new work in progress... an origami menagerie!

origami crane love

It gives me the warmest feeling when I'm just casually scrolling through my Google Reader of an evening - and suddenly catch sight of something that looks oh so familiar...

Miss Laura of Blue Eyed Night Owl recently featured this little necklace of mine, as well as a whole bunch of other pretties, in a blog post about origami themed goodies - how lovely!

Go and check out all the other pretties she found, here!

Thanks, Laura!

shop update:: origami bow necklaces

I've been a busy bear making more pretty origami bows - and although they're made out of paper and look pretty delicate they're actually super duper tough!

Check them out:

//all available in my little shop//

origami crane update - almost there!

{paper aviary kit from Everything Tiny}

I know I haven't posted a crane update in aggggeessss - I can only apologise! I'm not quite up to 1000 cranes yet, but very close. I had to stop making them for a while to let my fingers heal from making so many in one sitting. 1000 is not far off though, I promise!

I have dozens of half-made cranes scattered around the house, which Yoyo is enjoying playing with. I am forever finding them under the sofa and in the bedclothes. What a silly meower!

update 10 - 794/1000 and a dilemma

I have managed to get up to 794 origami cranes for Japan - and I am unsure what exactly to do with them when I reach The Big 1000.

The original plan was to raise lots of money through sponsorship and send the money and the cranes to somewhere specific, like a school, to help with repairs and as a sign of good luck for the future (though reading that back it sounds really patronising - it really isn't meant to be). Of course, it would be a little irresponsible to just send money to some random place, so then I thought perhaps I should give the money and the cranes to the Red Cross and they would distribute the money where they felt it was most needed, which would be great, but would mean that I wouldn't know where the money ended up, and although I'm not doing this for my own benefit or to make myself feel good, I would be interested to find out where the money goes and how it helps people. Plus, I don't think the Red Cross would know what to do with 1000 cranes!

The only other thing I can think of would be to sell the cranes to make more money for Japan - that way at least I would be able to give as much as possible, though it does detract slightly from the point of the project and the point of choosing 1000 cranes, as the idea behind making them - that they are meant to bring hopefulness and good fortune - was an idea I so wanted to convey.

It's a really hard decision, and I simply don't know what to do...

Does anyone have any suggestions/ideas/recommendations/advice?

update 9 - 640/1000

update 8 - 551/1000

I'm over half way through the 1000 Cranes For Japan project! Hurrah!

It dawned on me the other day though, that perhaps I should actually make 2000 cranes - 1000 to raise money for Japan and another 1000 to raise money for New Zealand, who also suffered a terrible earthquake recently.

A pile of half-made origami cranes waiting to be completed - I find it much easier to make lots half way through and then finish them all at the same time, rather than making each one in it's entirety every time. It's not like it's boring as such, but it is getting a little tedious after so many! But if it enables me to raise lots of money for Japan, I know it is all absolutely worth it!

If you would like to sponsor me, please follow this link.

Thanks lovelies!

update 7 - 482/1000

Eeeeee, almost half way through!

Now my fingers have had a couple of days off and have recovered from all the blisters

and paper cuts, I can get back on with making more cranes at a manic rate!

update 6 - 362/1000

I'm up to 362 cranes, not including the teeny tiny ones I made for the tiny crane challenge - those ones will be safely kept in a tiny box or maybe a tiny jar for safe-keeping... and because I don't think I could bear to part with them!

As I have the next couple of weeks off work (Easter holidays, woo!) I'm sure I'll get lots more made by the time I go back to work.

Here is a nice jarful of the small cranes in the mean time:

challenge accepted + tiny treasures

As word of my obsessive crane-making travels through work, I have been left lovely little gifts of various sized cranes on my desk. Yesterday's crane, from a student, was about an inch long but I was able to match it, hurrah!

But then today's crane was even smaller (about half an inch wide) and was quite a challenge to beat...

...but I still beat it! (the yellow one is mine)

Despite my best efforts, I don't think I will ever get quite as small as these pretties...

tiny cranes by littlesketchbook - 100% of the proceeds from the sale

of these tiny cranes will be sent in support of Japan's disaster relief

tiny crane in a tiny bottle by LatentArcadia - all profits from the sale of

these tiny cranes will go to the Red Cross for the relief efforts in Japan

pretty tiny crane necklace from PaperPeaches

teeny tiny golden origami crane from luxely's Etsy shop

The world's smallest origami crane was made from a sheet of paper 1mm x 1mm and was made under a microscope using a sewing needle - no chance of beating that one then! Just in case you're interested, more origami world records can be found here.

update 5 - 281/1000

Yesterday I received a nice big parcel that I had ordered from Origami Palace, full of pretty origami paper: sparkly paper, flowery paper, holographic paper, pretty paper with kawaii bears on - all sorts - and made another 52 cranes before heading off to bed...

...then on my desk this morning I was met with another 10 cranes that had been made by a colleague's son, to help my cause! I was so touched, it was such a thoughtful gesture!

And aren't they beautiful?

update 4 - 219/1000

Oh dear, I haven't been doing very well at this 1000 cranes thing lately - largely because I've run out of paper again! Fear not, as I have just purchased lots and lots and lots of new origami paper! Hurrah!

OrigamiPalace on Etsy

update 3 - 153/1000

Today I have been mostly: napping, talking to Yoyo (that's not weird, right?), watching Portlandia, thinking about cardigans, craving Maltesers, drawing foxes and making origami cranes. Oh yes.

This morning I was über-ly excited to receive in the post the tiniest origami papers I have ever seen! They are adorable! I couldn't resist playing with them, and accidentally ended up making 70 teeny tiny cranes. Don't get me wrong, it's not like that was a bad use of my time (I mean, it's not like I still have 847 to make or anything), I just hadn't really noticed I was doing it after about the first 20 or so. Yay for cranes!

update 2 - 83/1000

...and my fingers are already covered in tiny paper cuts!

The cranes have overflowed onto my desk at work, and lots of people are asking about them, so let's hope it sparks a lot of interest throughout school :)

update 1 - 55/1000

Well at least it's a start!

1000 cranes 1 wish

Following the recent devastating earthquake and tsunami, I have been thinking of ways I can raise money to help Japan recover. It was such a terrible and unexpected tragedy that I can't put into words how upsetting it is, and I feel completely unable to help.

I know it's not a lot, but I am making 1000 origami cranes to send to Japan, and raising money for the Japan Earthquake and Tsunami Relief Fund in the process. It is believed that anyone who makes 1000 origami cranes has a wish granted, and my wish is to help some of the millions of people affected by the recent tragic events.

You can sponsor me here if you would like to.

Thank you for your support!