Origami Interlude: Crystallized Masu Boxes

A few days ago I briefly broke from the beading routine to try out my brand new Crystal Katana with a handful of Swarovski flatback crystals. Of all the different surfaces that I could bling out with crystals, I decided to first try it out on a trio of Masu origami boxes.

Working with Flatback Crystals

This was my first time working with the small, no-hole, sequin-shaped flatback crystals. But I was happy to find that the crystal katana is really easy to use. First you apply a dot of glue onto each point where you want to add a crystal (I used the precision glue bottle). Then you pick up the top of the crystal with the wax end of the katana, gently set it into the glue, and the crystal will transfer from the katana to the spot of glue. When you're done adding them, you can use the other end of the katana to set the crystals in place.

Crystallized Masu Boxes

I experimented with a few methods of adding crystals to the washi covers of my masu boxes. Since the yuzen washi used in these boxes already comes in so many gorgeous, detailed patterns, only a few crystals are needed to add just a little bit of extra bling. On this box, I added the crystals to the centers of the flowers:

The print on this box has an interesting floral-and-fan combination, so I added a few crystals to accentuate the fan-like shapes:

Finally, on this box I added the crystals into the negative spaces between the flowers. I think I like this one the best.

Many Possibilities

For this first attempt, I only crystallized three boxes, but there are as many possible crystal-and-origami combinations as there are prints of washi! I'll definitely be investigating this idea more in the future.

Thanks to Kellie the Crystal Ninja for inventing such a neat tool!

Check out some of my previous interludes into paper origami here.

Origami Interlude: Larger Masu Boxes

I just realized that I missed an Origami Interlude for the month of April... Oops! Well I'm remedying that today with some origami boxes.

Masu Boxes

A while ago I blogged about the origami boxes that I hand-fold for the jewelry that I sell in my Etsy shop. The boxes are a variation on the Masu box, a traditional origami design that you can learn to fold yourself here. I fold mine from 6" squares of paper; washi for the top and card stock for the bottom, with both parts lined with card stock for extra stability. The finished box is about 2 inches wide by one inch tall:

This box is great for earrings, pendants, and beaded beads, but it's a little small for necklaces and even for some bracelets. I could use larger sheets of paper, but the resulting box would retain the same proportions of the original box (it would be wider, but it would also be deeper than 1"). I wanted a more traditional necklace-sized jewelry box that would be only one inch deep, but about 3-4 inches wide.

Larger Masu Boxes

To remedy this problem, I came up with another variation that results in a wider box with different proportions than the original Masu box. The trick to this variation is to both use a larger sheet of paper, but to also modify step 3 to fold the sides in only partway. With an 8" sheet of paper, and by folding the sides in only 1", I had a box that's still one inch deep, but about 3.75 inches wide:

Small vs. Large Boxes

Here's a photo of both the small and large Masu boxes in the same pretty purple Japanese crane washi print:

I like how the larger box not only solves the how-to-package-a-necklace question, but it also shows off more of the gorgeous prints that you can find in washi. I'm particularly fond of Japanese crane and cherry blossom prints.

Though, now that I think about it, this would also work well with Italian papers too... Hmm.....

Check out some of my previous interludes into paper origami here, here, here, here, here, here, and here.

What's your favorite kind or style of paper? Do you know of one that would look particularly nice in a Masu box? Drop me a line in the comments section!

Origami Interlude: Tiny Paper Cranes

If you've ordered any beading kits from my website in the past couple of months, you might have noticed something special included in your shipment.

These tiny little paper cranes came about from a minor conundrum I faced a little while back...

What to do with leftover washi? 

As I previously mentioned, I hand-fold custom masu boxes for each piece of jewelry that I sell in my Etsy shop, and I cut the paper for these boxes from large (about 24" by 36") sheets of washi. I usually have a little bit of scrap paper leftover after cutting the washi into 6-inch squares for the boxes. It isn't much paper; usually strips measuring one to two inches by 6 inches, but since washi is so beautiful (and expensive), I can't bring myself to just throw the scraps out. Here's a sampling of them, after I cut them into 1 1/2-inch squares:

But the question was; what to do with these tiny pieces of paper?

The answer: tiny paper cranes!

I do origami the way that many other beaders knit: it's not my primary art form, but I enjoy it in my non-beading time and at this point the process of folding a paper crane is nearly subconscious. I've been known to fold paper cranes out of everything from dinner napkins to those tiny tags on the ends of teabags. So, when I sat that stack of scrap washi paper next to my computer, before I knew it I had a pile of tiny paper cranes. Here are a couple of them with a quarter (left) and a 100-yen coin (right).

