Baby Dragon

I made this baby dragon for two awesome young men, Josh and Joe. Welcome to the world Josh, and happy 1st birthday Joe!

This little fella was made from three sheets of paper following a design by Kenji Jinbo, which appeared in the book "Essential Origami" by Steve and Megumi Biddle (which was recommended to me by Michael from Papershake)

Skeletal Cube

In the 'Encyclopedia of Origami' by Nick Robinson he states that "arguments rage in the origami world as to whether the sequence or the end result is the most important". The way that the 24 pieces of paper slotted together to form this 'Skeletal Cube' (from the same book) was very satisfying, and helped me to understand this argument much better!

Tiny Crane

For my last two posts I have experimented with slightly bigger paper, using a large map to create a dragon and tissue paper for a swan. This time I've gone the other way and create a tiny Crane made from a piece of origami paper originally 4cm x 4cm.

Dragon

I believe the dragon design is called 'Neal's Dragon' after it's designer Robert Neal. I used video instructions for this one which can be found here. The large dragon was actually made from the map of West London (pictured right) and measures 40cm from head to tail.

I'm not sure if I prefer the larger or the smaller of the pair, so I thought I'd post both!

Swan

The largest model I've posted so far, and the first I have made from tissue paper. The design is "Fancy Swan" by Eric Joisel from the book 'World's Best Origami' by Nick Robinson.

(I couldn't get the lighting right in my flat to get a decent picture on such a dull and rainy day, and therefore the swan is a little blurry... will try again when it brightens up!)

Animal Print Paper

Today I've been playing with some animal print paper I picked up last weekend 'The Japan Center'.

This is 'Shivanni the Giraffe', another of Sok Song's designs from 'Crease and Fold', chilling out by a watering can and watching the world go by.

Maps & Birds

I've been trying out a few designs using old maps. I love the way that the contour lines seem to give the flat paper more texture, and how the choice of location (forest, mountain, lake, etc) will have an impact on the colouring of the final piece. Here are two simple bird designs made from maps of the lake district.

Dino-gami

Tried out a simple dinosaur, the first step towards my very own Jurassic Park;

Instructions: http://www.origami-instructions.com/origami-dinosaur.html

Baby Elephant

Ok, this is the same design as my first post on this Blog, but I think it was worth a re-post with a new picture!

Red Polka Dot Dress

Red Pot

Design "Star Box" by Francesco Guarnieri from "World's Best Origami" by Nick Robinson

Butterfly & Frog



"Lucky Frog" Design from 'Crease and Fold' by Sok Song
"Yoshizawa Butterfly" Design from http://www.origami-instructions.com/origami-yoshizawa-butterfly.html

Happy Easter!

 

Design: "Alan the Bunny" by Sok Song

Sakura Blossom Lampshade

This is a prototype for a lampshade made out of simple coloured paper, but I will probably make the final piece in plain white... but first I need to find some heat proof paper!

 

Design: "Crease and Fold" by Sok Song

What is Charliegami?

Late 2012 I took up Origami as a new hobby after a conversation with an origami expert at a house party! Up until that moment I had been fascinated by the concept of origami and intrigued by the mathematics behind it, but never actually folded a piece of paper to resemble anything other than a paper aeroplane or a simple Christmas Santa.

A week or so later I was in Foyles and found myself drawn towards the paper craft section, and before I knew it I had a couple of origami books a big pile of square coloured paper in my flat.

So, this Blog is to become an outlet for my projects. I am still very much a novice so don't expect anything impressive... but hopefully it will form a nice log of my origami journey! I hope that over time the simple designs I am following will become a little more complex, but for now I hope you enjoy the beauty in their simplicity!

So, to get things started, here is a pink baby elephant!

 

Design from "Crease and Fold" by Sok Song