Origamido Studio’s jewelry on display.
Origami jewelry can and should be celebrated, not feared, and so this book addresses concerns for paper quality and for the robustness of design. In this book, we discuss selecting the best papers, preparing them (by laminating or back-coating), and wet-folding them with paste (for adding the necessary body and strength). We have also designed several new, versatile, folded “jewels.” You will love arranging and combining these elements with other materials such as seashells, or beads of glass, metal, plastic, or stone. By using readily available findings and fittings you will create attractive, wonderfully expressive and distinctive, wearable folded jewelry art. People notice and comment about origami jewelry because it is so unusual. Origami jewelry is a natural conversation starter. Friends will ask, “Did you fold your earrings?” Now you can say, “Yes, of course!”
Origami Symbols Key
The origami diagrams used in this book are an efficient, internationally-standardized system of lines and arrows, dots, dashes, and a few other symbols.
Although simple, it is not immediately intuitive, so please invest a few moments to study the key, and refer back to it as needed. Become familiar with the symbols and what they mean. As you watch the video, look at the corresponding diagrams in the book to reinforce your understanding. For efficiency, a diagram may contain more than one instruction, so check carefully for details you might have overlooked at first. If you are unsure of a step, glancing ahead to the next step often reveals the desired shape, and may provide other valuable clues. Rotate the paper for your comfort as you fold it (even though the diagrams will not show the object rotated), and then return it to the position shown in the diagram as you compare the shapes. Once you learn this elegant diagramming system, you will be able to enjoy countless origami books.
Cut
Wire Cutters
Paste
Curl
X-Ray View
Push, or Pull
Repeat
Inside-Reverse Fold
Scale
(Ratio of Paper Size to Bead Size)
Major Color Side
Minor Color Side
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Our Origamido Jewelry Design System
Good design is most often simple, and so we begin by exploring the wealth of possibilities within the most simple and familiar bases.
All origami objects are abstract by virtue of the folding process. It is this abstraction of an idea into geometric planes, shadows, and angles that provides origami jewelry with the potential for achieving a unique and timeless elegance. Just as the crystalline structures of gemstones and the architectural windings of seashells have enchanted humans for longer than anyone can know, origami’s geometric underpinnings make it so inviting to the eye, intriguing to the mind, and entrancing to the spirit.
We often use the musical performance as a teaching analogy for folded art. Well-chosen paper is the instrument. If the paper is patterned, the scale of the patterns, colors, and textures will provide tone, and even play their own notes, too. The design is like the musical composition that provides the strength and substance necessary for durability. Elegant results demand a careful, heartfelt execution, or a cogent interpretation during your performance. Refining your folding skills takes “practice, practice, practice” as does playing any musical instrument artfully.
Beginning with the preliminary form—four sets of alternating mountain and valley creases radiating from the center of the square —numerous different, elegant, and durable “beads” result from varying just a few subsequent folds. These sturdy elements can be simply strung and hung as necklace pendants or earrings, or combined by tabbing and tiling. Most of our origami jewelry elements are folded from single squares such as these, but multi-piece, inter-locking designs (connected with tabs and pockets) are particularly useful for making interesting cluster arrangements, or adjustable-length necklaces, bracelets, belts, and bands.