Check out this article on this Amazing Artist!

I found this article posted by the UK's Daily Mail, on an artist named Sipho Mabona. He creates amazing, lifelike origami animals out of single sheets of paper, including really intricate insects like the praying mantis.

I have to agree with the writer of this article, who refers to Mabona as an "Origami Master." Check out the full article here.

Just created a Facebook Fan Page for 3D Cranes

http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#/pages/3D-Cranes/170582405258


Hope I did it right...

What is this bird?

Looks like this piece may end up in the "Oops" file...

Okay, I was trying to make a bald eagle, here, but right now it's looking a lot more like a parakeet. So. What the heck is this bird, and what do I call it?

Shop Improvements -- Suggesting Matching Items

I'm in the process of hopefully making it easier to shop for matching, or similar items in my shop. I picked up the tip from muyinmolly, through the Full Time Etsy Crafters Blog. I'm adding links to shop search results, instead of to a specific listing, or shop section. For example, in my red bridal bouquet listing, I added a link to the search results for the terms "red wedding."

There are a lot of other great tips in that article, from full-time sellers that have reached major "milestone" sales numbers. The article can be found here.

All Dressed Up and Nowhere to Go....

My latest Treasury, featuring the work of (from left to right, top to bottom):
Row 1: orsinimedici1951, FantasyPeriodCostume, chicallure
Row 2: MysticDragyn, amyburgessjewelry, annesophietoniazzi
Row 3: KristieGK, bellanovia, jacksdaughter
Row 4: KealaLegacy, handcraftedjewels, isabellaslittleshop(aka IsabellaSmiles)

I know I should have posted the direct links of the shops I featured in previous treasuries, but did not think of it until now.

Computer vs. Camera

I meant to write about this earlier, but didn't get around to it until now...

Hubby got me a new Dell laptop back in July. It's the first computer I've had with Windows Vista, and I mainly use it for working on my Etsy shop. That means uploading a lot of pictures... Well about the end of August, I began to notice something weird: The "safely remove hardware" icon was missing when I had my camera plugged in to the USB port, and if I tried to remove it anyway (not a technique I recommend) I got the dreaded "blue screen of death," which is what happens when Windows apparently shuts down and restarts itself automatically "in order to protect your computer," as it says.

Fortunately, I have in-house tech support (aka Hubby) and he found out that it was a recent automatic update that my computer had downloaded for Vista which was causing the problem. It was update KB973879 that apparently did something screwy to the Dell USB drivers. Anyway, once it was removed, my computer and my camera decided to get along again =)

He didn't tell me exactly how he did it, but I did find directions on how to take care of this problem on techerator. Supposedly Windows has since stopped putting out this update, but just in case anyone else still has a problem with this, the link in the previous sentence may just help solve it.

Dragon Fire

Created another Treasury collection, this time dedicated to dragons: http://www.etsy.com/treasury_list.php?room_id=81097

I made the front page!

Well, the treasury that I made did, anyway! It was the red origami collection I put together, I only found out about it through a Google alert when it was posted on the Etsy Front Pagers on Flickr. Here's the link to the Flickr page: http://www.flickr.com/photos/28488923@N05/3883926741/ if you would like to check it out... or if you don't really believe me ;-)

I'm still having a hard time believing it myself. Was it beginner's luck, maybe?

Octopus

This is the newest art piece I've created, based on a photo I took at the Waikiki aquarium while "playing tourist" earlier this year. The octopus is made up of two different size cranes, folded from 2-inch and 3-inch paper -- for a total of 145 in all.

Oops!

Just noticed my blog was still set on Hawaii time... It's been changed over now.

September Goals

I'm a day late writing these down, but these are the things I want to achieve this month:
1. List, re-list, and renew at least 5 times a day on weekdays, and 3 times a day on weekends.
2. Add at least 1 new item a day.
3. Have 175 items available for sale in my shop.
4. Blog 3-4 times a week.

I was kind of tempted to make a sales goal, but decided to stick to things that I can actually control.

Origami Addiction

And I guess you could say I'm becoming addicted to making treasuries as well. This one began with the fine silver origami honu by Hapa. This treasury is located at: http://www.etsy.com/treasury_list.php?room_id=79276

Created my First Treasury!

I just curated my first Treasury ever! I had been thinking about it for a while, and as I was browsing through my favorites, I came across laurali's work, and her creamsicle kitten print really struck me for some reason, even though I'm normally more of a dog person ;) It became the inspiration for the color scheme that I used for my collection. Please check it out, and I hope you enjoy it! http://www.etsy.com/treasury_list.php?room_id=78791

Customized...

This is one of two custom orders I've done lately -- both for weddings!

The customer liked my red bridal bouquet that I had posted on Etsy, but she wanted a couple of changes. One, was to replace the small gold cranes I used as "filler" with silver, to match her wedding colors. The second was to change out the white ribbon that was wrapped around the stems of the original, with a ribbon that better matched the bouquet. This was the result.

I'm Back!

And this blog is starting to bear a disturbing resemblance to my old childhood diaries...the ones that can have up to 5 years or more between entries. At least I didn't wait 5 years to make a new blog post.
Well, I officially re-opened shop on August 1st, after making sure that all of my inventory made the trip safely. My things probably had a better trip than I did! Crazy weather forced hubby and I to make an unexpected overnighter in Dallas (we landed right after some tornadoes struck) and when we finally got onto our rescheduled flight to Atlanta, we ended up running into more crazy weather -- a thunderstorm -- and were forced to go into a holding pattern over the Atlanta airport for almost an hour.
I miss Hawaii like crazy. We played tourist a bit at Turtle Bay and in Waikiki before we left, so I have a lot of great pictures, including a few that I will probably end up using as inspiration for some future artwork. I just have to figure out which computer they are all stored on, but I think it will be a lot easier to look at when I'm not feeling so emotional about it.

Name Change

Well, it's official. The business has officially been changed from Millenium Tsuru to 3D Cranes. There were a few reasons for the change. One, I misspelled "millennium" in my registration so I was stuck with the misspelling on everything and it was driving me crazy. Two, it was way too difficult to pronounce, even for me.

Another big change (which I thought I already mentioned here but I guess I didn't) is that my husband is getting transferred to Fort Benning, Georgia, so I and my business are going along for the ride. I'm not looking forward to moving away from home -- I've never lived anywhere except for here in Hawaii -- but when the Army says you have to move, you move.

I have decided not to do craft fairs in Georgia, at least for the time being until I get more familiar with the area, and my business will be moving to strictly on-line only. My Etsy shop will be going into vacation mode on June 1st, with a tentative re-open date of August 15th, as I have no idea how long it will take to get legally set up to do business in the state.

Featured....

Thanks to Krishenka for featuring my new carnations in her treasury!

Also, one of my bouquets was recently featured on the foundhandmade blog, in an entry titled "Handmade Wedding Bouquets and Bouts" as an alternative to real flowers. There is no direct link to the entry, but if you go to the blog, it's the one that was posted on May 5.