Here they are posing with a small Plum Egg beaded bead:

Lounging around with a Fiberoptic Dodecahedron Pendant:

And swimming in a new, as-yet-unnamed design with rizos and rivolis (a "rizoli" design?):

Finally, just to give you an idea of how many I've folded, here's just a sampling of the pile of paper cranes:

Since they're threatening to take over the space next to my computer, I decided to send them out into the world with each kit order from my website. Look for your own tiny paper crane in your next Bead Origami kit order!

If you'd like to fold your own paper crane, this site is a great place to learn how. They're pretty easy to fold, but if it's your first time folding a paper crane, I recommend starting with a larger sheet of paper such as a 6-inch or 8-inch square. Check out some of my previous interludes into paper origami here, here, here, here, here, and here.

Do you have a secondary craft? If so, what is it? Drop me a line in the comments below!

New Kits for Rivoli Kaleidoscope and Tila Garden Pendants

New kit colorways are now available on my website for the Rivoli Kaleidoscope and Tila Garden Pendants. The first is a Rivoli Kaleidscope in a color palette I call Passionflower. It was really popular at the BABE! show last month, so I only have a couple of them left.

The next is the result of a color theory experiment in cool analogous colors that I call Tropical Oasis.

Finally, this Tila Garden Pendant reminds me of a colorful garden surrounded by a classic white picket fence. It took several attempts with these colors that all led to this final result, but I'm happy with how it turned out.

The previously-available colorways for both pendants have been restocked as well. Also, like the Tila Garden Pendant, the Rivoli Kaleidoscope Pendant now comes with its own sterling silver chain, so you can wear it as soon as you're finished weaving it.

Snowflakes Bracelets in Beadwork Magazine

Are you getting ready for the holidays? I'm getting ready by creating some Snowflakes Bracelets, fresh out of my newest pattern in Beadwork Magazine:

These bracelets feature the new 2-hole Czech twin beads, and they also work well with SuperDuo beads too. They're related to my Squareflake Earrings pattern, but instead of using the 4-fold symmetry seen in the earrings, they use the 6-fold symmetry seen in real snowflakes. These bracelets also use drop-shaped seed beads (either 3 mm magatamas or 2.8 mm drop beads) instead of rivoli crystals, as the sharp rivoli crystals can get caught on sleeves quite easily when used in a bracelet.

Several other design possibilities are achievable from this bracelet design. The individual snowflakes make a great pair of easy earrings, and I think they'd look great in a choker-style necklace too. 

The Snowflakes Bracelet pattern can be found in the December/January 2012/2013 issue of Beadwork Magazine.

What kinds of beadwork designs are you working on this holiday season?

Beadwork's Beaded Bead Contest

Today's the day to enter Beadwork Magazine's 15th Anniversary Beaded Bead Contest! While I can't enter, I wove at least one of each of these beautiful beaded beads, and I blogged about all of them here, here, here, here, and here. Here are just a couple of them:

Entries will be accepted at this link between now and 4 PM MDT on Friday, October 26. Online voting will take place between October 26 and November 5. Best of luck to everyone!

Beadwork's 15th Anniversary Beaded Bead Contest: Dewdrop Beaded Bead

The final beaded bead in Beadwork Magazine's 15th Anniversary Beaded Bead Series is now published; the Dewdrop Beaded Bead, by yours truly.

This design features Miyuki's two-hole tila beads as well as two sizes of drop beads, which can also be substituted for round seed beads for a more sleek look to this design. Melinda writes about this and other variations on these beaded beads in her Editor's Note in the same issue of Beadwork Magazine, and Pixiloo already wove a gorgeous red version using this substitution. You can see images of it on her blog.

I wove one of these Dewdrop beaded beads in the silvery metallic color palette that I've used for the other four beaded beads in this series. I went with some matte metallic grey tila beads for this particular beaded bead, however Miyuki recently released a bluer shade of this tila bead which I think would look even better in this color palette.

Here's my complete set of all five beaded beads in this series (I tried weaving Gwen's Cube Cluster with triangle seed beads instead of 3 mm fire polish beads, but I'll switch back to the fire polish beads the next time I weave this one; the triangle seed beads don't fit quite as well).

I'm busy working on several kits for this design, which will be available on my website very soon. The kits will feature an expanded pattern, as well as a special surprise :).

