!


It's a decoration made from paper, called a Kudsudama ball. I had no idea where these balls originated from, but I came across them when I was searching for origami flowers... which I'm pretty hooked on making! :-) I think they're fantastic, so I set about making one this week. 


[If you want to know more about the history, this is what Wikipedia has to say about them:

"Kusudama originate from ancient Japanese culture, where they were used for incense and potpourri; possibly originally being actual bunches of flowers or herbs. The word itself is a combination of two Japanese words kusuri, Medicine, and tama, Ball. They are now typically used as decorations, or as gifts".

"The Japanese kusudama (薬玉; lit. medicine ball) is a paper model that is usually (although not always) created by sewing multiple identical pyramidal units (usually stylized flowers folded from square paper) together through their points to form a spherical shape. Alternately the individual components may be glued together. Occasionally, a tassel is attached to the bottom for decoration".]

I found a wonderful Kusudama tutorial on the Folding Trees website. Folding Trees is a dream of a place to find beautiful, papercraft tutorials. I can't tell you how inspiring I find the two ladies who set it up. It's an absolute "must visit" for ideas! :-)

Detailed instructions on making the flowers can be found here, but as a rough guide, here are the stages for folding one petal - each flower has five petals.

{Lovely paper from Whimsy Press}.

Once folded, curl the edges of the petal together and glue. Clip the edges together with a mini bulldog clip, or a clothes peg whilst the glue dries. Be careful only to clip the very edge, so as not to crease the curve.

Create five petals and then glue them all together to make a flower. I propped the flowers up inside stacks of masking tape so that they didn't lose their shape as the glue dried. 

I've fallen head over heels lately with this masking tape. It's Japanese and I bought it from a shop on Etsy that is aptly named, Happy Tape! :-)

Each flower requires five petals and the ball is made up of twelve flowers... 

... which is why I have left the second part of the Kusudama ball tutorial till next week! (I did manage to make 7 flowers today, but if I carry on, I'll drive myself crazy! I'd rather stop now, continue this another day and enjoy the whole process!)

It's quite time consuming folding and then gluing all of these petals together. I was surprised how fast I ran out of time. I think these flowers in their own right are beautiful. I can really see them working, scattered on a table, as decoration at a wedding, or party.

I also have some other ideas for these, which (depending on how they turn out) I may share with you next week! :-)

I have so much else to say, but have run completely out of time. Will be in touch when I get a moment. 

Lots and lots and lots and lots and lots (times a squillion!) of love :-)

Fi

xx

Step Five: Love Letters

Morning Sweet Sylwi... or should I say, Afternoon?! I'm posting so late, it probably already is afternoon with you!

I've been sort of dreading today because I'm only just getting over being sick, so I was wondering how on earth I would find any inspiration or energy to create anything... apart from maybe a cup of tea! ;-)

So, I decided to keep it simple this week with a super sweet, useful and quick way to fold paper.

I think this style of folding originated back in Victorian times, as a sort of love letter called a 'puzzle purse' (although, I've also come across it called a 'thread container' in Japan) so who knows where it originated! :-) 

It was called a puzzle purse because the recipient would have to open the folded paper in a certain order. Written inside all of the folds and on the very inside would be a love letter or poem. Some were also beautifully decorated with drawings. The puzzle was then to close the purse in the correct order. 

You can see some photos of beautiful, original examples on Nancy Rosin's Victorian Treasury site. You can also find instructions on how to fold the purses there. Or, there are also some good instructions here.

Rather than write a poem in one (or paint one), I decided to use this method of folding as an envelope for a Valentine's ATC. I chose a piece of gorgeous, double-sided paper from Whimsy Press and cut a square large enough to fit my card in, once it was all folded up (about 11.25" x 11.25"). 

You'll see from the instructions that you have to fold the paper into thirds. Which was actually quite hard. I ended up measuring it with a ruler. You have to do that twice [sigh!] :-) but once that part's done, the rest takes about 10 minutes (you do a bit more folding and then close it up). 

Okay, it took about 20 minutes the first time I tried! I couldn't work out how on earth to close the darn thing - clearly, that's why it's called a 'puzzle' purse! ha! :-) 

Basically, you pinch the paper together on opposite sides like this...

... and then twist your wrists in opposite directions at the same time as you move one hand slightly away from you and one hand slightly towards you.

Sound kinda complicated? Well, it was! This was the bit that took me a while to figure out! ;-) 

After you've done it once though, it becomes so easy and fun. Then, you simply tuck the ends in under each other...

... and you end up with a sweet, little puzzle purse that can be used for all sorts of different things.

I've used this technique for envelopes and CD covers, just by varying the size of the square you begin with. There must be loads of other ways to use it!

Hope you're having a lovely Tuesday! What are you up to this week? I can't wait to see what you make! :-)

Lots and lots of love

Fi

xx