More information about the 15th Anniversary Beaded Bead Contest is available on the Beading Daily website. Check out my versions of the previous beaded beads in this series here, here, here, and here.

Four Classes at the BABE! Show

The Bay Area Bead Extravaganza or BABE! show was one of the first bead shows I ever attended when I started working with beads several years ago. I've always been fond of this event, and I'm happy to announce that I'll be teaching four classes at this year's BABE! show:

Cubed Tilas Beaded Bead Necklace

Tila Garden Pendant

Ice Queen Necklace

Rivoli Kaleidoscope Pendant

The BABE! Show runs from November 2-4 in Oakland, CA. More information about class registration, along with general information about the show can be found here. I'd love to see you there!

Harvest Queen and Night Queen Necklaces

I finished the two alternate colorways for my Ice Queen Necklace class at the Bead & Button Show. The first is the fall colors version that I previewed last week, the Harvest Queen:

And the other is a black and silver combo, with a touch of dark blue, that's great for any season. I'd like to think that it's fitting for the Night Queen:

The Ice Queen Necklace class will be on Saturday, June 9, from 9 AM to noon at the Bead & Button Show in Milwaukee, WI. I'd love to see you there!

Fall Colors for the Ice Queen Necklace

I've been working away on class samples and kits for the Bead & Button Show next month. For my Ice Queen Necklace class, I decided to make up kits in both alternate color combos that I previously mentioned. Here's a sneak peak of the fall colors version:

I think this palette would work well for summertime jewelry too.

The Ice Queen Necklace class will be on Saturday, June 9, from 9 AM to noon at the Bead & Button Show in Milwaukee, WI. There are still seats left for this class... Will I see you there?

Origami Interlude: Washi Masu Boxes

I have a confession... I love washi paper.

OK, that isn't the confession. When I visited Japan in August 2010, I bought several full-size sheets of the most gorgeous handmade washi from the heavenly Morita Washi and Ito-ya stationary stores.

The confession is... Since visiting Japan a year and a half ago, I hadn't folded anything from these papers. I'd carefully unwrap and drool over them from time to time, as a jewelry maker would with a collection of one-of-a-kind lampwork beads; ogling them, brainstorming how to showcase them in the perfect piece of art, but, not actually using them in jewelry... Er, paper crafts.

The problem is, I'm visiting Japan again in less than two weeks, where I will surely purchase more Washi paper. So, it was time to fold something out of the papers that I already have.

I still have visions of cracking open one of Tokomo Fusé's books and folding these papers into one of her gorgeous geometric origami designs. But in the meantime, I was running low on the masu boxes that I use for jewelry purchased from my Etsy shop. So, I carefully cut the washi into squares alongside matching colors of card stock for a new stack of jewelry boxes.

Folding washi is like sewing with silk; it's easy on the fingers and is very forgiving of an errant crease.

The downside with washi is that it's not very stiff, so when I use it with masu boxes, I reinforce it with an extra layer of card stock in both the top and bottom halves of the box. The extra layer fits inside the blinz base (after Step 2 is completed), and is also a square piece of paper measuring √2/2 (about 0.7) times the length of the outer layer.

I love modular boxes too, but the simplicity of the masu box really brings out the print of the washi:

Plus, they're really easy to fold, and in great numbers:

What's your favorite kind of jewelry packaging material? Do you prefer jewelry pouches, or jewelry boxes?

Ice Queen Necklace Alternate Color Ideas

I came up with a couple of alternate color ideas for my Ice Queen Necklace class to be taught at Bead & Button this June. I started by working them into pairs of earrings to get a sense of the colors before weaving the entire necklace. For this pair I combined blue iris and black with silver:

And for this pair, I combined tanzanite with dark purple, red, and gold:

This is actually the third pair of Pagoda charm earrings that I've made in fall colors... For some reason I'm drawn to these colors in this particular design (previous versions here and here).

For reference, here's the original Ice Queen Necklace:

Which combo do you prefer?

Pagoda Series Kits

I created two sets of matching kits for my Pagoda series. First we have the Pagoda beaded charm in Redwood:

And in Pandora Sapphire:

Next there's the Double Pagoda Beaded Bead in Redwood:

And again in Pandora Sapphire:

The Double Pagoda kits make one beaded bead each, while the Pagoda kits make three beaded charms. All of the kits are available at my website, and include all the beads needed to create the design, a beading needle and the appropriate thread, and the pattern for the design delivered electronically in the PDF format.